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Recommendations for at-home kickboxing and/or kenpo resources?
cj iwakura
The Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
The Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
So my martial arts school closed some time ago due to my instructor's passing. Sadly, there aren't many kenpo schools left that're worth attending in Broward, and I don't really want to switch styles, but I do want to keep up on my forms in case I find a decent school(and until I have more budgeting room).
I was considering taking up kickboxing, but most schools charge just as much as it would be to take martial arts lessons, so it seems kind of silly to pay for just that, but I still enjoy it and wouldn't mind it as practice.
Are there any recommended online resources, videos, or even streaming things along the lines of kickboxing and/or kenpo practice? I'm brown belt level if that matters. (And I have access to Netflix)
I was considering taking up kickboxing, but most schools charge just as much as it would be to take martial arts lessons, so it seems kind of silly to pay for just that, but I still enjoy it and wouldn't mind it as practice.
Are there any recommended online resources, videos, or even streaming things along the lines of kickboxing and/or kenpo practice? I'm brown belt level if that matters. (And I have access to Netflix)
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I'm not sure I understand this sentence. Do you think training at a fight gym isn't worth as much as paying someone for TMA lessons, or are you talking about cardio "kickboxing"?
Also in general unless you're at a significant level of experience it's a bad idea to train without a coach, especially if it's not something you've done before.
in the end what do you want out of martial arts? Do you compete or care about competitions? Is it just fitness? Self defense?
unless you are really dedicated working at home on your own from videos and such isnt going to help much. Might be able to maintain a certain level of fitness and keep up on the forms you already know but you aren't going to have any sparring partners or anyone there who will correct the bad habits that may arise from using online materials.
I say investigate a new style, maybe switch it up and try something very different from your current style. (I am not familiar with Kempo or what your previous school had in its curriculum to recommend what would be different)
You bring up sound points. They're basically just kickboxing classes with light gear and no real form instruction, so paying what I paid for karate felt silly.
Also makes sense. The major styles taught nearby are Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, Shotokan, the usual suspects. I'd prefer to stick with what I know, they all felt pretty different. I studied mostly out of fitness and because I like the defensive mentality behind Kenpo.
My bias is showing but I wouldn't ever lump Muay Thai in with Tae Kwon Do and various types of Karate. It's a far more refined actual fighting art than other TMAs which suffer from too many McDojos and no practical application of the style (point fighting is meaningless).
There are loads of video resources on youtube for all kinds of martial arts, but at best they will give you ideas that you can maybe put into shadowboxing (or whatever the kenpo equivalent of that is). Nothing will actually 'stick' until you put it into practice.
Is there anyone from your old school you could contact just to practice with? Having youtube as a teacher is sub-optimal, but if you have a partner to practice the forms/combos/whatever with then you're at least getting the practical application of the movements ingrained in your head and you have someone else to point out mistakes in your form, etc.
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So I think maybe an issue here is that you're not clearly defining your goal for training.
If it's to learn "self defense", which is really just a nice way to say learning how to fight, forms and Kata are pretty much irrelevant. You'll learn how to fight better in a few months at a kickboxing gym than you likely will in a few years at a strip mall TMA school.
There are many aspects to self defense, and other than learning how to fight, martial arts aren't likely to teach them. And even then unless you're applying techniques against resisting opponents you're not learning how to fight so it could end up being doubly useless.
Those are all primarily striking arts. TKD and Karate will have your forms and such which while fun aren't a replacement for sparring or actual self defense. If his style was more striking focused then looking into a grappling based art would likely be very beneficial. Having a ground game and the stamina to grapple and escape is so beneficial.
If you do look into a different school to train at, do your research, check them out on a night where they are sparring. See how intense the workout can be and make your decisions.
Personally, I trained at a dojo up to my second degree and then life got in the way so I had to stop. I've recently started training at home for the fitness aspect and because I just enjoy kata so there's less concern about practicality or whether it would help in a self-defense situation (I try to avoid those anyway). I find that watching videos to even just relearn katas that I forgot over the years is not particularly useful because there are so many variations of each form that it's hard to find one that is "right' (compared to how I learned it). At the end of the day though, I'm training again, I'm losing weight, and I'm enjoying myself.
