Yesterday my son started learning the basics on Rope Dart. This is really for advanced levels in Kung Fu but we figured we would give Brandon some basics. A quick look around YouTube for example and you'll see a bunch of fail examples. Few people have mastered this weapon and it take lots of practice. The most famous example I've seen with this weapon was by Jackie Chan in Shanghai Noon.
Hopefully, we will be able to show some footage of Brandon with some basic moves in the near future. He has to learn them for his next level belt. He's test is coming up in a few weeks. That's not much time. He's dedicated though. He was outside last night practicing by the porch light.
On Friday, Brandon's normal sparring partner did not make it to
class. Luckily for us, his instructor requested a sparring partner with someone
in the Taekwondo class in the other room. I have a lot of respect for people
who will spar without an moments notice. It was a short sparring lesson but I
feel it was very helpful.
Having Brandon spar someone who knows Taekwondo just helps him
gain a wider experience base. In a few weeks three of the instructors will be
bringing their teams together for an in-school tournament. This will pit Kung
Fu versus Taekwondo. I expect it to be a good time for everyone. In addition,
it will help with preparing for the upcoming tournament in Houston.
After the short sparring session, Sifi Oscar went a few rounds
with Brandon. It's always good to fight someone better than you. This allows
you to see you weeknesses and find out what's possible.
We like the fact all aspects of fighting are covered. Striking,
take downs, and grappling can all be mastered with the study of Chinese Martial
arts. As I've told my son many times, being a one dimensional fighter is a sure
way to get beat by certain opponents. Take our favorite UFC fighter, Cung Lee,
if he was ever taken down during a fight, he would be at a severe disadvantage.
Take a look at his fight against Scott Smith. Once he was down briefly, his
only defense was to try to stand up. During the time he was trying to get up,
Scott just rained blows onto him. In my opinion, it cost him the fight.
Now I'm sure every non-Kung Fu person is in total disagreement.
However, I'm only speaking on what I've seen. I regularly visit new schools to
see what they do and if there is a seminar available, I might sign Brandon up
for it. Take for instance the seminar I signed him up for at Ultrafit in
Harlingen. They had a UFC trainer come down and give a class on Thai Boxing. I
was more than happy to have my son attend it. Our instructor didn't mind in the
least and Brandon received some excellent cross-training. (Another reason we
like our instructor.) So, I have looked at more than one school.
With the other schools I have visited, it's either striking or
grappling. There is never a combination of both. I'm surprised this is the
case. With all the excitement towards UFC in recent years, I would think most schools
would be doing this. Instead, it's the exception not the rule.
Another reason I like Chinese Martial Arts is the overall dynamics
of it. Let me explain. When I watch a person practice Kung Fu, I see a multitude
of blocks and attacks performed. This interests me. However, when I watch
something like Judo, I want to leave. From this spectator’s viewpoint, all I
see is people practicing throws 80% of the time. I once went to watch a Judo
competition thinking it would be exciting. I was nearly bored to tears. It was
people struggling to throw the other person and it was done. I also find Taekwondo
rather limited. It’s mostly a series of straight punches and kicks; not really
my idea of exciting.
Are there people who do
Judo and Taekwondo and are still versatile in all there fighting
methods? I’m sure they are. I’m just stating I’ve never seen it.
So, don’t misunderstand
me. Do I think other martial arts styles are bad? No, they just don’t fit my or
my son’s personality. I don’t think any of them would hold our attention long
enough for him to become successful at it. I believe one of the reason’s my son
has put so much effort into Kung Fu and
come along quite well is due to me only missing 3 of his classes in the last 3
years. If I had to sit around and watch him do Judo, I probably would have
quite before he did.
Today we are posting Brandon's 3rd sparring video. You'll notice we have the same person sparring Brandon. Unfortunately, we are currently waiting on more people to join the class for Brandon to fight against. Remember, this school has just started but Brandon has been with the instructor for 3 years.
We were hoping to see one of Sifu's old Kung Fu students come back. At least he said he would be coming back. He has some skill and is 3 years older than Brandon. So, this would be good practice for him.
I would like to have Brandon go to some other local schools and "challenge some kids to sparring." However, I know people frown on this. I'm not sure why. It just seems to me, if I was trying to perfect my marital arts skills, I would want to compete against new people.
I guess this is what the tournaments are for. It just seems like an expensive way to go about it. We've already spent $300 on the upcoming Kung Fu tournament in Houston and we haven't even left yet.
Speaking of the tournament, there are some rules we are going to need to follow. First off, Brandon needs to stop punching and kicking people in the face. This might be great for a fight but not for competition or classroom sparring. It's an easy way to get disqualified.
It will be interesting to go to this first large tournament. We aren't expecting Karate Kid or anything. However, we expect the level of skill to go far beyond our local tournaments.
What is Sanda? In laymen’s terms, it's Kung Fu without any ground work. This style is very popular with Brandon's current instructor. A Sanda match will involve kicking, punching, and takedowns. Once an opponent is taken down then the point is gained and the fighters are reset. A well known UFC fighter has a huge background in Sanda. He names in Cung Lee and was one of the best fighters in the world.
I know some people will disagree with my last statement. However, they probably had UFC blinders on. Kung Lee did not come to the UFC till after his prime, in my opinion. He is still able to kick butt. It’s hard to be a fierce competitor at 40. Before UFC he dominated his own field of martial arts.
I like the Sanda aspect of fighting due to its ability to help transition a fighter from traditional stand up fighting to ground work. In his current school, he is able to learn Stand up, takedowns, and grappling. I continue to tell Brandon that only knowing one type of fighting is a very bad strategy. I’m hoping later on he will get some more training with elbows and knees. I have thought about getting him some Muay Thai training. However, no one really teaches it in our area. Well, one person does but his prices are ridiculous.
So, let’s get to today’s film. Brandon is going to be giving commentary on his fighting. This will help in a few areas. One help him examine what he is doing right and wrong and help him to vocalize his ideas. Both of these can help in all aspects of life.
Enjoy today’s video.
and if you want to see a Cung Lee video, I found a cool one on youtube.
After taking a few weeks off for the Christmas break. Brandon stepped back in Class for some Kung Fu sparring. I was impressed by his performance. There did appear to be an increase in skill since last month. However, we don’t plan on taking any time off for the remainder of the year.
Many of his strikes where clean and he had some good kicks. I would like to see him put combo punches coming in at different angles. In addition, we need to work on him not telegraphing his spinning back kick. He did some ground work after sparring. This is his greatest area of opportunity. So, at his request, we have no film of this yet. We are looking forward to his first large tournament in March. Usually, we just go to local tournaments with maybe a few hundred people. This next tournament will be a Kung Fu Tournament in Houston. We’ll have to drive their on Friday. Spend the night and then do the tournament on Saturday. Afterwards, we’ll have to drive right back. It’s too much of a strain to stay another night with finances, work, and school. We are going to be videoing most of that trip for you guys. …and now here’s some footage of Brandon Sparring yesterday.
Yesterday, we reviewed IP man again. In our opinion it's the best Kung Fu movie ever. We even had my wife join us in the viewing. Of course, she liked it. Who can not like this movie? Even if you don't like martial arts too much, the story line is one of hardship and overcoming. Combine that with hard hitting action and it's awesome.
My son asked me the purpose of the machine gun style punching Donnie Yen uses in the movie and when I thought it would be best to use it. My opinion was to use it when none of your attacks seem to be getting through. By utilizing this method, your opponent should be so busy blocking he won't be able to see any change up in his attack. For example, in the fight against the boxer, he is rapid firing punches against the boxer's forearms. Then he switches to an uppercut which he never saw coming.
