Gumbi

Jeet Kune Do is also not a style, but a mentality. Bruce Lee even said it himself- if it is said that "this" is a Jeet Kune Do move or "that" is not a Jeet Kune Do move than let the name of Jeet Kune Do be dissolved, for thats all it is- a name. In essence, Jeet Kune Do is a philosophy of training. All MMA fighters could be considered Jeet Kune Do fighters- they use what works for their preference of fighting and discard that which doesnt work for them.

Its essentially the same kick- from your back, you can kick out at your opponent with great power.

You're thinking way too much sport Jiu Jitsu- one of the most effective things about Jiu Jitsu (especially the guard position) is the ability to mule kick like hell from your back- this is a VERY powerfull kick, and anyone who drops their head to look at your crotch is going to be greeted by one. Renzo Gracie vs Oleg Taktarov and Ricardo Arona vs Quiton Jackson are good examples of people getting surprised by kicks from the guard

-Are strikes taught, or just grappling? Most BJJ schools do not teach strikes at all, however, if a school has an instructor who has learned the self defense, minor strikes are taught (elbows, knees, and slaps). BJJ doesnt like to trade strikes, but rather put your opponent in a position you can hit him and he cant hit you. Since striking on the ground is fairly easy when you have your opponent pinned and controlled, it really isnt taught. -Are Judo style throws used/taught, if only on request? This one REALLY depends on the school you go to and the background of the teacher. In a strict BJJ class, we might practice a takedown when tournament time comes around (figure like, once a month, once every two months do we see a takedown) and since most of the time sparring is started from the knees, more often than not you wont see a whole lot of takedowns emphasized. -How are chokes and locks practiced safely (relatively ) Its pretty simple- you're shown a technique (choke/armlock) and you practice it on a non resisting opponent- when he feels the choke, or the pain from the joint lock, he taps out. Later on when training, you can apply the same moves, and injuries can happen ( injuries arent rare, but arent frequent either). Chokes arent very dangerous if you try to test your limits and not tap- you simply fall asleep and wake up in a few minutes. Screaming is considered tapping, and since I dont know of many people who wont scream when their arm gets hyperextended, major injuries like broken arms are pretty rare. -What kind of equipment do I need, other than a Gi? Some people prefer to wear a cup- I wear compression shorts to keep "things" nice and tight. Mouthpieces are sometimes worn, but again thats preference. -How do youth rankings (white, yellow...) transalate to adult rankings (white, blue...) Under 16 years old, the rankings in belts go white, orange, green. If a kid is a green belt at 16 and is pretty good, generally they're promoted to blue belt, which is the second adult belt. Adult rankings go white, blue, purple, brown, black.

Depends what you're looking for when watching the fights. My favorites personally are UFC's 2 and 4. UFC 2 was probably one of the bloodiest MMA tournaments ever. UFC 4 I like because the great upset with Royce over Severn. More recently, the latest UFC is my fav for no other reason that Charuto vs Hughes and Mir vs Sylvia

Alright, I'll be the first one to hurt everyone's feelings, but I'll try to include more than 1 example for each. For self defense theres no question- Grappling arts have proven their effectiveness over striking arts. Not that striking arts dont have their merit (its very possible to be striker if you've got grappling to avoid being taken down and dominated) but you asked for single martial arts. The Martial artist matters more than the style when fighters cross train in MMA- otherwise there VERY much is a better/best style and hierarchy Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo, and Sambo are good examples of grappling arts For kicks, it depends on what it is you're trying to accomplish. All martial arts have kicks, and all have some form of roundhouse as well as some form of push kick. There doesnt seem to be a big difference in the kicks of particular martial arts as there is different strategies. For instance, TKD attacks the head and upper body very often, karate does the same, but perhaps attacks more midsection, since a lower kick is generally less risky to attempt, and then Muay Thai attacks your opponents legs most often. Take your pick on whatever you want for kicks. Relaxation, well, I'll just throw in Tai Chi there Self Confidence: Any martial art can give you self confidence, assuming you believe in it, and depending on what success you have in that particular martial art. For instance, I may be a * grappler, but a good kickboxer, so even though I may practice a good grappling art, I may not be confident in my abilities as I am as a striker. False Self Confidence: Many styles can do this, although its often the instructor that can give you this false sense of security. Any striking art that doesnt incorporate good hand techniques isnt good in my book (good hand techniques being something like boxing or wing chun type styles). If its something that relies on a "one strike one kill" mentality, its garbage in my eyes. If they work combinations and set ups, then I think its more practical. As far as grappling arts go, any grappling art that doesnt actively engage in live training with your partners can lead you to believing you're skilled in ground techniques when you're really not.

