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[Esch]

Took a boxing class for the first time ever last night and I feel amazing today. Sore in the morning but I feel like a million bucks now. Problem is it required a $200 signup fee and $65 a month for two years. Not to mention its a 25 minute drive from my house to the gym. Need to save up for a month or so before I can join

Cool thing is that they also offer Kickboxing, MMA, sparring, and Muay Thai. It's L.A. Boxing.

25 minute drive and 200? id find something else. but if its worth it, and you might wanna crosstrain in other stuff, might not be bad to stick with it. what kind of class is it?

 

[Witchfinder General]

Took a boxing class for the first time ever last night and I feel amazing today. Sore in the morning but I feel like a million bucks now. Problem is it required a $200 signup fee and $65 a month for two years. Not to mention its a 25 minute drive from my house to the gym. Need to save up for a month or so before I can join

Cool thing is that they also offer Kickboxing, MMA, sparring, and Muay Thai. It's L.A. Boxing.

Whoa, $200 and a two-year contract? That sounds shady as hell. I'd look around for other gyms.


Anyhoo, class the other day was really great. We focused on defending chokes and bear-gugs from behind as well as dealing with that when there's a second attacker coming in to attack you whilst you're dealing with the grab/choke. I'm pretty pleased with how I dealt with everything.

 

[JTran2003]

was he doing knee on belly or just jamming his knee into your side? if its knee on belly, once someone does that you need to get on your side (turn your body into him) so he cant leave it laying on there, or you need to try to recover to half guard. just dont lay flat on your back and let him pressure you there. for one, its worth two points every time he does that. two, when he has knee on belly he really can make you uncomfortable and has an extremely dominant position. just know that there are some positions that you can hang out in and knee on belly should not be one of them.

describing gi chokes is hard, lol

He tried knee on belly but i kept moving it to my ribs (or try my best to). i tried really hard to wrap one of my legs on his to get to half guard but he would pivot away and apply pressure on my upper body to flatten me out. Since he had side control but was facing me it was hard to shrimp but I do need to work on that more as well... i tried to keep my hips as close to him at all times in hopes of getting a leg wrapped on mine to get half guard but he got one of my arms around his legs locked and got armbars that way. he got that same position and submission on me everytime but the last roll i got lucky and got the gi choke.

To be honest, it didnt really feel that good to get the submission mainly cause he had total control of me the whole time until the choke. I have a lot to work on. Hopefully it wont be luck that helps me win next time!

 

[thirty]

got stripe 2 on my white belt (BJJ). just when i was in that rut where you are getting submitted and frustrated that you are forgetting the basics, i'm rewarded with a stripe. goes to show, it's all a part of the process. cheat the process and you cheat yourself.

 

[thirty]

Took a boxing class for the first time ever last night and I feel amazing today. Sore in the morning but I feel like a million bucks now. Problem is it required a $200 signup fee and $65 a month for two years. Not to mention its a 25 minute drive from my house to the gym. Need to save up for a month or so before I can join

Cool thing is that they also offer Kickboxing, MMA, sparring, and Muay Thai. It's L.A. Boxing.

$65 isn't bad but that 2 yr contract is hard to swallow. is their "mma" a jiu-jitsu class? if so, I would get info on the instructor (belt rank, lineage). personally, i'd keep looking into other schools, many of which offer trial classes, trial weeks, even a trial month. is this LA Boxing in LA? if so, LA is a hotbed for these types of gyms. use yelp and try other gyms before commiting 2 yrs.

 

[Esch]

Had a great class session yesterday. Started off with some internal/breathing work, line practice of basics like this, then some pushing hands into takedowns at live speed, then some free sparring. My solo practice has definitely started yielding the results i want. I love that moment in martial arts, when you've been adjusting your practice and movement with an intention to change something and before you realize it you've reached a sort of epiphany and you can now do it basically on command or without thinking of it during application and sparring. I've been struggling for a while with coordinating my feet and hands in the xingyiquan six harmonies (hands move same time as feet, knees move same time as elbows, shoulders move same time as hips) and i think im finally starting to break through on that.

Still having a shit time with reverse abdominal breathing during sparring, but thats not a surprise.

 

[JTran2003]

Had a great class session yesterday. Started off with some internal/breathing work, line practice of basics like this, then some pushing hands into takedowns at live speed, then some free sparring. My solo practice has definitely started yielding the results i want. I love that moment in martial arts, when you've been adjusting your practice and movement with an intention to change something and before you realize it you've reached a sort of epiphany and you can now do it basically on command or without thinking of it during application and sparring. I've been struggling for a while with coordinating my feet and hands in the xingyiquan six harmonies (hands move same time as feet, knees move same time as elbows, shoulders move same time as hips) and i think im finally starting to break through on that.

