Do you study martial arts?

[ThomasBJJ]

Black Omega,
the Gracies that have been losing have been fighting outside of thier weight class (Renzo). Royce lost to Sakuraba, but Sak was really the best of the best at the time and the fight went 90 minutes.

Most of the Top fighters today are primarily BJJ with a little bit of crosstraining in boxing or muay thai, with VERY few exceptions. All serious fighters train BJJ- you will not find a pro MMA fighter who does not train BJJ

 

[ThomasBJJ]

Jeremy,

I LOVE San Soo, but after all my years of training, came to the conclusion that San Soo was VERY effective against unskilled opponents, but very hard to use against someone with basic boxing or kickboxing skills, or basic grappling skills.

 

[Umbran]

*sigh*. The "which style is best" argument.

When you ask the question "which style is best?" there's an implicit extention - the best at what? The best at increasing your overall physical fitness? The best at teaching you personal discipline? The best at beating someone else in a very controlled sparring situation? The best at dealing with variable terrain? The best at dealing with multiple opponents? The best at getting you out of a mugging in one piece?

In any case, we must remember that the art is no better than the person who uses it.

There are a number of plausible reasons for the apparent success of Gracie/Brazilian jiu jitsu that have little to do with the actual superiority of the form.

For instance, note above - the art is only as good as the artists. Perhaps the Gracies were about as good as they come, and would have won using other arts if they had studied them as assiduously. Then, having earned fame for their art, they attract the people who would again be great fighters in any one of a number of arts. Self selection in a fairly small pool of contestants will skew results. And it isn't like these contests deal with what you'd call a statistically relevant sample of fighters, folks.

However, the best point is very, very simple, and very powerful: The real greatest fighters have little to prove, and don't go into these nonsense"Ultimate Fighting Championship" things. Honestly, do you think the real best of the best go in for such tawdry spectacle?

In the end, the whole argument is pretty meaningless. If you're Ed Gruberman, choosing an art so you'll be the best at booting head, you're probably studying martial arts for the wrong reasons...

 

[MasterOfHeaven]

BJJ fighters are like Dan in the Capcom Vs. Whatever games... they constantly scream about having the "strongest style!", but in actuality exist only for amusement factor.

 

[ThomasBJJ]

However, the best point is very, very simple, and very powerful: The real greatest fighters have little to prove, and don't go into these nonsense"Ultimate Fighting Championship" things. Honestly, do you think the real best of the best go in for such tawdry spectacle?

I disagree. You cannot get to the level of the best fighter without testing yourself against the best. Experiance is also key.

Martial arts is the study of combat.

There are alot of people who say they are are martial artists and act like actual fighting and combat is soooo distasteful and beneath them. If you think martial arts is all about being like the guy from the Kung Fu tv series, and being peacefull and meditative, blah blah blah.. more power to you. If you want to use martial arts as a means to a different end, fine. But don't just assume that martial arts is about anything other than combat training.

BTW, Ultimate Fighting Championships has come a LONG way since 1993. It is a legitimate sport, sanctioned by many states, including Nevada. The level of competition is incredibly high.

 

[Chun-tzu]

I studied Shotokan Karate for about four or five years in high school and university. I gave it up to focus more on school, but now that I'm finishing up my program, I'm thinking about starting up again. But karate classes have not, in my experience, been the best place to meet girls, so I'm thinking of taking up Tai-Chi Chuan instead. (By the way, taking martial arts for a few years can boost your confidence, if that's something that holds you back.)

My best advice for picking a martial arts school: pick one that's close. Even if you enjoy martial arts, dragging your butt to class three times a week (or however often you go) was hard enough for me when my dojo was 20 minutes away (by foot). If it was more than half an hour away, forget it (remember, you also have to add in time to change, time to warm up...).

Of course, you want to go to a good school. But between two good schools that seem about equal, choose the closer one.

 

[Ruavel]

does "formerly studied" count...?

I studied a few different things so far, but doubt I'll ever get back to any of them given how much of my time fencing takes up these days...

I started with a few years of Tae Kwon Do at age 11... since then I spent tried a few others (without a great deal of enthusiasm) including 'small-circle' ju jutsu...

most recently I trained in a traditional japanese school (not in japan though)... the school was zen dojo that taught aiki jutsu and ken jutsu, but we also studied a number 'related' skills & weapons (bo, jo, tanto, yari)... my sensei also taught iai jutsu (although very rarely and he was very selective about his students and the weapons they trained with)... it was a great school that taught me alot more than just how to 'protect myself'...

