Goku

    Goku is a character from one of my favorite childhood cartoons Dragon Ball Z.  Dragon Ball Z is the best cartoon show to ever appear on in my childhood. Yet I want  to take the time to talk about its main character Goku or Kakarot which was his birth name. Goku is an alien martial artist from planet Vegeta as an saiyan. Throughout the show he faces many different villains and characters in which he will have to train very hard to defeat them. Although the show blows the power of martial arts and Ki out of proportion giving these characters the ability to destroy planets it still has core traditional values that people should take a lesson from concerning martial arts. In the show you see Goku go through some of the most gruesome training that anyone can endure. Goku performs heavy training in an atmosphere where the gravity is 100x stronger than earths,he devotes himself to three years of training. Goku always appreciates a good fight. Even though he is fighting an intergalactic serial killer with the ability to destroy planets. He tells his opponents that he is honored to fight a strong opponent. I think that most martial artist should develop this attitude. Maybe not to the extent where your fighting off an rapist who happens to be a developed martial artist but when your sparring with someone better dont fret over your lack of skill to defeat them. Instead enjoy the fight and thank the opponent for the opportunity to fight and then train as hard as i can to defeat this person. If I  can train with Cung Le who is an professional fighter i know i will lose i still want to test my skills against one of the best.

Kimura Technique

                                Although i prefer stand up fighting such as kickboxing learning to grapple and defend yourself on the ground is just as important. Actually even more important. Chances are most fights end up on the ground. You may not want to end up on the ground in a fight but at that point its too late to rescind your actions. One technique thats very effective is the Kimura. The Kimura  can be applied from different guards but usually its applied from a full guard where the one doing the technique is on top of his opponent. It is a double joint armlock that applies pressure on the shoulder and is very difficult to escape. In fact escape from a Kimura  rarely happens. Usually in an MMA competition you have the option to submit. If you chose not to submit in this lock then you risk a broken arm or a dislocated shoulder. Learning this technique takes time and practice but the effort is sure worth it.