If you want to spar or be corrected on your technique, you'll have to find a dojo. If you're just looking to stay fit and have fun, the world is your dojo.
The reason why I do this is that in my experience, more often than not, the people training only for fitness start to let the Martial Art aspect of the Martial Arts esque cardio go to their head. Because they are successful in their cardio kickboxing class they start to forget they can't actually fight. And since they don't actually train to fight they don't get that ego check that comes with stepping into a real no Shit fight gym/combat sport program.
If your only goal is fitness it makes infinitely more sense to take up lifting and parkour. If the Martial part of Martial Arts training appeals to you, and it very likely does or Martial Arts wouldn't be a consideration for training, then you should actually do it correctly.
This may seem like I'm shitting on TMA people a little but in my experience of both worlds TMA people tend to be one way and combat sport people tend to be another. And the "cultures" of each, at least in the US, couldn't be more alien to each other.
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Ahh too bad. Regarding Kenpo (not very well versed in what that entails) what was your previous school like, in regards to sparring, techniques etc. What were they doing at the Muay Thai gym that turned you off?
Kenpo is defend, strike, retreat. Muay Thai seems more about going in and being the aggressor.
Interesting, I'll look into it.
It's something I've seen consistently in wrestling, Judo, BJJ, kickboxing, boxing, Kyokushin, TKD, and HEMA.
You are at your most vulnerable when you are attacking (other than being blindsided by an attacker) I don't see an issue with teaching how to take advantage of that vulnerability. That said if you aren't learning how to press the attack and keep an opponent on their toes then you are going to be in trouble. Need to be able to shift between both as situations arise, cause you aren't always going to be in that situation where you can start the offensive.
We were always taught if shit is happening and that person enters your striking distance that it is on. If you can disengage yourself from the situation before than or diffuse it then great do it. Otherwise it can be over really quick with a one hit, better you are the one making that hit than the other guy.
That's really the best approach. Keep up with your kata at home until you find what you're looking for so you don't get rusty. It can take a while to find what you're looking for but it's worth taking the time to find a dojo where you feel comfortable and are getting what you want out of your training.
I agree entirely with you on this. Just to be clear, I was referring to TMA not cardio classes. I would never equate a cardio kickboxing class with actual martial arts. When I say "doing it for fitness" I'm just referring to the fact that doing kata everyday to keep your technique sharp or just because you enjoy it has the added benefit of being physical exercise. Coming from a TMA background I taught my students that you can train to make kata look beautiful but even if every move and technique is executed to near perfection kata is not practical self-defense.
I also agree there is a huge gulf between TMA and combat training cultures. My interest has always been recreational - the "arts" aspect of martial arts and a focus on tradition and constant improvement. I've known lots of people over the years who hated it and left because it's not "real martial arts" and they aren't interested in learning anything other than how to win fights. I also know a lot of people who used to get in a lot of bar fights because there's some some ego that develops from spending time in an atmosphere where you're being told that you really know how to kick ass and nobody else knows how to fight. In any case, this is veering off topic so I'm going to reign it in and get back to the original discussion.
Everybody trains for different reasons and neither goal is "more valuable" or "better" than the other. I say do whatever you enjoy just as long as you know the limitations and don't criticize other martial artists styles or interests. If it takes you a while to find a new school or if you have to switch styles to find somewhere that is the atmosphere and focus that you enjoy it's 100% worth the time. At the end of the day, no matter how you train, it's only a waste of time if you're not getting what you want out of it or not enjoying yourself.
My problem with most TMA places that purport to teach self defense is that they don't actually teach self defense. Or at least not the entirety of self defense. They usually just teach their TMA flavor of fighting which is just a portion of self defense.
Essentially, if you walk into a TMA place and you are told they teach self defense and you ask them about Cooper's Colors or OODA loops and they give you a dumbfounded look walk away as fast as you can.
Haven't heard the Cooper's Colors before but I have seen the OODA loops before.
In addition to those a good primer on body language is helpful for those who didn't grow up in sketchy places. Where I grew up fighting was pretty common so you could get an idea of the body language and mannerisms people who have a low threshold for violence will adopt when they are getting close to using violence. It also helps you to be able to better estimate when someone is just posturing, which is also really common.