Still having a shit time with reverse abdominal breathing during sparring, but thats not a surprise.

that video was cool to watch. you can tell there was a lot of power in his strikes and they were fast too.

 

[Sub_Level]

$65 isn't bad but that 2 yr contract is hard to swallow. is their "mma" a jiu-jitsu class? if so, I would get info on the instructor (belt rank, lineage). personally, i'd keep looking into other schools, many of which offer trial classes, trial weeks, even a trial month. is this LA Boxing in LA? if so, LA is a hotbed for these types of gyms. use yelp and try other gyms before commiting 2 yrs.

Nope, it's actually called LA Boxing. But yeah, I will definitely try and look for somethin' different.

 

[Esch]

that video was cool to watch. you can tell there was a lot of power in his strikes and they were fast too.

Yeah, I like that guy as well. It's a great video because the guy is definitely at least at the 2nd level of xingyiquan skill/development, anjing, where you are focusing less on muscular strength and hard power and more on internal components and coordination (he has a great follow step). He's very relaxed, yet has that combo of stability and explosiveness. The proof is that you can't see any of the vibration or power in his hands.

This is my favorite youtube video to show people xingyi because the guy in it is demoing the three levels of skill; explosive obvious power, stable and soft coordinated power, and then neutralizing/redirecting sticky power.

I just wish it wasnt in japanese lol

 

[JTran2003]

Yeah, I like that guy as well. It's a great video because the guy is definitely at least at the 2nd level of xingyiquan skill/development, anjing, where you are focusing less on muscular strength and hard power and more on internal components and coordination (he has a great follow step). He's very relaxed, yet has that combo of stability and explosiveness. The proof is that you can't see any of the vibration or power in his hands.

This is my favorite youtube video to show people xingyi because the guy in it is demoing the three levels of skill; explosive obvious power, stable and soft coordinated power, and then neutralizing/redirecting sticky power.

I just wish it wasnt in japanese lol

your videos inspired me to look if there is xingyi locally and I was able to fine something. Might check it out and if possible (affordable really) will add a day of the week for it. It seems like something very different from what im used to so that should be fun!

 

[Esch]

your videos inspired me to look if there is xingyi locally and I was able to fine something. Might check it out and if possible (affordable really) will add a day of the week for it. It seems like something very different from what im used to so that should be fun!

cool. I recommend you send me the link (lots of wannabe sifus out there) or check the instructor director on empty flower. make sure they do full contact. also if you have any other questions lemme know. There are a few good books out there that can be good supplements for learning since a lot of the principles are abstract

 

[JTran2003]

Thanks for your help. I always had an interest in chinese martial arts but most are just too expensive for me. I did find 2 that is in my price range and have been really wanting to add something different to what I normally do on a Saturday or Sunday before I go to work.

http://www.chingyikungfuatl.com/index.html (in my price range and schedule)

http://www.pathsatlanta.org/ (not sure on price but I like how they practice outside and can do both Sat and Sun classes since its in the morning!)

 

[Esch]

Thanks for your help. I always had an interest in chinese martial arts but most are just too expensive for me. I did find 2 that is in my price range and have been really wanting to add something different to what I normally do on a Saturday or Sunday before I go to work.

http://www.chingyikungfuatl.com/index.html (in my price range and schedule)

http://www.pathsatlanta.org/ (not sure on price but I like how they practice outside and can do both Sat and Sun classes since its in the morning!)

Ironically the most legitimate teachers of CMA will charge you very little or nothing at all. My XY teacher has a recommended price of 40$ a month (~10$) a lesson, and answers texts, calls, and uploads instructional videos based on need. What you need to watch out for is silly LARPing, talk about chi on your first lessons, claims of magical feats (although initially you may be very surprised during applications of internal force).

I'd recommend the PATHS. They are recommended on Emptyflower, seem to be student focused, small, and based on a couple arts and foundational training. I am actually using a couple of exercises from their Gao Bagua lineage, the tian gan, and this branch of Hebei Xingyiquan is related to mine as well. I was initially put off by the corny music and weapons demonstrations, but there was some good bagua demonstration in their videos. here's their YT channel. Highlight videos are corny, but the apps are there.

You're actually somewhat lucky, as there is existing footage of one of this lineage's old masters teaching in taiwan here.

