Survival PT, #1 priority.

Always remember that the first rule of fighting is that kicks are for knees and groins. If you try kicking anyone higher than that, better hope they forgot this rule.

Whenever I go to new gyms to visit I hear this one 'don't kick to the head'. These schools are always filled with people who don't know how to counter a head-kick setup. It's really one of those rules that are meant to be broken. I have really nasty shin conditioning and my low kicks are brutal. Two or three of those land and you may as well we fighting from a wheelchair. So I'll throw leg kicks mixed with jabs, jab jab kick, jab kick jab, using stick and move. Move around alot and use the jab and kick to control distance. After your opponent eats a couple of those they'll start to compromise themselves to avoid it. So you throw the jab a couple of times and set up the low kick, look at the leg and wind up hard and really try to sell it, when your opponent takes the bait you just float the kick, changing target from leg to head. If you're flexible and strong you can deliver enough power to kick right through someone's guard. Whenever you try for a high kick you gotta get the leg back down fast and follow up with a combo to stop the opponent from getting close. Same thing with spin kicks. Really hard to set up against a good opponent, but a wheel kick to the liver puts you down faster than anything I've ever seen.
 
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I guess nobody here is over 50 or heard of arthritis. Most anything involving bending of joints hurts. Still gotta do it, but it hurts.

:-(
Isometrics for the win. The old time strong men, and Bruce Lee knew a thing or two. Despite not having scientifically validated shake weight workout programs.
Seriously isometrics works and is easy on the bones.
 
Whenever I go to new gyms to visit I hear this one 'don't kick to the head'. These schools are always filled with people who don't know how to counter a head-kick setup. It's really one of those rules that are meant to be broken. I have really nasty shin conditioning and my low kicks are brutal. Two or three of those land and you may as well we fighting from a wheelchair. So I'll throw leg kicks mixed with jabs, jab jab kick, jab kick jab, using stick and move. Move around alot and use the jab and kick to control distance. After your opponent eats a couple of those they'll start to compromise themselves to avoid it. So you throw the jab a couple of times and set up the low kick, look at the leg and wind up hard and really try to sell it, when your opponent takes the bait you just float the kick, changing target from leg to head. If you're flexible and strong you can deliver enough power to kick right through someone's guard. Whenever you try for a high kick you gotta get the leg back down fast and follow up with a combo to stop the opponent from getting close. Same thing with spin kicks. Really hard to set up against a good opponent, but a wheel kick to the liver puts you down faster than anything I've ever seen.

Liver still not that high, so no disagreement there.

Not going to convince me that kicks to the head are a good idea for anything but tournament points. You'd recommend that to an adult looking to learn self defense skills?
 
Liver still not that high, so no disagreement there.

Not going to convince me that kicks to the head are a good idea for anything but tournament points. You'd recommend that to an adult looking to learn self defense skills?

I was doing a smoker in New Bedford back in about 2014. After I clenched my opponent and ripped a bunch of knees to his diaphragm he was pretty collapsed. I have a very basic very high percentage liver spin kick setup that works on people with broken posture. From southpaw, I threw a step-in left hook fake with a right leg wheel kick to the liver. Only thing was the left hook actually connected to his lungs and folded him more, knocked him back, and when the wheel kick floated and the head was there in the box instead.

Plenty of MMA fights have been ended with a head kick. For self defense for other people? Not unless you're athletic enough to pull it off. If you understand the implications and limitations it's fine. Things like 'don't do X' are taught to white belts and needs to be progressed with the technical applications of these techniques later. If you were an adult with basic skills I would teach jab, overhand, guillatine, hip toss, front kick, and probably some takedown defense. I'm just saying - don't get trapped into that mindset 'don't do x' - and try and think of it as 'don't do X because Y, only do X when Z'.

If it's there, you take it.
 
Liver still not that high, so no disagreement there.

Not going to convince me that kicks to the head are a good idea for anything but tournament points. You'd recommend that to an adult looking to learn self defense skills?

My 7 year old can do beautiful kicks higher than his own head. Which is a pity cause it's not even allowed in his taikwondo sparring. Of course they don't even spar now thanks to Covid.

He does sometimes kick his older brother in the face when they're fighting lol.
 
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Yes.

I knew exactly what I was doing.

Just getting ready to go out in 90 degree heat and do my workout so I can prepare my body for the inevitable societal collapse scenario I've been dreaming about my whole life...but now that it's almost here, it's not nearly as exciting as I thought it would be.

Anyway...even though I put it off (and put ON 20lbs since I got out of the Marine Corps last year), I'm considering physical traning (PT) to be a vital part of my preparedness for what's coming.

Honestly, I completely despise working out...I'd rather be getting wasted and reloading ammunition in my basement while watching porn hub. But if I'm gunna be a real III percenter when the time comes to dump that tea in the harbor, I think I need to shed this fluffy outer layer and get back to something that more resembles a leaner/greener me of yesteryear.

