Mixed Martial Arts Sparring

[Zenjael]

I meant years, apologies.

There was an individual before who mentioned no one had seen the style of bagua I do. I am still working to incorporate bagua into my fighting style, so I readily admit I am not as skilled as the people in this video in terms of combat, using bagua. Shishi bagua is very similar to Yin-Qian style, though the grasping techniques have been altered to strikes which carry through. Essentially, should one say palm strike, it would be aimed to next, go past the target, using the momentum as a swing to ground the opponent. Qian emphasizes low kicks, which when combined with carrying techniques assist in placing people on ground. Against people of Alec's level and above, I am not comfortable employing the techniques fully, though am practicing to better incorporate them into my own combat style. Shishi bagua employs elements of dog style, but I have found that it does not work well for me in Baguazhang. I am simply just not acrobatic enough, or perhaps too lazy, so until I can better master those elements of the style, I have switched out dog style sweeps for high level kicks from TKD and mid-level kicks from muai thai.

Yin-Qian style is described, as per wikipedia "The lion is pure Yang energy, or hardness, and is one of two animals represented by a pure trigram; the other is the Unicorn. The lion trigram is characterized by powerful and ferocious full-body force generated from the waist. The lion's eight striking methods are: sweeping, cutting, chopping, hooking, shocking, blocking, seizing and grasping."
I am hoping within a few years I will be able to implement the techniques better into my own style of fighting, which still carries much Chung Do Kwan, Moo Duk Kwan, and Krav Maga. A form of it looks like this;

Dog style gong fu places emphasis on sweeps and ground, and appears as such;

The styles complement each other as lion grounds the opponent, and dog style controls combat which is below waist and on ground. I however think it is too flashy, and has as mentioned above, implemented high kicks.

Shishi bagua also drew upon elements of lion gong fu. Think a cross between the above yin-style video, and this form;

. The movements employ much further rotation of hips and legs, though does not contain the high kicks of lion style.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

What I was hoping, in asking for opine's, were ways to improve the video, improve my technique.

How to improve the video? I think you said it yourself. The fancy edit tricks and the whammajamma music are pretty much teh suck. What can I say? I agree.

I think people are trying to tell you that it's kind of impossible to improve technique they don't see. But I did see some people make comments about how they would do it. And you seem to conveniently forget that you also wanted us to take pointers from you.

Not be told how much I suck, how people I greatly respect are essentially frauds who scammed me, and that I'm ego tripping.

When everyone tells you that your performance sucks, and many of them are actual for real martial artists...maybe they have a point. And if you didn't want to be told you suck, you should have said, "Please don't tell me I suck, my fragile ego can't take it." As I recall, you said to pull no punches. Ta-da.

Because I don't think I'm great, I'm just very into martial arts, and was hoping to share the love.

The only love you shared so far is the kind that leads to hairy palms and poor eyesight.

 

[K-man]

The criticism has largely been negative, and where I have felt undue because people didn't in certain cases even actually watch the video (one individual asks if I did Wing Chun at 3:00 minutes when clearly the arm is nowhere near an elbow. Another accuses me of erroneously reporting my past because they could not read the credits) I have explained movements to justify where they are incorrect. If I'm told I don't dodge, and I do, I will point it out. This video was not doctored to look better, save in that I played with the effects.

If you guys are going to give your opinion- give me constructive advice. If you take issue with an aspect of my background, my personality, and/or age, I would prefer it be taken outside of this thread and to private. Make a Zenjael's a Fraud thread for all I care.

What I was hoping, in asking for opine's, were ways to improve the video, improve my technique. Not be told how much I suck, how people I greatly respect are essentially frauds who scammed me, and that I'm ego tripping.

Because I don't think I'm great, I'm just very into martial arts, and was hoping to share the love.

