RMAX for Tae Kwon Do

[Scott Sonnon]

http://tkdtutor.com/06Theory/Breath/BreathControl.htm

[DaveRandolph]

Thanks Scott.

I had a student approach me with this same issue a few weeks ago of being out of breath all the time. I told him pretty much what this article said.

Dave

[Scott Sonnon]

Excellent, Dave. Good to hear from you.

[DaveRandolph]

Thanks

Been really busy with work & the usual stuff. trying to get more involved in reading here.

[Scott Sonnon]

Dave,

Because I'm on a remote cell access, my email has serious probs. I received a header of your email msg but I cannot respond. Feel free to post here or PM me.

[DaveRandolph]

OK. I'll resend via PM tomorrow

[ninjaboy]

In soft work coach sonnon hit it right on the nose. What's going on in the space in between is important. If you understand your postures (if) And how the foot position and alignments build spacific tensions so spacific hip spine shoulder motion is still free then you have the ability to see that miagi san was right and all you have to do is talk to drum.........

Confused??? Good. Lets explore exactly what the drum is........It it a model not a technique. You are the drum. Get it? Your spine is the stick, Your torso is the drum head, your arms are the strings and your hands the beeds. The model teaches us how to move the core to generate power and that the arms and legs motion are seccondary to core motion. (Interesting isn't is??) And you thought it was just another cheesy technique. (he he)

Using that core motion as you foundation (And yes there are many many many more) Look at the arms and legs as a power delivery system. through wich body motion is transmitted and the legs alone are the stability and transit system that doesn't move the core but catches the core when it moves off of it's foundation or tripod (for lack of better terminology.)

So now on to the arms. Too many taekwondo and karate people punch and kick from weird positions. For instance in the normal punch they rotate their hand over into a weird position with the palm down and arm strait and they don't know why they do it, or their teacher told them " The rotation will help build power and eventually you will have enough power to break bones." (Ha. Ha HA) But the sad thing is they are right. And they are wrong. And the beauty of it is I'm not going to tell you why. This next evercise will tell you better than my words will.

Natural punch exercise
Hold your arm in what you think is a good punch position. Now tense all the muscles in your arm hold it for a couple of secconds and exhale and let all the tension go but don't lose your hand position.

Notice the change in your hand position from un-natural to natural or should I say more natural.......Sometimes people have a hard time letting go so they don't get to "0" until they do it a couple of times.

Now point your arm our to the side and do the same thing. Notice the change in hand position.

Now keeping that relaxed feeling in your arm move it back to position 1 and watch what you hand does in the travel.

play with it.

natural leg motion

No it's not the same thing as the arm nice try. Stand balanced on both leggs and bend your knees a little. Lift one leg out in front of you. Now the goal of the exercise is to only do what you have to. Now while keeping your hips horizontal until the need to tilt to continue the motion. Slowly swing your leg to open the hip. Notice how far you can go before the leg goes before it hits the stall or hurdle. Now tilt your hips just enough to continue the motion notice what positions the toes and heals are on both feet, and in relation to the leg, position in the circle in relation to where you started, and all that jazz. As the motion continues notice how the quick the transition is from side to back is. At the end transition back to the front. then do the other side.........

putting it together
Well simply apply the principles to your forms. I promise you that just this is enough to start to have the hard work of the art reveal its scary secrets to you. When you apply a correct evation and block and see how helpless your oponent is when you barely did anything you'll know you got it.

Have fun.

[sames]

So now on to the arms. Too many taekwondo and karate people punch and kick from weird positions. For instance in the normal punch they rotate their hand over into a weird position with the palm down and arm strait and they don't know why they do it

"weird" isn't very objective :) I've had this discussion with my Bujinkan friends. Its really a question of alignment. The human body doesn't move in straight lines. When you punch someone you are always coming from off-line, usually from the direction of your shoulder (i.e. if you punch someone with your right hand the punch is coming from the right). With a vertical fist your chances of bending your wrist when you hit are increased. With a horizontal fist this just isn't the case. This becomes even more true when you throw hooking punches. (Note then when you do the superslow practice this fact isn't readily apparent, move to speed (actual sparring) or do some bag work). Energy transfer seems to be about the same (based solely on perceived movement in a heavy bag when its hit.. the subject feel of the impact may be different.. dunno).

With practice you can get your alignment to work properly with the vertical fist punching forward. But to do so you have to take that big bujinkan step forward and put your body (weight+momentum) behind the punch. This makes it slower, telegraphs more movement, etc... much of the same affect can be obtained using the hips to produce a whipping motion. Whenever one leg is much further than the other you have limited yourself to half of your defensive/officensive arsenal. Your back hand/leg aren't as useful as they could be.

