DJmma

Well...it's up to you. and yes there are wrist locks...and many other "locks". but with a no gi class, you wont really gain rank, since there are no belts. but i prefer the no gi class personaly. but i go to both. and in our bjj class, we dont learn any striking. atleast i havnt yet. thats why i take muay thai with it.

id swim first, or maybe do them at the same time...i swim alot. but i started swimming before i lifted. i dont really know which is better, but swimming is a great cardio workout, so dont put that on hold just to work out. either swim, and work out, or swim. thats what id say.

in our no gi BJJ classes, we do not use the person's shirt. we do some basic throws...but nothing grabing the shirt.

well...i started MMA just a couple weeks ago. I love it. I'm 16, and used to do TKD and hapkido for about 3 years. we did forms, and although i had some fun doing them, i couldnt help but think they weren't very useful, and got tired of it. i started up MMA, and like it much more. since im naturaly athletic, i picked it up very quickly and im having fun. I found that in TKD and hapkido, it took a while to become perficient at it. so, i guess i learned what I like best. not that i didnt have fun in the other MA's, but MMA seems to suit me more, since i am a fan of UFC and want a more realistic style. But whatever MA you choose, if you work hard at it, you should be proud of what you accomplished, even if you think you missed out on MMA. 39 is not too late to start a new one either...and you've been doing martial arts for 17 years. no matter what it is, whats important is that you enjoy it and are dedicated.

i take BJJ and muay thai. I come home exhausted, and soaking wet. especialy from muay thai, that is an intense work out. also, after my second day of bjj, i have alot of soars on my feat from the the mat burn, it scrapes your feet. and i get sore too. so...my classes are very physically demanding. i know you meant the question for instructors, but i thoguht i'd share anyway.

no matter where you live, you are not forced to attack anyone, or take revenge. so dont use your location as an excuse. knowing right from wrong, is something people have different views on i guess. but dont be close minded. if you are dead set on getting revenge, then do it. dont let us stop you. no one here is gonna plead for you to not do it. you like to street fight, so maybe there's nothing we can say to change your mind. ya know, sometimes people have to learn the hard way.

yes, if you train for long distance races(500 m) then you are building mostly endurance. however, by training for sprints(50 m), which is what i mostly do, you train more for explosive power and strength. but in practices we do both long distance and short distance. and i must say, swimming practices are brutal. we do tons of dry land work for abs with medicine balls, and we do alot of pushups, and pullups etc. there is deffinatly a difference between just going to a local pool and swimming casualy, and swimming hard, and pushing your limits. I also play water polo, which if anything, is harder than swimming. it involves a ton of sprinting back and forth, and treding water for the entire time, since you cannot stand, since they are all deep pools. anyway, swimming can deffinatly offer gains in strength and endurance.

there is nothing to be ashamed of, by walking away from a fight. if anything it shows more about your character. anyone can get into a fight. but doing the right thing is most important. you fought 2 people at once. and you still won. dont let anyone bring you down. you know you won, and so do those 2 kids. so really, unless they try to hit you and fight you again. why look for another fight? you have nothing to prove. just pride yourself in knowing you did the right thing.

depends on the goal - if you are after continued strength and mass, weights are the only way to go. for muscle endurance, no, you don't need to touch a weight. Bodyweight exercises and MA are sufficient. Only way to go? I'm sorry, but that's not an accurate statement. Actually, I swam competitively all through high school and college and managed to develop some good muscle mass and strength without hitting the weights much during the season. I had a 44-45 inch chest and benched 300 with regular swim workouts and pushups. Take a good look at a experienced swimmer's physique sometimes and you'll see what I mean. I'm not referring to a plodding lap swimmer, but rather someone who does interval sets using varying intensities of work. I have competed in powerlifting, bodybuilding, and swimming and have experienced respectable muscle and strength gains with each. Obviously weights are the most efficient solution, but it is a fact that a proper swim workout can certainly build strength and muscle size while developing muscle endurance as well. Respectfully, Sohan two of my thai students are on the swim team. they are strong... but not as strong as the weight trainers we have. the fact that you competed in body building and powerlifting tells me that that's most likely where the 300lb bench came from - that and you said that you didn't lift much during swim season. I'm guessing you maintained with swimming and pushups. However, when I said "only way to go" that was alluding to the best way to go - perhaps I should've just said "best way to go". swimming cannot offer continued increasing resistance - the muscle development MUST stop at some point lesser than it would with weights, which do offer progressive resistance. true. but people generally dont swim to get real strong. they swim to increase their endurance, and it is a good cardio workout. I am on the swim team at school. I did not join to get strong. however i have gotten stronger, because i weight train as well. swimming will not make you a power lifter, however you will get stronger. From swimming alone, my back muscles, lats and triceps got stronger. and i gained alot of endurance. it has been rewarding. But i agree, weight training is much better than swimming for gaining strength, as you cannot increase resistance in swimming. Personaly, i find doing swimming and weight training together to be the most rewarding.

There is. But you can strength train and still gain mass, which obviously makes you look better. The isolation exercises they do are not as conducive to MA training as compound. From an efficiency standpoint, isolation exercises are inferior, for our purposes. yea that is true. when you train for strength, you will gain mass as well. and "your purpouses" are martial arts i assume. and as you said earlier, compound is best for martial arts. however, if he wants to look bigger and better, size lifting IS what he should do. I did not say you cant gain size with strngth training, however you will not get as defined or as big as you will with isolation. and visa versa, if you train for size, you will not get as strong as if you train for strength. I agree though, size does not matter in martial arts, strength is more important. therefor, just because someone is "big" doesnt mean they are strong. So, for his needs, i'd say isolation and size training is for him, to get that look.

But he said he wanted to look good. That would be body-builder type goals. 3 sets of 8-12 is usual for hypertrophy (building muscles). Rest 60-90 seconds between sets. You should be just able to get the last rep of the last set done. Eww, I don't want to look like those body builders, just in good shape. Thanks for all your help guys. well you wont. its not easy to get the way they do. But doing the kind of exercises they do will make you look better. there is a difference between training for size and training for strength.

well, if you stay confident that you won, then why worry? If you know you won, then have the confidence to say so, without any doubt. who cares if they say they won. anyone can say things. im sure if you show your confidence, people wont doubt you. and who cares what people think. it was 2 on 1.

ebff, i agree. Im on the swimming and water polo team at school, and it is a great work out! now im not recommending swimming competitivly, it is more than a good work out then. my coach swims us to complete exsaustion almost every day. Ive had some bad experiences with swimming, throwing up etc...but swimming is great for getting/staying in shape. I swim 3 hours a day atleast. joining the swim team was one of the best things ive ever done. it whipped me into shape. so yes, anyone who wants a good workout, swim. its rewarding.

too bad you couldnt continue, since you've put 5 years into it, but it's good that you're doing something that better suits you. im sure you're karate instructor will understand as well. good luck in boxing.

yea you have a point...but maybe he meant to say its origin in judo, not that it IS judo. it is obviously not judo since they are two different martial arts. So, jiu-jitsu started in india, more than 2,000 years before christ, i know that. And it spread through china, eventualy settled in japan. JJJ was formed. then, Japanese jiu-jitsu champions Esai Maeda and Inomata arrived in Brazil to help establish a Japanese immigration colony. He was aided by Gastao Gracie. To show his thanks, the master taught the basic secrets of that ancient fighting style to Gastao's son, Carlos Gracie. Carlos taught Maeda's techniques to his brothers: Oswaldo, Gastao, Jorge and Helio. So, is this basicly how BJJ was formed? or am i confusing gracie jiu-jitsu with BJJ. arent they the saem thing though.