Gumbi

I've had opposite effects. I'd wager that most boxers or thai boxers would say the same. I guess Im just some kind of freak =(

Im assuming you mean the person is attacking your turtle and doesnt have his hooks in with back control. Simply doing a forward roll usually allows you to get back to the guard position, but its more difficult than it sounds- there are ways for him to take your back if you roll, or flatten you out to get side control. All the other counters I've seen depend on how the guy is attacking you- I'd say rolling out is the more common escape.

Well, you know what they say- nothing builds better endurance for a particular activity than that activity itself (i.e. the best way to condition yourself for wrestling is to wrestle). The only thing I wouldnt do is run- I dont think its benificial to anyone that does sports other than long distance running/cycling/swimming. You use a different gas when you fight as opposed to run. Running uses slow twitch muscle fibers, fighting utilizes fast twitch. Long distance jogging will build endurance for slow twitch muscle fibers, but not for fast twitch. Something like 40 yd sprints would build fast twitch muscle endurance and would even help long term (slow twitch) endurance. I experienced this when I used to play hockey competitively- I used to run for 5 miles every morning or at least every other morning for about a year and it practically did nothing for my endurance on the ice.

I would say the improvement made by MMA events would be to fighting what computers and the internet were to communication- in other words- the improvement was drastic. As far as MMA "knowing less" I wouldnt say that- martial arts skills are like any other physical skill, and therefore require time and practice to become efficient at them. For example, this was a similar argument proposed by the Ju Jitsu schools in Japan when Kano came about with Judo- they said that he "knew less" and trained fewer techniques. This was true as far as techniques, but who "knew more" than he did? Certainly not the Ju Jitsu fighters who claimed to know those techniques- in reality, they knew nothing at all. Because they never sparred heavily with their techniques, their physical skills never improved and in the end all they knew was theory.

Ju Jitsu is almost as generic term as karate, since there are many styles of that as well. To suggest that all Ju Jitsu wants to go the ground is a misnomer- its simply the more popular brazilian style that heavily advocates ground fighting.

Aikido feeds most of its attacks off the big haymaker punch which you see most often in street fights. Unlike in training though, your opponents wont go flying through the air like Steven Seagal movies- you'll simply break their wrist, which is rather painfull. Takes a while to learn, and can work should someone punch you in that manner (which is rather common) but I've yet to see the wristlock and punch catching techniques work against a trained striker.

Like anything else, martial arts evolve and improve (hopefully). Today's MMA fighters have learned from the mistakes and risks that earlier fighters did, and get a jump start on training. MMA fighters immediately already know what is most practical for a fight and what isnt, which old school fighters had to learn through trial and error. Also, thanks to technology, they also know who is the best in their respective field, whether it be striking, submissions, or takedowns and they can train under those fighters, even if its through the internet. Old school fighters laid the foundation, which is the more difficult thing to do, but modern day fighters have taken that and expanded on it.

