Pain for Pleasure?

[Breaker]

Everyone has their own hobbies, like posting on a forum. The shit they do just to relax, or to get them through the day at work. Personally I like playing guitar and singing, writing inconsequential stories, and going to padded chambers where people who know how try to break me in half. Hi, my name is Alex, and I'm a martial artist.

I was just wondering if anyone else on here practices or practised any combat sports or martial arts. What do you like about them and why did you pick them? Is it the one you always wanted to do, or just the only one taught in your area?

Technically I have an orange belt in karate and jiu-jitsu, although I got that five or six years ago when I was in high school, and haven't trained specifically in those arts since. At around the same time I had some private lessons in wushu and practical self defence. I guess you could say I'm an uncertified white belt in brazilian jiu jitsu, but since I've never rolled in a gi and that variation of grappling is completely gi-oriented, I'm more like an experienced novice at traditional catch wrestling, or as it is commonly called nowadays, combat submission grappling. It never ceases to amaze me how many different ways one human body can be used to break, choke, or otherwise destroy another. It also provides a phenomenal workout - I'd equate fifteen minutes of grappling against an opponent of equal size and skill to swimming laps at a moderate pace for an hour, as far as fitness goes, and I used to be a competitive swimmer.

Basically this is just a thread for MA chatter. Share a story about your experiences or ask questions. If I can't provide an answer, I can most likely refer you to an appropriate resource.

EDIT: click here (http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Burns/lessons/lesson01.htm) for a hilarious but informational look at old-timey catch wrestling.

[The Soulforged]

It never ceases to amaze me how many different ways one human body can be used to break, choke, or otherwise destroy another.

Ah, the life of man! T'is the light of a candle; one way to bring into existence, a thousand ways to snuff out.

I took some martial arts when I was younger. Made it to a purple belt, I believe. Good times.

[Breaker]

Ah, the life of man! T'is the light of a candle; one way to bring into existence, a thousand ways to snuff out.

I took some martial arts when I was younger. Made it to a purple belt, I believe. Good times.

Haha which martial art? Let's hear a story.

[The Soulforged]

Let's see. The style was, I believe, Karate, though the instructer said he mixed in some Hapkido as well. As for a story, I believe I can oblige.

My favorite, indeed most memorable, "lesson" was taught to me during a tournament. I competed in a couple, and never faired too poorly. Still, what I recall the most (outside of the man breaking a brick with his forehead), was the one fight.

It was one (I'm certain there was more than one event) of the championship fights (as championship as it can be for ten to twelve year olds, in any case). My opponent was good. Real good. If recall correctly, we even went to the same dojo. In any case, his strategy was simple. As soon as the match started, unleash a flurry of attacks.

Do not mistake his style for a mindless onslaught, that would be a discredit to the man. Taking the offense is a sound strategy in many things, and your opponent instantly begining the attack was a wonderful idea. It was an overwhelming sight to see, this young boy, attacking you fiercely. I think most of his opponents, myself included, did nothing but defend, until a point was scored.

To score was simple. Land a blow between your opponent's chest to stomach area. First to three wins.

First point, I had no chance. Second, I still did nothing but defend, and eventually the boy would find a way through my defense. It was simply inevitable.

In any case, the chips are down, and I'm one point away from losing. I know enough to know when what I'm doing isn't working, and on the third match, I too forsake defence. The second the match starts, I choose to start on the attack as well.

It caught him off guard; I gain a point.

Next match, I figure if it worked once, why not try again? I score another point. It occurs to me that, though his offense was wonderful, his defence was lacking.

Final round, I take what I learn, and use it. I credit that he was somewhat surprised to find someone attacking before even he did, and the match ends with my victory.

To this day, I firmly believe that a cool mind will prevail over a fiery passion. At least, most of the time.

There. I believe I have paid the price of posting in your thread. Now, I believe it is your turn to share a tale. I await with baited breath, and possibly a glass of scotch.

[Kurai]

I only got as far as a yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do. My teacher mixed in a little judo, but I wished it was more the focal point.

