WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2011 MARTIAL ARTS MEDIA

There's quite a bit to look forward to in terms of martial arts media in 2011, and here's a quick look at what the year has in store:

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

TRICKING THE STUNTS OF TRON LEGACY

I recently saw Tron Legacy in Imax 3D and enjoyed it very much. Critics, however, are very divided with it. It, for example, currently holds a 49% rating over at Rotten Tomatoes, yet top critic Roger Ebert gave it 3 out of 4 stars. Some even speculate that, in order to even like the film, you had to have loved the original. I personally do not believe this to be true. While I did see the original film as a child and liked it, I feel that I did not love it enough to make any significant emotions carry over into my enjoyment of the sequel. I simply enjoyed Tron Legacy for its own merits, no more no less. Here's the official trailer:

THE EXPENDABLES MOVIE REVIEW

Expectations. That’s what "The Expendables" is all about. It has an air of hype around it that just builds tremendous expectations in certain audience members. It has to, what with some of the “greatest action heroes of all time” all in the same movie. As such, I believe that this is the film’s greatest accomplishment, as well as its greatest failure.

TEKKEN MOVIE REVIEW 2: THE EXTREMELY GEEKY VERSION

You’ve probably already read my general thoughts on the film, but if it not, please check it out first! This review is basically a continuation of the first one, but with added notes that the hardcore Tekken and fighting game fans might want to know. As such, this contains MASSIVE SPOILERS. You have been warned.

TEKKEN MOVIE REVIEW

I recently had the chance to see “Tekken”, the live action adaptation of the very popular video game franchise. I am a huge fan of fighting games, and of course, I love Tekken as well. As one would expect, this is a martial arts movie. I have to stress, however, that this is a low budget effort, and what many would correctly term a “B Movie”. So, if you completely despise these types of flicks, then you know what to expect, and that’s pretty much all of the pieces of this review that you need to read. If, however, the thought of this being a low budget chop-socky affair doesn’t bother you in the least, then read on!

SLY STALLONE ON LETTERMAN

Sylvester Stallone was on David Letterman recently, and talked a bit about working with other Hollywood tough guys such as Steve Austin and Jet Li. There's lots of great stuff in this interview including a rather interesting injury Sly suffered during filming.

Sly also talks about former UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight champion Randy Couture, saying:



"if you put all these tough guys in one room together, and let's see who comes out, and you walked in ten minutes later, you'd see Randy Couture sitting on top of us having a chocolate fudge sundae. And we're all, like, gone."


Interesting stuff. Check out the rest of the interview below:







I'm personally really excited about this movie and will write how Randy and the rest of the Hollywood badasses do after I've seen it!


Adrien Brody was also on Jay Leno recently promoting Predators:





Later on in the interview, Brody reveals how he admires Schwarzenegger and, how, in his youth, he would read about him in muscle magazines. Kind of annoying that, even after Leno asks him about his workout, Brody kind of circles around the topic and talks about liver tablets, of all things. Oh, well.

THE PREDATORS WORKOUT

I recently had the chance to watch the movie "Predators".Great action movie, but I personally feel that it kind of pales in comparison to Arnold’s 1987 classic.The writers and director obviously wanted to make it bigger and more exciting than the original, but failed to make the story become totally engaging. The star of the film, Adrien Body, while a great actor, is also no Arnold Schwarzenegger, so that’s something that was probably eating at the back of my mind during the entire film.

But while Brody is no Austrian Oak, he nonetheless still worked tremendously hard to build a very impressive physique for this film. Entertainment.gather.com has a great article about his transformation:

“When asked about how he prepared for this action hero role, Brody noted that he was doing a "challenging" six days a week of training and diet. He was also shooting for the movie 12 hours per day. Brody said during preparation he wasn't drinking alcohol, wasn't consuming any refined sugars and was having no sex. He said he did all that he could to harness a "ferocious" mentality and persona for this character"


While Brody never revealed the specifics of the workout he used for “Predators” (as far as I know, though I’d love to be proven wrong), Entertainment.gather.com suggests that he might have used a Scrawny to Brawny workout,as published by Men’s Health, when Brody made the cover of the magazine because of how he buffed up his physique for the 2005 version of King Kong:


“Adrien Brody achieved results for our December 2005 cover in 3 weeks. For you, Mejia suggests a training schedule of 8 to 12 weeks, although the same discipline is required. Just avoid these two mistakes.

1. Lifting too much. "What you really need is less volume but more intensity," says Mejia. This strategy actually simplifies your workout--only four exercises every session. For the first three, do five sets of five reps. Rest no more than 2 minutes between sets. For the last exercise, do two or three sets of eight to 12 reps, as this targets smaller muscles in your core or shoulders.


Monday: Squat, barbell incline bench press, pullup, weighted situp 
Wednesday: Hang clean and press, deadlift, dip, side-lying external rotation 
Friday: Front squat, dumbbell bench press, bent-over row, back extension


2. Eating too little. To build new muscle, you need calories. "Guys don't eat nearly enough, says Mejia. "They're reluctant--rightfully so--about putting on body fat."


