Sparred a guy at work today

[Royal Dragon]

And got mad at myself, beacuse I kicked his ass wrong. Has that ever happened to any of you?

[Fred Sanford]

you didn't spar anyone. we all know you can't fight your way out of a wet paper bag.

[Royal Dragon]

Ok, if you say so...............................

[Water Dragon]

heh

[Starchaser107]

I must say,
after a stressful day
it feels really good to choke people:mad:

[Ryu]

I'm not sure I follow..... how do you "kick ass" wrong?

You either kick it or you don't......don't you? :confused:

Explain what you mean.

Ryu

[Starchaser107]

i think he meant his technique was sloppy. thats what i got from it.

[KC Elbows]

Try taping sparring sessions for a while and seeing where you get sloppy, I suppose. It's good to do anyway, if you've got the extra person.

[Surferdude]

It was your boss and you got fired!!!!!:D

[yu shan]

can someone have a stressfull day in Jamaica?

[Shaolin-Do]

Hehehe....
Stress-N. slang low quality brick marijuana.
"having a stressfull day in Jamaica." :eek:


Im pretty sure jamaica has much better than brick herbs.

:Eek:

[Starchaser107]

:p "can someone have a stressfull day in Jamaica?"

u have no idea.

[Shaolin-Do]

hehe :)
depends on what terms your speaking of.
But yes, of course you can... can have a stresfull day anywhere. Cept the island of naked women.
:eek:
Im going to bed, gonna go to the river and go kayaking tomorrow. Bar b q. Bonfire. Beer. Fishing. Beatiful womans. Good day tomorrow. :D
Peaceout.
SD

[Starchaser107]

...If only the rest of Jamaica was like the all inclusive hotels on the north coast. :(
have fun kayaking. peace:D

[Fred Sanford]

Ok, if you say so...............................

Oh, I do. I would think that in order to kick ass wrong, you would first need to be able to kick ass.

[Royal Dragon]

Starchaser107,
i think he meant his technique was sloppy. thats what I got from it.

Reply]
No, it wasn' t that (Although I have an issue there as well), what happened is we faced off,and I circled a bit waiting to see what he was going to do. Once I felt him out, I pretty much knew how to handle him, but when he charged in to close the gap, instead of stepping back palming him in the forehead wile deflecting his arm with my other arm, I stepped back with the opposite leg, lifted my right and went for a round kick. He closed the gap faster than I expected, so I turned it into a knee to the lower ribs, jammed him, and hit him a bit harder than I wanted to. That was pretty much he extent of it (after all, we were suposed to be working)

Given the situation, what I wanted to do would have worked just fine, but wile I was thinking about doing it, my body just did something else instead. So Yeah, I won that round, but some sort of instinct took over and did the job it's own way, and what I wanted to do, got set aside. I actual pictured the move I wanted to do, and simutanioulsy thought "Why am I kicking him?" It was kind of weird.

The perticular way I round Kicked, and coverted to a knee jam is something I used to do with alot of sucsess back in the days when I actually mixed it up alot with people, the new, technique I "Tried" to use is something out of one of the Tai Tzu sets that I have only done pre arranged drills with. I really haven't done any type of free sparring since about 6 months before my back injury, till very reacently really. So we are looking at best 2-1/2 years ago, maybe longer. Back then, I was a pretty good kicker. But now, I want to stay away from that, and use a more hand based methodology because of the way kicks tourque the lower back. Yet, there I was, under the gun, actually TRYING to do something different, and my old patterns just emerged on their own. I guess you really do fight like you train.

[Royal Dragon]

KC Elbows,
Try taping sparring sessions for a while and seeing where you get sloppy, I suppose. It's good to do anyway, if you've got the extra person.

Reply]
I'm not really free sparring yet, but I'm defenetly doing some two man prearranged stuff again, mostly the short style Southern Tai Tzu with a freind of mine (although I don't practice the forms form the system anymore, I only do the Long fist stuff now). However, when I do get there I think taping the session is a great idea. I know alot of professional athletes do this with great sucsess.

