Martial arts and your life.

[PISTELERO]

I'm curious, what's the need for a martial art? Isn't the best way just to spar and evolve your skills from there?

If that's literally all you can do. Otherwise it's a good way to ingrain bad habits, you can have 10 legit fights in the parking lot, without ever realizing you drop your right hand, or you telegraph punches, or how to properly use a jab, or how to properly throw a punch frankly, how to correctly move your feet, angle in and out, the list goes on and on and on, being in a dojo or gym environment being taught by professionals is priceless, 5 bar fights may make you tougher, but it can't compare to 5 months in a quality fight gym.

[WeDoPullups]

Started BJJ a year ago mostly for confidence, a new challenge and as another tool I can use on the job (law enforcement). Im getting older but I’m gonna continue earning belts. Currently doing no gi Eddie Bravo style BJJ.

It’s already helped me subdue subjects with ease so the $120/month pays off.

[GreatOldOne]

I'm curious, what's the need for a martial art? Isn't the best way just to spar and evolve your skills from there?

It takes some years to learn how to throw well, and develop gripping techniques, combinations, and a 'game'. To develop pet techniques and various setups to execute your best throws.

I don't think you can just figure it out by yourself. I know there are informal wrestling and jiu-jitsu clubs which just get together to spar, but if you never have legitimate instruction I think you're going to develop some really bad habits maybe dangerous habits because good techniques and combos are not necessarily intuitive.

If you're wrestling and throwing, you really want to workout at a club with some good mats and sanitary practices as well. If the mats are no good, you can really get hurt...like crippled hurt, and if the sanitation is not good then you can get ringworm and staff and all kinds of disgusting things. That all will be better at a club which teaches a 'martial art' for a fee to pay for everything.

There will also be a lot more training partners at a club, which will help you improve because you'll workout with people of different sizes, strengths, and favorite strategies.

[Samraiwise]

Started BJJ a year ago mostly for confidence, a new challenge and as another tool I can use on the job (law enforcement). Im getting older but I’m gonna continue earning belts. Currently doing no gi Eddie Bravo style BJJ.

It’s already helped me subdue subjects with ease so the $120/month pays off.

It takes some years to learn how to throw well, and develop gripping techniques, combinations, and a 'game'. To develop pet techniques and various setups to execute your best throws.

I don't think you can just figure it out by yourself. I know there are informal wrestling and jiu-jitsu clubs which just get together to spar, but if you never have legitimate instruction I think you're going to develop some really bad habits maybe dangerous habits because good techniques and combos are not necessarily intuitive.

If you're wrestling and throwing, you really want to workout at a club with some good mats and sanitary practices as well. If the mats are no good, you can really get hurt...like crippled hurt, and if the sanitation is not good then you can get ringworm and staff and all kinds of disgusting things. That all will be better at a club which teaches a 'martial art' for a fee to pay for everything.

There will also be a lot more training partners at a club, which will help you improve because you'll workout with people of different sizes, strengths, and favorite strategies.

Thanks for sharing brothers!

[Rooney15]

I need to learn how to fight for my job, what is a good beginner martial art to learn? Mostly need it for taking people down, not so much for punching. Thanks!

[latverian41]

started with good ole western Boxing.at 14. then studied wing chun off and on from 17.

how it changed my life? not so much the art its self but the trainer. had many good coaches in boxing. one was the former heavy weight champion of the world. jimmy ellis. a very good and decent and humble man. he was not rich like you might believe being a former world champion. but he fought a lot of good fighters. he and ali grew up together and were best friends. they fought 2 or 3 times. i forget. once or twice in amatuer. also fought joe frazier and quary and also floyd patterson i believe..

my Sifu for wing chun was the best man i ever got the honor of knowing or being around. he taught me many things about life. most of all to love your self, carry yourself with grace and dignity and to treat others the way you wish to be treated, I wont dishonor him by mentioning his name cause becoming a drug addict i feel i failed him and let him down.

other than that. cant say either as a martial art taught me anything except of course how to defend my self. both physically and mentally/socially in this game we call life.

Good to see and hear from you OP. Has been awhile. I hope you and yours are doing well.

[prbrah]

Just wondering, is there anyone who wants to add his/her own story?

