Thanks for clarifying Razma.

A big problem in arts like boxing, Judo, BJJ et al... is that everyone wants to bypass their vegetables and go straight to the ice cream. A lot of people want to spar, but people are often reluctant to drill their techniques first. A good coach will do a lot of “alive” drills and then introduce new students to sparring.

I know blocking might seem like an important part of “self-defence”, but I also have spoken to karate-ka who are dubious about how realistic certain karate blocks are. In fact I think there are several threads on here about it too.
If you are worried about “self-defence”, I would encourage you to educate yourself further on the causes and prevention of physical violence. I sincerely believe a person can build an effective self-defence program without going near a martial arts class. Marc MacYoung (a reformed violent criminal) has an excellent website with a lot of free advice on self-protection and criminal behaviour (and how to stay safe):

http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/

Do some reading and don’t believe that martial arts = self-defence. 99% of people go into a martial arts class because they are afraid (whether they admit it or not). Martial arts can help you get over that fear certainly, but you’ll have the most success in any art when you learn to love it*. Just enjoy your training.


* And staying injury free helps!

You should as others said trust your Sensei and keep training, since your hitting pads and such I'm sure your in a good school.

As for defense it all comes with time just be sure to keep an open mind and a critical one at the same time.

Stay focused when training and the results will follow inevitably.

Prizewriter I couldn't find the thread from the search box. What blocks do you think is ineffective? I've only learned the first 5 so far, but they all seem effective and usable.

I am not a fan of blocking in general (parries and/or evasion are much better, IMHO), but I have to say that the downward block is one of the least effective blocks I can think of. About a 50/50 chance you'll hurt your hand blocking a good kick, with the added bonus of leaving your face open at the same time.

Here are a couple of threads:

http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubbth...true#Post402578

(This is a long one):

http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=400726&page=1


Regarding blocks being effective, depends. I use to think TKD blocks seemed effective until I realized they were only effective against TKD punches lol! Here is an example of what I mean:



Looks nice, but no one punches like that outside of traditional arts like TKD or Karate. Certainly the sort of blocking I learnt in TKD would be useless against the sort of punches boxers throw:

Prizewriter... Did you have to bring up the ITF clip. lol. I've been trying to purge those old techniques from my long term memory. Now you go and show them to me. This is terrible!! I'm sure that the bad dreams are just around the corner. You know the ones...Bad guy squares off with TKD black belt.. BB goes into stance...bad guy beats the ---- out of BB.
Awww!!!!Whew, it was only a dream.
I shouldn't art bash, but I have found that very few techniques from my TKD days have passed muster to be included in my current skill set.

keep training, Mark

I'm the same. Aside from a nifty elbow strike and a kick or two I've let go of the rest of what I learnt in TKD. Still, each to their own.

Sparring is important in many ways.

A school or class that does not have sparring is already lacking

Aren't all the blocks taught pretty much parries? That's how I've always thought of them.

It seems like they'd work with proper footwork. Height and everything else would have to change but I don't think they were ever meant to be stationary positions.

Not in all systems. American kenpo defines blocks as defensive maneuvers that act on a perpendicular (or nearly so) to the incoming strike. A parry is defined as a defensive maneuver that acts on a parallel (or nearly so) to the incoming strike.

This is why I tend to think of blocks as a last resort, 'oh sh1t' reaction because they will result in hard impact, and little control of the opponent's momentum. Parries are better (IMHO), as they offer much less impact, and better control of the opponent's momentum. Evasion is even better, as it offer little or no impact, and frees all of your weapons to strike back at the same time.

So, I agree with you that footwork will make blocks work better, but then, why block when you can hit?