[bung bo]

that's happened to me before, and at work. i used to work at a sub shop where my fellow employees knew i studied gong fu. so, they tried to test me, and after it was over i'd think "man, i shoulda done this or that". but the real problem was i couldn't fight soft. every time somebody would come in, all i could think of was an arm break or a takedown or something else that is a fightstopper. i didn't hit anyone on the nose cause they'd get all p!ssed off. there was also this stupid kid that used MA movie star's names as verbs. Ex: "dude, i'm gonna jet li yo a$$!" what a stupid mofo.

[Royal Dragon]

Yeah, that's Kind'a what happened. It turns out he's got a freind form whatever state he originate from that does JKD, and he's an informal study of it and just wanted to play. He really didn't expect me to shut him down so fast I think.

I don't know, maybe it's becasue I subconciously know my back won't handle the stress or what, but I really just want to get it over with asap, even when I just play. I used to Kick box alot (with take downs) and drag it out, now I go instinctively for whatever seems to neutralise them right away in 1 move. Not nessarily attack to hurt, just to take balance away so they can't launch more at me. I'm like afraid to go toe to toe now, so I "Cheat" as much as I can.

[Fred Sanford]

wow it must have been hard to hold back. we all know how deadly your kung fu is. good thing you didn't shatter his ribcage and puncture his lungs with the broken ribs. what great control you have of your deadly art. kudos.

[jon]

lol dumb story but this post reminded me of it.

During the week i found the perfect answer to the ' could you block my attack' question which seems to plauge telling anyone you do martial arts.


Cut down version of our conversation


Him: What do you do during the day?
Me: Mainly training martial arts.
Him:(throws a fast jab at my face from a distance where he could never make contact) Do you think you could block my punch if i really wanted to hit you?
Me: Nah... but i would drop you when i hit you back.
Him: Fair enough.



Oddly enough this worked a charm and he never pestered me again about doing martial arts :D

[Imperial Dragon]

RD's art is only as great as his video tapes. What a joke. I think a paper bag would kick his rump. hey dragon what rank was the guy...never mind you don't believe in rank, only delusions of his own creation. Why don't you use that home made Dit Da Jow on your back, sounds like a wonderful brew.(';)') Try Sun Sun Tong in Chicago to get the real stuff, ask for David but be respectful. Then go to a real school to learn martial arts instead of learing from a book but Im not sure your heart is in it.

[Royal Dragon]

jon,
He he he, that was a good one! :p

[SevenStar]

a friend of mine was an amateur boxer, and we used to spar all the time in the receiving area back when I used to work at kmart.

[SevenStar]

As far as the topic goes, I'm with ryu - you can't really kick someone's arse wrong. Also, there wasn't really an arse kicking. You merely got the jump on him in a short exchange.

As for not being able to do the technique that you wanted to do, we discuss that all the time on this forum - when it comes down to it, you will use the technique that your body is most accustomed to using, which in this case was not your tai tzu.

Are you gonna be able to get any serious power from palming while stepping backwards?

[Royal Dragon]

Yeah, that stuff happens. I personally think it's a good thing so long as your boss does not get upset about it. Right now, I have one guy I work on the Tai Tzu stuff with, mostly pre arranged stuff, and deciphering the forms for applications, so a little "mix'n it up" free style with someone who uses a different method from me was welcome.

Now that my back is pretty much healed up, I'm actually thinking of dropping my Taiji classes and teaching all together, and looking for some place to train on a regular basis. Ideally, I know where I want to go, but the scedualing is not going to work. The only other place close enough for me that's what I'm looking for would be Golden Mountain (because the Long Fist runs on the same principals as my Tai tzu), but I really don't think my life would aford me the luxury of commiting to the level of dedication those guys demand. In 3 years, my daughter will be driving, maybe then.

