Coolest Real thing that you have ever experienced in Martial Arts

Agree. Man oh man does it bring back good memories when I think about those times. People need to understand that they were men trying to bring out the best in a person and the best for TKD, and not much else. There was protocol but they both acted like regular people (because they were) and treated you like you were also a regular Joe. No huffing or swelled chests. Way too much was going on for all that. Man, those were great times. So many stories.

 

Thanks so very much for your service Buka.

 

You know... I have thought a LOT about this thread, and whether something cool had happened, and I just couldn't think of anything! It's ALL cool .

But one thing I remember was one of my first kyu gradings really early on, I don't think sparring was a necessity for us lower grades, but Shihan said "ah yeah chuck them in for a couple." Threw us by surprise, and I was super nervous.

I think we only did about 2 or 3 hard rounds, but one fellow I was up against kicked me hard in the head with a mawashi geri and I went to the ground (upon retrospect, it was probably a little excessive for the lower grade that I was, and the fact that we weren't supposed to even spar then, but nevertheless!).

I do not know how, but as soon as I hit the ground, I SPRUNG back up quickly, straight to my feet, guard held up high. I have no idea how that happened, I'd never been knocked down to the ground before, and not hit hard like that before, but something in me just drove me back up.

It really surprised me, but I was very proud. We were all exhausted by that point in the grading too after having done everything else required. Sort of reminded me of the motto (and I'm paraphrasing as I couldn't find it...): " When the body gives up, the mind takes over. When the mind gives up, the spirit takes over."

 

1. I was at a tournament with a friend, and we were doing self defense techniques before judges. On the last technique, my friend came with a roundhouse punch instead of the straight punch we planned. Next thing I knew, he was on the ground and I was standing over him. I asked him "what just happened?" He replied that I had done an Ogoshi Judo throw. That was pretty cool.

2. At a seminar, Frank Shamrock (yes, the UFC fighter) opened a beer for a friend of mine using only a rubber gun with the trigger guard removed. Then, he proceeded to prank call @Kemposhot to ask him why he wasn't at the seminar.

 

A very good memory that I believe everyone should experience at least once in some form or another.

Whether it comes in measured amounts or you get it all at once like you did, everyone needs to feel extreme resistance. In the big pictures sense, a newcomer will almost always process and handle it differently compared to someone who has been through the fire several times. However, I fully believe there is much fact in the "fight or flight" response. And while there are different levels or extremes to this emotional response it is always measurable.

One thing I have learned over the years is that 'measuring' it can be tough. You can have the same response in two people for very different reasons. Let's say a person gets hammered and follows up by becoming stoic, balks. and basically just stands there. For one person, the main driving factor may be plain old fear, causing confusion, hesitation, and doubt. For the other person the driving factor(s) may be more complex. Things like information overload or lack of practice time not allowing responses to coalesce can cause measurable, visual delay. Fear is a minimal factor for the second person but in the short term the result is the same. Each person popped back up (I think from our base animalistic nature) but the thought processes as to 'why' or what was happening next were very different.

A good for example or derivative would be how some/most grapplers response would be to stay down and counter from the ground, at least in the short term. This would be a measurable response from a conditioned, experienced person.

I suppose an experienced attacker could even assess the 'popping back up' response as a measure of a persons inexperience. There is a Lot going on in that moment.

 

Self-discovery is always cool. To learn something about yourself that you didn't know before.

 

To learn a MA technique from a story telling is cool.

A: Dear master, which technique did you use to challenge that Judo master who visited China back in 1934?
B: I kneed his leading leg, and hooked his back leg.

 

Good time!

Having invested in a camcorder around the early days of my training in the early 2000’s has proven to be a cool thing to look back on. It’s both awesome and funny to see some of the mistakes and progress made over the years.

 

I'll tell you another really cool thing I experienced...

A long time ago I used to compete in New England. Point tournaments, Kickboxing, smokers, whatever.

At a tournament, J. Park (Jung Hwan Park) came in and did a demo. I had never seen anything like it. Still haven't to this day, actually.

He had two students with him, two black belts in their early twenties. A big mat was put down and they took turns attacking him. You know how that goes, it's all choreographed and well practiced. This particular demo was outstanding. And kind of frightening. Master Park was slamming these guys onto the mat with such force it was stunning. And the two guys seemed almost bored by it all.

There were many standing ovations that night over that demo. Twice stopping the demo for half minutes so the stands could calm down. J Park humbly bowed in thanks. We were all abuzz afterwards, but especially by his two black belts. We were thinking "How could you possibly hurt either of those guys, they seemed to be made out of steel or something."

