Most practical martial art.

[Enscheff]

Originally Posted by cuchillo negro

This sounds like any typical Muay Thai gym but what makes it the most practical art. Trust me back in the days I thought Muay Thai was the ultimate martial art when I trained in it just like I thought boxing was the ultimate art when I trained in that and kickboxing the same thing. However whenever I went up against friend that had a wrestling background I could not for the world prevent them from taking me down and that is where the nightmare began for me. I knew my punches and kicks were useless on my back. So I would make excuses like "well if it was a real fight I could knock these guys out" but who was I kidding. Then I saw the the first UFC and that confirmed for me that I needed to work on groundfighting so in 1995 I joined a BJJ school and I never looked back. I do teach MT and boxing today but it is in conjunction with BJJ and BJJ is the core of the system I teach.

Keep in mind I did not claim any style was the best. When I went looking for a fighting gym I was looking for a type of training that seemed effective to me at the time. It just so happens the Muay Thai gym looked the best, and I have no doubt that if the Krav Maga gym didn't look so lame I would be training Krav right now because I went to that gym first.

I am confident the experienced students at my gym could more than hold their own against the vast majority of men they would ever square off against, no matter what discipline the other guy trained (which most of the time is no training). Obviously everyone will meet up with a better fighter at some point, but that's true no matter who you are or what you train.

Personally, I'm only good enough to protect myself against the good fighters and occasionally score a few good hits, but I can already tell how the chaos of a fight is slowing down for me. In my opinion, getting over the fear of being hit and not being overwhelmed by the chaos of a fight is half the battle to handling yourself. I got caught with a right cross to my jaw in one of my first sparring sessions that almost knocked me out cold. It hurt for a couple days, but the experience of being able to take a blow like that and keep going did wonders for my confidence. A back kick to the mouth did the same thing, but I didn't go down. Now I'm not afraid to close the gap with my hands up and trade blows with other fighters. It's all about gaining experience in fighting situations that are as life-like as possible. I figure, "I have a mouthpiece, and I can strike hard too, so let's go".

My gym also teaches BJJ right after Muay Thai. I have no idea the quality of the training, but I have to assume it is decent or the owner wouldn't allow it in his place. Problem is, after weight training at lunch and doing a full Muay Thai workout at 5:30, there is no way I could survive another hour long fighting class!

The same gym also has an Eskrima (sp?) stick fighting class immediately after BJJ, and that also intrigues me.

[dontbuypotteryfromme]

Originally Posted by Enscheff

My gym also teaches BJJ right after Muay Thai. I have no idea the quality of the training, but I have to assume it is decent or the owner wouldn't allow it in his place. Problem is, after weight training at lunch and doing a full Muay Thai workout at 5:30, there is no way I could survive another hour long fighting class!

The same gym also has an Eskrima (sp?) stick fighting class immediately after BJJ, and that also intrigues me.

You build up conditioning for it after a while.

[old corvus 41]

Don't y'all just love those 'all martial arts are created equal' remarks? Yes all martial arts are usefull for something. 'Cause there are folks who take martial art classes for any number of reasons, many of them having NOTHING to do with actually fighting. Sometimes they get wrapped up in eastern philosophy and culture. Or it could be playing around with ancient weapons and the demonstration of forms. Sadly martial arts often lack any martial aspect.

Hence the decline of traditional martial art schools. And the noticable absence of TMA fighters in competition. Don't get me wrong as from years of observation the quality of TMAs like Karate and such appear to vary widely. Hell, maybe one could learn something in a really good Karate school. Yet when all you have is students running around in uniforms talking ^&^# about how lethal thier art is and never spar, it's the stuff of fantasy. Which I guess is easier than actually sparring? Hence the "equality" in martial arts.

[TxMilitia]

I stay away from schools that don't let you spar, If you cant take a hit on the mat without crying to mommy good luck taking one in the street.

yeah i know. liability. lil timmy got pushed down and had a booboo....please dont sue.

[dontbuypotteryfromme]

Originally Posted by old corvus 41

Don't y'all just love those 'all martial arts are created equal' remarks? Yes all martial arts are usefull for something. 'Cause there are folks who take martial art classes for any number of reasons, many of them having NOTHING to do with actually fighting. Sometimes they get wrapped up in eastern philosophy and culture. Or it could be playing around with ancient weapons and the demonstration of forms. Sadly martial arts often lack any martial aspect.

Hence the decline of traditional martial art schools. And the noticable absence of TMA fighters in competition. Don't get me wrong as from years of observation the quality of TMAs like Karate and such appear to vary widely. Hell, maybe one could learn something in a really good Karate school. Yet when all you have is students running around in uniforms talking ^&^# about how lethal thier art is and never spar, it's the stuff of fantasy. Which I guess is easier than actually sparring? Hence the "equality" in martial arts.

We have a die hard krotty guy in our class. (In japan trainig at the moment) And his krotty is legitimatley good.

But they spar and test their stuff.

In a MMA context. some of it works well. Some of it needs to be modified for either the individual or the curcumstance. But this is all worked out in the lab like everything else.

MMA has a lot of the RBSD stuff in it. You see kung fu fists. hand trapping. grab defence and so on. people are looking at this stuff seriously.