What I want is someplace I can go to work on Kung Fu a few days a week, especially two man and free stuff, but at the same time, I really like my Tai Tzu project, and I want to stick with it to see where I end up going with it. I have a complete system of beginning, intermediate and advanced forms all documented (Abit from different lineages). I'd really like to fully expore it all. At there same time, I want to work with someone better than myself in something related to keep perspective on my skills.

[KC Elbows]

I used to finger flick while stepping backward, like when a kick came in(straight), I'd step my lead leg way back into a deep bow so that my lead arm could block the leg before it gained serious power, and I'd finger flick(in sparring- to the forehead, in fighting, eyes), because that doesn't need extra power so much. However, this is mostly good as a distracting move, really hurts the eyes, but won't finish anyone serious, though it can get them thinking. However, I decided it was too dedicated a move for not enough payoff. I'd rather keep on the offensive than back off.

I find that replacing old moves with new ones becomes easier once the new ones support each other. Especially once no thought is involved. In your retelling, you mention thinking of one move and doing another. More sparring time where you force yourself to use the new move should change that. It's the thinking that is the problem.

Kind of the reason I like the internals, not that other styles don't have this as well, just speaking on what I know: in the internals, there are so many important principles that you don't break, they aren't form per se, but structure and tactics. You practice them as part of everything related to the art, so when you're fighting, as long as you're following those, you're probably set up to do all the "moves" you can associate with the pertinent form, if that makes any sense, and you force your opponent to deal first with your structure, because you're not breaking it for him, before causing you harm, provided you've found a way to apply those principles in varied fighting situations. Speaking stand up here, not nearly knowledgable enough to speak of ground fighting usage. I know enough to hopefully get off the ground except against the good ones, and nothing more.

Just my .02.

And Imperial Dragon, Fred Sanford doesn't come on this forum just to slam RD, he actually contributes. The only reason you've EVER posted is to continue your grudge against RD. Go wank elsewhere if you're not gonna contribute to the forum.

[Royal Dragon]

Also, there wasn't really an arse kicking. You merely got the jump on him in a short exchange

Reply]
Very true.

when it comes down to it, you will use the technique that your body is most accustomed to using, which in this case was not your tai tzu.

Reply]
Again, this is exactly what happened. I think it's becasue I haven't really worked the Tai Tzu in full free fighting, especially due to the timeing of my back injury. However, the kick turned knee jam is something I have used many times in free sparring years ago. I'm just suprised it's still in there to the point of automated response. I'ts not like I have done any kind of serious fight work in like 3 years or so. You'd think it would have degraded by now. Instead, it's still in there so good that it overrid what I wanted to do.

Are you gonna be able to get any serious power from palming while stepping backwards?

Reply]
Back in the mid 90's, I was without a teacher (after tsai's, before tai tzu), BUT I had a Good Kempo guy I used to spar with on a regular basis. He was way better than me, and pretty much pounded me at will. Since I had no teacher, I was working out forms from books on the side, and I picked up a good Louhan Set that way. One of the moves in that form is a step back, punch forward reset your feet and punch again. In the form, it looks pretty dumb, but one day as I was getting the snot pounded out of me (close to full contact, head gear and open finger gloves no foot gear or chest gear), and this perticular move just sort of came out of me and I knocked him silly. I actually stunned him enough to where we had to stop, take our gear off and take a breather. (So much for book learning being useless).

The Tai Tzu technique I wanted to use works in a similar fashion, only it's implmented a bit differently, and uses a palm instead of a fist. I think it could be used in the same type of situation my Louhan book technique is, only in closer quarters, But it's not free fight tested yet.

[Liokault]

wow it must have been hard to hold back. we all know how deadly your kung fu is. good thing you didn't shatter his ribcage and puncture his lungs with the broken ribs. what great control you have of your deadly art. kudos.


Whats with the sarcastic tone here? Do you belive it to be hard to shatter a rib?

I have litterally lost track of the number ribs I have broken (on other guys) sparring, normaly while trying to go easy on them and limite the head shots.