The criticism is negative because I feel you have placed yourself at a level way above your demonstrated ability. The clip by itself is fine and if you said here is a video I put together playing around with a friend we would have said great. However you have tweaked it up with special effects and put your perceived rank and MA background on it and called it MMA. It's not MMA. It's not anything. You're not putting in and it looks like sh*#. Sorry, but that's what it looks like to people who have been around the traps.

If you want to have a video of sparring for us to comment on, then pad up and get stuck in. Land some strikes, get past the defence and grab hold.

Don't make excuses for crap moves like defending against a strike to the 'lymph glands'. No one normally launches an attack against 'lymph glands'. Vital points are more nerves or blood vessels and they are attacked from close range. Lymph glands are more painful when pressed.

Hanging a foot out in front like your washing on the line is not good MA, it is crap and in a self defence scenario could get you killed. Your mate caught your foot heaps of times and for what reason, I don't know, he didn't put you on your ****. If I caught your foot like that and we were in a MMA bout, I would have taken out you other leg. None of your strikes looked like landing because there was no intent. You were playing, not sparring.

We all love Martial Arts and we enjoy discussing the various issues. What will annoy many folk here is someone purporting to be what they obviously are not.

Good luck.

 

[Zenjael]

How to improve the video? I think you said it yourself. The fancy edit tricks and the whammajamma music are pretty much teh suck. What can I say? I agree.

The video was made mainly to entertain my friends who I have over, many of which are martial artists. They are also into dubstep, so I made a video tailoring to their tastes. Hopefully you wont sue me, lol.

To be honest, I dislike dubstep strongly.

I think people are trying to tell you that it's kind of impossible to improve technique they don't see.

And that is the problem. People are not identifying techniques, nor how to improve them. One individual has given me a nice comment on adjusting my front kick, but the other recommendations were from not being familiar with how ba gua operates in circle walking.

If my technique sucks, tell me. But I've got people who don't even know what they're looking at critiquing on things which aren't even there. One individual complimented me on an elbow move at 3:00 minutes, and there is no elbow move in that sequence. But I received a number of compliments on my kicks.

The majority of the critiquing was on fight style and tactics, rather than techniques which need to be corrected.

When everyone tells you that your performance sucks, and many of them are actual for real martial artists...maybe they have a point. And if you didn't want to be told you suck, you should have said, "Please don't tell me I suck, my fragile ego can't take it." As I recall, you said to pull no punches. Ta-da.

I don't recall anyone telling me what I did sucked. And I wouldn't mind if they did. What I do mind however is being told that people I truly respect, and some I miss, were frauds. And while you can insult me, insulting my training partners, and teachers, is crossing a big line.

However you have tweaked it up with special effects and put your perceived rank and MA background on it and called it MMA.

I put both my perceived rank and the other's, in addition to our background training... to give background information on who you are watching. It's called respect, martial arts begins, and ends with it.

MMA is not its own style, though I wish somebody would give it a damn name apart from MMA. What many consider 'MMA' is a hybrid style of muai thai, TKD, and grappling. While this has become so commercialized on television many consider MMA its own style, Mixed martial arts is any style created merging other styles. When Bruce Lee added high Roundhouse kick to his wing chun, he created an MMA style.

Don't make excuses for crap moves like defending against a strike to the 'lymph glands'. No one normally launches an attack against 'lymph glands'.

As I pointed out, I did not successfully defend against it. A strike to the inner armpit is among the most painful strikes possible, I've felt, since it affects every lymph node on that portion of the body.

You can see it in the video being done, it certainly is elsewhere.Hanging a foot out in front like your washing on the line is not good MA, it is crap and in a self defence scenario could get you killed.

It can, I agree. But so could the misappropriation of every technique. Sparring is an exercise to better incorporate the techniques you've learned into when you do actually fight. Alec and I are not fighting, we are sparring, and playing around. I would never, in a street situation, ever place a side kick on another's hip to ward them off and get a strike to the head, which I do in this video.

Your mate caught your foot heaps of times and for what reason, I don't know, he didn't put you on your ****.

