7*mantis in NHB

[Scarletmantis]

I have been training lately with NHB competition in mind. That means I've been wieght training for strength and power, sparring like a maniac, and fighting with wrestlers and kickboxers at a local JKD school.

I also practice my forms everyday, and attend 7* classes at least thrice a week.

I have found that during sparring sessions with different styles (BJJ/Wrestling/Kickboxing), principles and strategies are far more important than specific techniques. Also I have found that the size and strength of your opponent can often decide the match for you. Therefore, conditioning is of utmost importance.

How many of you have engaged in this type of training? What Strategies and Principles have served you best when facing, say, a judo man? How do you fight mantis style with gloves on?

I've got my own theories, but I'd like to hear some of your feedback.

"Master, here is a stick. Please beat me for my insolence." - KC Elbows

[EARTH DRAGON]

real fighting I wish you luck! I think that it kinda hinders your training when you are training to fight mixed styles. It hard to apply what you have learned if your opponents just shoots in on you! you have to adapt to your op. if he kicks work your kick blocks , if he shoots jump back kick in the face, if he punches fake high go low. Just a couple of things you have to remember! its not like sparring its not like street fighting its inbetween and sometimes unfair. i.e gloves rules etc. my kung fu brother joel sutton was in UFC #6 and 7 and won both, not due to kung fu but knowing how to fight in any situation. If your kung fu doesnt have ground fighting your in trouble learn from others and adapt to the situation. again good luck to you !

http://www.kungfuUSA.net

[Tainan Mantis]

I don't have NHB experiance. In Taiwan some people sometimes take exception to a Westerner teaching Chinese kung fu and will want to test my skill.
When fighting someone who's skill and tactics are a mystery to me I notice that my mental capacity becomes constricted, as if I'm thinking through a keyhole. I'll try to overcome that someday but in the meantime I keep the key word tsai or pluck in mind since that is almost all that I can fit in my mind at the time.
If the opponent is a sideways fighter I'm sideways, my right hand to his right or left to left. I will use 2 hands to control his lead hand and work off his reaction to this scenario if possible.
If he doesn't charge but instead retreats I follow , always thinking of tsai.
If the opponent is a front fighter my right hand to his left and my left to his right. Then move to cross up his hands if the situation permits.
From Tsai comes the attacks that I practice.
But what seems most important to me is that when practicing or sparring there should not be different gears or levels.
Like, slow light contact, medium contact etc.
Just ON and OFF
Unfortuneatly I can't cream my students in every class as they wouldn't like to get the stuffing kicked out of them on a regular basis. And when they are good enuf to fight me they have built up too much reverence for their Shr fu to put there 100% intent into hitting me.
So I think I have to go to a new scool and be the low man on the totem pole so that people will consistently try to defeat me.

[Scarletmantis]

Earthdragon, I don't feel that anyone has an "unfair" advantage over me. Luckily, those NHB gloves are designed to keep your fingers fairly free for joint manipulations. That means I can pluck, hook, stick and Chin Na without losing too much sensitivity.

I actually have been doing very well against wrestlers BJJ guys etc. without doing too much "alteration". I find the NPM system to be VERY flexible, and there is absolutly NO reason at all that our strategies won't work on the ground. You just need to fight different people to figure it out. Your concern about crosstraining makes sense for the beginner. Dosen't apply to me though.

Tainan, the tendancy to get tunnel vision is always a posibility when the adrenalene is pumping. It's part of our fight or flight mechanisim and helps us to focus on the destruction of prey. I personally am not able to think about much of anything when I'm in these situations. Fighting becomes instinctual and at that point, it dosen't really matter to me WHAT I do, as long as I win. ;)

The fact that I might look like a Mantis fighter is purely a matter of proper training. What I'm focused on is crushing my enemy as quickly, and painfully as possible. I guess the Mantis mentality is more important to me then technique.
A real fight is not a training exercise.

"Master, here is a stick. Please beat me for my insolence." - KC Elbows

[EARTH DRAGON]

if you want to rent UFC 6 and 7 and watch joel sutton my fellow praying mantis kung fu brother he won both fights and trained under my sifu and cheung le and it was the bloodiest match in UFC history! exciting to watch his bout

http://www.kungfuUSA.net

[Lost_Disciple]

I bought UFC 6 and 7 and there's like 5 seconds of Sutton on one of the tapes and I think he won by forfeit on the other. Nothin bad about the guy, but i was mad to waste money on the tapes; not much to look at or learn from.
.

Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.