Cynthia Rothrock: Best Advice for Beginners in the Martial Arts

“I was nervous as anything,” Cynthia Rothrock said of her first tournament, after which she started to laugh. “I was an orange belt competing against black belts in forms. I was doing the most basic forms, and they were so advanced.”

Rothrock ended up placing second in that event. It was but the first in a string of victories, for she went on to win the world forms championships from 1981 to 1985. In 1982 she became the weapons champion in the men’s division, as well.

She has also succeeded in other areas. She was one of the first women to appear on the cover of national martial arts magazines, and she was one of the few female martial artists to become a star in the action movie genre.

Beginning the Martial Arts

“I started at 13 years old,” Cynthia Rothrock said. “I had some friends in tang soo do, so I gave it a try. When I was younger, I tried everything — piano, music lessons, other sports — but the martial arts were the first thing I really stuck with.”

Since that time, she’s earned a black belt in tang soo do and taekwondo. She also holds instructor-level rank in three Chinese arts: northern Shaolin kung fu, wushu and eagle-claw kung fu. It seems she definitely found something she could stick with.

Despite all her experience, however, Rothrock still gets fidgety before performing in front of groups. “I always get nervous,” she said. “It is sort of a nervous energy starting the form — but then I tune right in.”

Joining a Competition

Cynthia Rothrock offers beginners some simple advice for dealing with butterflies in the stomach before kata competition: Make sure you know your form 100 percent. When you compete, don’t perform any kata you’re still working to perfect. Always do one you know well.

Although forms competition is great for kids, Rothrock believes youngsters should avoid full-contact sparring events. “Point sparring is good for kids as long as the tournament [officials are] in control and looking out for the children’s safety,” she said.

If you decide to get involved in tournaments, she added, always remember that competition is just one small part of the martial arts. If you lose, ask yourself why. Nine times out of 10, the answer will be that you weren’t fully prepared.

Picking a School

Back in 1973 when Cynthia Rothrock started in the martial arts, choosing a style was tough enough. These days, with the hundreds of schools operating in large cities, it’s even tougher. So how does a person choose?

“Find a couple of styles you are interested in,” Rothrock said. “Watch the instructors. [Watch] how discipline is handled. Talk with the instructors. See if you can take a couple of classes for free. Check out a couple of different places before you start at one.”

Martial arts training is never easy, she said. You’ll feel uncoordinated at first, but you shouldn’t give up. If you practice, you’ll get better, and the results will be extreme, she promised. You’ll get stronger and stay in shape — and one day the training may save your life.

“When you take a martial art, try to learn the true art and keep the tradition,” she said. “Each style has something different to offer.”

Finding a Role Model

Having a mentor or a martial artist you look up to can help you through the tough times in your training, Rothrock said. For many years, her favorite was Jackie Chan.

“When I was taking classes in New York, we had a Chinese instructor who taught on Sundays,” she said. “After the workout, he’d take everyone to Chinatown to see kung fu movies. I’ve always looked up to Jackie Chan and still respect him very much.”

Rothrock is also a big fan of Chuck Norris: “He is a great martial artist who has made it big in film and television,” she said. “He is the most friendly person out there.”

Starring in Movies

Cynthia Rothrock’s own acting career blossomed for many years — despite obstacles posed by on-again-off-again complaints about violence in movies and the fact that studios are reluctant to invest money in projects with female martial artists.

“There are far fewer [roles] for women in action movies,” she said.

But she never let that hold her back. In fact, she viewed it as just one more challenge. In much the same way that she was able to break down barriers and become a world champion in forms and weapons, she broke down barriers and became an international film star.

That observation led her to give a final tidbit of advice to young martial artists who dream of doing big things in life: “Don’t give up,” she said. “The results can be extreme.”

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source  Blackbeltmag

Boxing Techniques That Bruce Lee Adapted Into Jeet Kune Do Techniques For Avoiding Attacks

Lamar Davis has studied and skilled in Bruce Lee’s art of Jeet kune do for more than thirty years. He has been certified as a full/senior instructor by some of Bruce Lee’s unusual students. 

