Month: January 2018
Not everyone who studies martial arts moves does it because they’re interested in the discipline, philosophy, and grace of the arts themselves. Many people do it because they fear that one day, they will need to protect themselves from an attacker. Martial arts styles, histories, and traditions are irrelevant to this type of student, and it’s absolutely understandable. If you’re in that kind of situation, let me suggest a few martial arts moves that have saved lives in the past.
Oni Kudaki — Japanese for “Demon Crusher”, Oni Kudaki is a simple maneuver that will stop most drunken brawlers in their tracks. When the aggressor swings a fist in an even slightly circular fashion, perform a basic outer forearm block, but slide the back of your wrist up to the inside of your opponent’s elbow. Then rotate your hand palm-outward, and clasp your hands together around his elbow, with both of your wrists twisted. As you straighten out your wrists, his forearm will roll backwards and his elbow and shoulder will pull out-of-joint. He will either dislocate his shoulder or end up on the floor.
This technique is especially valuable because it can be done on any attacker that’s not two feet taller than you, and it works against a very common form of attack — a basic punch.
Nazad Pereryva — Russian for “Spine Breaker”, Nazan Pereryva is another nasty response to a basic punch, knife thrust, or other stabbing action to the face. When someone swings their fist or weapon at you, step past it to the outside, and sweep it further in the direction it’s already going with a basic outer forearm block. Step behind them with your outer foot, and slide your outer arm between their attacking arm and their head. Wrap it around their neck, bending them backward so that their head is in your armpit, and then drive your knee up into their spine until it breaks.
That trick of getting your arm around their neck can take some practice; it’s among the more difficult of Sambo’s martial arts moves. Still, if you can get it down in sparring, you can prove to any attacker that you are not to be trifled with.
Sahas-alis Sandata — Filipino for “snakebite disarm”, Sahas-alis Sandata is a technique that exists in several martial arts, but Escrima has its own beautiful variation. When someone attacks you with a club, knife, or other simple weapon, take a long step toward his chest but away from the path of the weapon — basically toward his opposite shoulder. At the same time, punch his bicep as hard as you can. Most martial arts stop here, but Escrima adds a graceful second step: a Batman-style backfist to the temple or nose, depending on which direction he’s facing. The weapon arm will be disabled for some time due to the bicep strike, and the blow to the skull will ring his bell for a few seconds as well — easily long enough for you to set up another of your close combat martial arts moves.
As you can see, martial arts styles from around the world have found very different and very effective responses to a pretty basic attack. Choose the one that fits best with your level of competence, aggression, and training. Part of the beauty of martial arts moves is that they come in such staggering variety.
How soon things change. It seems like yesterday we were talking about how fast the fan base for Nascar was growing. Some people even foolishly talked about it possible taking over the NFL in popularity someday. Nascar’s growth and fan base has since taken a hit, most likely due to the recent economy problems over the last couple of years. That said, Mixed Martial Arts, MMA is the new reigning “worlds fastest growing sport” as we enter 2010, and looks to be for the foreseeable future.
Don’t get me wrong, the NFL is still the 800 pound gorilla when it comes to total fan base and world popularity, but MMA has shown substantial growth over the last decade, and even faster over the last 5 years. No growth like this ever lasts forever, but it’s hard to say how long it could last for MMA, given the momentum the sport has, and more specifically, the UFC or Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The UFC is currently MMA’s biggest promotion, and therefore has the world’s best stable of fighter’s. The UFC has also become the new darling of Las Vegas much to the chagrin of the powers that be in the boxing world. But instead of being bitter, the sport of boxing needs to take a look at why that is. For one, you can’t get any big fights for free anymore when it comes to boxing. The UFC on the other hand, air’s free broadcast’s labled “UFC Fight Night” on Spike ever couple of months at least, and usually more than that. And these are normally big main events that the hardcore fans want to see, not fighters that nobody knows.
And more recent, news of StrikeForce’s signing of the worlds best fighter Fedor Emelianenko shook the MMA world, and now Fedor will hope to become a household name by way of free network broadcasting of the sport’s most popular fighter in a contract with CBS.
The key to enjoying the excitement of the sport though, is to understand all the different aspects of the sport, and to recognize the transitions that you see throughout a typical fight. The least understood of these being the “ground game”. To the casual observer, this might seem boring compared to striking (the term used in MMA referring to the stand up phase of a fight). And sometimes it is with average talent. But when you have two world class grappler’s going at it, its the most exciting part of a fight in my opinion.
What a new fan should watch for on the ground is the use of “the guard”, and the escape from this position for the other fighter, also known as “passing the guard.” The guard position consists of the fighter on bottom to control his/her opponent by wrapping his/her legs around the waist of the fighter on top while controlling the head, keeping him/her off balance, making it easier to sweep or submit the other. Normally the fighter on top or “in the guard” will try to get his/her legs around the leg’s of the opponent, or to “ground and pound” the other fighter with strikes from the top position. There are usually no submissions from inside the guard.
It’s impossible to cover all the nuances of the sport in this article, but once the more common ideas of the grappling part of MMA is understood by new and non fans, the more enjoyment will come out of watching great fights and understanding how technical these fighters are, not to mention the level of conditioning that it takes to compete in this sport. Most think it rivals that of their counterparts in the NFL, or any other sport for that matter. So the next time you are around a new fan, take a minute to explain the fastest growing sport in the world. See you at the fights!
With over 150 programs distributed between bachelors & associate degrees, diplomas and certification courses, the Indian River State College has built a nice plethora of career-oriented courses and programs. Accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Indian River State College forms an educational breeding ground for many nearby counties like Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin and Okeechobee. This state college located in Fort Pierce in Florida State is often abbreviated as IRSC.
The Academic Scene
Leading with the motto – equal access, equal opportunity and going with open door policy, this student oriented college has given more impetus to courses under the domains of business technology, engineering, fine arts, industrial education, digital media and further.
One of the most important pillars of the campus is the Department of Advanced Technology, which focuses mainly on the fields of electronics engineering and graphical design. This department offers degrees in the discipline of office administration as well. The civil engineering program is a feather in the cap of the Indian River State College. The 63 hour civil engineering program accommodates courses in streams of AutoCAD, hydraulics, engineering graphics etc.
With attractive and tailor made for career courses in subjects like dental hygiene, medical assisting, breathing treatments, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and even phlebotomy, the college had made a splash in many college & university directories.
As a student, you can take excellent foundation steps towards a career in dance, arts and theatre. Fine arts program along with the dance program and other arts based courses here are known for being preparatory series for future 4 year courses. The Fee Dance Studio at the Indian River campus forms the breeding ground for young dance enthusiasts.
Getting an Online University Degree
The E learning campus provides access to many online classes in various fields. The ANGEL Learning Management System (ALMS) is one such popular initiative taken by Indian River State Colleges online campus. The student help center here and even the Indian River State Colleges main website is very helpful not only during admissions, but while you need any other kind of help over the campus or the online mode.
An online university degree or a start up course in dance, arts, medical aspects and engineering, Indian River State College is one place where education is sprinkled with extracurricular activities and much more.