elbows_and_knees

not really... chuck lidell trained kempo and also kickboxing. he fought kickboxing matches and held kickboxing titles. His kempo teacher trained him in a kickboxing fashion. Liddell was also a division 1 wrestler and has been grappling all of his life. The best example of a pure traditional style in competition is either hackney or onasis. one trained kempo, the other trained FMA and CMA. Actually, when I think about it, onasis trained judo and wrestling as well... delucia cross trained too. Any TMA who conpeted and faired well cross trained in something, at some point.

I have a pair with the shark energy drink logo on them: http://thaiconcept.com/muaythai/muaythai1.htm scroll down to the red and white pair at the bottom.

whoa... you are confusing two different styles. jujutsu is what kano studied. It is a japanese style of combat. kano trained three different jujutsu styles and combined aspects of them to create his judo. Fast forward- judo was shown to the gracies who wanted some sort of distinction from judo, as helio had modified his art to focus mainly on groundwork and submssion. Consequently, they named their style jiu jitsu - an improper romanization of 'jujutsu'.

muay thai is also a sport. the fact that it is a sport doesn't really discount it in any way.

All proper punches in ANY style do that. The JKD and WC punches utilize a vertical fist, which is a more anatomically correct formation. However, IME, their punches really aren't that powerful.

there is truth to that. From what I am told, the main core techniques are the real fighting aspect of capoeira. The other stuff builds strength and agility and looks good in a roda. That, however, is the stuff most people see in demos and such, for that very reason.

that's actually NOT an MMA thing. the gracies really didn't dominate the mma guys... they actually don't do all that well against mma. they did good in the early days when people were mainly TMA, or only trained in one sport style. As for strength, I addressed that earlier. Strength DOES overpower - that is it's nature. But, as skill levels separate, strength becomes less important. In other words, it should be easier for a skilled person to be a lesser skilled person who has more strength. On the other hand, if the person is the same skill level (or close to it) AND they are stronger, you will have a run for your money.

dude... go to a gym and interview a bodybuilder. They are NOT fitness freaks. They are IRON freaks. They like to lift. that's it. Cardio work is counter productive to them getting bigger, so they do little to no cardio. The ONLY reason they do any cardio at all is to cut weight in the on-season. They would gas very quickly. there is an old bodybuilding saying: "if you can run, you may as well walk. If you can walk, you may as well sit. If you can sit - you may as well lay down and go to sleep." I agree with you to an extent on belts though. In most styles, a belt doesn't mean much. However, in capoeira and bjj, you MUST earn them. I have all the respect in the world for high ranks in those styles.

some say muay thai. Some say school names and various other things.

indeed. thai boxing is the national sport of thailand. That is what you're most likely to find. any other thai style - krabi krabong, lerd rit, muay boran, will be harder to find because it's not really in demand. At the core of it all, the techniques are still the same though...

actually, ANYONE in a high adrenaline situation will gas in 1 - 2 minutes. This is why it's imperative to have good cardio and / or the ability to end a fight quickly. Adrenaline gives you a quick rush, but once the rush is done, you are sapped.

kind of. The abs and calves are endurance muscles. They can be worked for higher reps with no problem.

excess amounts of pushups will not build strength. It builds endurance. This of course is not a bad thing, but don't get it confused.

extra stress on the knee does not strengthen it... if we were talking muscles, maybe, but we are discussing something else. stress on ligaments and tendons hurts them. you may not necessarily feel it, but that doesn't mean you aren't over-stressing it.

not really. you have to be seriously huge for that to happen. The size / flexibility thing is a myth.

I would argue that in an all out fight, strength is never a liability. When fighting, you want to use every advantage that you have. I see your point about levraging, but in ring sports, what causes the most KOs? a hook to the jaw. Where do most untrained fighters strike? straight at the jaw. exploiting joints isn't necessary to win a fight, nor are strikes to vital areas. strikes to common sense areas like the jaw, nose and stomach can still end a person. Now, if you are doing push hands or grappling or something, that's a different story. 1. a person would have to be HUGE for those things to happen. strength training and body building are not the same thing. tyson is a good example - at 215-225, he was a monster. Do you think he was too slow to hit anyone? 2. strength only interferes with learning until you have learned how to turn it off. And even then, it only applies to some styles.

bingo.

nah, that's not the same pot. TKD got it's current rep from a lot of things... the cammo belt that ATA uses, the flash seen in forms, the large number of McSchools, etc. I don't think capoeira has had a large problem with McSchooling yet. I can see it happening in the future though if we don't get enough good guys to step up and teach.

actually, bjj does as well. At my school and most others, in addition to bjj, you are also cross training judo and submission wrestling. BJJ today utilizes a lot of wrestling takedowns, many of which are easier to pull off for most people than judo throws are (I am a 3rd brown in judo and I still think this is true). Judo at most schools focuses mainly on standup, although there are some clubs that do a lot of groundwork. IME though, you actually get a more well rounded curriculum from bjj.

They would if you let them. The reason you don't see a lot of groundwork is because of the rules. The ref will stand you back up after about 10 seconds on the ground if no visible progress toward a pin or submission is being made.

nah, they have an empty hand curriculum that goes with it. supposedly, there are over 100 techniques from old muay that are used in krabi krabong. Of those, like 30 are used in modern muay thai. This includes throwing and pressure points. However, there are thai schools today that will show you the throws which are legal in the ring.

not really. if you watch him, he really only punches. I've only seen a couple of his fights, but I don't think I've ever seen him throw a kick. He has knowledge of other styles, but heck, these days who doesn't? I would guess he trains boxing and bjj. If you look at the mma scene today, many successes are a mix of boxing and wrestling. When was the last time a karateka won in one of these events? nah, it's not like that. if they are mma guys, trust me, they won't claim kung fu. Now, what has happened in the past, was TMA gave a fighter an honorary blackbelt in order to claim he trained in their traditional style. The guy took the offer just because they were paying completely for his fights and he was given a blackbelt. In reality, he trained there for less than three months, if I recall correctly. The kung fu guys are really kung fu guys. They may have trained other things - like jason delucia for example - but he is still CMA trained. Heck, I've trained CMA, but I will never claim it for a fight.

they don't really "take" from anything. and actually, wrestling and boxing aren't tma. bjj and thai boxing are considered by you traditional guys to be "sport" and "modern". In addition, there are only so many ways to hurt someone. whether the style is old or new, there is bound to be crossover there. the main difference is in the training methods, not the techniques.

as a student of muay thai and judo who trains and spars with some hardcore capoeira guys, I can tell you that it's not just dancing. Anyone who thinks so either trained with the wrong guys or hasn't trained it at all.

we make contact when we do sweeps and takedowns. Also, there is contact that happens if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. I caught one of my training buddies with a roundhouse and put him out for the rest of class.