If you land a hard throw on concrete, yes its going to be very damaging. I think a few of you have misread my post- what Im saying is that even in matches won by ippon, the fight OFTEN goes to the ground in Judo competitions through simple means (guy tries a throw and insists- throw doesnt happen but they fall to the ground). BJJ guys arent stupid- we know judo wins on the feet and BJJ on the ground. You'll see alot of BJJ guys keep their center of gravity real low so that if they get thrown, its not going to be hard- in other words, they stall.

Its that very mentality that led to Judo not being as effective on the ground- they figured that a solid throw would incapacitate your opponent. It often can, but remember that BJJ guys know how to break fall too. Take it a step further, Judo is about getting the nice looking throw to get ippon- often before that throw occurs, they'll fall to the ground the other times they attempt it. BJJ guys dont care how they take you down, as long as they take you down (doesnt have to be an ippon).

You know I havent been to many Japanese Ju Jitsu schools, and the one friend I have who happens to teach it is pretty familiar with all the schools of Tai Jitsu. I would say that any school that focus' more on the grappling aspect would be more suitable for you (something that resembles Judo/BJJ). For self defense purposes (say, protecting yourself when you get jumped) when working on the joint locks, try to focus more on the large joint locks (elbow locks, strangleholds, and knee locks) as opposed to the small joint locks (fingers and wrists).

Guess I'll go ahead and add my 2 cents.... First off, as someone said before, theres a difference between saying that TMAs are not usefull in a self defense situation and saying that TMA's suck- it depends what you want out of training. I want nothing more than knowing how to fight, so to me, TMA's suck. First flaw- no emphasis on hand skills such as seen in boxing. Many TMA"s have a one strike one kill doctrine that, quite simply, does not work. The intricate blocks that are practiced in karate are not as effective as parries, bobs, weaves, and checks as taught in boxing and Muay Thai. One can hardly fight if he doesnt know how to use his hands (i.e. why TKD does so poorly). Second flaw: no emphasis on the other 2 phases of combat. Fights occur in 3 phases- free movement phase in which there is no grappling (i.e. punching/kicking distance) - second phase is the clinch, such as seen when boxers grab each other or Thai fighters tie up to throw knees. Finally, there is the final phase, the grappling phase on the ground. Most TMA"s only emphasize the first free movement phase, and unfortunately even the most unskilled attacker can clinch fairly easily with the most skilled striker (excluding Muay Thai). Training from such a school becomes useless when in the 2nd or 3rd phases of a fight. I didnt see either of these mentioned in the thread. The other problems I see are as TJS mentioned- no resisting opponents to practice against. Kata is also quite pointless for real life fighting as well- if you do it for other reasons, so be it.

Well said white warlock- no ones claiming to be an expert in weapon disarms and all, but in order to control someone, armed or unarmed, you have to engage in SOME type of grappling.

Most Judo throws in general leave your back vunerable to attack. I like the throws where you can remain standing after you throw your opponent to the ground. I dont know the names of them, so I cant give you any examples.

"It has been said that 90% of all fights end up on the ground. It has also been said that all fights between inexperienced fighters end up on the ground. Personally I would prefer to stand up. " There were many other fighters who preferred to stand up as well, but take into account the wild chaotic nature of fighting. Knockdowns are much more common than knockouts, so chances are you'll catch a clean shot and send your opponent down without him being knocked out. Also consider you can very well trip and fall during a fight, especially when you clinch- its bound to happen, most common amongst people who do not know how to clinch/grapple. Often when inexperienced people clinch, the most common reaction is headlock to a takedown. Dont forget too that sometimes when you throw high kicks, you can very well lose your balance and fall. Then of course there are the grapplers who will actively seek to take the fight to the ground. Grappling leaves you very prepared for what will happen in a fight.

"That being said, I also learned that I prefer the reality and harshness that only in Kyokushin I have found. Kyokushin means "Ultimate Truth" and that is what we strive for. No, we are not allowed to punch to the head in a bout, but then again I think most are thankful for that fact. If we are devestating without the hand strikes to the head, it is only better that we don't cross into that realm. Well, in the dojo atleast. Do we have a better understanding now? It is, what it is. Think about what happens if Kyokushin fighters are allowed to fight MT guys under their rules, but without the gloves. We don't use gloves because we don't head hunt. If they take off the gloves and fight by our rules and we are allowed to strike the head as they did in the days of Oyama in Japan and Korea, there is no competition." I dont think that because one is devestating without strikes to the head that one would be even more so with strikes to the head. You fight like you train, you train for what you compete in. Because of the competition rules in KK, there is no need to learn boxing techniques and parries and such. I think where KK defeats all other styles of karate is because their competitions are full contact and they allow leg kicks, whereas most other karate styles do not. I also feel that fighting without gloves would favor the muay thai fighter- the clinch work they have is the best in the world (for strikers) and they can be rather punishing with their knees. It would be drastically easier to get that clinch due do your fingers being free from gloves. As mart mentioned, KK guys can beat Muay Thai guys, but its extremely rare. That being said, if I could train in KK, I would, but my first choices would be Muay Thai and boxing.

