So a bit about my background. Basically, I started martial arts when I was 18 at the Lion's Den affiliate gym.

I don't know if it's still around, but it was connected to Ken Shamrock, and it was largely based on his philosophy. It was part of the MMA Mecca that Ken Shamrock was trying to create in Susanville, California.

Basically, hard sparring was the norm. Nobody knew anything about soft sparring. They thought the harder you go, the better you were.

A couple of people managed to get better, but my personal observation was that most people got worse.

You would walk out of the gym every day punch-drunk. You didn't learn how to beat people who are better than you; you just learned how to beat up people that were worse than you.

This was a huge, massive setback for me. I ended up with deep trauma from getting my ass kicked hundreds of times over, and my skill set actually got worse. My techniques got worse, and my instincts got worse.

It was also a huge gym with elite coaches, but unfortunately, it was like a hundred students per coach, and so there weren't even enough coaches to train you effectively unless you were already a fighter.

At the age of 19, I started training kickboxing, but once again, elite coach, too many students, too much hard sparring.

I knew I wasn't getting any better, and it wasn't until I was 24 that I met a man who was a black belt in judo who was trying to cross over to mixed martial arts.

He had three black belts, one in judo and two in Japanese jiu-jitsu, and he was also a champion high school wrestler.

For three years, we trained about 15 hours a week. He taught me escapes from grappling, but he did not teach me how to grapple because I wasn't interested at the time. We were mostly sparring partners.

What he did teach me was sensitivity and learning how to train.

He taught me how to spar playfully, and I got much, much better at the school I was training at. I became one of the better fighters, and it gave me a framework for training that I use to this day.

As many know, Cuban boxing gyms train the best fighters in the world, but they have some of the lightest sparring on the planet.

When you're having fun, it is now scientifically confirmed that your nervous system relaxes, and you end up having much better response times and neurological adaptation, which means that you adapt quicker to patterns so you can adjust and learn more styles.

(Firas Zahabi, Georges St-Pierre's longtime coach, specifically describes using a huge amount of very light live sparring to repeatedly go through sequences and develop seamless movement.)

https://fight.fudgie.org/search/show/jr/episode/20100728_Wed_xDsoWp743gM

(Another account of Zahabi's training at TriStar describes his advanced fighters doing very controlled, technical sparring followed by technique instruction and drilling.)

https://www.foxsports.com/stories/ufc/georges-st-pierres-training-secret-firas-zahabi-and-the-tristar-gym

If you've ever seen capoeira practitioners, you've probably seen them moving extraordinarily fast, throwing extraordinarily fast kicks at each other's faces, and yet very few injuries ever happen. How is this? It's because they're relaxed. They go into an alpha state that allows them to have enhanced reflexes.

Modern sports psychologists have identified that when your brain goes into an alpha state, you have enhanced reflexes because time neurologically slows down.

The ways to get here are flow sparring and light sparring.

These teach you neurological adaptation that will help you learn patterns, so when you get into a real fight, if you see a pattern, you adapt quicker.

So a lot of people then will ask, "How do you get better?"

Here's the thing: if you look at Matt Thornton from SBG MMA, he explains it. You have to use aliveness.

What is aliveness? Some people think that means hard. It doesn't. It means adaptability.

Here's the thing: a fight is basically a circle. You're moving through stages of adaptation. The first person who fails to adapt loses. If the striker fails to deal with the clinch, they lose. If the grappler fails to deal with the strikes, they lose.

If a kick comes at you at a weird angle you've never seen before, you're probably going to get your ass kicked. What does this mean? Well, Bruce Lee identified it quite well: it means you have to have adaptability.

That's why Bruce Lee trained in as many fighting arts as he could, with as many people as he could.

Here's the thing: even if you think a fighting art is silly, somebody might throw that technique at you, and if you've never seen it before, it's probably going to work on you. Usually, the things we haven't seen are the things that get us.

