UseoForce

Promoted quickly? In BJJ? LoL. I wish! But thanks.

Easier said than done...

As in my previous post, I like push-ups, but they are not a replacement for bench press, dumbell press, etc... If you only ever do one excersise (at the same weight, as with pushups) your body will become accustomed to the excersise. I know that there are many push-up variants, but I still wouldn't restrict myself to JUST push-ups.

MMA events are not real situations. A street fight and being attacked by a complete stranger with a knife who wants rob you is another. A gang member picking a fight with you in front of his buddies means you are going to get jumped and no amount of MMA training is going to do a damn thing to get you out of that. The problem with MMA competitive training is that it works great against another person who wants to pridefully prove themselves, it trains you for a particular scenario. Real life is unpredictable and more than likely when a weapon is involved the BJJ and Muy Thai are not styles that prepare you to deal with any kind of weapon. Especially when the person with the weapon really knows how to use it. I've fought in the street and I was lucky nobody pulled a weapon on me or I'd probably be dead by now. I do agree with your Karate chop statement by the way. Why doesn't anyone use that strike in UFC or Pride or whatever? There are so many ways to hurt someone and so many styles of MA's that do in fact work great for the street. Any MA that teaches you do deal with all levels fighting, stand-up grappling, striking, groundfighting, evasion and escape techniques, weapons and disarms is far more realistic than stepping into the ring. Confidence goes a long way for anything we do, but pride will get you killed. A chopping style strike to the neck is not allowed in the UFC. Also, you can't really say the UFC does not simulate a street fight and then go on to question the street effectiveness of a technique because you don't see it in the UFC. MMA events are not street fights, but MMA training has MANY important principles that MUST be incorporated into self-defense training. Again, I beg everyone at this forum to read "Mastering Jujitsu" by Renzo Gracie for an in depth discussion on this very topic.

I have a hard time sparring (grappling or stand-up) with anyone significantly smaller than me. Its hard to judge how much force and effort you should use, and the smaller person often fights either scared, or like he or she has something to prove. It's tough.

I'm a good grappler, and have more experience than my BJJ white belt shows because I grapple in Combat Hapkido and my BJJ training, until a few months ago, has been too sporadic to warrant promotion. The other night, the guy who definetly DID NOT check his ego at the door was working with me. Seeing my white belt, with about the same amount of wear as his, he thought he HAD to beat me. During a time when we were supposed to be rolling lightly, working on positional control, he was going hard, breathing heavily, changing color, spasming this way and that, and desparately trying to secure a submission. His technique was awful, but he thought he was pretty good. A few months ago, I would have given it all back and then some. Looking back, I realize I once had "I gotta win" syndrome. But now, as he held me in his guard, I just maintained perfect posture with my hands on his belt, elbows tucked weight sunk down. I was calm, and a breathing no harder than I am now. I made a few light hearted attempts to pass his guard, but here my 30% intensity could not top his 110%. It was really cool that I was able to best him using almost no strength and really good technique. Plus, I worked within the agreed upon rules. I dunno what I expect for replys, but I just wanted to share this.

What do you mean?

If you're going to cross train, why wouldn't you study a grappling art?

I like Gerber knives too, but I'm resolved that from now on I'll only buy knives that are made in the USA, if I can help it. Theres so many good folders out there, go to a sporting goods or hunting store and take your time picking out one you like.

I do them on days when I do "push" workouts. Don't do them everyday. Your muscles need to recover whenever you do a rigorous strength workout. Sure, you can still progress if you do them every day, but that is more about your body getting used to the excersise than it is about building muscle. I strength train about 5 days a week: Two push days, two pull days, and a leg day (my legs take a long time to recover). On one of my push days, I do 2 sets of 10 reps between every other excersise I do. So, by the end of the workout, I end up doing 100-140 push-ups plus many sets of bench press, dumbell bench, etc. On the other day, I start by doing 1 set of push-ups to fatigue (thats usually around 65 for me). Then I follow that with the rest of my workout. Am I a fitness expert? No. But that's my 2 cents, for what its worth.

After reading it, I can certainly say it helped to answer mine!

I decided to resurrect this thread since there's probably been some people watching the more recent one I started. This might answer some questions.

No, I'm not saying that at all. I was more referring to, say, a boxer: Basically 4 punches, but they are still great fighters. BJJ kinda has the same thing going for it.

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I'd just like to add that a smaller set of techniques with a defined strategy has often proven much more effective than having hundreds of techniques but no overall strategy.

true

What is "original karate?"

Who is Elian Gracie? Do you mean Helio?

BJJ's history and developement is much different than JJJ's, certainly.

April Fools...? LoL

I really need to loosen up my hips. It's hard to hold a knees-in-tight side control while maitaining my weight on my opponent with tight hips like I have. The problem is compounded by the fact that I have long legs, so when I draw them up, my weight tends to move off my opponent. How can I loosen my hips up? What are some good hip stretches?

Most striking arts, when put into a near reality environment, end up looking like kickboxing or losing horribly.

Ki master, that's like saying "punching is stupid because you might hit a hard target and hurt your hand." Obviously, if you hit your opponent with any weapon in a hard area, it will hurt you, too.

Why does it matter where I am? My partner hit me with it in the dojang. It has a stange stunning effect. It wasn't even a hard shot. Will it work against eveyone? Probably not. But it worked on me! It would probably have a similar effect whether I was in the dojang or jumped as I stepped out of the door. I do know people who have used this strike (with the forearm instead of the hand {I like the forarm, too} with great success.

How do you feel about it?