There are times he attempted, 4:54 is a good example. The problem is he can't. I have good balance enough that if you grab my leg, specifically so you don't throw me, I give a short kick, which has enough force to break the grip. If you'll notice the next thing I do is drop my leg.

For people who leave their leg out without deliberation, they can get thrown. But there are people who you can grab their leg, but all ur doing is letting them wail on you with both hands, while you've got at least one tied up with your leg.

I only grab the leg of people who I know do not have the dexterity to do that. Hence why in TKD you don't see them grabbing legs very much. It'd be no bueno for your hands.

I caught your foot like that and we were in a MMA bout, I would have taken out you other leg.

and what had I jumped when you went for it, afterall, holding my leg you give me perfect leverage to pop out a strong roundhouse. Do not assume that because you would do something it would necessarily work. I've been doing things with my legs and kicks like this for years. I wouldn't do it if it were THAT easy to flip me.

None of your strikes looked like landing because there was no intent. You were playing, not sparring.

While I do agree in that we were playing more than sparring, we were sparring. We had no intent to land our techniques, but it is fairly clear that there is techniques to get 'in'.

Do you really need to punch people to let them know the strike could have punched them? Why hurt others when there's no need? I assure you, just because we aren't swinging our punches, or delivering the blows, does not mean they would not damage if hit.

A lot of advice people are giving are what they would do in the situation- as advice for me. However, I am not them. Chances are likely my balance might be better, or flexibility different. This video is about half the speed, and none of the intensity Alec and I are capable of.

And the funny thing, this IS a video I would like comments on, and I am happy this has had so many. What I am not happy about is the number which simply seem to want to take a crap on it. What do I do like, is people talking about how they fight for themself. But if going to recommend a fighting tactic, or response, they should consider at the very least my capabilities, and the fact they don't know them. Maybe I suck, and neither of those people are me at all (I wouldn't lie like that) but the point is one the same- a lot of people are making giant assumptions of how to survival fight... based on sparring match, which is not proper.

Now if I were to get comments such as, when Alec rushes me at 52 and throws a hook-heel to my head, maybe I should have tightened the stance I already had, instead of ducking and trying to block with the point of my elbow, as I did, that would be constructive criticism on the video. That would be useful for me to grow, for the other to grow from our exchange, and to have an actual conversation instead of whatever is going on now.

There are a lot of moves in this video I would not employ on the street, that doesn't mean I don't know how to use them. Different circumstances, different reactions.

Chances are good I'd lose most of my Bagua in a confrontation and switch to Krav Maga, and just beat down the groin and neck. But I doubt Alec would want to hang with me anymore after that. Especially when he can easily return the favor since he also trained in it. Agression is integral to that self-defense system, but knowing when aggression is appropriate (control over oneself) is key to martial arts.

I would never fight aggressively with a friend. But you better believe I'll rip a person's throat out with my teeth, and slap them in the neck, groin as often, and quickly as possible, for survival.

 

[K-man]

And that is the problem. People are not identifying techniques, nor how to improve them. One individual has given me a nice comment on adjusting my front kick, but the other recommendations were from not being familiar with how ba gua operates in circle walking.

I have commented on your technique, or lack thereof, and you just defend what you have done. Either take it on board or don't ask for comment.

If my technique sucks, tell me. But I've got people who don't even know what they're looking at critiquing on things which aren't even there. One individual complimented me on an elbow move at 3:00 minutes, and there is no elbow move in that sequence. But I received a number of compliments on my kicks.

Your technique sucks.

The majority of the critiquing was on fight style and tactics, rather than techniques which need to be corrected.

There were no definite techniques that were readily recognisable.

I don't recall anyone telling me what I did sucked. And I wouldn't mind if they did. What I do mind however is being told that people I truly respect, and some I miss, were frauds. And while you can insult me, insulting my training partners, and teachers, is crossing a big line.

I don't know anything about your teachers so I obviously won't comment. What you showed, from my pov, sucked because you put it up as MMA sparring between two high ranked martial artists and it was not to the standard I would expect from my green belts.