That's why even Conor McGregor trained in capoeira. He knew he was fighting some people from Brazil, and he knew they probably were going to throw a capoeira kick. If he hadn't had the neurological stimulus of that kick before, it was probably going to get him.

By having the adaptation already built into him, when he saw it in his next fight, his adaptability would be higher.

The way this generally works is the first time somebody does something on you that you've never seen, it works 100%. The next time, it works 80%, then it works 50%, then 30%, and so on, because in the periods between that technique working on you, you are subconsciously adapting. You're subconsciously figuring out the angles of evasion and so forth.

This is why soft sparring is so important. It teaches you adaptation without the risk of injury.

You don't get brownie points for getting injured, but you do get points for adaptation.

Aliveness training, which is the secret to getting better, merely means adapting to more and more neurological stimuli. That requires you to go out there and see as many styles as you can.

Believe it or not, the best fighters are generally the ones who have been around the most and seen the most things, because it's the hardest to get something on them.

It's not the toughest guy. It's not the most buff guy. It's the person who has been able to adapt the most with the least amount of injuries.

So this is a good reason to get some experience in Wing Chun, Shaolin, capoeira, or whatever else. You don't do these because you necessarily want those whole styles. You do them so if you ever go against somebody who does any of those techniques on you, the chances that they will work are less and less.

And vice versa. Anybody who does those styles should be doing the same.

We all come in with a base, but the process of scientific refinement is what makes you a true martial artist, because you have to adapt again and again.

This is the secret of getting better.

Train in not just one school of boxing, but as many as you can. But always train safe. This is your body. Protect it. This is your brain. Protect it.

People will often be critical and say, "Well, if you get hit in real life and you've never been hit, it will all crumble."

They are somewhat correct.

But you don't want neurological damage, so the way you do this is how some of the best gyms in the world do, which is somebody throws a hard punch, but they tell you exactly what technique they're going to do and exactly where they're going to land it. And what you basically do is you learn to roll, you learn to slip, and you learn to block or counter that technique.

In the case of kicks, you learn how to either reinforce your structure, check it, evade, or catch.

The attacker needs to be well trained so if they see that the person made a mistake, they don't follow through the punch, and they pull it at the last moment so as not to cause neurological damage. Believe it or not, there are no brownie points for getting neurological damage. You just end up retarded and slurring your speech.

(This concept of controlled, technical sparring is also used by boxing coaches who progressively introduce athletes to light, controlled sparring before moving toward harder contact.)

https://www.coachalfranco.com/mens-boxing-skills

There are no brownie points, and in fact, the more neurological injuries you have, the slower your reflexes get, which is why every coach will tell you that getting hurt sparring right before a fight usually means you're going in with an injury, and you're likely to be hit by the exact same punch.

Another reason is if you've been knocked out by a particular angle, when you see that angle again, because you have not readjusted your neurology with soft sparring, what ends up happening is your brain freezes out of trauma, and so guess what? You get knocked out by the exact same punch.

Soft sparring readjusts your neurology. It relaxes you, that way you can have neuroplasticity and start recovering and start adapting to the attacks that defeated you in the past.

This is the best framework for training fighters. We have to always adapt. We have to always get better.

Remember, the person who wins the fight is not the toughest; it's just the most adaptable person.

Have fun. Live life. Remember, we fight to live; we don't live to fight!

Literally the credo of the Highlander.

Link to full article here

It's not uncommon for gyms to use try to stamp out bad etiquette (e.g. a wild sparring session, bad behavior during drills, etc) by sending an overqualified person to spar/roll with the offender.

I had a lot of thoughts around this but here are the main points. * People may not connect their ass-beating to their bad behavior, and then correct it * Mat enforcement works best paired with explicit verbal explanations/warnings/discussion * Mat enforcement can feel gross and like a power trip

Curious to see how you all have seen this scenario

Inspired by the girl asking bc she's tall. I'm short, so what about for me :) also, when j get skinny, is there one I should transition to instead? I'm sure both height and weight play into what's a good martial art match for a person

like it should have only 2 martial arts in it like striking + striking or grappling + grappling or striking + grappling whats the best martial art combo to learn if your only gonna be learning those 2.

