@carpecanis
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Re: Knee surgery
I had surgery for a snapped ACL a few years back… there was no other damage in my case.
Post surgery I had about 6 months of physical therapy before getting back into Krav Maga and even then I was wearing a brace while easing myself back in for another 6 months. Took about a year to feel fully confident in my kicking but now I don’t really have any issues.
For a pure meniscus tear I’m not quite sure what the repairs and recovery will entail. As will all such things I’d listen to what your doctor tells you and follow his PT protocol to the letter. The recovery will fly by quicker than you’d think.
I’d recommend that you try to track down a physical therapist that has some knowledge of sports recovery and martial arts in particular. When I hit the 3-4 month stage of PT it was time for “sport specific” training and the PTs I’d been seeing essentially washed their hands of the whole thing saying that they didn’t know anything about martial arts. Luckily I was able to track down a PT who’s also a TKD blackbelt so he was able to work w/ me on getting ready to round-house kick again.
One last thing: since you’ll probably have to ice your knee a lot post-surgery, see if you can get one of these Donjoy Iceman things:
http://www.donjoy.com/index.asp/fuseaction/products.detail/cat/12/id/101
It’s a little cooler that you fill with ice and water and it pumps the cool water around your knee constantly. The ice will last 6-8hrs and is a heck of a lot easer than dealing w/ icepacks.
Re: a punch in its most basic parts
You kind of want to do all the steps simultaneously. A punch starts with moving your fist but the arm extension, shoulder and hip rotations all follow along at the same time.
As for the combination question: Instead of jabbing, recoiling back to your fighting stance, and then throwing a cross you should begin the cross at the same time as you begin your recoil.
Re: Differences in fitness from Level 1 to Level 2?
The fitness portion of the L2 class is just as intense, but it’s a lot shorter than it is in the L1 class. L2 has a lot more techniques to learn and so more class time is devoted to learning and not getting fit.
You’ll see a lot of L2 students continuing to take L1 classes simply for the conditioning. I’ve also seen many students sucking wind during the L2 test because they only took L2 classes and didn’t keep up their L1 fitness levels.
Re: Agressive training partners …
I’ve only encountered one guy who was way too agressive. We were both about the same size and I was a bit faster than him so I could usually counter his action and come out ok. However, the guy also got some extra sick thrill from really going after the women in the class. I missed it but one of my friend told me that he finally went too far in one class and the instructor then used him as a punching bag while demostrating the techniques for the rest of the class. After class the class wrapped up he was kicked out of the school.
That guy was a top-flight a-hole but luckily they seem to be pretty rare in KM. More often than not I think that people just have a control issue. Either they hopped up on endorphans and a little too excited or they get flustered/scared during sparing and instictually strike out at full strength. If it becomes a problem, stop what you’re doing and tell the guy. Most of the time that will do the trick. If it persists talk to the instructors… most of the time they’ll be aware of what’s going on too. Tempting though it is, I’d resist the urge to retaliate… you don’t want the instructors thinking that you’re the overly agressive one.
Re: Best way to kick the knee??
If you’re squared up on your opponent in your proper KM fighting stance I think the quickest/easiest kick to the knee would be the good-ole round house. Even if you miss the knee itself you’ll still land a painful kick on his leg.
A sidekick to the knee would be pretty mean, but I would only use that kick if your opponent is areadly to your side. In a fight, I would not risk turning my side to my opponent. This would provide him with too much of an opening to get around to your back. I don’t recall if you learn side kicks in L1 or L2, but you’ll notice that you always drill them as an opening kick w/ your opponent starting to your side. As soon you’ve landed the kick you recoil, pivot, and land your foot so that you’re squared up in the fighting stance… usually followed up with a #1 elbow.
I’m not familiar w/ JKD kicks but the one you describe sounds similar to the Savate Chasse Bas front kick. If you land that one on your opponents knee he’ll likely never walk right again. It’s a really mean kick. However if I were in that situation I’d still rather use the defensive front (aka push) kick to the body. Hitting someone’s center of mass will still be easier than trying hit their knee…. actually that applies to the side kick too… I can not land a side kick with pinpoint accuracy so hitting their knee might be problematic, but I sure as heck can hit their torso.
Re: Bear hugs and hair grabs?? necessary??