To avoid that, "you must count calories," says Mejia. Figure out your body's optimal caloric intake, then add 300 to 500 calories to that total to determine how much you need to pack in every day.”

PREDATORS MOVIE TRAILER:

Check out more information, complete with pictures for each exercise you need to turn from scrawny to brawny like Adrien Brody over at Men’s Health.com!

All images used in this article are taken from IMDB's amazing Predators page.

BREATHING AND THE KARATE KID

The original Karate Kid movie is a genuine classic, with a story that pulls you in and characters that are genuinely human. The sequel, on the other hand, is a pretty disappointing follow up, as the villains become more cartoony than ever, and the story devolves into a mostly uninteresting piece of fluff. The last time I had seen “The Karate Kid part 2” was most probably more than 20 years ago, when I was still very little. I had very fond memories of the movie, primarily because I found the Japanese landscape that was presented to be so fascinating. While this aspect of the film is still true, sadly, the rest of it just doesn’t hold up. I find the opening sequence to be utterly fantastic, though, but after the words “six months later” appear on screen, things quickly go downhill.

ANYTHING USEFUL?

Alright, but what about the martial arts, the physical conditioning and so on? Is there anything concerning physical fitness and activity that is worth talking about? Yes, there is, and I don’t mean the secret to Miyagi-do Karate, either. Seriously, fighting skills that are patterned after a child’s toy drum are pretty much conditioned in us at, what, the age of 3? Ever see kids in a playground try to honestly fight with their fists? It’ll look something like that, yeah. So, needless to say, it’s pretty useless in real life and isn’t what this article is about.

BREATHING

The aspect of “The Karate Kid part 2” that I wish to talk about is the breathing exercise that Miyagi teaches Daniel near the beginning of the film. Does this work in real life? Yes, it absolutely does, and I’ll teach you how to do it.

1.    QUIET

Find a quiet place and sit down on a chair. The area you’re in doesn’t have to be completely sealed in. A bit of background noise is fine (which is almost impossible to avoid in most circumstances in today’s modern world, anyway), but try to find the quietest area you have easy access to.

2.    SIT UP STRAIGHT

Now, sit up straight in the chair, with your back resting on it properly. Don’t strain yourself, though. Try to find a position where you know you’re sitting in a perfectly formal and straight position, but still relaxed. Place both hands palms down onto your thighs and close your eyes.

3.    EMPTY YOUR MIND

Empty your mind of all thoughts one by one. Our minds are typically overflowing with ideas, which sometimes cause us stress. You’ll find that the less you think about, the more relaxed you become, so that’s what we’re going to do now. Imagine each thought in your head being rolled up like a newspaper page and stored in a drawer. Do this for each thought until your mind is a blank.

4.    FEEL YOUR BREATH

Notice your breathing. Inhale deeply and feel your abdominal area expand as it takes in the air. Inhale slower than you normally would, but not too slow, and breath in and out only through the nostrils. Feel your breath going into your nostrils and down into your belly, then feel it rising back up as you exhale. Concentrate on your breathing as if it is the only thing in the world. Do this over and over several times until you are absolutely relaxed.

5.    RETURN TO YOUR BREATH

While doing the exercise, from time to time you might notice that some of the thoughts you locked up in the drawer creep back in to bother you, reminding you of the troubles you might have in the real world. Pay them no mind and return your absolute concentration to your breath. Breath in slowly, feeling all the air entering you seep into every pore of your body, your belly expanding as it does. Then exhale and feel it flowing out of you once again.

6.    BE AT PEACE

You can perform the exercise for as long as you wish. Form some people, 5 minutes is enough, but others take an hour for just this activity. Just don’t fall asleep! However long you wish to do it is up to you, but keep at it until you feel yourself totally at peace, with all your stress removed and your body more energized than any cup of coffee could possibly make you feel. When you feel that you’ve had enough, you should have more clarity in you mind, and be more focused than before.

HITTING THE NAIL ON THE HEAD

Will this make you a better carpenter like it did Daniel? Well, that depends, but if you’ve never done carpentry before, the answer will most probably be no, so don’t try that nail trick at home, kids! You might get seriously hurt if you mess up. And don't even think about using this technique to break blocks of ice, either.

You should, however feel very relaxed and focused, as Daniel most probably did in the movie. Reorganizing your thoughts and flushing out all the stress in your body can have amazing benefits that you may never have felt before.

WHENEVER, WHEREVER

Perform this activity as many times as you wish, wherever you choose, and also in whatever position you wish. It doesn’t need to be performed sitting down, though that is the ideal position for a beginner to get a hang of it. If you try it lying down the first time, the temptation to sleep instead of emptying your mind and relaxing is too great. You can also do it standing up, if you wish, but I wouldn’t recommend doing it while you’re in a queue.

Hopefully you’ll find this technique effective and find some use for it in your daily life. If you have any other questions about this method, or have other breathing techniques that you know about, then drop me a comment below because I’d love to hear about them!

MEDITATION AND THE KARATE KID

This is the third in a series of articles I've made concerning the Karate Kid franchise. These articles attempt to dissect the fitness and martial arts concepts utilized in these movies and see if they are actually useful in real life or just empty Hollywood baloney. I highly recommend you read the first (where I tackle motor learning) and second (where I take a look at conditioning) articles before diving into this one!