I was more or less forced to do it by my parents along with my siblings. They wanted to get us away from the videogames. I suppose learning to defend your nerd honor in combat was the best way to go.

[Breaker]

Hmm... well, I've never been to any jiu jitsu competitions, but I did get to roll with Travis "The Gladiator" Gailbraith while he was 205 pound champion in King of the Cage.

I was living in Prince George BC at the time and around a very busy work/social schedule finally managed to get to the local MMA gym with my friend Dave one night. It was a massive space, lots of open mats and an entire room full of different punching bags, and a regulation boxing ring crammed in the corner. We showed up towards the end of their class (the bus took longer than we thought) and found there were only like 5 guys there that night due to some illness most of them had come down with. The great thing about that is that I actually got to chat with Travis a bit (otherwise I'm sure he'd have been too busy teaching) and after discussing my previous training, he determined I was skilled enough to roll with one of his white belts.

The kid was probably a couple years younger than me, same height, maybe a couple pounds heavier. He had three months training, just like me, but his was recent and mine was a year old. Also, his was under Travis (a brown belt in BJJ and a national champ in MMA) and mine came mostly from the blue belts at my local gym. Also I had recently become a smoker, so even though I still had decent cardio I was a little nervous.

It was a very interesting matchup; my opponent had the basics practically mastered, whereas I sort of skated past the basics in training and started learning more advanced techniques. The result for the first five-ten minutes was that I'd secure dominant position using a slick transition or a trick he hadn't seen before, and then he'd escape using well-practiced techniques and reverse the position. I felt confident he couldn't finish me; he couldn't pass my guard for very long, and after realizing that he went for a knee bar instead. At the gym back home we didn't usually use leglocks, so that caught me off guard, but I got my weight on the leg and countered with a straight ankle lock, which he escaped again.

After a good twenty minutes of exhausting counterfighting, I managed to mount him and spent a full sixty seconds working to pin his right arm, making an obvious effort to attack his shoulder with a keylock. Predictably, he reached his left arm across to save it and I hooked his left arm and spun out for the arm bar. He escaped his hips (as usual) but this time I anticipated that, kept my hook on his arm deep and switched to a belly-down armbar, which very suddenly applied my full weight to his elbow joint. He tapped verbally and manually at the same time and I managed to let go without injuring either of us :)

I was pretty damn tired, but then Travis came over, congratulated both of us, and told me I'd earned the right to roll with him.

Now, this may sound terrifying - and it was, a little. I was two inches shorter and about eighty pounds lighter than him, not to mention the fact his job is training to hurt people. But in the world of martial arts you don't pass up a chance to spar with a champion - ever.

Now, going up against a brown belt who's that much bigger than you is a bit like trying to wrestle with a wall. Nothing really seems to work, and the harder you try to find a way through the more you get injured. Eventually I pulled half-guard and tried a fancy sweep which I hadn't used against his student, figuring he might not be expecting me to have any moves he hadn't seen. I tapped out about three seconds later. He caught me in a darce choke, first time anyone had ever used one on me. If you want to get an idea what a brown belt's choke feels like, wrap one of those blood pressure testing things around your neck sometime.

We started again and he basically just took me apart, passed my guard and tapped me out with a kimura from north-south, which is the kind of move you only get caught in if it's your first day or the other guy is 100x better than you.

Last roll lasted a bit longer - he finally gave me some room to work and I managed to get on top and briefly pass to his half guard. He swept me, but rather than fight it I rolled with it and ended up on top again. Only problem is he grabbed me in a guillotine choke and jumped to full guard in the transition. I realized this a moment too late and tried to escape anyways. My spine made a sound like bubble wrap before I could tap out.

After that I was done for the night... wished Travis good luck in his upcoming fight and hit the road.