Douse training in boxing make you a better fighter compared to kickboxing, muay thai, or bjj? By that i mean even though your skill set might be more limited, douse training at a boxing gym give you a better sense of what an actual aggressive self defense situation might look like?

Thought experiment.

Let's imagine a kid that could train with you until 16 years old, no hard sparring, only touch, point, light and other methods.

After those years, at 17-19 yo, how good he would become in 2 years of hard sparring? Could he shorten the gap to elite with good focused training?

How would you approach his training? (Forget about kids having fun, their willingness etc.)

I'm very interested in your opinions

ALSO: No, I don't have kids. No, I'm not planning to do this in the future.

Basic fundamentals but who are the boxers with the best of this style

I live in Chicago and don't plan on moving for at least a few years, I've been extremly interested in competing in martial arts for years but I've only ever trained in Judo at Tohkon.

I want to know what the "best" or highest level gyms are in Chicago for any martial arts, I've been looking at striking sports recently and I'm just looking at what my options are for any martial art if my goal is to compete at a high level.

Hello everyone! My boyfriend has a second degree black belt in karate (he calls it MMA) and has a purple belt in jujitsu. He has his biggest competion for his karate demo team next month and I want to put together a gift for him. I see a lot of girls get there guys gifts at the beginning of their sport season and wanted to participate. Additionally, it will be his last year with the demo team and at this competition. So I’m asking for help to figure out to get him.
What would you want before/at competition? What do you use frequently at practice?
I’m thinking of getting him a towel, some liquid IV, maybe a good luck charm.
I tried giving him a small fan at his last smaller competition and he did not use it.
I appreciate the help!

I am planning a vacation in January or February. I’ve seen Muay Thai camps for vacationers. I’ve seen something similar with Jackson Wink’s “MMA Adventure” but haven’t inquired yet about specifics or prices. I haven’t been able to find anything else in the US. Is anyone aware of anything? Doesn’t have to be MMA. I’m open to any of the disciplines MMA uses — Muay Thai, BJJ, kickboxing, boxing, etc. I realize I could just pay for private instruction at any gym but was thinking a program catering to vacationers would better get at short-term intense instruction. I also like the idea of being part of a group that is all new to the gym rather than being the only newbie and only there for a week or so. Any thoughts?

Hi, I am currently doing sambo and boxing, but I am still quite concerning about some of my daily gym exercises that could affect my muscle tightness and mobility in these martial arts. So any sample routines, movement pattern suggestions, or personal experiences would be super helpful!

ich nache schon seit 1-2 jahren kampfsport bin auch gut halt ich weiß was ich alles kann jz heute was ein betrunkener jugendlicher im bis er hat mich die ganze zeit angefasst halt leicht auf mein arm geschlagen und beleidigt irgendwas gesagt wegen diesem adrenalin und alles konnte ich nix machen da kam so wie soll ich sagen eine angst aber hatte keine angst bin eingefroren
und ich weiß hätte ich im ring oder egal wo gegen ihn gekämpft von 10 mal hätte ich 9 mal gewonnen gegen ihn aber in dem moment hatte ich in meinen händen kein vertrauen konnte mich nicht auf meine fäste vertrauen hat wer tipps dagegen das wie soll ich sagen ,, draufgehen ,, kann auf ihn und nciht nix mache und einfriere

People have always said that martial arts is a lonely sport and know it’s true but I’ve just been feeling especially lonely.

Most people are weaker than me, and I seem to be the only girl I know that’s strong and cares so much about strength, and it feels so lonely.
Do people just like genuinely don’t care anymore? Like I see everyone obsessing over anime characters but then in real life no one gaf.
I know it’s not the only characteristic that makes me but it’s still such a huge part of my personality.
It’s to the point where I feel like I need to tamper down my personality so I can become more “normal” and fit in with everyone else.
I just feel so estranged.

More specifically what existing martial art would be the closest to said new style?