elbows_and_knees

Actually, that's not speed training. that is muscular endurance and plyometric training.

Bingo. As I stated earlier, it's not necessary for fighting. Consequently, most make the choice to drop the tradition. However, FWIW, every thai gym I have been to has bowed. Not all of them did the other stuff though. At my original school, we learned the wai kru and ram muay as well as the traditional techniques from previous muay.

My instructor knows of schools in the NC area. He doesn't know the instructors personally, but thinks he may know some people who do. He's gonna look into it and get back to me tomorrow.

I drive 30 mins to work, but only about 15 to the school.

in many cases the swelling doesn't become painful until several hours later, or possibly the next day.

Just a thought, during adrenaline rush people do not feel being shot or stabbed, but they are still bleeding out! What do you think of this? Adrenaline rush doesn't last very long. If they take something severe like a stab or a bullet, they will feel it during the fight, unless there was some serious nerve damage done. something lesser, like a cut, they may not feel.

sure it is, but a sign of respect is not one of religion... that would have nothing to do with why a person would or wouldn't bow.

liddel is also a division 1 wrestler who wrestled all his life and has been doing bjj for the past 7 years. this is why he is able to remain standing so well.

for one, lack of mobility. Unless you are transitioning from a throw or something, low stances are not the way to go in a fight.

it doesn't affect you then either, if you are used to it. I can do aerial techniques. I'm not as good at them anymore as I was in my kung fu days, but I can still pull them off.

I never said it was. I said he researched african styles. I was just adding that he trains bukti negara. However, there are many flavors of silat - indonesian, chinese, and yes, african. there is a silat system translated as "piper knife fighting" that combined silat with the stick and knife system if the zulus. It was created by malaysian slaves around the 1600s. EDIT: here's a link I found: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Knife_Fighting

religion has nothing to do with bowng - that is merely a sign of respect. But what is most kung fu based around? buddhism. And some of is is muslim. (cha quan and tai tzu, for example). The other arts you mentioned are the same way.

My school is the same way. Also, I hear that a lot of the better exponents in brazil are typically cross trained in judo as well.

daily.

lol, don't take it back. These forums are about discussion... you are entitled to feel however you wish and express that. We are entitled to do the same. In the end, everyone can learn something.

that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about mental as in willpower. To train so hard that you feel like you are about to puke, but you keep going. To step into a ring and compete. To be losing to a guy and perservere through it because you are determined to pull of the win. To keep going, even when your brain tells you that you are completely drained... mma is not dependent on muscle. it definitely helps - every advantage does. But at the end of the day, you need skill, especially with grappling.

that is not where the art comes in. The art is in the self expression. For example, There are three thai boxing coaches at our club - myself and two others. I have known one of them for 10 years, and we spent about 6 of those years training together under the same teachers in the same styles (muay thai, kali and JKD). We had the same teachers and learned the same way - we even have a similar body type - but if you watch us, we both fight completely different. You wouldn't think we trained at the same schools. Why is this so? Self expression - our interpretation of how the style works for us. That is the art in martial arts, IMO.

karate does use jamming. as for bridging, that is not, AFAIK - but it's not a necessity for fighting. There are several arts that neglect it.

If that were the case, then he had bad karate training in the first place, I would guess. I trained in a longfist style and currently train capoeira, along with muay thai. As you can imagine, from capoeira and longfist, I am used to high and flashy kicks. That has not made me "forget" what I am learning in thai boxing. In my last fight, I kicked my opponent in the head and stunned him pretty good. In sparring, I will use a high roundhouse and high hook kick, but these other styles really have not changed me at all, other than giving me more exposure to other styles.

It's way more mental than that. Out of curiosity, did you just train, or did you compete? as for the problems that are being fixed - what were they?

There is no traditional muay thai. you are referring to muay boran, which is a concoction of knowledge of the previous muay styles. muay thai has no kata - unless people try to count the ram muay and wai kru.

actually, western ways pose a case for NOT doing it at all. In the west, people are mainly christians and catholics. The wai kru is to pay respect to your teacher and to buddha. Naturally, if you are christian, you will not want to take part in that. Same thing with the other traditions - having the mongkon blessed by a monk, wearing the armband with an amulaet in it... These are all things based around a buddhist religion and are taboo to other religions. I would wager that it's more along the lines of necessity. While it is good to know the traditions, they are by no means necessary to fight.

...this... ...if you apply it to your argument. There is no conflict. We have separate classes for separate things. two other coaches and myself teach thai boxing. Two guys teach judo. Two guys teach bjj. It's all integrated into a separate mma class we also have. In that class, there is always both a bjj and thai instructor present. This I do not disagree with. But I think you should be proficient. And, even though I trained grappling and throwing in kung fu, I would not say I was proficient at them. I never said there was a monopoly. I'm saying that on average, IME anyway, the average tma school will not be as proficient in these different areas as a sport stylist will be. Not always true. Like I said, it's there, but is not emphasized. I know this from experience. and sparring - it's no secret that funakoshi did NOT want sparring in his art... he thought it would water it down. I agree, and that is why we are disagreeing. This is a different issue. for example, IMO stance training is great, but is not a necessity for fighting. Most will disagree. Conditioning should be incorporated into the training. These are all training issues, not necessarily issues regarding a skill set needed to be proficient in fighting, with the exception of weapons, but I see what you are getting at.

depends on the situation. People always assume there is broken glass on the ground and that the guy has 8 buddies with him. It's not always the case. matter of factly, this past saturday, one of my fellow bouncers (my second job) took a guy down and mounted him to control him. sometimes, going to the ground is actually the BEST option.

I did state the difference - focus. Another difference would be length of time to achieve proficiency.