Martial Arts

[raiderfan99]

Anyone do martial arts here?

When living in Connecticut, I studied Chinese martial arts for about 5 years. I evolved to Jeet Kune do Concepts when I learned of a school nearby and that's when I started practicing boxing, jiu jitsu, and thai boxing. I was in great shape and competed in some amateur boxing competitions.

I moved to Pennsylvania and had to give it up for awhile, I took a few sambo classes in the Scranton area but got a nasty case of staph infection. In 2009 I trained at a Royce Gracie school for a few months, again got a nasty case of staph.

In 2010, I trained in Judo for the summer at a local YMCA, I enjoyed it but absolutely hated the ruleset. Heard it was more jiu jitsu like in rules before WWII.

In 2011 I trained on and off at a local "MMA" school, however the past 4 months I have been lazy and getting fat

You can see all my fights on my youtube channel.

[Heibi]

Well, I wrestled from junior high through college(collegiate, free style and Greco-Roman) and I've taken some karate lessons.

[raiderfan99]

Well, I wrestled from junior high through college(collegiate, free style and Greco-Roman) and I've taken some karate lessons.

Thats cool, wrestling is usually underrated. Most times a wrestler can go into an average martial arts studio and wipe up the place. They are usually in incredible shape as well.

[raiderfan99]

Only seen this thread now.

I started my MA training when I was 8 (standard McDojo/Blackbelt mill).
My Training really ramped up when I moved to South Africa and met some good Instructors(various styles)
Right now I am studying "Chen Tai Chi Small Frame" under 20th generation Chen PeiShan in Tokyo.
My previous teacher in Japan created his own art mixed from 3 styles and is highly respected.

Over the years I dabbled in a few arts like Karate but mostly chinese styles and settled on a mix of Tai Chi(Various styles), Bagua Zhang and Hsing Yi Chuan.

Actually I shouldn't call them styles, rather training systems as they share too many common aspects and got too may cross-influences.
We climb the same mountain but there are different roads up it.

I tend to spar a lot with other stylists and MMA and they are surprised that I can pull some of their moves and also fight on the ground.

Big Tai Chi Meeting soon and I been asked to demo 5 Weapons we use.

The Tai Chi you see normally on TV is either Yang or the PRC Forms which are performed slow(for beginners). Fully fletched Tai Chi is fast and very energetic, I often get asked if I do Shaolin as we use a few of their forms.

One of my former Kung Fu teachers, back when I was doing Chinese martial arts in the mid 2000s, did Tai Chi previously. I believe it was Xing Yi, one of the older forms of it. Also my Jeet Kune Do/MMA teacher back in Connecticut has a Tai Chi class in his center taught by another instructor. I know that sounds pretty crazy but he's open minded about martial arts. I've never tried it but have known many who have.

I'd love to train with some of the Judokas in Japan or some in one of the Shooto gyms. Kyokushin would be worth the trip as well.

[raiderfan99]

Most good MA teachers will encourage cross-training/sparrring. beyond a level.

Btw, Tai Chi and Xing Yi are separate training systems with xing yi being linear As they fought in formation.
Still a good system. Pa Kua is more circular where you walk around/circle the opponent.

I got 37ys of MA training including under direct lineage teachers, always open(just recovering from a major surgery) so not at full strength.
And the guys here can tell that even when I left the hospital 4 weeks ago I am fine & healthy.

Maybe someday I'll get back into some of those Chinese arts, I'd love to take Shuai Jiao although it seems quite rare in the states. I kind of had a bad taste in my mouth as the same instructor I was talking about, my Choy Li Fut teacher, was extremely closed minded and I find alot of Kung fu guys are. I do understand that's a pretty big generalization but maybe its just how things are with certain martial artists, it seems mostly the insecure ones.

My belief is to counter the knife based martial art you need to know a knife based martial art (Kun Tao, Arnis, etc.), to counter the grappling martial art you need to know a grappling martial art (BJJ, Sambo, etc.), to counter a striking martial art you need to know a striking martial art (thai boxing, savate, etc.). I think there is something good in every martial art, I think that's what sets apart JKD concepts from MMA. Some consider it a outdated mentality but I find lots of sense in it. I even still practice some general Capoeria moves daily as they are challenging and athletic to do, although not really practical in most situations, but never learning it would never lead me to come to that conclusion

[raiderfan99]

I need to up my training but tough in the Tokyo summer.
All my MA teachers invited other 'styles' teachers to give us seminars.

As you said to defend against a knife you 1st need to know how it is used.
I even learned gun defences and disarms.

Also agree that many schools/teachers think they got it all and nothing else is needed.
A lot of ego in many schools and I trained on 3 continents.

I learned about the 4 corners of the circle grappling, kicks, etc.
Not into ground-fighting as it is to easy to get stomped by a 3rd party but I can hold my own there and don't hesitate to throw an opponent, etc. Surprised a few BJJ guys that they couldn't take me down with a shoot.

We never wore a keikogi either training or street-wear and the we trained in parks, sports-gyms, etc and it hurts to get thrown onto a root or similar. None of the styles I did focused on rank as they can see your skill from how you perform a Kata/Form.
We kept it real and that included lessons on what is a legal self-defense vs a fight and similar.

Add to that my Military H2H training.

I actually find many of the pure BJJ guys really don't know many takedowns/throws apart from the basic wrestling shoot or jumping guard. After taking Judo for awhile, it really brings both arts around in a circle as they go hand in hand and are very similar with different emphasis. BJJ is a style of patience and submission from every position, in alot of ways Judo is the same although more focused on the throw to end the fight as per the Olympic rules. From a lineage standpoint, BJJ was an offshoot of a school of Judo that was quite horrid at throws although mythodical on the ground, the Kosen judo school. Helio Gracie's opinion was to tailor that style to his own as he found many Judo techniques required too much strength, although I obviously disagree with that. Here is a small wiki article on Kosen which is pretty much dead in the Judo world as the ruleset has changed much since then http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosen_judo

In conclusion, from my personal fighting experience, I think BJJ is incomplete without learning the other "half", Judo.

Obviously becoming reliant on the gi is bad (although good for sport and some self defense with clothing), which is why all should train without the gi as you point out.