I put both my perceived rank and the other's, in addition to our background training... to give background information on who you are watching. It's called respect, martial arts begins, and ends with it.

Maybe you are not respecting the intelligence of those who make this forum what it is.

MMA is not its own style, though I wish somebody would give it a damn name apart from MMA. What many consider 'MMA' is a hybrid style of muai thai, TKD, and grappling. While this has become so commercialized on television many consider MMA its own style, Mixed martial arts is any style created merging other styles. When Bruce Lee added high Roundhouse kick to his wing chun, he created an MMA style.

I wasn't aware TKD had such pride of place in the mix when the emphasis there is so much on kicking and so much less on striking. MMA in the main, refers to what people see in UFC etc. What you showed bore no resemblance. MMA includes most of the sport forms of MA especially BJJ which probably revolutionised the whole thing. I don't think what Bruce Lee did made WC a mixed martial art at all.

As I pointed out, I did not successfully defend against it. A strike to the inner armpit is among the most painful strikes possible, I've felt, since it affects every lymph node on that portion of the body.

I was't aware that this was essentially a lymph node. In PP speak you are probably striking around GB22 or GB23 and the reason it hurts is that there is no muscle covering the ribs at that point. If you had better body structure in your sparring that area would not be exposed. That's why we tuck our elbows in, and seeing that you claim to be versed in 'Okinawan karate' you would recognise the relevance of Sanchin in protecting that point.

It can, I agree. But so could the misappropriation of every technique. Sparring is an exercise to better incorporate the techniques you've learned into when you do actually fight. Alec and I are not fighting, we are sparring, and playing around. I would never, in a street situation, ever place a side kick on another's hip to ward them off and get a strike to the head, which I do in this video.

Sparring IS fighting but at a less intense level. What you do in sparring is what you hope to be able to do in a street situation under adrenal dump. If you are sparring for sport, it is no different. Poor technique is poor technique and if you wouldn't perform that technique for real under pressure, why on earth would you practise it when sparring?

There are times he attempted, 4:54 is a good example. The problem is he can't. I have good balance enough that if you grab my leg, specifically so you don't throw me, I give a short kick, which has enough force to break the grip. If you'll notice the next thing I do is drop my leg.

That's BS and if you believe you can release your leg from a grab you have never been held. You can drop your leg as much as you like, you will get your back leg swept and if your mate can't do that to you ..... (shakes his head).

For people who leave their leg out without deliberation, they can get thrown. But there are people who you can grab their leg, but all ur doing is letting them wail on you with both hands, while they've got at least one tied up with your leg.

Sorry .... this does not make sense. I grab your foot lift it and sweep your leg and you are going to 'wail on me' with both hands. I don't think so. You will need both hands to try a break your fall!

I only grab the leg of people who I know do not have the dexterity to do that. Hence why in TKD you don't see them grabbing legs very much. It'd be no bueno for your hands.

[h=2]taekwondo sparring rules - what you can't do[/h]These are the common things that give your opponent penalty points

• Stepping both feet out of ring
• Evading by turning your back on your opponent
• Intentionally falling down
• Avoiding the match
• Grabbing, holding or pushing your opponent
• Attacking below your opponent's waist
• Pretending to be injured
• Butting or attacking with your knee
• Hitting your opponent's face with your hand

You don't grab legs in TKD because it is not the thing to do. You don't punch people in the head in TKD either.

and what had I jumped when you went for it, afterall, holding my leg you give me perfect leverage to pop out a strong roundhouse. ????? Do not assume that because you would do something it would necessarily work. I've been doing things with my legs and kicks like this for years. 19 to be precise, you have told us. I wouldn't do it if it were THAT easy to flip me. Obviously!

While I do agree in that we were playing more than sparring, we were sparring. We had no intent to land our techniques, but it is fairly clear that there is techniques to get 'in'.