Sure!

I started brazilian jiu-jitsu 4.5 years ago after saying I wanted to try it for years and never doing it. A buddy of mine had signed up at a gym about a year before he recruited me, and I had just moved back from Japan so he started pestering me to give it a shot. He gave me one of his gi's, and since he had mats in his garage, he gave me an introduction to the sport for a couple days a week for about two months before I had the confidence to go to the gym and sign up.

The first few months were absolutely brutal. As a guy who had never been in a fight (and was terrified of fighting), the drive to class was awful everyday, just filled to the brim with anxiety. But my friend kept me accountable so I stayed at it, even though my body and brain were screaming at me to stop. I'm convinced I didn't learn a single thing the first three months. At that point my head instructor (and friend) had convinced me to sign up for a local tournament, and I thought "fuk it let's go!" I went out there and my first fight was a blur - I had no idea what happened because of all the adrenaline. I was literally shaking walking off the mats. The second fight I actually won, and I think it's because the other guy had that same thing happen to him lmao. The feeling of winning got me hooked.

The next year still sucked, but I noticed I was actually learning moves and how to combo them, albeit badly. Whenever a brand new guy came in I could usually impose my will on them, and that kept me going. A year and a half in, I got my blue belt and I was terrified because I still felt like I didn't know anything at all. I thought I definitely should've known more, but my instructor gave me the belt and now I really had to prove I deserved it. Pretty much right away it was right back to getting absolutely crushed. I realized all the higher level guys stopped going so easy on me.

A few months into getting mauled on the daily, and after a particularly horrific class, one of the black belts asked me if I wanted to grab a beer after class. I didn't have anything going on so I said fuk it why not? We hung out and had a couple of beers, and after shooting the chit for awhile he dropped some serious knowledge on me. He said "You're in the chit right now, but you need to learn to embrace the suck. Life will do its best to break you. The best way to not be broken is to get stronger. A battle of miles is won in inches, and it's better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war." That really stuck with me.

It's been three ish years since that talk, but I still think about that conversation often. Since then I decided to go back to school and pursue law. I honestly think jiujitsu instilled the discipline in me to stick with studying for the entrance exam and take it seriously. I ended up getting a full ride scholarship to my dream law school, and I'm finishing up my first year here in the next couple of months. I still train regularly, and although I'm not progressing as fast as if it was my only priority, I'm extremely thankful to be able to train and blow off steam/not think about school related stuff for a couple of hours a night. It's really the only thing keeping me sane at this point lol. At this point I think I'm a lifer, unless I get some really bad injury that makes it impossible to train.

This ended up being much longer than I expected, but overall, martial arts has given me the confidence to try and learn new things. If a wimpy kid like me can learn to fight, what's stopping me from doing other things? It all comes down to putting in the work and embracing the grind. Okay I'll shut up now lol

[Bodhy]

I first tried Karate and TKD when I was a kid, because being a 90s kid I grew up on 90s action films with Van Damme, Seagal etc. It was cool to practice, but I sort of knew it would be useless in a real fight.


A friend got me to join in on a Muay Thai session with him 14 years ago with a retired former fighter as instructor, I loved it, knew it was the real deal. Simple, brutal, effective. I complemented that with a bit of BJJ at a local centre. Very different arts, BJJ was by contrast very technical, nuanced and tricky. More akin to something like body chess than actual fighting, and I liked how much it negated the size and strength advantage of a bigger fighter.


Except after I'd been training a little while, I did something really stupid. I went out to the club one night and wanted to know if the fighting arts actually worked in an IRL fight. So I deliberately picked a fight, for no real reason, to see if it would work. Ended up hurting a guy severely, could have killed him. Very lucky to not get arrested. Couldn't think of anything stupider than deliberately getting involved in IRL fights.

[Ironface]

1st Dan Shotokan Karate. Started because I was bored and thought it sounded cool. Still train 1-3 times a week depending on my work schedule

[Duckliver]

Currently blue belt bjj

I started my oldest boy in it when he was 5 a little over two years ago and I joined up a few months later. Became addicted did well in some early tourneys. Trained in buddies houses through Covid went and traveled to some solo tourneys to stay active during Covid.