In this elite jeet kune do video, draged from his DVD album Jeet Kune Do for the Advanced Practitioner, the second-generation Bruce Lee student give details and show cagey strategy in JKD moves which Bruce Lee found in boxing techniques.

“The majority of these actions Bruce Lee took from boxing,” Lamar Davis give details in this exclusive video.

If the opponent fires lead-hand punches toward his head, Davis clarify, you have the choice of perform one of the fundamental boxing techniques modified for JKD moves known as a “slip” or “outside slip”. The move is straightforward: move to the outside of the hand’s forward curve — or skid to the side, out of its pathway. 

In boxing method there is such a thing as an “inside slide,” but the jeet kune do expert notify against it. “I favor to slide to the outside of the arm just because you’re a little bit safer if you slide to the outside,” Lamar Davis explains.

If a punch is approaching straight towards your face, you have the choice of sudden straight back. Along with boxing techniques made to order for JKD moves, this selection is called a “backward snap” or a “snap back.”

Boxing procedures Used By Jeet Kune Do Techniques Practitioners for shun the Hook

“An opponent must fire a hook at my head,” Lamar Davis says, “in which case, I bob. When I bob, I curve my knees, I go down straight down, I take my hands up to safeguard my head and I gaze at him the full time.”

The “incorrect way” to bob, Davis says, is to curve your torso forward and gaze downward during the movement. “When I perform that, I can’t see everything,” he makes clear. “I don’t know what’s going on up [above] for a split second — not a good thing. That’s a fine time to grab an elbow or a hammer fist to the backside of the head or the upper backbone.”
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How to Use a Magazine as an Improvised Defensive Weapon

The fundamental self defense values are that it is enhanced to face an opponent while equipped with debris than with bare hands. This has led to an entire bough of self defense loyal to using unplanned or temporary objects as weapons focusing on objects you may possibly have near or on your person when you are attacked. Here are some points on how to defend against an attacker using a magazine.

Defend Against a Knife

1.         Roll up the magazine as firmly as you can. At the same time, as making as much space among you and your attacker as you are capable. There are two ways in which you can apply a magazine to defend yourself, depending on how you grip it.

2.         Grip the magazine at the center, so that the top and bottom stick out from both ends of your fist, if your aggressor is using a knife or sharp weapon. Let your attacker to begin to shove frontward with his knife.

3.      Step ahead and to the outside of the shove weapon. Draw on the back end of the magazine to hold in under the attacker’s wrist and drag upward to put his arm up in the air. This opens up a window straight to his chest and face.

4.         Step inward, snaking your arm under your opponent’s raised arm. Apply the end of the magazine projecting from the top of your fist to hit your attacker in the face or gullet. Do not hit with the side of the magazine. As a substitute use the top of the magazine in a pushing action. The result is similar to what you would dig up if you flock the end of a wooden rod into your attacker’s throat. He will most probable fall to the ground wheezing for breath.

Defending Against a Club 

5.         Go back from your attacker to give yourself a little space and time to roll up your magazine as firmly as you can. Grip it like a small club, at one end of the magazine.

6.         Permit your attacker to step in and move backward and forward at you with his club, hit, or other dulled weapon. It doesn’t issue in which direction the swing comes from; your retort will be the same. 

7.         Get a half step forward and swing your magazine to hit your rival against the inferior forearm, just at the back of the wrist. Depending on the direction of your attacker’s swing you may have to beat the underside of the arm, the outside or the inside. Despite of the swing, also beat the part of the forearm both closest to and directly facing you.

8.         Repeat this as many times as you can until your attacker attempts an overhand swing. When he does so, step in narrowly and grip the back of the attacker’s wrist, avoiding it from coming down with your off hand.

9.         Hit your attacker across the side of head or neck as many times as you can. These blows will have only somewhat less force than would’ve been delivered had you been using a solid club. Repeating these adequate times will depress your attacker, causing him to run away.

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