Sorry, I didn't see them.

Do you really need to punch people to let them know the strike could have punched them? Why hurt others when there's no need?

Short answer ... yes. There is a huge difference between scoring a point in a competition and landing a real punch. If you are wearing appropriate gear you will not normally hurt anyone.

I think you have a lot of training ahead of you. Good luck. :asian:

 

[Tez3]

Alright forget it , you know everything , you go against the tactics that numerous Wing Chun men have used to defeat much larger men in real combat.
Your just starting to annoy me now , and for the record I am a small man who has trained with many large men and getting into close range is the only chance you have got.

Is this a good time to say he's pissing in our pockets?

 

[K-man]

Is this a good time to say he's pissing in our pockets?

Not even sure he has it in him!!

 

[Zenjael]

I have commented on your technique, or lack thereof, and you just defend what you have done. Either take it on board or don't ask for comment.

Naturally I have defended myself. But I have also agreed with a lot of the statements made, if you read over my posts.

Is not the forum to discuss?

Maybe you are not respecting the intelligence of those who make this forum what it is.

In what fashion? I have never derided anyone's ability, nor questioned their background. I have never told people THIS IS HOW IT MUST BE DONE. Or told others they are wrong. I suggested what works for me.

I wasn't aware TKD had such pride of place in the mix when the emphasis there is so much on kicking and so much less on striking. MMA in the main, refers to what people see in UFC etc. What you showed bore no resemblance. MMA includes most of the sport forms of MA especially BJJ which probably revolutionised the whole thing. I don't think what Bruce Lee did made WC a mixed martial art at all.

TKD should take pride in its kicks, and where it is do. MMA in the UFC circuit, and what is utilized as MMA does incorporate the roundhouse, which is the most prevalant kick in TKD. Mixed Martial Arts means just that- mixing different styles into a fighting style which is unique from the prior styles. Like I said before, I wish MMA would be given an actual name apart from MMA. Because it creates a weird mindset that, that is the only mixed martial art. The style of Bagua I do is a mixed martial art, which incorporated dog style.

Sparring IS fighting but at a less intense level. What you do in sparring is what you hope to be able to do in a street situation under adrenal dump. If you are sparring for sport, it is no different. Poor technique is poor technique and if you wouldn't perform that technique for real under pressure, why on earth would you practise it when sparring?

To better master the technique, for mastery of the styles sake.

That's BS and if you believe you can release your leg from a grab you have never been held. You can drop your leg as much as you like, you will get your back leg swept and if your mate can't do that to you ..... (shakes his head).

You put too much assumption behind words like this. I have been flipped many a time from lingering my leg out in a way that would allow it to be manipulated as such. If a short front-kick wouldnt release me, trust me, the twist into a side-kick will. I have been flipped, swept and thrown doing this, and I worked on the kicks until the problem became one which is advantageous. I did not drop my leg either, notice the refold and step. If you would like to think, that in Alec's situation you would executed the sweep and knocked me down, that is fine. I do not think you would, and I think you would regret trying to grab my leg.

Sorry .... this does not make sense. I grab your foot lift it and sweep your leg and you are going to 'wail on me' with both hands. I don't think so. You will need both hands to try a break your fall!

Should you get to flip me. If you were to try, it is simple to refold your leg. My leg can be raised up to my shoulder before I am forced to lose my balance, and I assure you I would have rotated to the side to avoid being swept. The majority of leg grabs occur at the ankle, and require both hands to secure the leg. As you noticed in the video, tug as he might, he could not drop that leg. If you were to grab my quick, I assure you it would most likely be because I wanted you to, and the second you have your arm preoccupied supporting me leg, supporting it, I will fold in, and start pummeling.

There are some people who will not let themself be swept, and it isnt a hard type of technique to avoid. The trick is in keeping a fine tune on your center of gravity and balance. Chances are just as like that if you grabbed my leg I would just roundhouse with the other to the head. Wouldn't have a reason not to- your head is exposed at that point.