BONSAI

Another piece of awesomeness I saw in the original Karate Kid was Mr. Miyagi’s bonsai habit. Bonsai is used as a sort of meditative practice all over the world these days and is able to instil peace within one’s by quieting it, allowing it to focus on a single, simple task, and shutting out the noise that often clouds our thoughts. Mr. Miyagi teaches Daniel this and is something, I believe, that should be taught to everyone.

MEDITATION AND YOU

No, I’m not suggesting you go out and buy some bonsai to quiet down your soul. What I am saying is that you find some equivalent of this in your daily life and make the most of it. Some people pray and even go to church on a daily basis. Some people perform Yoga, some people stretch their troubles away, and some people go into actual meditative states for long periods of time.

The activity doesn’t need to be as traditional as all that, though. I, for example, try to write for my blog everyday. Of course, my primary intent is to share my thoughts to everyone in the world in blog form, and hope that I help someone out there somehow, but I also find that writing keeps my mind at peace and brings me in a sort of meditative state. Like Mr. Miyagi’s bonsai method, writing quiets my mind so it can focus completely on a single, simple task: chronicling my thoughts on a very specific topic.

MAKE IT PERSONAL

Find your own, personal meditative activity, embrace it and try to do it as much as possible; every day if you can. You’ll find that it can relax you totally, keep you focused, erase a completely stressful day, and thus, aid in your health.

MR. MIYAGI?

Alright, now back to Mr. Miyagi’s training methods. The rest of Mr. Miyagi’s methods were now very similar to Mr. Han’s except, well, Mr. Han’s were better in this regard. Why? Well, for one, Mr. Miyagi never used Random Practice in the original Karate Kid movie, ever. All of his methods were all Block Practice styles. Another thing is that Daniel apparently only learned two offensive moves during his training sessions, the straight punch and the crane kick (which, just in case some of you are stilll wondering, doesn't work in real life, so don't bother trying to do it; there are other, cooler moves out there that actually work), but in the actual tournament, he seemed to have the complete Karate arsenal on his side. Continuity flaws aside, when he did practice these moves, they were against thin air (as in the crane kick) or against a non-moving object (as in the straight punch), which is never how you want to practice for a live competition. You want actual sparing with actual people that mimic the actual competition environment as close as possible to help sharpen your skills to their maximum. This is the essence of Random Practice and the key to how to truly prepare for an event.

WHO WINS?

So, who wins? Technically, Mr. Han does. He did waste a few weeks of Dr’s time with that “jacket on, jacket off” nonsense, but the rest of his training was pretty solid. Mr. Miyagi, on the other hand, gave Daniel four perfectly good training days to condition his body in certain ways, but then used up the rest of the two months pretty ineffectively. And, no, after four days of chores, you don’t suddenly know how to block punches and kicks. Notice that, during the tournament, the blocks and movements that Daniel performs is totally different from the “wax on, wax off” motions he learned.

Yes, the balance training on the boat is petty nice, but that sort of training alone doesn’t really help win a martial arts tournament; learning how to score points and knock out opponents does. Aside from the boat and crane kick balance, Daniel didn’t perform any other conditioning exercises, though. At least Dre did push ups and splits during his training sessions. That’s why, during the tournament, I found myself thinking, “that’s what happens when you don’t condition your legs for an event that involves kicking!”

I still like Mr. Miyagi better, though. Why? Well, that’s Pat Morita’s best known role! Jackie Chan has done of others we can remember him for (Drunken Master, City Hunter, etc), but the Karate Kid master will always be Pat Morita. Just sayin’.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

The Karate Kid teaches us not to be lazy. It teaches us that training and discipline can exist in all the activities we engage in on a daily basis and not just in the gym. This sort of attitude is excellent because the more active we get in our daily lives, the healthier we get. By combining this with a meditative activity or two of some sort to eliminate stress and allow us to receive proper rest, a person could increase his or her health tremendously.

CONDITIONING AND THE KARATE KID

After reading my article, Motor Learning and the Karate Kid, someone asked me if I had the same thoughts on Mr. Miyagi’s training methods as I did Mr. Han’s. As a quick review, my first Karate Kid article discussed the two primary training methods used in sports and other physical activities: Blocked Practice and Random Practice. Blocked Practice is the more traditional form training, where the athlete repeats a single movement an endless amount of times to commit it to muscle memory. Random Practice, on the other hand, has the athlete training all the movements he or she has learned and performs them randomly, and as close to competition circumstances as possible.

REVIEW

In the 2010 version, Mr. Han, played by the legendary Jackie Chan, utilizes both types of training methods, to very different effects. Some of his methods are good, since they are actual techniques used by true martial arts practitioners to sharpen their game, including bodyweight and flexibility exercises, and target practice using such implements as tennis balls and wooden poles. However, as a nod to the original Karate Kid, the very first training method Mr. Han utilizes makes use of an everyday action and attempts to relate it to martial arts. This is the “jacket on, jacket off” training method. In my first Karate Kid article, I basically say that this training is completely useless, as the movements it employs are much too different from the actual motions the “Karate Kid”, Dre performs.