I like being able to treat it like a sport and compete and have it be a good format meeting other people my age and experience and size.

I always take a break through winter because I ski every day and I blew out my ACL this year. Doing surgery tom. So hope I can be back on the mats later this summer.

[DavidL913]

Boxing for 2 years at Uni,

Capoeira since 2019

Tried out BJJ this year. would like to start.

Currently taking Muay Thai classes every Friday.

Eventually I will start BJJ/Muay Thai at this studio. cost is $200/month unlimited classes.

[MegaSloot]

I got involved in karate around the first grade. I had been used to getting my ass handed to me. My biological father was a sex offender and my job at my house was to get fukked by my male relatives to earn my keep. So I was pretty sad about my status in the world. I knew I'd never be particularly strong. Outside folks that knew my situation wanted me involved in karate, whether it was to help me fight (lol) or just to give me a sense of responsibility for not being able to win I still don't know. But I got involved. One nice thing about dojo discipline was that when I went up there to get my ass kicked as per usual, after the sensei beat the crap out of my opponents. Take home: there's always someone stronger so don't be too arrogant. I never did get stronger or faster, but any licks I did get in didn't really work in my favor. It was more like, well if you know how to fight, how come you let yourself get raped again? lol. Can't win. Dogs and dildos ftw.

[Akd123]

studied MA for over 20 years.karate,tae kwon do,ninjutsu.JKD, judo,kungfu,krav maga,iaido,kenjutsu and many more.havent done chit in a few years but might go to some local places to get back into it when i quit drinking.my japanese fencing is second to none

[pyrogen]

byzantine75 is a Judo master!

he could kill his adversary just by looking at them with his Judo master stare

[byzantine75]

byzantine75 is a Judo master!

he could kill his adversary just by looking at them with his Judo master stare

LOL
No brag, but I have had iron ball training too!

[AnklesBruised]

lol @ practicing to fight

i was a troublesome kid in grade school and got in my fair share of scuffles

Have never lost a single fight with 0 training

it's all about the mind and wanting to tear sum disrespectful fuker's head off

[gesten]

Takewondo is not good for you

It basically teaches you how to listen to authority and be a npc

Does not teach you how to fight irl

I say this as someone who quit after getting black belt. Was in it for 8 years

[Samraiwise]

byzantine75 is a Judo master!

he could kill his adversary just by looking at them with his Judo master stare

LOL
No brag, but I have had iron ball training too!

Impressive, my friend.

lol @ practicing to fight

i was a troublesome kid in grade school and got in my fair share of scuffles

Have never lost a single fight with 0 training

it's all about the mind and wanting to tear sum disrespectful fuker's head off

Child, have you finished your homework?

Takewondo is not good for you

It basically teaches you how to listen to authority and be a npc

Does not teach you how to fight irl

I say this as someone who quit after getting black belt. Was in it for 8 years

Martial arts training gives us confidence, discipline and respect for others.

[pyrogen]

No brag, but I have had iron ball training too!

Fkn balls of steel m8, balls of fkn STEEL.

[Adam16121]

I was never that great at it, I did some Taekwondo back in the day for a couple of years, and then like a year of boxing, but only learned basic footwork. My kids are way ahead of me and they are quite young. I hope to keep them consistent (son is going on 4 years of Taekwondo, daughter is starting her second).

[OGfrom06]

BJJ Blue Belt

[Wayne Evans]

I am sure that there are many members here in BB.com who practice martial arts, one form or another. Humor this old man, ANYTHING!! Share your story with us

Howdy Kaz....

I always wanted to take on a martial arts discipline.
Just prior to the military I ordered a book called "Kung Fu".

Fast forward, I finally got the inclination to get started.
There were many disciplines to choose from so, because of it's location/proximity, I chose TKD.
The school was Choi's TKD and they are still around to this day.
I took it from 1987-88, for 1.5 years, I was 40 years old at the time and had the best stretch in the class.

So....I get to green belt test with sparring and passed fine.
The following Monday several of us show up the formal presentation and the sign said: "Closed" and they weren't returning.
I still have my other belts but still don't have the green because it wasn't presented to me formally by my master, Steven Pan.
Kind of pisses me (and everyone else) off because of no warning of the school closing at all.