Maybe, if you charged me while holding my leg. But you'll find then I'd just hop back, while still kicking, over and over. But if you charged, it's a simple matter of just stick one's palm out. The nice thing about being small is that it can gift the body with great speed. Additionally, in Tae Kwon Do there are numerous quicks which use the individual as a launch point. You flipping me, for all you know, could result to a knee strike or kick as I move up. Hence why if I grabbed someone, I would use the time to strike their leg or groin. Why the heck sweep when you can just put them out.

However, these are hypotheticals, and we can speculate until the end of time. You are sure you would overcome me, from my experience having had this happen, and no longer do so, I feel you would not, and it would be risky tactic to use on anyone. Some people when you raise their leg after catching is crumble their back, and if they grabbed your arm you'd be quite easily dragged along with having thrown me. Hapkido makes use of this often.

In the end this just turns into an "Im better than you" mindset. If you want to keep beating your chest over the matter, fine, but I grow weary of it. What if's don't help save as speculation. You told me how I am vulnerable when he grabs my leg, and then admitted you did not understand why he did not do what you would. I gave you the answer- he couldn't, that should probably convey to you that when somebody who specializes in grappling, through judo, aikido, hapkido, krav maga, and jiujitsu couldn't do it, chances are it isn't worth the effort. Let alone the amount of time put in discussing it.

These are the common things that give your opponent penalty points

• Stepping both feet out of ring
• Evading by turning your back on your opponent
• Intentionally falling down
• Avoiding the match
• Grabbing, holding or pushing your opponent
• Attacking below your opponent's waist
• Pretending to be injured
• Butting or attacking with your knee
• Hitting your opponent's face with your hand

You don't grab legs in TKD because it is not the thing to do. You don't punch people in the head in TKD either.

True, but there are 9 styles of Tae Kwon Do, and while most follow the standard rules, chung do kwan for example, employs grabs, sweeps, and face strikes. We had multiple kicks we practiced for striking the knee, or breaking the shin from the side. In our in-school tournaments, any technique was allowed.

I find at least one of your rules also erroneous. In TKD one of the most common counters to the round kick is a reverse side of hook kick, which is a evasive technique which only works by turning your back, and the point scored if connected is very valid.

Sorry, I didn't see them.

Then review the video and look closer. If you cannot see where a technique would have struck, but was obviously restrained so as to not do so... I question your ability to see any strike coming at you, let alone your ability to react to it. There are very clear examples, throughout it. Hell, every technique which gets in

There is a huge difference between scoring a point in a competition and landing a real punch.

And I agree. There were no points to score here. There are different types of sparring, and this is what we call continuous.

If you are wearing appropriate gear you will not normally hurt anyone.

Yeah, no. Padding only does so much. Us sparring like this is about refinding our degree of control. You notice that his control is superb- he lands two hook kicks, clearly, and neither resulted in injury. Gear will not stop you from getting hurt, and in the long run, especially in sports with blows to the head, can lead to brain damaging.

Why risk it? Wear pads until you are conditioned enough to take blows, learn how to effectively block, channel blows, and evade. Martial arts I believe is a sport which carries the highest likelihood of injury, with on average two occuring to a martial artist in a year, I've read. Perhaps those pads dont do as much good as people espouse.

Don't get me wrong, padding has its great uses... but when you see somebody's groin get torn because of the cup, when they would have been fine without, you begin to question the actual safety it offers. When a glove permanently keeps you maintaining a tight grip (thickly curved foam gloves) you risk boxer's fracture immensely.

The stock you put into pads was the response to Americas love of suing. If you look at how most people trained in the arts in history... you don't see sparring gear till the art picked up in the states, and people realized there was money to be made.

In kendo, gear is needed, and certain other martial arts. But if you're a black belt and still wear a chest protector, a shin or forearm guard, than I do not think the person with the physical durability deserving of that denotation of rank. Frankly all you need by the time you hit your first dan is a mouth guard. If you are making full contact sparring to result in injury, while not wearing sparring padding, you need to work onyour degree of control and philosophy of how you train with others.