[Royal Dragon]

I used to finger flick while stepping backward, like when a kick came in(straight), I'd step my lead leg way back into a deep bow so that my lead arm could block the leg before it gained serious power, and I'd finger flick(in sparring- to the forehead, in fighting, eyes), because that doesn't need extra power so much. However, this is mostly good as a distracting move, really hurts the eyes, but won't finish anyone serious, though it can get them thinking. However, I decided it was too dedicated a move for not enough payoff. I'd rather keep on the offensive than back off.

Reply]
Hmmmm, it could also stun them just enough for you to turn the tables on them and work in some solid finnishing moves too.

I find that replacing old moves with new ones becomes easier once the new ones support each other. Especially once no thought is involved. In your retelling, you mention thinking of one move and doing another. More sparring time where you force yourself to use the new move should change that. It's the thinking that is the problem.

Reply]
Yeah, I think the issue is doing that move in the air too much, and not enough against a resisting partner. It's only been reacently that I have felt strong enough to work with other people though. Even then i'm cautious and just do pre arranged two man stuff mostly. I need to find a good group to work with now.

Kind of the reason I like the internals, not that other styles don't have this as well, just speaking on what I know: in the internals, there are so many important principles that you don't break, they aren't form per se, but structure and tactics. You practice them as part of everything related to the art, so when you're fighting, as long as you're following those, you're probably set up to do all the "moves" you can associate with the pertinent form, if that makes any sense, and you force your opponent to deal first with your structure, because you're not breaking it for him, before causing you harm, provided you've found a way to apply those principles in varied fighting situations. Speaking stand up here, not nearly knowledgable enough to speak of ground fighting usage. I know enough to hopefully get off the ground except against the good ones, and nothing more.

Reply]
Yeah, I'm kind of attracted to the internals for that reason myself. MAstery of the principlas allows spontanious creation of new techniques on the spot as needed. Blind memorisation of techniques really doesn't give you that ability.

Just my .02.

And Imperial Dragon, Fred Sanford doesn't come on this forum just to slam RD, he actually contributes. The only reason you've EVER posted is to continue your grudge against RD. Go wank elsewhere if you're not gonna contribute to the forum.

Imperial Dragon is just jelious because he has this system he *Thought* was developed by a long dead Emperor, and it turned out to just be a modern Yang derived Tai Chi style. I at least have the real thing documented from multiple credible sources and I can work on that project when ever I want without delusions. He just has a farce and he's upset about it, that's all.

[Ryu]

You know what's funny? A lot of my sparring matches (and also real fights) happened at various jobs.

There was the sparring match with a "muay thai" boxer who said I couldn't take him down.....

(I shot in on him and got hold of a single leg...he tried to jump up and knee me in the head.....:D He fell straight down into the cement floor of the back room and gave up as soon as I got side control....) This guy's punch nicked my ear as I shot in though....(phew).....he did have lots of power.

Got into a real fight at that same job (what was wrong with that place?? :confused: ) Some guy knew I had some grappling experience and went on and on about how he defeated all these wrestlers in high school, etc. Then asked me to try and take him down....
I didn't want to, but he kept asking and so I finally did....and took him down.
Then he said "well let me try this again..."
So I shot in again.....and took him down again.

Then he decided to do it full out sparring because it was the only way for his "move" to work.....

So I took him down a third time. This time, on the ground, he goes crazy, and starts trying to rip my head off.... I get ****ed, ankle pick him onto his back, mount him, and threaten a beating with a raised fist.......he stopped before I had to do anything else.


Then when I worked as a security guard, there was that "hazing" incident against two guys......
That fight was actually kind of scary. I've told that one on here before though.

Work........ not the safest place it seems. :(

Ryu

[Royal Dragon]

LOL @ Ryu!! Yeah, bizzaro things happen at work!!:D :p

[brassmonkey]

I have a new coworker with the name Chao. I immediately thought of you Royal Dragon. He claims to have bloodline from the royal family but doesnt know any martial arts except tae kwon do but I suspect he's lying.

