Martial Arts Thread

Ah. It's mostly things like how most tai chi movements are for wrestling, either as actual wrestling techniques, or raining aids to get you used to using your body instead of your hands to move people. Or baguazhang's circle-walking footwork is very obviously supposed to be analogous to boxing pivots and not Dragonball Z style dodging. Got shown a move to pass around and take the back while standing the other day, and it was literally almost the exact same as this step in-> wheel your arm up -> pivot -> wheel your arm down move from various kung fu styles like pigua, bajiquan, tai chi, or xingyiquan. Very flowery in the form, looks very pointless and overly telegraphed and easily blocked if interpreted as a strike, makes all the sense in the world when interpreted as for wrestling.

At this point, I am convinced that most teachers/"masters", regardless of whether they're from the mainland or other parts of the Sinosphere, don't really know what movements from their art is for.

So...Zhang Weili vs Amanda Lemos.

Dat strikes ratio.

started kyokushin ~3 months ago, hopefully i can go all the way to black belt

Don't know much about martial arts, but am I right in believing a martial artist who hits a non-martial artist(or someone who's not on their skill level) completely unprovoked is a dirty coward because they cannot defend themself from them?

Edited by CosmosAndChaos on Aug 27th 2023 at 10:24:31 AM

I mean, you shouldn't hit people unprovoked period, but I wouldn't consider the relative skill disparity relevant to that moral calculus. I would also argue that certain types of verbal provocation also justify a physical response (credible verbal threats, for example, or insults targeted at one's specific demographic as those tend to be the prelude to a physical assault; generally anything for which the "fighting words" legal doctrine is an affirmative defense).

But, I understand that my preferred framework of "initiator of the conflict doesn't get to complain when the conflict escalates beyond their comfort level" and "defender gets to do whatever aggressor does to them in retaliation" isn't very popular on the English-speaking Interwebs.

After eventually dropping due to COVID-restrictions (training with masks on became too unbearable for me...), I resumed boxing starting yesterday.

Even though I already have a slight base of boxing, I figured I should start from scratch and go back to the basics. Sure enough, while I remembered the punches, I'm once again struggling with keeping my proper stance and balance.

Also, front hooks and uppercuts were just as confusing and awkward as I remembered...until one of the coaches offered pretty amazing solution:

Basically, throw a punch with your back hand and throw front hook/uppercut in that position...and then skip the first part.

I was like, whoa, that's actually legit brilliant.

Week 2 of getting back into boxing:

So far I've regaining some of the basics I got from my last boxing training, even though it was about 3 years ago and lasted only around 3 months.

Due to me watching a lot of martial arts scenes, both in (more realistic) action movies and UFC over the years, I find myself accepting feedbacks and adjusting myself more quickly this time around.

Unfortunately, however, I got older and gained weight over the years I find myself struggling to keep up during sessions. It's so embarassing even during 3 minute sessions I have to take short breaks to catch my breath. It's getting a little bit better compared to last week though!

I gotta say, though, I really love how much more detailed my current gym with instructions. Even within the very third day, I actually got to learn how to duck, weave, and block. That and for hooks and uppercuts, I am taught to use my obliques more. That was new!

Anyhow, I want to focus more on pose, footworks, and defenses. I think it will take a while before I can get comfortable punching people in the face and body...

I'm not sure if this is a right place to ask but, between Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and judo, which one might be safer for older people?

Basically, I'm trying to pick between those two. Ideally, it would be best if I could practice both of them but unfortunately I don't have the time nor energy to do so. As such, I'm gonna pick one that is slightly more dangerous while I'm still (relatively) young and pick a safer one for when I'm like in my 40s and 50s.

Just outta curiousity, how many hours of sparring does it take for the cowering instinct to go away? It is by far the most frustrating thing after about 3-4 months or so of training, half my brain is going "go in, engage! We literally pay money to come here to do this!" and the other half is going "punches are scary, if we close our eyes that means they don't exist", resulting in shameful display of cowardice that just result in getting hit and not really being able to do anything about it.

I would imagine it depends on the specific gym you're going to. A given judo place might be more chill due to having a more traditional atmosphere, or it might be a hardcore place where they train to hit you with the planet exactly like they do in Japan. Similarly, a given BJJ place might be a hardcore place where they're training for grappling and MMA competitions 24/7, or it might be relatively chill place where everyone's willing to start on knees.

Edited by PRC4Eva on Oct 5th 2023 at 9:47:11 AM

Very belated, but thanks for the answer!

You're definitely right in pointing out it's really depends on individual place. Kinda embarassing that I forgot about it, really.

Speaking of boxing, I finished watching Megalo Box, which is an absolutely amazing show.

I really love how the main character, at least by the end, has actually adopted outboxer style, rather than pressure/infighter like boxing main characters often tend to be.

The anime also puts a heavy emphasis on footwork as well, often characterizing other fighters and even playing big parts in the MC defeating them.

Oh, and the second season features really sympathetic portrayals of Mexican immigrants...which I find very fitting considering how popular boxing is over there.

Now that I'm done with this series, I'm also definitely gonna watch Rockt and Creed series as well (I only watched the very first, original Rocky). That, and I'm inspired to practice boxing more seriously.

Let there be a necro~

For the past few months, I've been thinking about what kind of martial arts I want to learn.

The most immediate and simple answer for me would be, of course, learning boxing for few years and then transition into muay thai.

Unfortunately, however, I live in a very traditional and patriarchial society and sadly enough striking martial arts have somewhat negative stigma here.

While my mindset and circumstances might change in the future, but for now (once I got my physical condition back up - it's a long story) I'm gonna pick up judo again.

Not only judo has a reputation of being a more "civilized"^note If I was living in England, I would've definitely picked up either boxing or wrestling for the same reason martial art, it also is a widely accepted and recommended for both police and military in my country, meaning that there is a lot of places to learn and also has older practitioners.

...And you know, outside of MMA judo still is a very practical and powerful martial art as well.