First off, I get furious when people ask me "do you do karate?" I get even more furious when my friend who know what I do still ask me "oh, yeah, you got karate tonight dont you?" As far as people asking what belt I am, my brother and I have devised a failsafe system. I dont know if anyone ever heard of combat ki, but its one of the worst styles in the world. (Pretty much they *ATTEMPT* to condition themselves to take repeated blows- wearing your opponent down because he gets tired of beating on you). I dont know the name of the guy who created this system, but when he created it, he automatically promoted himself to 10th degree black belt. Therefore, my brother and I are going to create our own martial art, but we've yet to think of a cool sounding exotic name for it. Im younger, so I'll just tell people in the meantime Im only a 3rd degree black belt, but once Im like 35 or so, Im going to promote myself to 11th degree blackbelt (simply because there are none in the world ) And when they want me to show them some exotic move or technique- my response? "I cant, its too deadly"

First off, Im sorry if Matt Thorton's words came across as a little harsh (I just posted what was said), but to be honost I've had that mentality before I read that interview with him-I bow down before no man and expect no one to bow to me either- he simply had the best words to express it. Now, obviously, its ridiculous to suggest that ALL TMA's or ALL sifus/masters hold that mentality. Now Ive met many more martial artists who were masters in their respective style and were as Matt pointed out, however, I've also met plenty of people who were perfectly normal and humble people who were absent of ego. Forget for a moment that hes trashing the entire way of respect for traditional martial arts and try to understand what hes saying: you have a lot more faith in a technique thats taught to you when the person teaching it can do it effortlessly himself. For instance, we dont always agree with everything my instructor shows. Sometimes he'll show something and you'll shrug your shoulders and say "I dont think that would work" at which point he'll say "ok, lets prove it." And he'll literally line up about 5-6 people of varying skill levels and say "you know what Im going to do- DONT let me do it." The respect is there because we're showing up and working as hard as we can. My instructor is from Brazil, but I regularly hang out with him, as well as his brother and friend (who are both exceptional brown belts). By giving titles, I seriously think you draw a line between the instructor and the students. If your master/sifu still actively competes and has no fear of doing so- then hes one of those guys who has the fighter's humility and isnt afraid to compete in front of his students. Granted, not everyone is into competition, but if he cant prove what hes teaching, he shouldn't be teaching it.

Im going to assume you're talking about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, so lets give it a whirl. Quite frankly, there are LITERALLY THOUSANDS of techniques in Jiu Jitsu. Every single body type his its advantages and disadvantages. For example, a short person often has short limbs, so its easier for you to defend against joint locks and such. Its more difficult, however, to utilize a position such as the guard (long legs helps). A typical BJJ class (lets say 1 hour long) will have you drill techniques for 30-40 minutes with about 20 minutes of active training at the end. You're using every muscle in your body and you're trying to defeat your opponent, who's also trying to do the same to you. I think you'd be surprised how much it can build your endurance.

Yeah, martial arts certainly are MUCH more fun when you have hands on training (i.e. get to test the technique against a resisting opponent). Best advice I can give is try to pick just one technique and work on that. Many guys think the more techniques the better, but some of the best Judokas can count all their throws on one hand. Saulo Ribeiro, for instance, is a black belt in Judo, and a 6 time World Champion in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu- he only has 4 throws.

Quite honostly, Ju Jitsu and Karate are pretty generic terms. But anyways, Karate is generally hard deliberate strikes due to its one strike one kill philosophy. There are no throws in karate, and no clinch work for that matter. Ju Jitsu, well, it depends on what kind of Ju Jitsu you prefer to take. Ju Jitsu is Japanese Ju Jitsu. Jiu Jitsu is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (they pride themselves in spelling it the wrong way). JJJ depends on which school of thought you're learning from- many schools emphasize more strikes, looking alot like Karate, while some emphasize more throws, resembling Judo, and finally others that are more ground fighting, looking like BJJ. Most JJJ schools I've seen do mostly striking techniques. As far as weapons training, I do believe JJJ has alot of sword training. Quite simply though, no style is easy for an absolute beginner to learn- you're called a beginner for a reason you know?