[Royal Dragon]

LOL!!!

You know, I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Emperor Chao from 960 AD had ALOT of kids from his concubines, so ultimately, it is possible. Only a direct descendant would have THE family art. Even then, after 1000 years, given and average of 2.5 kids a generation, the family line must be huge by now.

[apoweyn]

Maybe it's just me being cynical. But this story isn't really about how you "kicked arse wrong." That sounds like false humility to me, when what you really wanted to say was that you stopped some guy with one knee shot to the ribs.


Stuart B.

[Royal Dragon]

No, not really. Anyone could do that. It was just a weird experiance I was relateing to the board, that's all. I could just as well have been talking about how I failed to do what I wanted, and just got lucky. Maybe I was subconciously trying to say I suck becuse I couldn't pull off a simple move, and instead just went all willy nilly and did whatever.

Or maybe, just maybe after all the hell and anguish I have gone through with my back, I was just happy that finnaly I was strong enough to mix it up a bit with someone, and didn't do all that bad inspite of myself.

[apoweyn]

Royal Dragon,


Or maybe, just maybe after all the hell and anguish I have gone through with my back, I was just happy that finnaly I was strong enough to mix it up a bit with someone, and didn't do all that bad inspite of myself.

I think that's a perfectly valid reason to celebrate. And to want to talk about it.

I don't think the issue was ever why you couldn't pull off this simple move. The issue was your training. The kick (or knee as it turns out) was more ingrained than the retreating palm. Not a failing on your part. Just an indication that you've used the kicking more in sparring, drilling, etc. So that when it was go time, that was more readily accessible to you.


Stuart B.

[No_Know]

Survival systems: Defcon4-..........He's charging.
RoyalDragon's concious thought-.I'l try that Tai tzu technique.
Survival systems: Defcon3-..........He's charging!
RoyalDragon's concious thought-.Um, that goes something like.?. hmm?
Survival systems: Defcon2- ..........I'm in no mood to need rebooting.

Kick. Survival systems: Defcon1--falty distance intelligence, Convert coNVERT CONVERT...Knee.

When you did practice in the air you did not Feel the urgency of Needing to use the technique. You likely were technical logical, when I do this it has this effect...cool but not concept of putting You in the application--that in the air or in the situation should good portionly be treated without difference. Practice/real=same high intensity/Intent.

You disliked not getting to tryout your technique but because you didn't know it good enough--lacksidasical training, you didn't execute it before you were in great jeopardy. If you knew it better and had practiced with intent siding on This is needed/real/I'm hitting someone+ you might have at least gotten the technique off even if it failed (you or him).

[No_Know]

It worked, perhaps, but not necessarily as you reasoned.

Stepping back and punching forward seems to have something like a force dampening effect. However, It gives Great stability to your straight arm anchored in the centrifugal force like a gyroscope has resistance to being moved as quick as you like fast.

Person was comming toward you then took your volunteered space. Thing is, while you are moving out you are sending forward a fist or palm but it is counterbalance to your step-like a tightrope walker's balance pole, the ends are heavy, hard to move--stablizing-ish.

It's like running in the lumberyard. Turning a corner chest/ midsection into the small side of a stuck-out two foot portion of a ten foot two-by-four near the middle of a neatly stacked six foot high twenty foot long pile/gathering of ten foot long two-by-fours.

"Are you gonna be able to get any serious power from palming while stepping backwards?"

Large rotation--down, back, up, over, forward-down while sinking with rear stepping gives centrifugal force plus the sinking weight of the body(using your boy weight to augment force)~ as the arm moves with it. Palm heel shot or bottom of the fist.

Put a couch pillow in a plastic grocery bag. Holding through the handles, push the bag at a person/have them push it at you. See what is thought of that-Powerwise

Holding through the handles, let the person swing the bag counterclockwise (right hand; clockwise, left hand), At you (or you at them). Largest rotation at elbow or shoulder. See what is thought of that-Powerwise

Holding through the handles, let the person swing the bag counterclockwise (right hand; clockwise, left hand), At you (or you at them), while sinking-down (arm With the body). See What you or or and they think of that-Powerwise.

