My Blog! My Blog!

Tonight in MMA class, after nearly an hour of aerobic and strengthening exercise that nearly toppled me, we learned a useful technique for acquiring an armlock/submission from an opponent called a kimura.

It starts with your adversary on top of you and between your legs in what we call the "guard" position. This particular variation only works if your opponent puts his hands on the floor, on either side of your torso. Then, you proceed as follows:

1) Grip one or both of his arms with your hands (use a "hook" grip, with the thumb parallel to your fingers).

2) Pick a side. Roll onto your hip, facing the side you've chosen.

3) Take the hand on the opposite side from the side you've chosen. Wind it over then under his arm, and grasp your own wrist. (Move the hand that grips his arm down the arm to the wrist to accomplish this. If you still can't manage it, tug or push his elbow until the arm bends, then carry on.)

4) Once you have clasped your wrist, roll back onto your back. That should be enough to get the submission.

Meanwhile, I continue to acquire real-life advances to my personal Dangerous quality at MMA class. I intend to sum up the techniques we learned tonight for my own edification, but will place them under an lj-cut for those of my friends who have no interest in same.

( Martial arts stuff )

Interesting useful stuff.

It seems to me that different martial arts have different ideas about what are useful shapes of support and movement, depending upon the range of techniques involved.

The traditional "punching arts" (karate, boxing, tae kwon do, wing chun kung fu, for example) are mostly linear. The object is to move forward or sideways [EDIT: or away at a 45-degree angle] as quickly as possible in a straight line, or to punch as quickly and powerfully as possible.

The throwing arts (aikido, for example) emphasize circular movements, possibly because they are fluid and work well to direct force to an object so that it will gather momentum.

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu that is part of Mixed Martial Arts, however, is big on triangles. Why? Because they are interested in helping the practitioner maintain a stable position...often on top of an opponent doing his/her best to roll or throw them off. A triangular "base" combines the best of stability with the ability to move quickly in a direction that best enables you to turn the tables on your opponent.

Last week, esrblog went to see yet another martial arts movie, "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li".

Though it won't make anybody's Oscar list, it was a lot of fun in the classic martial arts tradition. That is, it features:

* Lots of nifty martial arts fights (kung fu, in this case);
* Some hokey "supernatural" special effects;
* All the major characters are super martial artists, and all of the characters are young and buff (or at least buff);
* The protagonist comes from a wealthy/privileged/musical background;
* The good guys win.

The action is set mostly in Hong Kong and Bangkok, and if esrblog's limited experience isn't misleading him, was filmed on location.

There are a few amusing twists on the basic martial arts themes in this one:

* The hero is a woman--and a very attractive woman at that;

* An amusing lesbian flirtation scene (the female protagonist lures her nemesis's mistress into the ladies room for a knockdown, drag-out fight at one point to get information out of her);

* The hero actually brings in the cops (Interpol, in this instance) to help bring down the bad guys.

If you like martial arts flicks at all, this is a pleasant one--go and see it.

Tonight, the usual suspects (me, esrblog, pmat, and shakati went to see "The Forbidden Kingdom," the new Chinese martial arts fantasy with both Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

Because the spoiler tolerance of my friends varies wildly, I'm not going to say anything about the plot. I will say that Li and Chan turn in relatively unexciting chop socky in this one, but do better acting than I've seen either of them do in a while. The movie was filmed in China, so you get great, genuine, mountain scenery along with the usual leaping and destruction of property. Unlike "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," there is a lot of genuine magic involved. And a *much* happier ending.

It's more fun than most of the reviews suggest. Just go and see it. And if anyone wants a plot synopsis, just comment and give me a means of e-mailing you privately.