I strive to never hurt those I train with, no matter how much people may want to simulate realism.

 

[ETinCYQX]

You're still here? Go do some hard contact with someone who can actually strike and get back to us. No idea where you're located but if you're local to me, my sparring session is Friday night. I have some thirteen year olds you can start with.

And a "degree of control" is because you don't want to get hit. You SHOULD be getting hit hard in sparring. No one cares about your "control" in a self defense situation.

Who gave you your 3rd Dan Kukkiwon?

 

[K-man]

Mate you have all the answers. Obviously you are training at a level so far above me that normal rules no longer apply! :s395:

 

[jks9199]

OK, Alex... You want specific advice?

Drop all the crap and movie-inspired BS, like flipping out when your leg is trapped, or being unsweepable because of flexibility. Stop thinking how good you are, and go back to basics. Learn how to really, effectively land a simple punch combination. And how to defend from it. Lather, rinse, repeat with other techniques. If you want to use multiple arts, fine. Find one that's your base (probably, TKD, based on what you've listed), and integrate the rest into that. Make sure that the principles are congruent, because you can't and won't functionally bounce between circle-walking and TKD/Krav Maga linearity, for example, under pressure.

I can't assess most of your technique in the video for the simple reason that the effects make it unwatchable. I can mute the music, but the repeats and effects just make it impossible to watch. You say you made it for friends to watch; I guess it was a "look at how bad-*** we are" thing... Hell, when I was in my teens, if we'd had easily available video, I probably would've done the same damn thing. Maybe even with the silly effects. I got lucky, trained with some very good people, and lived through being a cocky kid. You likely will too. I hope you and your friends had fun with it.

Your profile says you like to kickbox; if you're sincerely interested, I can certainly help you find some opportunities to do that locally. All I'll do is give you the contacts; following through will be up to you. Fair warning: if this video is typical of your sparring -- it'll be a pretty humbling experience.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Do you really need to punch people to let them know the strike could have punched them? Why hurt others when there's no need?

As I said, there's nothing wrong with light-contact sparring. The problem is that you have to understand how the techniques really would work if you were applying real contact. That means using realistic distancing and not moving in ways that would get you hurt in a real fight.

Based on your movement in the video and your comments in this thread, I get the impression that you do not have the experience of working hard-contact against skilled opponents. It appears that most of the other people commenting in this thread have the same impression.

It's possible that all of us are completely mistaken in our perceptions. It is true that many of us have been training (as adults) longer than you've been alive, but that doesn't mean we're infallible. Nevertheless, you asked for our honest feedback. We're providing what you asked for. If you actually want to learn something from the feedback, the way to do it would be to ask follow-up questions to understand the criticism rather than explaining why everyone is wrong to be critical.

The majority of leg grabs occur at the ankle, and require both hands to secure the leg.

This is just one example of a quote that indicates you don't have experience in sparring against people who really know what they're doing. Effective leg grabs do not require both hands to secure the leg. If the majority of your sparring partners are grabbing the ankle with both hands when they catch your leg, then they don't know what they're doing.

 

[seasoned]

MT the site, can at times be like a full contact experience, read well and learn. Much good advice, maybe not the kind you were looking for, but honest and to the point............

 

[Bill Mattocks]

This is just one example of a quote that indicates you don't have experience in sparring against people who really know what they're doing. Effective leg grabs do not require both hands to secure the leg. If the majority of your sparring partners are grabbing the ankle with both hands when they catch your leg, then they don't know what they're doing.

Absolutely correct. I can only think of one circumstance where I got an opponent by the ankle with both hands and dumped him. The rest were all hooks under the calf, or I jammed the kick and lifted the thigh. And they were one-handed, usually done with the crook of my own arm.