The best way I can explain this is through what Matt Thorton said: Q: Don't you think the use of terms like Sifu and Sensei in traditional martial arts teach humility to the students, and show proper respect? A:Not at all.... in fact I think they can eventually lead to the opposite. The most obnoxious, ego maniacal people I have ever met have been traditional martial arts "masters".... often cocky.... overweight.... scared inside, but very very haughty on the outside. The posses the quintessential beggars humility. Q:Whats the beggars humility? A:Its a simple idea.... that their are two different types of humility.... a beggars humility, and a fighters humility. I beggar will bow down and scrape the floor for any man he deems superior to himself. But, at the same time, he will demand that anyone he deems as inferior.... bow down and scrape the floor for him. The fighter bows down to no man, and allows no man to bow down to him. You have to remember that most Asian cultures are cast societies. Its common for them to refer to each other according to social status when born. I am an American..... and I personally don't buy into that socio-economic idea. Q:What about the respect afforded an Instructor A:What about it. I have never experienced a problem with respect. You see people here will respect the Instructors because the Instructors will get out into the class and wrestle or spar with any and everybody at the Gym. I will wrestle with anybody that walks into the Gym. Its not about winning.... or being a tough guy, or anything like that... no.... its about not being afraid to train for real in front of, or with your students... or as I would prefer to say.... fellow athletes. Thats very different from a sifu..... a sifu has a position to defend.... "I am a Sifu, and as such I must remain aloof from my students, and I must not spar with them.... as I must preserve this illusion if Sifudom that I posses" (laughs).... you see, its all a big ego trip. And of course eventually that "sifu" becomes very insecure.... because he knows in his heart, since he has not been training and sparring, that some of his own students can probably work him over now.... which of course makes him even more insecure.... its all a vicious cycle. Usually the sifu becomes a bitter angry guy.... all because he was to scared to let go of his position and just be an athlete........ and besides that, you know what, I train every day with Olympic level wrestlers, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu guys, and boxers... I'd feel silly having anyone call me a sifu (laughs).

I could mention them if I knew the Judo names for them...... Some Judo throws are pretty good, and some arent. The biggest problem I have with alot of Judo throws is that it leaves your back vulnerable to attack. Im going to attempt to give my two cents and try to remember the names. Forgive my horrendus spelling. Hari Gosh and Sai Nagi (drop Sai Nagi?). Im not good at either. I also like to go for an uchimata straight up the legs- then I switch to an ankle pick right at the end. I try to learn a few judo throws, but for the most part, I try to break the grips and stick to wrestling takedowns.

Thats exactly my point- Someone who has proven themselves in actual fights and combat still insists on a first name basis. The only title I ever hear my instructors called is "coach" because that's essentially what he is (he not only instructs the BJJ, but also works conditioning regimes and such). The respect is shown by showing up and working as hard as you can.

I dont mind so much that they have a title, but its the title they choose that I dislike. My brother doesnt really do any martial arts training at all, but hes gotten the idea of which styles are effective and which are not. He called up a local boxing studio by him and the person who picked up the phone on the other end answered by saying "Master so and so" followed by the gyms name. My brother was a little surprised since it was labled a boxing gym, but he promptly laughed and hung up. Dogs have Masters, not people.

Browsing through these forums, I realize that there's quite a diversity of martial artists on here (duh) but more traditional than modern styles seem to be represented. My question is when you're training in class and you go to address your instructor, what name/title do you call him by? Is it sensei, master, Mr -----, or what? I dont think I'd ever take a class where I had to call someone master or sensei. My classes are very informal and I call my instructors by their first name, but if you wanted a specific title for them- on their BJJ certificates their title is "professor." I know what many people are saying about sensei or master titles- it shows respect. But why must you call someone that to show respect- the respect is already there- you arrive and train under someone because you respect their skill as a fighter in that particular area. I think that alot of teachers and black belts have egos and LOVE being called sensei or master. Try calling your instructors attention by saying "yo, bill I got a question" or whatever his first name may be.

Maeda was both a student of Classical Ju Jitsu and Kano's Judo- he knew a bit of both. The reason why he called his art Ju Jitsu when he fought (and NOT judo) was because at the time the kodokhan did not allow challenge matches (this was a primary reason people disliked Classical Ju Jitsu- they looked like bullies and resembled pitbulls by fighting each other all the time).