Seems like a overhead move. But the swing momentum borrowing the body weight of sinking might be piggy-backed with a thrust or push brought from behind.

However much power that might be.

Elbow rotation is faster than shoulder rotation. Wrist rotation is faster than elbow rotation.

Speed (velocity can add to force). There are at least centrifugal force and mechanicalforce at play here. Like attributes in a role-playing game, where you allocate means less to allocate elsewhere. Comprehend an appropriate balance.

Perhaps somesuch some might say.

I No_Know

[No_Know]

"I'm not sure I follow..... how do you "kick ass" wrong?

You either kick it or you don't......don't you?

Explain what you mean.

Ryu"

"As far as the topic goes, I'm with ryu - you can't really kick someone's arse wrong. Also, there wasn't really an arse kicking. You merely got the jump on him in a short exchange.

As for not being able to do the technique that you wanted to do, we discuss that all the time on this forum - when it comes down to it, you will use the technique that your body is most accustomed to using, which in this case was not your tai tzu."-SevenStar

Different from trying to pull-off a technique and not pulling-it-off, this might count.

I use my weakest stuff when I spar~. Things on which I had theories and the such. If I was looking to score with Crane moves But find I apply them and they Don't work and start to get win on, I would conciously down-shift until I get to the stuff that seem always efficient. It's not enough to win. I Need to win standing on one leg or just using one arm. Or using only kicks or from a horseriding stance. And if I win but not how I came-into it to, it might be frustrating, demoralizing, bothersome...irk my Arrogance.

[Royal Dragon]

Survival systems: Defcon4-..........He's charging.
RoyalDragon's concious thought-.I'l try that Tai tzu technique.
Survival systems: Defcon3-..........He's charging!
RoyalDragon's concious thought-.Um, that goes something like.?. hmm?
Survival systems: Defcon2- ..........I'm in no mood to need rebooting.

Kick. Survival systems: Defcon1--falty distance intelligence, Convert coNVERT CONVERT...Knee.


Reply]
Yeah, this is pretty much what happened, Only I didn't stumble on the Tai Tzu technique, it played out in my head just as it should have, propper timming for the situation and everything. My body on the other hand said "Fu(k This untested sh!t, were doing something that's proven, and that's that!"

When you did practice in the air you did not Feel the urgency of Needing to use the technique. You likely were technical logical, when I do this it has this effect...cool but not concept of putting You in the application--that in the air or in the situation should good portionly be treated without difference. Practice/real=same high intensity/Intent.

Reply]
Well said, and probably true for me. Alot of this was due to the fact that I intentionnaly have been greatly holding back the last few years wile I healed up. I really don't have to do that as much as I used to, but it's sort of become habit. Now, I just need to make sure I maintain good recovery times more so than keeping the intesity levels down. So basically, most of my Tai Tzu may have been "Played with" in sporatic and occasional two man drills, but it's not really "Fight Tested". So when I was under the gun, my reptillian level brain went with the proven technology, the old "Pre Tai Tzu" skills I learned from my short time at Master Tsai's and Maser Abbate's schools, and perfected when I was sparring alot in small priviate groups during the mid 90's.

Really, only designing myself a consistant regiment of progressive prearranged twoman drills all the way through to full resisting free sparring, will I be able to make the Tai Tzu skills actually work in a fight or sparing situation. In the pinch, I'm STILL, after all this time, going to fall back on the same few things I have allways found success with.


You disliked not getting to tryout your technique but because you didn't know it good enough--lacksidasical training, you didn't execute it before you were in great jeopardy. If you knew it better and had practiced with intent siding on This is needed/real/I'm hitting someone+ you might have at least gotten the technique off even if it failed (you or him).

