UseoForce

I've been taught (and I do) push-ups every other day because your muscles need time to recover if they are to build, right?

Can anyone sugest on online source for more info?

I've had some good weight loss in the past six months. I'm about 5'11, and I went from 185 to 158- Almost 30lbs! Anyway, that weight loss has left me with some annoying extra skin. Will it go away with time? How long will it take? Thanks.

Yeah, I like the Shooto gloves, but they are pricey. I only use MMA gloves a few times a month, so its not really worth it to me to shell out the big dough, y'know?

It will certainly help, but would help TREMENDOUSLY if you practiced the more medieval, less rule constricted boxing.

When you say Jiu-jitsu, do you mean Brazilian or Japanese. It makes a difference.

At my school, several arts are taught. We have a Tang Soo Do blackbelt and a TKD blackbelt in my Combat HApkido class. My instructor encourages them to wear their black belts during class, and they line up at the head of the line when we bow in and out. However, Combat Hapkido is completely different than TKD or TSD. So, they still earn separate combat hapkido rank even though they wear their blackbelts all of the time. They have to progress through Combat Hapkido as a separate art. I think its good to wear your highest belt. For many reasons, but how about this one: For my last test I had to do some kickboxing. I was testing for purple, and I was set against a yellow belt. I thought I would take it easy and slow, but turns out the "white belt" was ranked in several other arts! He was a handful.

oh, I think glockmeister practices Haganah, ask him.

I haven't practiced either, but I have researched both Haganah and Defendo. Both, IMO, are good. Problem is to purchases DVDs is going to cost you an arm and a leg.

I don't think Royce has an edge in experience. His early UFC fights were against unsuspecting fighters that knew little of submissions or submission grappling. I credit Royce's wins here more to the element of surprise than with exceptional technique. Then they had the freakshow thing with Akebono, which, while cool to see one guy destroy another guy half his size, doesn't speak all that much about Royce's skills. It's well documented if you throw a Sumo wrestler in the ring with a good kickboxer or submission fighter the sumo wrestler's toast. His other fights, well, he lost one to Sakuraba, who's a great fighter but not (IMO) that exceptional. The other was a draw which I here he mostly controlled. Hughes has fought tons of big-name UFC guys, and I believe, has more total fights under his belt.

Cleung, that's entirely up to debate, and I personally want to see a ground fight. BTW, the debate between traditional arts and MMA isn't so much about stand-up versus ground (stand-up arts like kickboxing and Muay Thai are certainly present in MMA, and grappling arts like JJJ and Chin-nar are not), but about theory vs. fact. MMA fighters know that their techniques and strategies have a certain degree of effectiveness. They trade foul tactics (eye gouge, groin strike, throat strike etc.) for tried and true methods. TMAs rely of theory of technical use. They cannot train all-out because of a heavy emphasis on foul tactics, which are hard to train safely. There is less certainty in their application of a technique. However, their techniques are more deadly, and a sure hit is likely to be debilitatiing. It's a trade-off. I side about 80% with the MMA guys, but this post is already really long so I won't go into detail.

To The Mods: With all due respect, I posted this thread in the grappling forum because a lot of MMA guys hang out there. Fewer browse the equipment forum. I was looking for their input. Would you mind moving this back? Thanks.

do you live in a big city? If so, you have plenty of other options for schools. Go elsewhere.

I'm looking for some new MMA gloves. When I first started, I bought Century vinyl gloves because they were cheap and I didn't know I had better options. So now I'm looking for some quality MMA gloves for general training use. Here's my criteria: -Plenty of padding -Priced under $50 -Good quality What are your recommendations?

I detest Hughes' attitude. He gives MMA a bad name. I hope Royce destroys him, but, unfortunately, Hughes is prolly going to DESTROY Royce. Hughes is so POWERFUL, and hard to control.

Thanks, I'll think about this

Final note: I've had a little expirience with SEAL fighting techniques and they're good, but not magic.

Another note: So called "special forces fighting techniques" often paint an unrealistically fragile picture of human anatomy. It's REALLY HARD to snap a guy's arm or "crush his trachea." Grapplers and MMA fighters know this better than anyone. I've really CRANKED on some guy's necks before, and guess what? They don't just go -POP- like in the movies. I'm sure any BJJ'ers or sub grapplers here can back me up on that.

SEALs and MMA guys train for different opponents and situations. In a face to face, unarmed altercation, a high level MMA fighter would proabably beat the tar out of a SEAL. A SEAL would much rather dispose of a threat with an MP5 or USP, or even a knife, than his bare hands. SEALs have very little time to train in unarmed skills, and why would they waste (yes, waste) their time training hand to hand techniques when: 1. Most of their opponents will not be exceptionally skilled unarmed fighters, so there is no sense training to beat a UFC caliber fighter. 2. They carry guns! And knives! And grenades, flashbangs, and mines! Why even mess around punching if you can fill the guy with lead? 3. SEALs would rather eliminate a threat before a threat detects him. In summary, a face to face, unarmed altercation is the LAST place a SEAL wants to be, but the place an MMA fighter loves to be! MMA fighters put countless hours into training for this scenario, while SEALs put countless hours into training to shoot things, blow stuff up, and learning to speak foriegn languages (seriously). If a SEAL meets an MMA fighter on the SEAL's terms, the MMA fighter will lose, and vice versa.

I have two pairs of SPRAWL shorts, love both.

Great post, thanks for standing up for the armed citizen. Sometimes MA training makes people arrogant to the fact throughout the history or the world, in all cultures, unarmed combat is a LAST RESORT for when you caught without a weapons, not the primary way you plan to engage the enemy. One more thing: It's not the height of wisdom to say "I carry my wits" or "I can fight with my mind." Obviously, your thinking should prevent and/or allow you to escape a dangerous situation. For those you haven't read it on other pages of this thread or on other threads, THERE, it has been said. Over and over and over again... Seriously, just because your post goes deeper than the intended scope of the thread doesn't mean you pposess uncanny wisdom or something.

Actually, I think it is borderline irresponsible to apply a technique without understanding the extent of the damage it could do.

Thanks for the reply. I'm intrigued by the kettlebells. What advantages to think they have over freeweights? What have your results been? Also, doesn't the Atkins diet put you at a loss for energy? Four days a week, I'm at Combat Hapkido or BJJ class. On off nights, I do a fast mile (5:50 or so) followed by weights and sometimes some time on the bike. I do a lot of activity, I need energy to burn. I'd appreciate another reply, thanks.

Any supplements I should be taking? All I take now is a multivitamin and protein.

My first tournament is coming up Feb. 19. I currently weigh 160 and will be fighting in a max. 164 weight class. I'd like to get down at least a pound (Just in case the tournament's scales are skewed or something), but I want to continue improving my strength. I've only been strenghth training for 2 years, and only seriously for about a year, so I'm still at the point where I can feel improvement from just a few days (and I feel decline after just a couple days of not using a particular muscle group). Can anybody give me training, nutrition, or just general tournament advice? Thanks.