I would recommend to everyone that's every want to practice an art that they train in a school where the physical skills and techniques are not the focus of the training, but are a vehicle for learning something beyond that...

hope that made sense to people...

 

[MasterOfHeaven]

I disagree. You cannot get to the level of the best fighter without testing yourself against the best. Experiance is also key.

Martial arts is the study of combat.

Martial arts can be purely about combat, but in many cases it also has philosophical and spiritual elements intertwined within the specific art. Purity of body leads to purity of spirit, and so on. I actually think that it is good that such exists, because there needs to be a strong moral code for anyone who is going to study any form of martial arts, in my opinion.

There are alot of people who say they are are martial artists and act like actual fighting and combat is soooo distasteful and beneath them. If you think martial arts is all about being like the guy from the Kung Fu tv series, and being peacefull and meditative, blah blah blah.. more power to you. If you want to use martial arts as a means to a different end, fine. But don't just assume that martial arts is about anything other than combat training.

BJJ isn't about anything other than combat training, true. But in other martial arts, this is not the case. In many martial arts, the moral code intertwined with the art is just as important as the martial training itself.

BTW, Ultimate Fighting Championships has come a LONG way since 1993. It is a legitimate sport, sanctioned by many states, including Nevada. The level of competition is incredibly high.

Not really. I've watched a few of those fights, and they're decent, but I've seen plenty of other tournaments, held in foreign countries, that make the UFC look like amateur night.

I really grow tired of BJJ practicioners. They are almost cult like in their constant preaching of "BJJ is strongest style!", despite the fact the style has major defiencies in certain areas, like fighting multiple opponents. I also don't like the fact BJJ practicioners constantly seem to feel the need to "prove" how tough they are. True power comes from restraint, in my mind.

BJJ is a nice style, but it's not the "best" by a long shot. And I wish the BJJ practicioners I've met would mature enough to realize that they don't have to be the "best".

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

Talking about a "best style" is the most fun when you factor in some of the unusual elements of history.

Frex there was a karate champion who won an entire international tournament in the seventies by using one move, the side kick (I can't remember his name but he was a blonde guy who starred in a movie as a character called the Jaguar)

I have no wish to "dis" BJJ practitioners, but most true fighters prove that it's the fighter, not the style, that wins.

Some styles, like BJJ, have a tradition of producing strong fighters. Some produce fighters that are strong in certain contexts(like BJJ in the UFC, with its sprung floor and wide open space).

Other styles have other aims, like Tai Chi for example, which mainly uses martial style moves to promote good health and the flow of chi.

Mostly though, a strong fighter will be strong even if he's got no style at all. My sifu tells how, in the gwoon (school) that he learnt in, his favourite tactic was to control his opponent and back them into the space between the wall and the fridge - can't do that in UFC!

 

[MGibster]

This is inspired by lurking on the sports board. Do you study a martial art? Which one? Any good stories or experiences to relate? How about some advice for gamers who might want to begin studying for themselves.
-S

That really depends on why you want to study martial arts. There's a difference between a program geared towards serious self-defense and one geared towards sport and exercise. Most people end up taking the ones geared towards sport and exercise and there's nothing wrong with those programs.

Avoid at all cost those with the "hammer of Thor" mentality. These people seem to think that their martial art makes them invincible and that you'll be able to take on Mike Tyson. These people watch to many Jet Li movies.

If you're going to train for self-defense then be prepared for a little pain. You're going to have to learn how to take a hit and even if they're wearing pads it'll still hurt a little. Even if you go for a style that focuses on grapples and throws you'll probably end up experiencing a little pain.

If you're going to exercise/sport then there are many to pick from. Karate, Tae-Kwan-Do, or even Judo are great choices. You get some good exercise, a relatively pain free experience (depending on the class), and you get some healthy competetion.

I think one fighting style many over look is the sweet science of boxing. Boxing improves your reflexes, your edurance, your strength, and teaches you how to hit and how to take a hit. It is unfortunate that boxing gets almost no consideration from most people when it comes to a fighting style.

Marc