WAX ON, WAX OFF

Now, pretty much everybody knows or at least has heard of “wax on, wax off”, Mr. Miyagi famous line from the original Karate Kid. It’s the technique that “jacket on, jacket off” was ultimately derived from, but is it equally as ineffective?

The answer is no. I hadn’t watched the Karate Kid for a very long time, possibly more than 20 years, and while I remember the key elements about it, such as bits and pieces of Daniel’s training and the tournament at the very end, I’d completely forgotten all the fine details of it. Good thing, too, because I realized after reviewing the original that the 2010 version is almost the exact same storyline as the original, with only a few tweaks here and there. I’d have enjoyed my viewing of Jackie Chan’s version much less if I knew this beforehand.


My personal feelings on cinema aside, the answer to the question I posed above is no. Before reviewing the original film, I’d have said “yes”, without any hesitation, but there’s actually more to “wax on, wax off” than meets the eye.

In the 2010 version, all Dre does at the beginning of his training cycle is pick up his jacket off the ground, wear it, take it off, hang it up, drop it to the floor, and repeat for what seemed liked several weeks in a row, even in the falling rain.

VARIATION

In the original version, Daniel does much more than just wax cars. Sure, that was day 1. Mr. Miyagi somehow has half a dozen cars out in his yard, which Daniel has to wax. He does this for an entire day, with very proper and very specific form taught by his sensei. At the end of the day, his body is completely sore, but he got the job done and, according to Mr. Miyagi, he did it well.

Unlike Dre, Daniel didn’t do the exact same thing in day 2 and the days that followed. Day 2 was sanding floors, which is almost the same motion as wax on, wax off, but with a slight twist. Daniel performed wax on, wax off with a circular clockwise motion with his right hand, and a counter clockwise motion with his left hand. The motions were reversed in sanding the floors, with the right hand going in a counter clockwise motion and the left hand going in a clockwise motion.


Day 3 was even more different than the last. This time, it was painting the fence, which Daniel had to do in a very specific upward and downward fashion. Day 4 was painting the house, which was performed in very specific left to right brushstrokes.

Everyone knows where this is all going, though. In day 5, Daniel suddenly knows the basics of Karate blocking, which doesn’t happen in real life. But, then, why do I say that “wax on, wax off” and its counterparts are more effective than “jacket on, jacket off”. Simple: conditioning.

REAL LIFE

As anyone who’s ever done house chores and errands for an entire day knows, it’s hard work and taxing on the entire body. This is actually how people of old developed strong bodies day to day, by doing all sorts of manual labor. Think about it. How often have you seen laborers who have very well developed bodies as you pass by on the street. Sure, there are some of them with grossly large beer bellies, but I find that there are even more with well developed muscles and firm bodies.

These people don’t regularly work out like the super models and elite athletes we all look up to, but some of them have equally impressive physiques. This is because they use their bodies to the limit on almost a daily basis as part of their jobs. Lifting heavy objects, hammering nails into pieces of wood, and pushing and pulling carts loaded with equipment all condition the human body very well, all without setting foot inside the gym. This is what I learned from my review of the original Karate Kid, and why I was so astonished when I saw “wax on, wax off” again in action for the first time in years.

DO IT YOURSELF!

So, what am I saying, that we should all work as manual laborers instead so we can all get buff the same way? No, of course not, but it does inspire one to rid the mind of laziness, get up and get some work done. Clean your room. Walk to the store and buy the needed groceries. Replace any burnt out light bulbs and broken pipes around the house. Mop the floors when they get grimy. Do it all yourself and don’t be lazy about it. Think it’s a waste of time and that you could be doing something of greater importance? Like what? Lying around and playing video games?


Believe it or not, these chores actually improve one’s quality of living, especially if done on a regular basis. By keeping your room clean, you prevent filth from accumulating; By fixing any holes in the roof, you prevent leaks during the rainy season; By walking to the store inside of driving or commuting, you’re getting some much needed exercise and saving some cash at the same time. These are all good things that will benefit you tremendously if you do them on a regular basis.

MORE TO COME …

That’s not the end, though. As I was typing down my thoughts on the Karate Kid, I realized that I took in a bit too much. Yes, that means there’s more. Also, I didn’t really fully answer the question posed to me yet. “Wax on, wax off” and the first four days of Daniel’s training was only part of what Mr. Miyagi’s training regimen. Daniel did train for two months to prepare for the tournament, after all, so what did I think of the rest of the training sessions? Tune in tomorrow for the follow up article!

MOTOR LEARNING AND THE KARATE KID

I recently saw the newest iteration of the Karate Kid franchise (simply called “The Karate Kid”), and enjoyed it. It’s not perfect by any means, but there’s a lot to like about it. The fight scenes are choreographed very well, Jackie Chan has an awesome dramatic turn, and China is shot magnificently. I just find the some of the main characters totally unconvincing in their sometimes heavy dramatic moments because of their age and inexperience with acting. In any case, the movie is great for what it is, and you should probably check it out if you’re a fan of Jackie Chan and martial arts movies in general.