[Melancor]

When I was younger I used to be well overweight and my mom took it upon herself to force me to do sport. When I had been even younger me and my brother had taken Karate classes and, I believe, made it to yellow. I remember for a very , long time I wanted to be a Karate instructor. But I had a fallout for a few years thus the fatness. Although when I was forced to take martial arts again the prior Karate place had already closed down. But just then a Tae Kwon Do place had just opened to I joined it. Part of the reason the choice was made for me to take martial arts was because my brother had picked them up again, however, was he was taking was Kung-Fu, the Chinese, weapom-using martial art. By the time I took Tae Kwon Do my brother was already red Sash. It sucked because I really wanted to use weapons; my brother and my dad has driven all the way to China Town in L.A to buy him an arsenal of weapons to bring back to Mexico. A dull Katana, a Spear, a pair of Sai Swords, and a pair of metal fans.

One day I stole one of the matals fans and brought them to my Tae Kwon Do class, and showed it to my teacher and he almost flipped a bitch. He went as far as to dedicate the whole session in showing us how to deffend from weapons. He went over typical (although Im assuming rather loose) Kung-Fu weapon stances and showed how to counter fans for each stance. a few weeks after he showed us how to defend against swords, but fromw hat I gathered if anyone would every find themselves in the need to use fist against a pair of Sai Swords it would be a loosing battle, mostly concerning sacrificing muscle for vital spots.

Me and my brother would argue a lot back then; it seemed like almost everything was a competetion, and martial arts was dragged into it. Once we did fight, and I expectedly lost, since he was several levels above me in his respective art. But when we wherent pissed off we would duel and sometimes I would ask himt o use weapons to test what they taught me. Most of it didn't work :P or rather I was doing it wrong but once I managed to kick a fan off his hand. It felt awesome :)

[Letho]

I'm rather oldish now, but back in the day when I was younger and had more drive (and time, and stamina, and a whole lot of other things) I trained boxing. Which, funnily enough, was inspiration for one of my characters, The Cinderella Man, but that's a whole different story. Anyways, the gym was quite a dump, but that wasn't surprising given the part of the city I used to live in, and aside from my job, I didn't have anything better to do. It also helped that I was somewhat tough and could take a punch or two. The trainer in the gym was a real son of a bitch though. You know, the kind of a guy that just gives it to you straight, no bullshitting involved, tells you what you're doing right and what you suck at and what to do to fucking fix it, and if you manage to see past the insults and occasional shouts, you realize that he's actually giving you good advice. I did quite a few bouts, but nothing major, mostly just local stuff against other gyms and clubs. I don't really recall my statistics and the win/loss ratio, but I did win more than I lost, and often because I could take more punches than the other guy. But boy, do you feel like hammered shit after 12 rounds of getting the crap beaten out of you, and you look like a caricature to boot. But all in all, it was quite an experience. I don't recall a whole lot of the bouts because none of them were very memorable. At the amateur level I was at it was little more than two guys hammering at each other. But I do recall one specific bout, though.

It was near the end of my "career" such as it was, when I was just about ready to give it all up, when this black dude strolls in out of nowhere and offers me a fight for the champion of the world...

:p

[Yari Rafanas]

Did anybody else hear Eye of the Tiger just now?

[grim137]

Used to do some amateur MMA then I learned the hard way, multiple times that its not a good sport to get into if you're injury prone.

[The Sin Eater]

When I was younger, like 15 or perhaps 16 years old I used to do a lot of training, not just MA but exercise in general. While I could just get on a train, I cycled 25km every day just to get to school and then 25km back. Besides that I practiced Jui-Jitsu and Judo. While I especially loved Jui-Jitsu the only trainer in town moved away after a year or so, so I couldn't really continue with it and ended with a orange belt if I remember correctly. Judo was fun too and I managed to get a blue belt in a year and a half.

I didn't really have the time to go the any of the local tournaments, but I did once. Back then I didn't even had one year of Judo training though I did have 1,5 years of Jui-Jitsu. Anyway, it was Judo tournament so half my JJ experience was wasted. Most of my opponents where regulars who had been practicing Judo from the age of 6 or so. Anyway, I lost pretty much every fight without even able to score one point.