So consider this your reveille! Get outside and do burpees until you puke...go chase a hot girl that's jogging so you can watch her butt jiggle in front of you the whole time (but don't catch up, because THAT's creepy)...carry some buckets of water across the yard aimlessly...

What are you guys doing to stay fit?

I've been alternating various methods of cardio and the free 'Strong Lifts' app on my phone to help develop a routine and get back into it without slipping or getting lazy. This is 'easy' to follow for me and I don't have to go out of my way for any of it. There's videos on how to correctly do all of this stuff online, and I try to not spend much more than 30 minutes from start to finish so I'm not wasting all the time I was when I was going to a Crossfit gym.

Day 1 - Rowing (2500m Total - alternate 1 minute 250m with 1 min rest, then rinse and repeat until you get to desired distance.) I will increase distance/rate as my ability improves.

Day 2 - (Strong Lifts App) - Back Squat and Over Head Press 5x5 (5 sets of 5 reps) at light weight and increase as app tells you to and Deadlift 1x5 (1 set of 5 reps)

Day 3 - Airdyne (Assault Bike) or just go for a bike ride until your heart rate gets up. I did 20 minutes and it might have been a little much for my first day after squats and my quads were DEAD the next day. This is more meant for cardio and not necessarily to kill your legs that are already trying to heal from the previous day.

Day 4 - (Strong Lifts App) - Front Squats 5x5 (typically at 20-25% less weight than back squats) - Bench Press 5x5 - Barbell Row 5x5 (Strong Lifts app will give you 'starter weights' based on your body weight to take the guess work out of it.) If something is too heavy, you can adjust the number in the app and it will 'learn' your progress based on if you successfully lift the listed weight, or if you fail a set.

Day 5 - Running - f***. Everyone hates running. I started with a mile, but will increase as I'm able to breath a little better moving forward. I went on google maps and you can actually make a route (and the distance is very accurate) so you know how far you're actually going.

Day 6 - Do something FUN! Something you love that requires you to move around...go hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking or kayaking...try to get in a swim if you can to cool off and get ALL the sore muscles in your body moving at the same time.

Day 7 - Take the day off...go to the basement and get shit-faced and make some ammo...watch pornography.

The main point is keeping the routine and not getting too far off track. I already took a day off because yesterday was like a billion degrees out here in Indy...well the jokes on me because now it's a billion degrees and humid...but lucky for me it's a lifting day, and it's supposed to get a little cooler tomorrow.

Anyone else care to share?
I think I strained something just reading your post
 
Whenever I go to new gyms to visit I hear this one 'don't kick to the head'. These schools are always filled with people who don't know how to counter a head-kick setup. It's really one of those rules that are meant to be broken. I have really nasty shin conditioning and my low kicks are brutal. Two or three of those land and you may as well we fighting from a wheelchair. So I'll throw leg kicks mixed with jabs, jab jab kick, jab kick jab, using stick and move. Move around alot and use the jab and kick to control distance. After your opponent eats a couple of those they'll start to compromise themselves to avoid it. So you throw the jab a couple of times and set up the low kick, look at the leg and wind up hard and really try to sell it, when your opponent takes the bait you just float the kick, changing target from leg to head. If you're flexible and strong you can deliver enough power to kick right through someone's guard. Whenever you try for a high kick you gotta get the leg back down fast and follow up with a combo to stop the opponent from getting close. Same thing with spin kicks. Really hard to set up against a good opponent, but a wheel kick to the liver puts you down faster than anything I've ever seen.

head kicks/spin kicks are game changes but the vast majority of adults will never achieve the level of competency and speed where they should rely on them in a fight. Experimenting while sparing, yes. MMA fight where groin kicks, throat punches and biting the guys nose off is againt the rules, absolutely! but for general self defense in a bad situational no.

Sounds like you may be the expception to the rule but the vast majority of people looking to achieve a good level of self defense skills( which is already the vast minority of the overall population) especially beginners and intermediates, should stay away from fancy kicks.
 
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Bryce Canyon UT
Nobody here, its grest!
TZ, I'm not going to get off track and dilute this thread with pics of my ride through Bryce but that is about the most magnificent place I've ever been. I can't think of a better place to get one's mind and body right. Best, mannydog.
 
Just updating that I'm a little over a month in and I've increased my rowing to 3000m in 14 minutes and am running 1.5 miles in about 13 minutes (yeah, not fast by any means, but improving).

weights increasing slowly for each of my strong lifts and finally feeling like my form is improving and getting to a point where I'm not super sore after working out. i DID fail a few back squats last week for a few days...took a couple days off, and now I'm back on track and progressing.

been going kayaking for my fun day and am looking for some good hikes that I can do with a weighted backpack (maybe body armor?) now that the weather is getting a little cooler here in Indy finally.

wanna keep that bug in your ear if you've been thinking about dipping your toes into the water of getting back in shape. yeah, it sucks, but you're worth it...AND you'll be able to counter the commies better if you can run to the fight and still have enough energy to f*** some shit up!
 
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