 

[seasoned]

Absolutely correct again. If by chance you do find both hands around someones leg. foot, or ankle, grabber take it to the celling, grabby take your grabbed appendage straight to the ground.......... The quicker you take their balance the more teeth you will keep.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Absolutely correct again. If by chance you do find both hands around someones leg. foot, or ankle, grabber take it to the celling, grabbier take your grabbed appendage straight to the ground.......... The quicker you take their balance the more teeth you will keep.

[video=youtube_share;fOP5e9zKz5c]http://youtu.be/fOP5e9zKz5c[/video]

40 seconds in, the only two-handed grab of a kick I've ever done. And yes, he went down to the concrete floor. I actually did not mean to dump him on his face, but down he was going to go. I lost that match, and deservedly so; I just didn't have the flow that day, which is a shame considering how much it cost me to drive and stay and enter and such. However, I'm generally pretty good at jamming kicks, it's something I'm kind of proud of.

When talking to young Alex, I kept being reminded of some black belts I've sparred who were of slighter stature, light on their feet, and great kickers. Better than me? You bet. Faster? Sure. However, if they threw that kick up more than once, I knocked 'em to the ground. Some things cannot be overcome with kicks; and I get low and jam kicks. Playing to my strengths, as it were.

 

[seasoned]

Great point, Bill. Backing away from a good kicker will place you in a very bad position for that second one that is inevitable.
My instructor, a very large and powerful guy, always taught to move into a kick. It does take bal_ _ , but, the next time you spar them it will be in the back of their mind.

 

[seasoned]

[video=youtube_share;fOP5e9zKz5c]http://youtu.be/fOP5e9zKz5c[/video]

40 seconds in, the only two-handed grab of a kick I've ever done. And yes, he went down to the concrete floor. I actually did not mean to dump him on his face, but down he was going to go. I lost that match, and deservedly so; I just didn't have the flow that day, which is a shame considering how much it cost me to drive and stay and enter and such. However, I'm generally pretty good at jamming kicks, it's something I'm kind of proud of.

When talking to young Alex, I kept being reminded of some black belts I've sparred who were of slighter stature, light on their feet, and great kickers. Better than me? You bet. Faster? Sure. However, if they threw that kick up more than once, I knocked 'em to the ground. Some things cannot be overcome with kicks; and I get low and jam kicks. Playing to my strengths, as it were.

Hey, Bill, I like the "mad dog" handle. 32 seconds into it he almost bought the farm, but that was the down payment. 40 was a charm.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Great point, Bill. Backing away from a good kicker will place you in a very bad position for that second one that is inevitable.
My instructor, a very large and powerful guy, always taught to move into a kick. It does take bal_ _ , but, the next time you spar them it will be in the back of their mind.

I try to remember that as a round stumpy short guy (5-10), a lot of guys have range on me. So letting them pick me off at a distance is bad mojo. If I'm going to eat a kick, I'd much rather do it before it gets to full extension anyway, and if I'm inside, then I can use my weapons as well. You've seen my sparring videos; even when I'm losing, I'm backing the guy up and often out of the ring. I'm aggressive and don't like to give ground and seldom do. I like being right in their grill.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Hey, Bill, I like the "mad dog" handle. 32 seconds into it he almost bought the farm, but that was the down payment. 40 was a charm.

That is kind of weird. When I was in the Marine Corps, my nickname was "Mad Dog', partially due to my last name and partially due to my wicked ways. I actually had not been called that in nearly 25 years, and when I started at my dojo, one of my senseis took one look at me and said "Marine, huh? I'll bet they used to call you Mad Dog." How he got that, I will never know; I didn't bring it up and hadn't even though of myself that way in decades. But it stuck. Now everyone in my dojo calls me Mad Dog except my senior sensei, who calls me 'Billy'.

EDIT: If you stop it right at 30 seconds, I've got his foot top and bottom; not unlike the 'leg break' in Seisan, just on the opposite side. But his foot contacted my gut; point for him, and correctly so.