Reply]
Not really Lacksidasial training, more like intentionally taking it easy because I was hurt. I over did it, and tried to get back in the game way too early before, and it turned into a complete disaster. After that, I decided to not mix it up untill I met certain thresholds. So far, I'm a bit more than half way there, and slowly but steadily improving every day. I'm actually getting close to looking into schools so I can find people to work with again. I don't even care what style it is, so long as it's Good Chinese. Unfortunetly, there does not seem to be much Kung Fu in the Chicago's southwest suburbs. Most of the good stuff is in the city from what I can see.

The plan is to continue progressing in my personal system for maybe 9 more months, to a year. In the mean time, I'm probably going to drop the Taiji classes I'm teaching now so I have more time for my personal training. In 18 months, I want to be traiing on my own 3 times a week for 3 hours, and doing 2 days of two man work somewhere with a Chinese Long Fist sysetm, or possibly with someone who has an internal background (Thinking Hsing I or Bagua maybe). I will be keeping the Tai Tzu as my own personal project, using the forms and Qi Gong for the conditioning, and it's internal for body mechaincs drills. I'll worry about deciphering the applications of it when I have my game back.


No_Know,
I know what you mean by working your weakest stuff. It's how we all progress. BUT, there is also alot to be said for working your strengths, especially if you want to get your fight ability up quick, or in my case, restore it. I'm going to do a little bit of both Me think's.

[jon]

I used to spar a lot with a guy at my old work.

There is also a huge difference in how he approched me about working out together compared to the majority of people who find out i do ma and then try to 'test' me.

Im usualy quite happy to show people what i do and by and large im actualy quite happy for people to ask me the 'what do you do if' question as more often than not its actualy an honest question and not loaded in the least.

Having said that ive certainly had both ends of the stick, i had a guy who after finding out i did MA offered a little exchange to which i accepted. He then started throwing punches as hard as he could in an obvious attempt to actualy try and get one over me, i ended up hitting him in the eye out of reflex and it was not exactly a happy moment for either of us although we did end being friends.


The guy who i used to work a lot with used to do event security and also used to box and wrestle. He had a *lot* of weight on me as he was a bit past his prime and im fairly lean. Still his method of a 'challenge' was compleately humble and honest. He simply said he was interested in having a work out becouse it had been a while and wanted to know if i was up for a bit of contact sparring. He then surgested we have a muck around in one of the back rooms when we where on our lunch break.
We both had a great time and i really learnt a *lot* from this guy and both had a lot of fun doing it.
We ended up both working out quite a bit together and even went to far to as teach each other little bits and pieces.

Still the main point was one of the guys wanted to prove he was a badass. The other was interested in simply learning more.
BIG difference in my book.

[Royal Dragon]

I've delt with the "try and prove he's a bad ass" types at work too. last year I had one of those. The guy literally jumped my from behind a pallet loaded full with Fire Place burners. I was going to lunch, and had my Lunch in one hand, and a pair of gloves in the other. Fought him one handed, and still won. He seemed like a Kick Boxer with lots of good looking combos.

In that case, I beat him with a mix of stuff from the 32 move Tai Tzu form, and a few tricks I got from a LHBF freind of mine. In all honesty though, he really wasn't all that good. However, he had the jump on me, and lots of real agression. The whole thing was really bizzar, like he was trying to jokey for position as the top Dog in the shop or something. I helped build that company, even if he beat me he wouldn't have got it anyway. I don't know what the guy was thinking. I had him fired for that one.

[No_Know]

I'm hearing two cases of scared.

-scared to try and fail during an attack.
-scared to get hurt again/worsen your hurt/be crippled by your actions.

I read that you have Scared. Fear can be a help. But only so far. Do whatever. But be aware.

For me, as they are strengths requireing maintanance to a point, I would rather develop to approach an even ness in the things I think matter at that place in my life. Then a little developing of all of it. Or taking advantage to Really up a skill of it's a significant lift. Basically Whatever whatever. Hopefully I do not do anything. Hopefully I do not Know anything. Be well.