Before the start of the second last match I decided to try something different. Instead of the usual almost casual sparring most fights started with to test your opponent, I decided to go straight for a neck choke. Taken by surprise, the other guy he almost verbally tapped but I lost my grip and he quickly floored me.
I learned from it though and the next and final match I decided to start with my favorite move. I can't properly describe it since English isn't my first language but I'll give it a try. I grabbed the opponents right arm with my right one (so it's a diagonal grip) and gave it a little jerk, instinctively he reacts with leaning back and placed his left feet back to defend an expected pull. In stead of pulling I quickly moved in and stepped right beside him so we where facing the same direction, something he hadn't expected. I grabbed his left upper leg with my left hand and his right leg with my other hand. Then I used both my speed and his leaning backwards to lift his legs a little and just storm/launch us to the ground. As he hit the ground first I scored.

The whole thing happened in the first 3 seconds of the match. Sadly, I hadn't executed it as good as I should have and didn't score the Ippon (full point) needed to end the match, instead I got a Waza-ari. So I needed to score another Waza-ari or a full Ippon to win. I had became way to excited after that move, making me to tense and he could easily floor me, which was judged as an ippon.

Though I had lost every single match that day, I still had learned a lot. For a guy with 3/4 years of Judo training I was quite proud of myself :).

PS: Now I'm just a lazy, smoking student who goes to bed at 05:00 and gets up at around 12:00... it's a good life, I know, but sometimes I do miss the action :P. Though attending two different courses (Psychology and Philosophy) at the university is also quite a challenge, there's nothing like a good ol' fashion brawl.

[Breaker]

NIce... the move you described sounds like a combination of what we call an arm drag in brazilian jiu-jitsu, and a double-leg takedown. Not as pretty as most of the judo ippons, but very effective.

The first time I stopped training after getting really into it I started smoking too haha... maybe we crave the chemicals since we don't get the endorphins? Recently though I managed to quit and have gotten back into intensive exercise, if not martial arts training unfortunately.

[grim137]

The first time I stopped training after getting really into it I started smoking too haha... maybe we crave the chemicals since we don't get the endorphins? Recently though I managed to quit and have gotten back into intensive exercise, if not martial arts training unfortunately.

Thats actually funny because martial arts was one of the reasons I quit smoking. It was a sparring match against a physically weaker opponent and I lost because I gassed out and couldn't defend against the inevitable submission attempt. I congratulated him on the win by I was embarrassed as hell. When I lose I like to lose in because the guy was legitimately better than me not because I made some horrendously stupid mistake in my conditioning.

[Breaker]

Oh man, the first time I went back to my gym after being away for a year (and becoming a smoker in that time) it wasn't pretty. I gassed out partway through warm-up, and then again during the workout. When we finally got around to rolling, my only chance of winning was get on top and stay on top. As soon as I lost dominant position and had someone holding me down I felt like I was gonna puke. I had to walk my bike most of the way home after that workout because I was afraid of falling off the damn thing. It wasn't too long after that I cut down and eventually quit smoking cigarettes. Once my cardiovascular system cleaned itself out I was just able to push myself through the long endurance workouts again. I think a big part of it is when your lungs are full of tar, they can't get oxygen to your muscles/bloodstream fast enough, so you breach your anaerobic threshold prematurely.

These days I'll have an occasional drag or smoke a little tobacco now and again, especially if I get drunk. I don't drink much these days though, so that hasn't been a problem.

[Scrotus]

Well I'm an MMA fighter, as in I do it for a living... Not quite pro, but I plan to be within the next few months. I'm currently 4-0 in fights that I've done in two different states (Az and Nebraska) and I've won awards and some nice bonus' for my fights like fight of the night and two subm. of the nights.