That's a wrap for as I'm an old fck now....if I were healthier I'd get back to it vigorously.

Hope all is well.

[Akd123]

Howdy Kaz....

I always wanted to take on a martial arts discipline.
Just prior to the military I ordered a book called "Kung Fu".

Fast forward, I finally got the inclination to get started.
There were many disciplines to choose from so, because of it's location/proximity, I chose TKD.
The school was Choi's TKD and they are still around to this day.
I took it from 1987-88, for 1.5 years, I was 40 years old at the time and had the best stretch in the class.

So....I get to green belt test with sparring and passed fine.
The following Monday several of us show up the formal presentation and the sign said: "Closed" and they weren't returning.
I still have my other belts but still don't have the green because it wasn't presented to me formally by my master, Steven Pan.
Kind of pisses me (and everyone else) off because of no warning of the school closing at all.

That's a wrap for as I'm an old fck now....if I were healthier I'd get back to it vigorously.

Hope all is well.

There is always Tai Chi. Its actually a very effective martial art. Lots of Chin Na techniques

[Wayne Evans]

There is always Tai Chi. Its actually a very effective martial art. Lots of Chin Na techniques

Howdy AKD....

Thanks for the suggestion but TC just doesn't work for me.

TBH....with my decade old + spinal stenosis, arthritis in fingers/shoulder and have to walk with a cane none of it is within my doing.
I accept it because it's a classic case of diminishing returns.
Many here are not old enough to experience that eventual reality.

Thanks again.

[swordplay76]

I got a black belt in Karate, then quit.

I can still fight tho.

[byzantine75]

Impressive, my friend.

Fkn balls of steel m8, balls of fkn STEEL.

Huzzah,My top 2 miscers ! Yes, my ex was an expert in breaking my balls LOL!! : P

[elterrible987]

Ive noticed most guys who do "martial arts" cant fight for ****.

The only worth while "martial arts" are boxing, MMA and muay Thai which is really just kickboxing.


All of that karate, taewkando stuff is for ***s and doesnt even work.

[byzantine75]

Ive noticed most guys who do "martial arts" cant fight for ****.

The only worth while "martial arts" are boxing, MMA and muay Thai which is really just kickboxing.


All of that karate, taewkando stuff is for ***s and doesnt even work.

Kickboxing is a blend of boxing, Muay Thai , Tae Kwon Do and Karate numb nuts
Also MMA is a combination of styles not a style in itself. You could combine Wing Chun and Aikido and call it MMA fukkin lol
And you are forgetting all the grappling arts Judo, wrestling, BJJ. You saying they are not effective??

[elterrible987]

Kickboxing is a blend of boxing, Muay Thai , Tae Kwon Do and Karate numb nuts
Also MMA is a combination of styles not a style in itself. You could combine Wing Chun and Aikido and call it MMA fukkin lol
And you are forgetting all the grappling arts Judo, wrestling, BJJ. You saying they are not effective??

wing chun, karate, aikido, tae kwon do those are all gay and dont work. Have you seen their "matches"? cant even call them fights have to call them matches, because they get stopped if anyone lands a grazing blow.


look at this ****gy chit:




he got disqualified for kicking him too hard, uwut? you can win a karate match by getting knocked out. lmao. just give black guy an MMA contract that ****gy sport doesnt deserve him.

[byzantine75]

wing chun, karate, aikido, tae kwon do those are all gay and dont work. Have you seen their "matches"? cant even call them fights have to call them matches, because they get stopped if anyone lands a grazing blow.


look at this ****gy chit:




he got disqualified for kicking him too hard, uwut? you can win a karate match by getting knocked out. lmao. just give black guy an MMA contract that ****gy sport doesnt deserve him.

All olympic karate,olympic Tae kwon do etc is for sure subpar for fighting, they are only sports. Old school karate and full contact Karate such as Kyokushin is different. You need to train full contact and pressure test techniques to become a good fighter. Compare your vid to this, its a blend of Karate and Judo



And pure Kyokushin


Cant speak for Tae Kwon Do, the Chun and Aikido, though if trained properly I'm sure they would have some techniques that work. There are only so many ways you can throw a punch or kick