Now that I’ve got my general thoughts on the movie out of the way, I’d like to move on to the primary topic of this article: the training mechanisms. In almost any movie such as this one, we have a series of training montages of various sorts. There are two main types of training methods: Blocked Practice and Random Practice.

BLOCKED PRACTICE

Blocked Practice is the more traditional form training, where the athlete repeats a single movement an endless amount of times to commit it to muscle memory. Most of the training techniques featured in the movie are like this, primarily the “jacket on, jacket off” training.

Blocked Practice has been shown to be very effective in teaching newcomers to a particular sport or discipline the ropes and basics, but has proven to be totally ineffective for use in the long run. Once the coach has seen that the athlete has learned proper form from the Blocked Practice, it would be time to move on to something more advanced, more effective, and more fun.


Blocked Practice is also useful at unlearning bad habits that athletes may have picked up playing the game during their childhood. Various set techniques should thus be utilized by the trainer to replace these bad movements with the correct ones before moving on to more advanced techniques and training methods.


Blocked Practice, however, has the disadvantage of mentally disassociating the athlete from the sport or discipline. A coach may improperly apply this technique by focusing entire training sessions to only this, thus making the athlete become quickly bored with the class.

This happened to me years ago when I trained in Taekwondo. It was endless repetitions day and night of literally just one technique, which mixed martial arts fans may recognize as a lead body kick, but what we called back then the “forty five”, since the kick was supposedly thrown a full forty five degrees towards the opponent. Or something. Months on end were dedicated to only this, with only a few training sessions actually employing sparring. And whenever I tried different techniques during those sessions, such as the spinning back kick, my instructors would scold me and say that I should use only the forty five. No kidding! It was annoying, and I, at one point, started training on my own at my house. I found it more fruitful than wasting my days away performing only one technique and I eventually quit Taekwondo altogether.

BLOCKED PRACTICE AND THE KARATE KID

This also happens during the movie. Jaden Smith’s character, Dre, gets tired of days on end of “jacket on, jacket off” and wants to leave the training hall. Jackie Chan’s character, Mr. Han, stops him to show him the fruits of his labor. After weeks of “jacket on, jacket off”, Dre suddenly has strengthened his relevant muscle groups and almost mastered some techniques in kung fu. No, if you’re still wondering, this doesn’t occur in real life.

The movements that Dre is performing during Jackie’s “sparring session” are kind of similar to “jacket on, jacket off”, but in the end, they’re totally different. Besides, “jacket on, jacket off” doesn’t have him reacting to a moving opponent. In this respect, training only on a heavy bag is totally different from training against a live human being during an actual sparring session, because your mind has to focus on various things at different times, such as defense, and the timing of yours and your opponent’s erratic movements.

“Jacket on, jacket off” also does not condition various muscle groups very well, primarily because the movements don’t offer enough stress to any of them. Except of course, Dre’s lower back, which, after weeks of bending over like that, is actually surprising that it didn’t suffer from strains of any sort. And that’s really the only thing that “jacket on, jacket off” could have affected.

So, in conclusion, and yes, I realize that it’s painfully obvious, but I still really want to put this down, but “jacket on, jacket off” does not in any way develop any skill aside from being really great at picking a jacket off the floor and placing it on a hook. You master what you practice, after all, and that’s pretty much all there is to this movement. It also doesn’t develop any muscle groups, but actually even puts unnecessary strain on the lower back. So, not only is it a useless martial arts training method, it’s also highly risky.

IF MR. HAN REALLY WANTED TO STICK THIS METHOD INTO DRE'S TRAINING REGIMEN, AT LEAST TWO THINGS COULD HAVE BEEN DONE:

1. Weights could have been added to the jacket, which would progressively become heavier every few days or so.


2. Dre should pick up the jacket with a more natural posture, as in a deadlift, so that he doesn’t out unnecessary strain on his back.

This way, Dre still doesn’t learn martial arts in any conceivable way, but he will develop some of his major muscles, including his deltoids, biceps, forearm muscles, back muscles, and leg muscles. If one thinks about it, it becomes sort of an odd variation of the sumo deadlift high pull (SDHP).

So, yes, Mr. Han not only wasted several weeks of Dre’s life, he also put his lower back at extreme risk. Get ready for some director’s cut footage showing Mr. Han applying the magic flame technique to Dre’s back at least once a week.

At least progresses later on during his training to actual conditioning techniques, such as flexibility and bodyweight exercises, so I guess some of those training sessions  were pretty productive.

RANDOM PRACTICE

Random Practice is the complete opposite of Blocked Practice, in that the athlete trains all the movements he’s learned during the allotted Blocked Practice sessions and performs them randomly, and as close to competition circumstances as possible, and under the close guidance of the instructor.

The athlete, however, should not progress to Random Practice too early, or it might shock him or her too much. The trainer may create too much stress and confusion by demanding the athlete various movements which he or she is not ready for. The trainer has to therefore be very competent in order to control the athletes’ training schedules properly.

