ps1

It forces you to contract your muscles while still breathing. It's a very important thing to know for just about every martial art. In Karate, you may be getting hit as you counter. If you stop breathing or get the wind knocked out of you, your counter will be ineffective. In Jiujitsu it's not uncommon to have the opponent put alot of weight on you. If you can't take the uncomfortable feeling, you will not be able to react correctly.

I disagree. For it to be a "new" system. It should contain elements that no one else does. This simply eliminates the elements that are believed unnecessary. That's not new. The school teaches Thai Boxing and Jiujitsu. He can call it whatever he wants, but both styles have a long history and have been combined in tandem by many fighters.

Pain can be caused by several things. If the pain is caused by muscle fatigue, then it will go away in a day or so. Warming it up gradually and stretching well is the best rememdy for this. If the pain is caused by an injury such as ligament, tendon or mucle tear, then you will need to rest the joint for a while. The doctor may even put you in a sling. If the pain is caused by tendonitis, rest and antiinflammatories are the key. If the pain persists more than a few days or returns during practice again, you should definitely see a doctor. Otherwise follow the first advice.

Yup, exactly as suspected. It's Thai Boxing and BJJ. This is neither new or original.

Good point about the gi. That's probably my biggest pet peeve.

I'm sure you will. Let us know what it is when you know. Thanks.

I prefer to utilize Bushido's style of kick for offensive use. That is, to attack the sides of the head, flanks, & ribs. However, I utilize youngman's version when defending. Meaning the following: I time the opponent's lunging techniques, give a slight side step and deliver the kick to the back of the opponent's head.

They are allowed to utilize any stance they desire. However, most choose to use a boxing style stance. This is because it allows for an excellent balance between protection of vital areas and good mobility. I'm not saying it's any better or worse than other stances, just that these are the reasons most MMA fighters utilize it. It is important, however, to remember that stances are not stagnant. That is, you don't adopt any particular stance and fight with it only. That was/is not why we learn them. Quite the opposite, in fact. We practice stances in order to learn how to move through a variety of positions that occur during combat. If you watch more carefully, you'll see that most fighters move through many stances. Cat-type stances when kicking, front stances when moving forward, back stances upon retreat. Even panther and tiger stances occur in the ground positions. They may not train the stances the way a traditional martial artist does, but that doesn't mean that they do not use them. Hope that's helpful.

Sounds like a wonderful event. Glad to hear all the promotions were successful. Congrats on your promotion.

I enjoy running kata completely backward. Beginning in the final position and running every movement in reverse until you arrive at the beginning.

As those are two different languages stuck together, it's just Thai boxing combined with Jiujitsu. That's not original or a seperate style of its own. It's MMA. Which, by definition, is the Mixture of various martial arts.

I totally understand!

One other point I just thought of is precedent set by your school. If other members of your school do not tend to wear this type of thing, it's a good idea to follow suit. In the end...your decision though.

More than what you wear, is how you wear it. I wear shirts with the academy logo and such. They are good advertising for the school and I like the look of them. Is there a little pride in that? Probably, yes. However, I get annoyed by the "tap or snap" style shirts, and the shirts that say things like "Black Belt" club. I think they are just obnoxious. Do I believe that apparel alone will get you into a fight? No. Your attitude has to be poor as well. For example: I have a gracie jiujitsu shirt that has a picture of a guy wearing mma gloves throwing a punch (this one is borderline for me, but comfortable, so I wear it). One day a guy came up to me with a little attitude and asked me if I'm, "some sort of tough guy." When I simply said no and explained the shirt, we began to converse and now the guy trains at the school. A different person may have said yes, and the situation could have been very different. Hope that helps.

12 points in Taikyoku Shodan? There are 20 I believe. Simplified, they are: block, punch, block, punch, block, punch, punch, punch, block, punch, block, punch, block, punch, punch, punch, block, punch, block, punch. Unless you count elements that are combined in rhythm, there are twenty movements, not counting return to yoi and bowing.

sounds like a real killer workout

This is one of the things that include two categories: 1. Technique- Be sure you are following the proper technique your instructor describes and teaches. 2. Despite what many people say, muscular fitness matters! Be sure to work the muscles of your core and legs. This will help your ability to drive in the way you describe. * As a side note: you should not go overboard with the strength training. Too much can make you stiff, which would be counter productive. This is them mistake many people make with their training. Also, the amount of time you've been practicing the technique will play a great part. Several things in the martial arts take lots of practice and often just suddenly come to you after messing it up for a long time. Keep training! Welcome to the forums.

This is an excellent anthropological observation! I would agree that most people will attempt to emulate what they see used most often in any given situation. Assuming, of course, that the particular action seemed to be effective. With the recent popularity of MMA, it's not surprising that many people are attempting to utilize its techniques.

Good post MMA Jim, You bring up some great points. As a veteran of Iraqi Freedom, I completely agree with what you say about military h2h combat. It's not focused upon. It's the very last layer of defense.

Honestly, I wouldn't even put it at an experienced white belt. I think that, in some cases, a JJJ black belt already has good hip movement and knowledge of some biomechanics. They learn it a little faster in the beginning. Also, I didn't realize wrist locks are legal in MMA events. Which ones? I can't think of a case where they would be very helpful in those events anyway. You see wrist locks more in professional gi grappling. They are more useful in defending against grips and are very difficult to actually submit someone with. This is because it's hard to have a wrist locked while the rest of the person's body is under total control. You usually just remove the grip and the person shifts and you lose the lock. That's my experience with them in BJJ.

Ok guys. Here is a great technique. It's technical and will take some practice. The important thing is learning to keep your weight on the opponent. However, once yo can do that, this armbar is a great option. It's able to be done both gi and no-gi. Here, it's demonstrated by my instructor, Tony Rinaldi. He has been training BJJ for 13 years and also has black belts in Aiki Jujitsu and Shotokan. He wears a purple belt because we've only been associated with Pedro Sauer for 4.5 years. Trust me when I tell you he is much more skilled than that. Here's the armbar.

I have not heard anyone, from ATA HQ to other ATA school owners, state that we are now required to offer the XMA curriculum. Matt Thanks for the info, Matt. The guy who asked me to teach the seminar does not own the franchise. Perhaps it's his boss that is requiring it. I'm not familiar with the ATA. Either way, I have decided to do the seminar. I'm bringing an old friend of mine in on it as well. I have decided that I owe it to the students to teach them what I know. If someone had not done if for me, I would not be where I am today. My current outlook on what is relevant in martial arts is the culmination of years of experience. If I had not experienced those things in the past, I may still be trying to learn them today. Thanks for the input everyone.

Nice! Thanks for the other advice as well!

When I started training BJJ, I already had a 2nd Dan in JJJ. I had placed 2nd in the United States Jujitsu Federation (https://www.usjjf.org NOT .com) nationals. The systems are not even comparable. BJJ is far more compatible with MMA in general. The ground system is a million times more technical. BJJ blue belts were slaughtering me on the ground!! Since that day I have not worn my black belt in a Jiujitsu class again. In the context of MMA...JJJ is a far weaker style to utilize, sorry to say. Many stylists are, however, doing their best to begin learning and incorporating BJJ tactics. You just won't know for sure until you check it out though. I should mention that this is not because JJJ is flawed. However, much of it is based in steep tradition. Learning to use and defend against swords, bo, and other various weapons, lots of ettiquite training, wrist manipulations are huge (illegal in MMA), vital point strikes (also not allowed). Not to mention that there are Kata and Randori (free rolling) does not play as big a factor in training. The list goes on. It simply does not translate well into the sporting arena without changing it completely.

Agreed! There's plenty of room for improvement!