Many miscomceptions going on about Judo...... 1.""It's not designed for defense against a puncher or kicker, or someone carrying a weapon"" Incorrect- many basic techniques taught are in themselves basic defenses to punches. In my opinion its easier to grab hold of a kicker than a puncher. Weapons I dont touch, because practically all of the defenses of just about all ma's are impractical. 2.""Well, judo is good against somebody that wants to grab you and/or take you to the ground. As far as I've seen, judo doesn't do any defenses at all for in regards to someone that stands back and punches at you and tries to keep their distance from you. "" Its all about closing the distance, which is much easier to do than keeping the distance. There have been many matches between Judokas and standup fighters/strikers and the Judokas have almost always been on the winning end of the fight. 3.""Oh I see. Perhaps Judo may be good against your average street fighter, but maybe not against a trained striker. Interesting.""" Dont buy into what you're being told- lets talk extremes here as far as Judo vs striking. Hidehiko Yoshida (of whom I am NOT a fan of) was a 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo. Not too long ago, he fought Wanderlei Silva, who's an accomplished Muay Thai fighter whos the Pride Middleweight Champion and arguable defeated top notch K-1 Kickboxer Mirko Cro Cop- safe to say he knows his Muay Thai. It took approximately 10 seconds for the fight to hit the ground with a takedown from Yoshida. The fight would see one or two more takedowns off of nice hips throws by Yoshida, before Silva eventually took charge of the fight. Bear in mind however that Silva is an experienced BJJ fighter and quite adept at grappling himself. If you rent a few of the earlier UFC's, you can also see Remco Pardoel throw a few guys (who were strikers) with some nice throws. 4.""By the way...do you know that judo means "gentle way"? Trust me...I sure haven't figured out where they get that from the local judo I've seen. These people grab you and slam you to the mat so friggin' hard...how do they figure that's gentle? "" Yeah, talk about given someone a misconception- Judo certainly isnt "gentle" or nice to the body. I think the whole idea behind that is that you dont oppose strength with strength, but rather give way to strength in favor of technique, reducing the need for strength. 5.""I heard many people injure themselves practicing Judo."" Well, injuries happen, but they're bound too when you're sparring 100% against one of your teammates. By increasing the intensity with which you train, you make for a much better training environment for practical application, but you have to take some of the bad with it- injuries will natrually occur when competing at full speed, theres no way around it. As far as serious injuries, they're not common, but certainly not uncommon.

Nothing like a hip throw from hell to take the fight out of someone trying to start something with you. Its one of the more effective arts you can train in.

There are alot of variables on these questions- its really depends on the fighters style- I may say a triangle is one of the easier movse to do, whereas someone with a wrestling background might find it very difficult. Anyways, my 2 cents 1: RNC is probably the most effective move, simply because you're in such a dominant position, and chokes will KO anyone regardless of how tough they are or what drugs they're on. All submissions have minor details though, which can greatly enhance/diminish their effectiveness depending on how they're applied. Most successfull technique I would say is the armbar however. 2: Most of the subs are breaking/dislocating the bones in your body- they're all rather painfull. I find wristlocks, ankle locks, and muscle slicers the most painful I've had, but also the least effective of submissions. 3: I guess I would say one of the harder things to do is submit someone with an omoplata shoulder lock, simply because its rather easy to defend against. Its labled a submission, but often turns into a sweep.

They used to do this back in the pre UFC days in Brazil. It was common for a karate school/kickboxing school to challenge the Gracie Academy, so they'd set up vale tudo events with each school bringing their best fighters.

I had mentioned that- there are other styles of Ju Jitsu, however, many of these schools acknowledge they dont train for competition and often dont compete. I have heard of other Ju Jitsu tournaments such as the ones I believe Remco Pardoel was a European Champion of, but they're much differently run than the other more popular ones. They ignited the spark- what made BJJ popular was its overwhelming success by many different practitioners

If Dux Ryu Ninjitsu is the ninjitsu school being offerred, I'd avoid it all together- Dux is a fraud. As far as Ninjitsu in general, its not bad if you live in feudal times, but there is a difference between Ninjitsu and Tai Jitsu. Tai Jitsu would simply be the unarmed combat, whereas actual ninjitsu would be the combination of that with weapons training, movement training, poison making, and all that other jazz. Any idea what kind of Kung Fu? Links, if available, could help.

Im about 6'0 - 6'1 - long slender build, and yeah I have much more trouble with Judo throws than wrestling takedowns.

From what I understand, most Ju Jitsu schools outside of the Brazilian style do not have tournaments (or they have wierd ones in which submissions count as points, etc etc). Judo is pretty good if you'd prefer competing alot- I like the way they allow the repcharge so that if you go to a tournament, you're guarenteed at least 2 matches.

I would say they're trying to kill you, and knocking you out just happens to be the end result

Yeah, when you get further involved in ground grappling, the ideas seem to be the same- When attacking, its good to take away available space and when defending its good to create space. Much easier said than done, but MMA in itself is a very hard test of ones skills.