Bear Hug techniques are definitely necessary. The bear hug itself isn’t the dangerous part… afterall it’s a hug. It’s what the attacker is planning to do afterwards that you have to worry about. Perhaps he’s going to pick you up and take you somewhere, or throw you down some nearby steps. Maybe he’s got some wrestling experience and is planning on slamming you onto the concrete. Could be he’s just going to hold onto you so his friend can more easily stab you in the neck. Whatever he’s planning to do, it ain’t going to be fun and you don’t want to wait around to find out what it is.
Admittedly, hair pulls are less of a problem for men with short, or non-existant hair, but someone might still grab your ear, or the hood on your jacket. Even if you’re not too worried about someone yanking on your crewcut the drills themselves help to reinforce the instincts to have an instant and aggessive response to any sort of attack.
Re: Any jewish students in your class
I can’t say we’ve ever taken a survey. However, from all the Oh-Gods, d@mnits, and Jesus-Christs that I hear, I’m pretty sure we don’t have any athiests in class.
Re: Weird Punching Techniques
“Don’t go ninja’n nobody that don’t need ninja’n.”
Those are words to live by my friends.
Re: Weird Punching Techniques
He even has a video on some Krav Maga katas. Oy…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBAX5mV3qBY&feature=related
There’s a sign in the background for this guy’s Karate school. It seems to me that he’s teaching Karate, but calling it Krav Maga. There’s certainly nothing wrong with Karate, it has it’s own fine and honorable traditions. Why not just teach Karate and call it Karate? Was the Jackie Chan, Smith-kid movie that bad for business?
Re: Some Newb Questions.
Same deal here. I joined up shortly after my 36th birthday and I’ve been going for three years. I dropped 15lbs in the first month of classes and got into the best shape of my life.
Yes, the first few classes will be awful. However, every class will be a little easier than the one before. Before you know it, it’ll be… well not exactly a breeze… but you’ll at least become familiar with the pain. No matter how crappy you feel, you always have one more punch, kick, whatever, in you so do it!
Just remember: Every one of your classmates, even the ones that thought they were in shape, went through the same process.
Oh, and I can see giving up on the cigarettes, but the beer? Moderation is the key…
Re: "guns" for the wife
There are two types of muscle fibers: Fast-twitch and Slow-twitch. Your weight workouts are building up the slow-twitch muscles but not helping out the fast-twitch ones. Just keep on with the weights, but work on the striking as well. It should all balance out in the end.
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/anatomyandphysiology/a/MuscleFiberType.htm
Re: Don’t bring a knife to a coffee fight.
I thought the situational awareness, and the use of the weapon at hand to take the initative away from the attacker, both fit well into the KM philosophy.
The author of blog has a bit more information about the incident here:
http://gunnuts.net/2009/10/27/questions-and-answers/Also, the incident has inspired someone to come up with a Tactical Claymore Coffee Mug:
http://www.zazzle.com/tactical_coffee_claymore_mug-168769045807427886Ah coffee… is there anything it can’t do?
Re: Takedown Defence
It’s called the “sprawl”…. I kind of think of it as an agressive squat thrust.
Bas shows it here at the 0:45 mark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYmfmwUc3p8
Here’s the Human Weapon explaination:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYKrhfFo8Qo
My instructors throw this “fun” move into warmup and heavy-bag drills. However, you don’t officially learn to use it untill L2 and Fight class.
My early addition of the “Complete Krav Maga” book doesn’t mention the sprawl, but I believe the newer additions do.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Krav-Maga-Self-Defense-Techniques/dp/1569755736
Re: How often do you get hurt in class
I usually end up with a badly bruised ego pretty in much every fight class. 😉
Re: Shoes, No Shoes… Too Much Traction
You’re quite right to worry about your shoes sticking to the mat. My Adidas Sambas welded themselves to the mat when I tried to rush a front-leg round-house and I snapped my ACL. Of course, my form was also off and I didn’t get enough of my weight onto the ball of my foot so that was the main cause of the injury.
I’ve been back in action for the past 3-some months and I’ve been flipping back and forth between shoe and bare feet. I’m going bare foot more often than not. I have a set of the
Nike Air Edges mentioned in an earlier post. The pivot point works very well and the rest of the sole is not a sticky as the Samba’s.I’ve also been training myself to do the little half pivot step. I never had to this before my injury, but I figure that if I ever do have my foot stick again, I’ll at least put quite a bit less torque on the ole knee.
