Mumsnet Martial Artists

[RubberDuck]

The runners have their thread, thought it would be nice to have a thread for the Mumsnet MAers - surely I'm not the only one?

As an intro - my martial art of choice is a blend of Wing Chun and have been practising it for just over a year now. Would love to have the space (and the money) for a wooden training dummy, but looks like I'll have to hold fire for now.

There seems to be a shortage of message boards for women in martial arts - would be interested in sharing experiences (and injuries, heh) with others out there.

Yeah - it's a bit of an eye opener isn't it, when you realise the reality of what force to expect. It's a timely reminder once you start veering into over-confidence.

Heh, yes to sweaty. Mind, I've been having probs in that area myself and have been through about 3 different brands of deodorants to try and find one that actually works

Same here RubberDuck with the teaching requirement...I don't mind teaching them but so dislike sparring with the newbies; teenage boys in particular actually!

Ah but I'm in a DOM, fluffy. I could do, and did, judo in Paris, here is kickboxing/savate. DH has forbidden me from savate because they have no sense of appropriate contact.

Fluffy re: black belts. In our club all black belts, except for the senior senseis, are graded by our senior senseis at a national grading. The senior senseis (there are three) are graded elsewhere. (I can't remember offhand where, my sensei did tell us in great detail of his latest grading, but I was more focussed on the grim-sounding nature of the whole thing). All black belts, from 1st dan up, are registered with NAKMAS. So there is a national standard there, I guess.

Also, wrt training while pregnant- I mentioned earlier that I trained all the way through my pregnancy. If you don't have any medical issues and your sensei and fellow students are fully aware of your condition and are happy to accommodate you, then training can actually be really good for you- with the appropriate modifications, of course. Certainly I suffered far less with stitch pain, my stomach muscles etc knitted back far faster than the first time and generally I recovered much quicker.

RubberDuck- I also do that imaginary scenario thing too! But so does my friend at karate, and we even have a joke about it -"We could 'ave 'im". Those outside the MA world don't undersatnd at all, do they?

One thing I'm really starting to get the hang of now (which is very useful when sparring fellow students and more especially vicious senseis) is recognising the 'tell'- you know, where you can recognise what's coming your way? For e.g, one sensei, who has a wicked spinning back hook kick, tends to give a sort of little hop on his back foot before spinning. Of course, the newbies are much easier- flailing arms like a bird about to take off sound familiar??

Btw, Meglet- you wouldn't like being paired with me then- I am the original sweaty betty. I once asked the doctor what I could do about it, given that I'm not overweight and am very fit, and he looked seriously at me for a while and then suggested I take up swimming instead!

But, if I may say so, sweaty blokes are not as bad as unwashed mitts. I sparred someone once whose mitts smelt like a mix of sick and cheese.....bleugh.

Shodan I am impressed, I am just starting to really catch onto watching for the "tell", particularly from the neck area, iykwim. What a difference it does make in your defense, feels somehow like you have more reaction time?

Sweaty blokes I can tolerate but I do get rather at the (in)frequency with which some folk seem to launder their gi! Certain clinging odors get to me.

In Wing Chun, the 'tell' is known as telegraphing (actually, not sure if that's a general MA term or a WC term). It's possible to learn how to act with minimal telegraphing and is a huge part of sensitivity training.

My favourite part of Wing Chun is a sensitivity drill called Chi Sau. It's all about feeling your opponents hands and feeling what they are going to do next without looking. The subtlety really appeals to me

So - it seems I will be able to carry on training whilst pregnant - this is good news cos the club is currently shut for the summer holidays and I'm really missing it already!

I also do the walking down the street thing thinking how I could protect myself.

We once did a "protect yourself from rape" class where the blokes were told to really try to attack us/get us on the floor and we were taught defense techniques. Was fascinating but exhausting! And very strange to be so physically close to someone who wasn't DH!

I do like working with newbies and helping them improve - but I find it really quite frustrating if they don't listen or try to improve. I know it's a lot to take in, but as you all know you have to practise! Because our dojo is part of a general gym, we get quite a few "tourists" who barely even break a sweat when training. But some newbies are great and really watch others to learn how to improve.

Interesting about being registered on a database too. Makes sense. In France we are all registered so that if we're ever in a fight we have to use "appropriate force" because we should know how to neutralise an opponent without destroying him

The other day we did a great training session - 3 against 1....really makes you think about how to react in a street fight situation (we weren't allowed the "run away" option which I would have definately chosen if I could, when faced with 3 1st & 2nd Dan large blokes )

Oops, this thread had dipped off my "Threads I'm On" so I lost it!

I don't think it's so much being registered on a database, Fluffy - our license is with our association which gives us (and our instructor) insurance at a decent price, so we've got some liability insurance - I've not got mine to hand at the moment (handed it in to be renewed) so I can't check the small print. Anyway, we're not allowed to train once you've been graded unless you have the insurance/license.

Yeah, I love those sort of training sessions that really make you think. We've also done one with 3 against 1 where you're pinned to a wall and having to fight your way out - that's psychologically tough as much as anything and realistically you'd hope that you wouldn't get yourself in that situation in the first place. Still a very useful exercise, though.

Hello, I want to join!

Going back to Shotokan next week, stopped due to pg (DP wouldnt let me go).