It really depends on the Judoka- whatever throw is his speciality I would assume hes more likely to throw that one. For instance, I dont have a half bad uchimata, but my seo nage leaves a lot to be desired- someone else may be the exact opposite in terms of their throws. Also, in fights, Im more likely to rely on wrestling takedowns than Judo throws- its just a preference, and double underhooks is often very easy to get.

I agree with TJS on this one, but also take into account that usually defense is the first thing that starts to improve (i.e. you learn not to extend your arms in bad positions and protect your neck). Since it seems you're a standup fighter, just a little time (few weeks) in wrestling would make you much harder to take down (assuming you have no grappling background) and that itself would make you an even better striker.

I'll give my insight on BJJ, even though this is a very vague question. Very often a new person comes to class, knowing no jiu jitsu, and is paired up with a fellow white belt with a couple of months experience. Its very common to have someone with a few months experience positionally dominate the other inexperienced person. Aside from techniques, there are a few things that you can learn from training for just a few months: 1: a general idea/strategy to where you want to be in the fight- you learn the heirarchy of positions not long after joining your first class. The fact that you have a particular position to attempt to get (the mount for instance) gives you an advantage since you can focus all your power and energy to get there. To give an example of an inexperienced opponent would be someone who's mounted and flails his feet, attempts to push you off, and twist side to side. Hes trying to escape 3 different ways at the same time with only a general idea of what he wants. 2: chokes are very usefull, and I think even someone with a few weeks of training might know a basic choke or two. Rorion has said that in roughly six months, a jiu jitsu fighter would be able to take advantage of his techniques, but thats assuming they're fighting an opponent with roughly all things being equal.

This is absolutely true, but take into account at the first kodokan tournament, 13 out of the 15 matches were won decisively by the Judokas (with the other 2 matches being a draw). Also, recall that I stated that ALL the throws in Judo came from Japanese Ju Jitsu, so how would they have surprised their opponents? Well, aside from the fact that eye gouging from the bottom of a guard position is rather difficult (since your opponent isnt being controlled as effectively as say a mounted position) wouldnt it seem that the fact he can do this armbar without your suggested technique attest to how much easier it would be to do it if he could? For example, in no gi competition its very difficult to submit ones opponent from the mounted position, due to the lack of gi and possible choke holds available. Yet, a fighter who can submit his opponent in such a situation will be able to do the same easily when he adds the striking element to that position.

I think we should clarify a little more first. its very true that ANY style of Jiu Jitsu can have effective combat application. Its not so much the style or the instructor, but the methods in which these techniques are taught (which could revert back to how "good" the instructor is). Take this key example- Japanse Ju Jitsu was created for "combat" while Judo, derived from Japanese Ju Jitsu, was created for "sport." All the throws in Judo derive from Japanese Ju Jitsu (the same can be said about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) yet the Judokas destroyed their Japanese Ju Jitsu opponents in more tournaments than one. This was due primarily to their training methods rather than their techniques (since, technically, their opponents knew every technique that was executed against them). So when someone says they train Judo, BJJ, or JJJ, I think its more describing the way they train and practice their techniques, since these styles are so similar.

Well, no argument there- If you're a beginner at just about anything its going to be much more difficult than if you're experienced. Having one class that teaches you to to keep your hands up and tuck your chin is priceless, so I know where you're coming from.

You certainly will discover muscles you never knew you had (or never knew could hurt so much). As far as your signature, I believe it was Jean Jacque Machado who said that, not Royce

Well, the rules of Judo are what give you bad habits for groundwork, but they're bad habits for Jiu Jitsu, not Judo. People who say Judo has little groundwork are usually comparing it to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu/submission wrestling, which stands to reason beacuse BJJ is an extreme. I would also say, from my experience, that Judo does groundwork much more often than BJJ does standup. Every Judo I've attended does about 30 minutes groundwork, whereas one out of every 10 classes in BJJ does standup. Theres a good reason for it though- our gym has both, and the BJJ instructor who teaches night classes simply says if you want to learn takedowns, thats why theres Judo.