Training should always be as close to actual competition as possible, in order to mentally prepare the athlete. Manny Pacquiao, for example, the famous Filipino boxer who is widely held as being the current pound for pound best boxers in the world, has several training several held in public in order to get him used to fighting in front of a large crowd and under bright lights. Training this way gets rid of the first time jitters of many inexperienced athletes.

Training should also be as random as possible (but still controlled by the instructor, of course), because most sports are played that way. This way, the athlete is not too shocked when “things don’t go as planned” during an actual game, and quickly adjusts to the scenario.

Random Practice also encourages what would otherwise be impossible during Blocked Practice: creativity. Michael Jordan is known as one of the best basketball players of all time because he tended to do things that people have never seen before. He does not practice these daring and camera friendly movements as Blocked Practice sessions, but, because he had become comfortable in being creative throughout his practice sessions, he reacts thusly in actual games, surprising not only the spectators, but his opponents as well. Athletes should be highly encouraged to become creative during active training sessions and actual games in order for them to reach their personal comfort zones, and be relaxed all throughout.

RANDOM PRACTICE AND THE KARATE KID

The tennis ball training method and, to some extent, the poking behind laundry training method are forms of Random Practice. Each time a tennis ball is thrown, or each time a jab from the pole is thrust, they target and land at very different areas. Dre also reacts very differently almost every time a ball is thrown. He can either duck under it, step to the side to avoid it, or parry it with his hands (don’t try this at home, kids). They’re still not that great overall, though, as they’re still very detached from the actual nature of the competition, and serve to only strengthen a few skills.

The best example would probably be Dre and Mr. Han’s later sparring sessions, but it’s still not a very good example because Mr. Han is nothing like the competitors that Dre will be facing. This is why, if you watch any of the UFC Countdown specials, you’ll see fighters and trainers mention repeatedly that they got the best guys from all over to move and fight like their opponents. The training has to be as close to the competition as possible. Still, considering that Mr. Han had very little resources at his disposable, this was most probably the best he could do and is thus forgivable. It’s one of those “better than nothing” sort of deals in the end.

WHICH TO USE?

Both. As mentioned, newcomers to a sport or discipline should always start out with Blocked Practice and steadily progress to Random Practice under the trainer’s proper supervision. Blocked Practice can not only be used to master new techniques but unlearn bad ones as well. Random Practice fully prepares the athlete for the feel of an actual competition while mastering the entire needed skill set.

FINAL WORDS ON THE KARATE KID (2010)

Okay, since I was particularly harsh during most of this article towards this movie, I’d just like to reiterate my feelings at the very top, and that I did enjoy the movie. Again, it’s not perfect, but it was fairly entertaining, mostly just because of the Jackie Chan sequences. I wanted to analyze the film as a fitness enthusiast in some way, and what better way than to comment on the training techniques? In short, the training techniques in the movie are mostly ineffective, so don’t do some of them, especially “jacket on, jacket off”. One final thing I do appreciate about the movie is that it has the same spirit of the original karate kid, which had kids all over the world flock to martial arts school, and thus, physical fitness. If this movie achieved even a small percent of that, I’d be very happy, no matter how unrealistic the training regimens in it are.

All the great images used in this article are taken from IMDB's "The Karate Kid (2010)" page!

Like to know how various sports-specific training regimens work and how they might relate to you or a topic you’re interested in? Drop me a question in the comments section!

MY TRIBUTE TO MORTAL KOMBAT

Past readers of this blog may know that I have a very tremendous passion for the video game franchise known as Street Fighter. I love fighting games in general, and want to try out pretty much all of them. Many born in the 80’s (like myself) very well know of the rivalry the Street Fighter franchise had with its Western, and more brutal, counterpart: Mortal Kombat.

While Street Fighter was based on hand drawn, anime-style sprites with a bit of comic relief thrown into the mix to be friendly to all audiences, Mortal Kombat differentiated itself by using actual videotaped live martial artists performing stunts to be used in the game. The characters, abilities, and storylines were also more inherently brutal, and the game even included “Fatalities”, where you could execute your opponent in various ways, including beheading, electrocution, and so on.

While I personally liked this aspect of Mortal Kombat as a young boy, what really got me hooked into the franchise was the first movie, released in 1995. A cheesy chop socky flick for sure, it nonetheless includes several martial arts fight scenes that I personally, to this day, deem to be classics.








MY PERSONAL FAVORITE IS THE REPTILE FIGHT SCENE:



The bicycle kick and spinning off that stone whatever to kick the ninja aside, I feel that it’s an excellent fight scene. Both actors moved very quickly and fluidly, exchanging punches and kicks cut such that they seem to be thrown at intense speeds. I also really like how throws are used very freely throughout the fights. Too often have I seen movie fight scenes that focus only on punching and kicking, and never on the possible grappling aspects that could be added. My favorite throw is actually Liu kang’s scissor throw, which is, yes, extremely unrealistic, I suppose, but I personally find it very creative (what’s up with Liu Kang catching Reptile in mid air, though? I never liked that part as well). The movie is based on fantasy characters of sorts, after all, so these sorts of things are expected. Besides, historically, more fantastic fight scenes sell much better than standard, very realistic, UFC-style combat on the big screen. Just ask Jackie Chan. I just wish that all of these sorts of moves were performed as well (eg: that bicycle kick again).