Got to orange belt and LOVED every second - best workout ever. Loved working with the blackbelts too, with contact - if you are lucky enough to land a strike it does wonders for your confidence!

How's it going Serotonin? Getting back into it again? It's a bit of shock to the system after having a break, isn't it!

Well, I've made a big decision this week, and for various reasons I've left my MA school. Now shopping for a new one in something totally different - preferably one which requires slightly less in the way of extra curricular training just to keep up. I don't mind commitment and hard work - but after a lot of reflection, I'd got the balance wrong for me personally, I think.

I'm toying with the idea of Krav Maga, although the location near me is far less convenient. Any thoughts/advice on what to look for in a good school? It's exciting but rather nerve wracking trying to find a new home.

Hello-oo-oo-o....

Well, if anyone's still around, have started Krav Maga and been going the last 3 weeks. Having a LOT of fun with it. Would definitely recommend it for someone who has had no previous fighting experience and wants to learn a quick way to defend themselves.

Safe environment to learn but with lots of pressure testing and 'real bad day' scenarios to hard wire reactions to muscle memory. Feel much more confidence that I could use it in a real situation.

Why have you changed from Wing Chun?

For various reasons: but mostly because the club I was going to moved in a different direction. I wasn't keeping up and the level of extra training I needed was taking over, yet I was still falling behind.

Basically it changed, I changed and it was time to move on. Don't regret the time there though. :)

I don't know anything about Krav Maga- something else to look up later!

I went training at the weekend- it was a junior grading so obviously grading atmosphere. Two hundred press-ups (albeit special karate press-up ) and my upper back is griping. Still, I've got my 1st dan grading on 24th October so these things have to be done.

serotonin- I know what you mean about getting a strike in on a black belt. Even as a black belt myself I was ridiculously pleased to hear my instructor (3rd dan, 6'2" meanie) grunt with discomfort during a bout of sparring recently.

So Rubberduck, what happened with the Wing Chun?

I feel bad if I accidently hit a black belt during sparring. They are being so restrained, because it is such bad manners to hit a junior belt, that it seems unfair.

I feel bad if I actually hit a black belt during sparring. They are being so restrained because it is such bad manners to hit a junior belt.

Ouch at 200 press-ups - I would really struggle with that. Straight off or built up in smaller sets? I get to about 50 (built up in sets) of normal pushups before my arms get wobbly and I collapse rather embarrassingly

Haha at grunt with discomfort - excellent ! My ridiculously pleased moment this week was my training partner making the throwaway comment of "I'm not buying her a drink, she's violent". Result. Biggest problem with joining a new club, trying to persuade a new set of guys that they really don't have to treat me like a delicate little flower.

I've mentioned the main reason why I left. There were minor contributing factors, but they're quite identifying so don't really want to say much more than that. :) For my part, I left amicably.

Have sent you both PMs btw :)

Butterbur- it's not actually bad manners for a black belt to hit a junior grade- or any belt to hit a junior grade, for that matter. A black belt - or a good one, rather - will tailor his or her sparring strength and style to suit whatever grade he or she is sparring at the time. It is , however, extremely bad etiquette to use more force than your sparring partner can cope with, although there is a caveat on that: a good karateka of whatever grade will push the lower grade a little bit to enable that junior to improve their sparring. So don't feel bad about hitting a black belt (unless you are sparring without control, in which case you should work on that) because how else will you improve? Also it's always usefful for black belts to learn new sparring styles so they can improve their own blocking, punching and kicking.

Rubberduck- these are special karate push-ups Nowhere near nose to the floor, rather a moderate dip of the elbows (not much good at angles but probably around 45 degrees) done at speed. Not much else you can do when a sensei bellows "1000 push-up for everybody for not kiai-ing loudly enough/ not being quick enough to respond/ not bending your knees enough/ for doing rubbish sumo" etc etc. We'd be there all day and anyway, they start tsking quietly if you're not quick enough!

Isn't it strange, though, how being told you're aggressive (as I had) or violent is a compliment? It does make me smile. How many other situations would you be pleased to be called that?

Rubberduck -PM'd you back.

Also PM'd Rubberduck back.

Hmm, Shodan. I think I was out of control, although I wasn't told so. I will have to spar at the black belt grading - still some years away, and apparently one of the things assessed is whether you still have control after doing a whole high intensity grading. So might as well start learning now.

Also, Shodan, I am puzzled by you being a black belt, but not yet Shodan. I thought Shodan was the first level black belt.

Black belt is shodanho, Butterbur, 1st dan is shodan.

The nickname was aspirational! Hopefully though after October it will be a reality.

I'm still impressed with special push-ups Push-ups are evil in any shape or form. I much prefer chin-ups.

And yes - I wrote that and after I hit post I thought "I hope they're not horrified that someone called me violent - it was meant as a compliment". Very relieved that you got it

Fingers crossed for all your gradings!

It occurs to me that I have NO CLUE how grading in Krav Maga works. I should probably find out at some point, really.

Chin-ups??? Those horrible things where you dangle by your hands from a bar and try to pull yourself up? Now those are evil and fortunately not something I have to contend with, there being no suitable bars at any of our dojos. Mind you, if I was silly enough to mention them to sensei he'd probably go all out to sort a bar out.