Why I love them? I've always been a scrapper and a natural wrestler. My dad was into muay thai and several other MMA forms before MMA was what it was today so I got into it at a young age. I also was a wrestler (placed 3rd in greco at western regionals in Las Vegas, which is pretty good if you're into wrestling). I don't really believe in belts representing your skills, but if I had to estimate my skills in accordance to a belt color I'd say I'm a brown belt in BJJ (I taught army combatives for two years while I was in the service). I've also trained with fighters like George Roop (UFC & WEC), Cain Valasquez (UFC), Dominic Cruz (WEC), and Don Frye (Old fart, if you know MMA you know Don Frye). I like fighting, plain and simple. The pain, sweat, blood, tears, everything that goes hand in hand with it. I've given up almost everything to persue this lifestyle and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I've won some BJJ (No Gi) tournements. Trained in some dumps and some nice places. My favorite submission is a self-made move I call "The Te-has(Texas) Twister," which is also the move that has awarded me two submission of the night bonuses. My weakest trait is by far convential boxing, which is why I train that more than anything else currently. My strongest is my takedowns and grappling in general.

Most memorable experience: Being told by George Roop that I was a natural and if I stuck with it I'd be a big name someday. It's what really keeps me going whenever I think down on myself. Inspirational I guess.

[Breaker]

That's pretty sick. And greco is my favourite form of wrestling (aside from catch), I wish it were more popular around here. All the clubs and schools in my area are devoted to freestyle.

[Scrotus]

You're from Canada? I think I've read that somewhere... Well the only person to beat me at western regionals at greco was from Canada (just a fun fact I guess, haha)

I like freestyle a lot though... I'd say I was probably better at freestyle, takedown's are my bread and butter, but throws are way more fun.

[Breaker]

Haha Canada is a big place... I'm sure there are greco clubs in some cities, actually I dated a girl from Toronto who did it in high school... but I live in a relatively small town with limited interest groups.

As you say, throws are more fun and easy to watch, but the effectiveness of a well-timed shot is without question. Seeing little Frankie Edgar toss around guys like BJ Penn and Gray Maynard using textbook takedowns was a real treat. I've been working on a theory that pretty soon, the single-leg will replace the double-leg as the go to takedown in MMA, what's your take on that? I feel like every time I watch a full event at least one guy gets guillotined shooting in. It seems like a more versatile and safer option that requires less energy. Much like GSP demonstrated on Kos' face with the jab, there are tools out there that are under utilised.

And all this time I thought I was the only fighter on the boards. We should do a battle some time. Some time when I'm not infernally busy and already behind in my present threads, that is.

[Scrotus]

Well, it's funny you should bring that up because my favorite and best takedown is the single leg. Double leg is good for post-takedown positioning, as you can pass guard quicker or even daze an opponent from a nice slam, but single legs are the beez-kneez. I do a variation of the single leg/high crotch shot called the navy. You should look it up sometime because once that takedown is mastered it's very effective (in both MMA and grappling). It's been my favorite takedown for five or more years and I hardly ever even find the need to use any others.

In my opinion, in MMA, all you need is one move thats flawless in each area (stand-up, takedown, and while rolling) to be a very well-rounded fighter. I can train all day what other people like and think is most effective, but at the end of the day I'm always going to heavily depend on what I'm comfortable with. So, from a personal standpoint, I dislike double legs. You're right when you say you can get caught easily. With the Navy takedown you can quickly isolate one leg when going to the ground making it easier for control, also making it very unlikly to get gillotined.

As for the battle, I'd be happy to do that sometime. I've got a few things to wrap up around the boards and I'm just getting back into the gym (took a 2 week break for bloodwork and new physicals) but just let me know when your not swamped and I'll make time.

[Scrotus]

Question: I've been trying to find some good training music lately, stuff that's different from my regular rap interest. Anyone have any suggestions for good pump-up music?

[Relian Tydonus]

Dang you guys put me to shame with all of your training but I guess I'll throw in my story here.