I also like that, when the camera gets tight onto the characters, the moves that you see them execute are largely very realistic combos. Hook kicks, roundhouse, kicks, knees, elbows, classic 1-2-3 combos, and the like.

Of course, tons of credit should go to the sound department as well, for mixing in those wildly explosive sound effects to make each technique seem mightier than they really are. Add to that a very catchy techno tune, and you’ve got a classic martial arts sequence right there.

Okay, let’s break the scene down a bit more specifically. After Liu Kang gets knocked through that stone wall (remember, fantasy characters and whatnot) Reptile goes in for a double flying kick. The fight becomes very realistic after the initial, wild, largely fantastical opening. Okay, so Reptile still zones in with a flying front kick, and Liu Kang counters with a spin kick for some reason, but notice that Reptile has a very logical, aggressive plan worked out. After gauging Liu Kang’s distance with the jumping front kick, he moves in slowly with a hook kick to the body, which Liu counters with his own, move in some more with a distance – gauging 1 – 2 combo, and grabs Liu Kang’s head.

This is an interesting key to what makes a great fight scene. Reptile is the more aggressive one in the beginning of the fight and Liu Kang is defending, primarily because he’s, y’know, shocked from being blasted through a stone wall and all. Reptile’s very aggressive and his still is to clinch and grapple. He gauges your distance and grabs hold of you. This is even more pronounced when, after Reptile first throws Liu Kang into the stone pillar, he kicks Liu and zones in with punches to clinch.

Liu Kang, on the other hand, likes to keep his distance and throw more kicks to knock out his opponent. Pretty much every chance he is given, he’ll throw a kick and, well, follow up with some more kicks. Simple as that. Hell, even his first attempted throw is leg-based.

What I meant when I wrote “this is an interesting key to what makes a great fight scene” is a sort of logic and consistency when it comes to choreographing them. The actors and stuntmen may be incredibly talented and athletic, but it’s all for naught if their choreography’s no good. The logic is in finding out what the character’s personality is and what makes him fight a certain way. I’ll admit that I have no idea why the choreographers chose to make Liu Kang a more long distance – oriented character, but I suppose it has to do with the actor’s strengths. Robin Shou kicks really well, and looks extremely good in front of the camera while doing them. Shou was supposedly the choreographer as well for this particular fight scene, and I think it’s brilliant that he established that Reptile’s fight plan is almost the exact opposite of Liu Kang’s: clinch and grapple. This makes for an excellent variety of moves within a single scene, as well as seeing two almost completely different styles play against each other.

Consistency is also important because you have to show that it’s the same character throughout the fight, despite the fact that it may take months on end to successfully shoot a full action sequence like this. Even near the end of the fight, Reptile still grabs hold of Liu’s arm locks his head, and throws him to the ground. Meanwhile, Liu Kang still likes to retaliate with kicks.

If a fighter’s style changes in the middle of a sequence, it should be for a good reason. It could be that he was injured and he lost the use of his right arm, thus necessitating a complete change in stance, or it could be because of fear. He becomes overwhelmed by his opponent and changes from an aggressive to a defensive tactic. It shouldn’t change randomly during the fight for no reason unless it’s part of the character’s shtick.

MY SECOND FAVORITE FIGHT SCENE IN THE MOVIE IS THE JOHNNY CAGE VS. SCORPION ONE:




This fight is largely more fantastical than the Liu Kang vs. Reptile one, especially in the beginning, but it’s also longer. Once we get to the elevated bone yard, though, things start turning into a full fledged martial arts sequence.

Johnny Cage is shown to have a pretty standard chop socky martial arts style. Lots of kicks and punches strung together, but nothing really creative and different coming from him. Scorpion, on the other hand, is the much more interesting subject. While the contrast in the Liu Kang vs. Reptile fight seemed to concentrate more on distance preference, here it’s more of a creative choice. Johnny Cage’s standard, clean cut, by-the-book martial arts style is contrasted by Scorpion’s wilder, more creative choices for combat. This is highlighted by stunts such as blindsiding cage with a punch once they first enter the bone yard, trapping of Cage’s arm, then kicking him over and over (in real life, though, if you do manage to trap your opponents arm, it would be better to a) go to a clinch and knee his head over and over, b) continue the arm lock and break his elbow joint, or c) smash his head into the environment. Kicking him over and over wouldn’t do much good since your blows would lack power because of the stance you’d be in. Still much flashy to look at, though, which is the single reason why they chose to do it), kicking Cage over and over while he’s downed, reversing Cage’s throw and so on.

Whenever Johnny Cage does something creative, it just winds up looking weird and funny, like when he picks up Scorpion while attempting to get up from the ground, or doing that gymnastics kick thing. I have no idea what they were going for with those. What I do like about Cage’s throw was how Scorpion’s legs hit a barrier of sorts on landing, which is an excellent use of the environment (as opposed to, say, Liu Kang spinning on a stone thingamajig). If the environment is extremely messy, like this one, then the fighters should constantly interact with it and not pretend like it doesn’t exist. Even the 1991 Street Fighter 2 game had destructible barrels and statues in some of the stages.