I'm not saying either punch is better. I'm just saying horizontal fist isn't weird. there are good reasons to do it that way. Why throw away a perfectly good tool? I use both to good affect (depending on target and current alignment when the target opens).

-Steve

[ninjaboy]

Pay attention to what I did not say........I did not say the punch is useless. I said that the position was weird. If you do the exercise that follows that paragraph then you can see what I'm talking about. The criticism is against using the punch in a way that is misaligned to the force blows out the weak links along the way instead of transmiting directly into the oponent.


With practice you can get your alignment to work properly with the vertical fist punching forward. But to do so you have to take that big bujinkan step forward and put your body (weight+momentum) behind the punch. This makes it slower, telegraphs more movement, etc...

This is not completely true. Because my teacher can fire off punches from a fraction of an inch off the body and still send a guy flying. (without moving his feet I might add.) Taijutsu = the art of the body. If you know your body everything falls into place.

Another thing to look at is the distance and range once you do the exercise you will notice that the natural alignment of the spine elbow and wrist put you closer to the oponent. Any time you are outside that distance the punch effectiveness fades quickly. Because you start poking holes in the fire hose just to tag the target.

Would I use it in a fight. You bet. When the space and distance compressed to the point where it would be benificial. And if you are moving naturally then your arm goes there naturally that is the beauty of it.

[sames]

Pay attention to what I did not say........I did not say the punch is useless. I said that the position was weird. If you do the exercise that follows that paragraph then you can see what I'm talking about. The criticism is against using the punch in a way that is misaligned to the force blows out the weak links along the way instead of transmiting directly into the oponent.

As I stated previous it was the word weird that I was addressing. I just don't see it as weird. I did your exercise a dozen times on each arm to the front and to the sides. My fist didn't deviate even slightly when relaxed. Likely I'm doing it wrong. Could you elaborate on "misaligned to the force blows out the weak links along the way..."? I'm not sure I understand that.


Because my teacher can fire off punches from a fraction of an inch off the body and still send a guy flying. (without moving his feet I might add.) Taijutsu = the art of the body. If you know your body everything falls into place.

That backs what I said. "With practice...". I don't doubt at all that your teacher understands his craft.


Another thing to look at is the distance and range once you do the exercise you will notice that the natural alignment of the spine elbow and wrist put you closer to the oponent. Any time you are outside that distance the punch effectiveness fades quickly.

The horizontal (palm down) fist is only good at a specific distance. No argument there. The target has to be far enough away to allow your arm to unbend past 90 degrees. At that point the elbow raises, the hand screws inward and the should rises. At the apex of the punch your shoulder is high enough to protect your face, somewhat, against the "follow the jab home" counter attack. The elbow is never fully extended (to protect against harm and also to allow a faster pull back... never leave the arm out).

Shorter distances you go vertical or hybrid or uppercut style (horizontal, palm up). To the side you go with whats comfortable or even a backfist style "punch".


Because you start poking holes in the fire hose just to tag the target.

Could you explain this also?


Would I use it in a fight. You bet. When the space and distance compressed to the point where it would be benificial. And if you are moving naturally then your arm goes there naturally that is the beauty of it.

Agreed. We just differ on what is "natural" :)

-Steve

[Scott Sonnon]

What matters is if it efficiently and spontaneously works for you, weird or not.

[ninjaboy]

Things to look for in the exercise are the joint positions in relation to each other and the superflous tension in these points. The relations in the arm are the wrist, elbow, shoulder, and finaly the fist positions.
The fist because in each different position the hand realigns acording to the wrist and forearm.

Power travels through the body like water through a fire hose. If you body is un naturally aligned then it is like putting a kink, hole, or knot in the hose. The more knots or kinks in the line the less power you have traveling into the target. So more power is needed to be generated to get the same effect. So the purpose for the exercise is to pay attention and remove the knots and kinks in the hose by letting go of superflous tension and in the mean time gain understanding in natural body alignment. In hard work any excess tension that you have that isn't applied towards maintaining alignment is force trapped in side that should be going out of you. Which is why Bruce Lee said you should not tighten up or clench your fist until the moment of impact.

Just let it flow then let it go.

Does this help??

[Scott Sonnon]

No one is the paragon leader of the "One, True Way". Anyone can use ANY vehicle to combative effectiveness and personal mastery.

Including TKD. Here's a great example of a young fighter who uses the delivery system of TKD very well: http://www.tkd.risp.pl/Juras_HL_Extreme.wmv

I don't consider the education I received in gaining a blackbelt in TKD a waste or weird at all. :wink: It's all a process of coming to realize one's unique potential.