I'm a black belt in American Karate which is a style my old sensei (instructor) started by combining some styles she learned (Tae-Kwon-Do, judo, jui-jitsu) and focusing them on a realistic self-defense system. We train with weapon defense and other practical defenses. I've gone to a few tournaments to compete in kata and sparring competition. The tournaments I go to have light contact sparring, so not beating the crap out of each other... too hard. I usually fair pretty well in sparring but rarely win because I am not as fit as most of the people my rank (too many video games I suppose :P).

The kata competitions are where I shine. If you don't know what a kata is or how they judge them here goes a simple explanation. A kata is a series of moves simulating defenses. They judge them based on crispness of moves, the focus and presentation you bring, and of course the difficulty of the moves. I like to think that I am more of a sprinter than a marathon runner so this brief minute or so long series of moves is where I can compete. I have taken grand championship a few times in this and usually at least get silver medals.

My current instructor took over the dojo after my original sensei stopped teaching because of life issues, he trains in lots of different styles so I'm starting to learn some brazillian jui-jitsu but I am no where near conditioned enough to compete in that :P

I'll think of a story if this thread keeps going :P

[Macabre]

Ooooh! Matt's a badass thread necromancer.

I do Karate as well, the same style as the man before me here, though I've also dabbled in a lot of other martial arts. I've practiced Tae Kwon Do and some Judo in my time, nothing too serious in regards to actual formal training as my current lifestyle leaves little time to completely dedicate myself to something like that. I work out in a lumberyard at a big hardware store, so I'm already lifting heavy shit most of the day.

I lift a lot of weights too, though not too recently, for the same aforementioned reasons. I used to go to Rochester Institute of Technology and when I was there I used to get up at 6am every goddamn morning, weight lift like my life depended on it, and ingested about seven thousand calories over the course of each day, right now I weigh a pretty bulky 230lbs with about fifteen percent body fat I think. It was pretty fun actually, I wish I could go back to it. Unfortunately I'm stuck paying off loads of loans right now so it's tough to keep to a strict regime like that.

It's not really a martial art necessarily, more of a mobile art, but I consider myself a Traceur as well. For those that don't know, a Traceur (or Traceuse if you have a vagina) is a practitioner of Parkour. I only did it formally for about a year though - practiced a lot of kongs, wall running, shimmying, precision jumping, and distance falling/rolling mostly - so I'm not some kind of pro or anything, but I'm not bad either I suppose. Parkour's great fun if you know what you're doing.

Other than that, not really on topic, but other hobbies include writing (obviously), and gaming. Big gamer here.

[SandStorm]

(Scrotus here)

Yeah I've always wanted to get into that Parkour stuff.. I want to someday, when I'm set from fighting (hopefully), just go off into the world and be a professional adventurer, or something. I figured Parkour would be a useful thing to pick up for that, since I'd be hunting for lost Mayan gold and stuff, haha.

As far as weight lifting goes, I hate it. Isolation of single muscles is no good, at least not for what I do. I do crossfit though for the whole weight-training aspect of my life. Works wonders, look into it sometime.

Oh and gaming is about all I have time for in life besides training and jumping on here, and the little bit of sleep I try to pinch in when I can. PS3 is my system of choice though.

[Macabre]

Yeah I know what you mean, I weight lift as well as do other training on a (fairly) daily basis. Tends to work out well for me. Everyone thinks I appear to weigh about 180lbs yet I'm nearly forty heavier, and I can jump just as high - if not higher - than a lot of people fifty pounds lighter than me. So I'm pretty content. Parkour is amazing, and not too tough to get into. You just have to be determined because it's quite stressing actually. I used to do crabwalks - forward - up about a thirty degree incline if not more, up a hill. Daily. Then walk on all fours, backwards up flights of stairs. Then jump back down the stairwell and perform a roll. Fun stuff.

Never tried crossfit though. Is it some sort of training regime that goes day-to-day, similar to Insanity or P90x?

On a final note, I have a 360. Always been a sony guy though, as I've been an avid fanatic of RPGs like Final Fantasy since day uno. Even nowadays I might pick up the old PS2 and play through Final Fantasy Tactics once. Someday I hope to be one of the few Elite that own both a 360 and a PS3.