Mortal Kombat also had a very short lived TV series called Mortal Kombat Conquest, which was relatively low budget and poorly written at times, but always had excellently entertaining fight sequences, such as this one:



If you've never seen this series before, I seriously recommend you check it out if you're a Mortal Kombat fan or a fan of martial arts movies and TV shows in general. It's a load of fun.

So, why have I suddenly become hung up on Mortal Kombat? I admit that my interest franchise greatly waned during the late 90’s and has never quite recovered ever since, until this new test footage for something called “Mortal Kombat Rebirth” came along:



Let’s take a look at it a bit shall we? The fight scene between Johnny Cage and Baraka, I personally think, is excellent. I personally wish it was shot better though, since several of the movements are blurred and obscured by some of the wild camera changes and movements. Granted, only a small portion of the sequence is like this, but as a martial arts enthusiast, I’d like to see literally all the stuntmen’s movements clear as day, like the Liu Kang vs, Reptile one.

Johnny Cage once again exhibits a more classic, by-the-book fighting style, but is not as boring as he once was. Figuring a bit like Reptile, Cage opts to zone in and close the distance, eventually locking in some sort of BJJ technique like that armbar we see him attempt at one point. Whenever he tries something nonclassical and flashy, he also looks much better, as when he hits Baraka with that spinning kick near the end, or when he grabs that bo staff earlier on.

His opponent, Baraka, characteristically has the wilder, more fictional martial arts style, reminiscent of many classic Hong Kong action villains, utilizing many spinning kicks and looping punches strung together.

There is also very, very good use of the environment here, starting with the opening of the sequence, as Johnny Cage is flung into a wall. Bottles are used to smash people in the face, and people get thrown into tables. Very creative fight scene overall, and I hope this movie gets picked up and funded well, because I’d honestly like to see more of it. I also very much appreciate that they’re embracing the more brutal aspect of the game, which is very key to its differentiation in the video game market back in the day, and is something the first movie sidestepped in order to appeal to a wider crowd.

THERE'S ALSO THE MATTER OF A NEW MORTAL KOMBAT GAME BEING OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED:




Really fun looking stuff, and I’m sure it’ll be a blast to play.

Mortal Kombat was a huge part of my childhood at one point, and is definitely one of the major reasons why I got into martial arts and fitness in general. I’ve also always wanted to dissect two of my favorite fight scenes of all time, both coming from the first Mortal Kombat movie, and I’m glad I found a good enough excuse to finally do so.

STREET FIGHTER LEGACY REVIEW

I’d like to take some time to give recognition to a recently released fan film about one of my favorite video games of all time, Street Fighter. The film is called Street Fighter Legacy, and is basically a 3-minute fight scene between rivals Ryu and Ken.







The exact description taken from its official Youtube page states:

“StreetFighter Legacy has been a labour of love and passion project for its creator, Joey Ansah, who not only conceived and pitched the project, but also co-directed, co-wrote and choreographed it, alongside cameo'ing in the film. Collaborating, creative partner and long time friend Christian Howard was part of the project from day one, co-writing the script and story elements, as well as further down the line, storyboarding the film, being assistant fight choreographer and most importantly playing Ken Masters.

Streetlight repped Australian Director Owen Trevor came onboard to co-direct the film. His experience and style carried forward from shooting on 3 series of the acclaimed 'Top Gear' have really been an asset to the project and given it a strong visual flair.”

I personally very much liked it because, outside of all the flaws that one may catch, I can feel that the people who made this truly believed and loved the material they were working on and, had this not been a fan – made only film and hade a much higher budget, all the limitations with the time, the special effects and so on, would pretty much be easily addressed.

Here is a short video on the costume designs in the film:



I find that the martial arts choreography is very decent and the actors have obviously put in plenty of effort. The first thing one would notice, of course, are the special moves. Again, this is an adaptation of a video game, so, of course, movements of such nature will exist in these sorts of things. Given the crew’s obvious limitations, these special moves are incorporated decently enough, padded with slow motion effects to give the audience a bit more time to appreciate them.

Another thing to notice is that the choreography is very linear. This, I think, is the flaw in the choreographer’s way of thinking. The game that the film is based on is largely 2D in nature. The characters can only move from left to right within a limited space. They cannot step to the side or work in a 3D space of any sort. The flaw is that they attempted to replicate this as exactly as they could, as revealed by their fight choreography video:


Now, I fully respect their intents on making the film as faithful to its source material as possible, but I believe that they should have limited to elements like the costume and set designs, the tone of the film, the motivation of the characters and so on. I personally feel that they should have taken much more liberty in the fight sequences and been a bit more dramatic with it, especially because of the extremely short time it’s given. Taking full advantage of the open space they had by making the characters sidestep, roll diagonally and adjust their positions from time to time, like a real fight might look, would have definitely added more variety to the visuals and made the whole thing plenty more interesting.

Regardless, I still very much enjoyed the film and, as a fan of Street Fighter, genuinely applaud the cast and crew for putting in tremendous time, effort and money by creating this labor of love and releasing it totally free on the internet for other fans to enjoy and talk about. Bravo.