Three words… Time on Distance 

The formula for speed but also a very very important principal for the lessons I've been doing about positioning. Last weeks class we looked at blocking techniques and the one thing that my teacher hated about the word blocking is that its misleading.

The following expressions originate from Japanese swordsmanship but apply to kumite also.

KEN NO SEN - Seizing the initiative. To move in quick and strong, attacking first before opponent is ready.

Hi, first time blogger

Just thought I would keep track of my thoughts. So the theme of my classes over the last few weeks has been on position in relation to your opponent.

It's that time again, when for some reason I feel compelled to expose the inner workings of my mind (such as it is) to my audience (such as it is).

Youtube - you've all done it, don't pretend you haven't - you've gone to youtube and typed in ‘fight'....and of course you get a bear fight, or maybe some American teenagers.

After you browse around a bit you get more and more specific, typing in

Almost every (male) martial arts practitioner I've spoken to has described the same thing to me - that being during their early years they actually felt more inclined to start a random fight than before when they had no training, but this feeling dissipated over time.

This is probably why it's drilled into us to show both humility and confidence in equal measures (and avoid conflict where possible). I suspect that these warnings are so hammered home because if they weren't male colour belts would be far more likely to have a nasty experience.

My thoughts on this are as follows: People want to fight because they don't know what the outcome is, or it's in doubt. No one has the urge to fight a child or a ninety year old. This is because you know what the outcome will be. But you see some obnoxious drunk in a bar and you think ‘I probably could'..... but you don't know for sure, so you have the urge to find out.