Flash forward a couple years. I'm competing in Connecticut and find out J Park is doing a demo there during the night finals. I'm telling all the guys who haven't seen him "Wait until you see this guy. And the guys with him. They're scary awesome."

Time comes for the demo. Only one problem. There's no mats. No mats of any kind. Apparently, they were stolen the week before in a break in. The poor tournament director is beside himself with embarrassment. He's explaining to the crowd that the mats are gone and they have to cancel the demo - when J Park signals him to stop, walks up to him, away from the mike, and whispers into his ear.

J Park and his two blck belts (I have no idea if they were the same two) do the demo anyway. On the hardwood basketball floor. And he slams them to the floor just as hard as he had with the mats. I've never seen such good breakfall in my life. It was just WHAM to the floor and get right back up again. Some of the crowd was at first horrified, then amazed. The expression on his two black belts faces never changed, except once....

He was throwing both of them down at one point, again, onto a hardwood floor, and the hand of one of them, during the crash to the floor, hit the other one in the eye. As they were quickly getting up, they quietly giggled to each other for a split second. Blew my mind.

Flash forward again a couple years. I'm competing somewhere, forget where, and I get into a brawl match that happened from time to time back then, when two guys are actively trying to kill each other. It was a good brawl, he won, even though I thought I had.

I go into the locker room to ice my face, which was pretty banged up. I'm sitting on the bench, big bag of ice in the palms of my hands, face right into it - when I feel a gentle hand on my shoulder. I look up and it's J. Park. I had watched him and his guys the two times I mentioned, but hadn't actually met him.

He says to me, "You fought valiantly, you fought with honor. I feel you won. Keep it up."

We went on to have a nice conversation for a few moments before he left. We bowed and shook hands. Suddenly my face didn't hurt anymore. Until the next day, that is. Looked like I had run into a Choo Choo train.

One of the coolest days of my career.

 

I can tell you really enjoyed that one. Good life experience.

 

Film study is a really great learning tool.

 

It was, and I did, yes, Wolf. It was a good life experience. A decade before I studied Tae Kwon Do (and Hapkido) and although not knowing at the time, it was a strong influence, even if subconsciously.

When in the moment, especially young like I was, you don't see the big picture going forward. Maybe some do, I sure as hell didn't.

And then someone/something comes along, gives a little nudge.

Nudges are a good thing. I think anyone who teaches, assists, helps out, has experience, has influence, has a love for the Arts, is older, passionate, well known, whatever...should nudge others whenever they can.

 

The coolest thing that I've ever experienced?

Meeting and learning from a really high level martial artist, and experiencing his skill first hand.

I trained, for a short time, Lameco Escrima with one of the best instructors in that system. Private lessons in his back yard. And, I have never met anyone who had that level of skill, experience, speed, power, and "martial intent," for lack of a better word.

In training, he was often "half compliant." He would let me successfully do techniques in order to learn, but he would also show me when/where I leave myself open by entering/countering. I remember training Espada Y Daga, and the speed and effortlessness with which he could "cut" me three or four times before I realized where I was open (or as I realized, and moved to defend, but leaving myself open elsewhere) was astonishing. He really could take advantage of the slightest opening, and do so before I could respond. But his speed wasn't a product of just "moving faster than I was all of the sudden". If anything he didn't need to move quickly -- it was just really efficient and really non-telegraphed movement, and him taking advantage of openings as they appear, not after.

It occurred to me after this that one of the most important aspects of training is to have a teacher who can take advantage of mistakes; to show you where you're open, and how to take advantage of an opponent's opening. If your teacher can't do that, and you can't do that either, you're both just getting away with a lot of bad habits and not learning to take advantage of openings created by an unskilled opponent.

As for the coolest thing I've experienced doing myself?

Maybe the first time I ever tried knife defense. It was in a Wing Chun school, and the instructor had us pair up, one attacker, one defender (empty hand) just to show how serious and difficult it was to defend against an armed attacker. Well, come my turn to defend, my partner was thrusting and cutting quickly as I backed, and my immediate flinch respons was to pak sao (slap) the inside of his wrist -- it's not something I intended to do, just something that came out. Well, I did this with enough speed and force that it caused his wrist to bend, opening up his grip and sending the wooden knife flying. (You can try this yourself. Close your fist. Now bend your wrist to the inside -- your fingers loosen and your grip partially opens, right? This is the basic principle behind many disarms. I just happened to accidentally implement it with a slap to the inside forearm just above the wrist instead of a wrist lock, as you usually see it done.)

 

I have loved and appreciated the 37 years of training under GM Seoung Eui Shin. More memories than I can list and you would want to hear.
Training with GM Sang Chul Lee in my competition days was special.
The 3 years I trained with Bill McGrath is some of my most cherished training.123