 

[JTran2003]

Ironically the most legitimate teachers of CMA will charge you very little or nothing at all. My XY teacher has a recommended price of 40$ a month (~10$) a lesson, and answers texts, calls, and uploads instructional videos based on need. What you need to watch out for is silly LARPing, talk about chi on your first lessons, claims of magical feats (although initially you may be very surprised during applications of internal force).

I'd recommend the PATHS. They are recommended on Emptyflower, seem to be student focused, small, and based on a couple arts and foundational training. I am actually using a couple of exercises from their Gao Bagua lineage, the tian gan, and this branch of Hebei Xingyiquan is related to mine as well. I was initially put off by the corny music and weapons demonstrations, but there was some good bagua demonstration in their videos. here's their YT channel. Highlight videos are corny, but the apps are there.

You're actually somewhat lucky, as there is existing footage of one of this lineage's old masters teaching in taiwan here.

Thanks for the help! I will contact Paths soon and try out the class maybe next week since I will be busy this weekend. I saw some of their videos and it looks very different from what I am used to. I am excited to try it out!

 

[mt1200]

I'll probably start training some form of martial arts when i'm done with college. I'm going to be 25 by that time, will I be too old for martial arts?. Whenever I see people practicing them they are mainly kids or teenagers

 

[thirty]

I'll probably start training some form of martial arts when i'm done with college. I'm going to be 25 by that time, will I be too old for martial arts?. Whenever I see people practicing them they are mainly kids or teenagers

you are never too old, i'm in my late 30s and just started this year.

 

[JTran2003]

you are never too old, i'm in my late 30s and just started this year.

I agree. You are never too old to start. It is never too late to learn how to defend yourself and others you care for. I am 27 and started when I was 22. There are adult classes if you do not want to participate with kids and teens. I started Ji Jitsu this summer and there are teens there that just destroy me on the mat so dont count those kids out.

 

[Oblivion]

I'll probably start training some form of martial arts when i'm done with college. I'm going to be 25 by that time, will I be too old for martial arts?. Whenever I see people practicing them they are mainly kids or teenagers

I'm 27 and I used to think the same thing. As others have said, go for it!

 

[IrishNinja]

Nope, it's actually called LA Boxing. But yeah, I will definitely try and look for somethin' different.

definitely look around. here in MIA there's spots downtown & the beach like Fight Club that want $100+ a month, but ain't trained any golden gloves or have any equipment other places don't.

meanwhile, 20 minutes south of me, a public park has a nice gym for $40/year, 50 if you wanna spar (which you shouldn't really fuck with till you have months of footwork/shadowboxing/technique etc down first anyway). most gyms have the same deal: bring your own wraps (obviously mouthpiece to if sparring), you get to use gloves, jump ropes, bags etc etc. the price difference makes no sense to me, i dont mind older equipment that's already broken in anyway.

plus, said park has a track, and bleachers are a perfect warm-up or post-boxing workout for me. so yeah man, check around for your options! big city like that, there's prolly more than you think.

 

[mooooose]

I did BJJ for a month and loved it and signed a six month contract but then I crashed my car and now I haven't gone for a month and I'm too socially anxious to go back and I don't have a car so I can only go inconsistently and I am stuck paying for this now.

FML.

 

[IrishNinja]

that sucks man - cant you call and explain, maybe have them put your shit on hold? ive done that with gyms before

 

[Witchfinder General]

More ground wrok today. Focusing on defending take-downs as well as what to do if you do get taken down. The defending the take-down part I actually managed pretty well but my ground game still is awful. Baby steps, etc.

On the plus side Friday's fight class was great. We focused on liver-punches and other body shots. I have a rather sizeable bruise over my left hip as a reminder.

 

[Not a Jellyfish]

I would like to hear some thoughts on Krav Maga, anyone on GAF train actively? Anyone used to? If so why did you stop?

Thinking of giving it a shot, checking out a couple of places that offer classes this week.

 

[IrishNinja]

i was really interested in it, bought some books cause i couldnt afford $100 a month to try shit - a friend of mine sparred a bit showing it to me and maybe he presented it wrong, but it felt...not as practical as idve hoped for, at least for my style.

dont get me wrong, if i saw like a groupon for that shit id give it a run.

 

[Witchfinder General]

I would like to hear some thoughts on Krav Maga, anyone on GAF train actively? Anyone used to? If so why did you stop?

Thinking of giving it a shot, checking out a couple of places that offer classes this week.

I do Krav. I've answered this question a few times so here's a few posts I've already written:

Well I do Krav Maga and its sole purpose is to keep you alive. That's it. No flashy moves, no mysticism no reaching harmony within oneself. Survival. As an effective self-defence discipline it has little peer as it is widely used in the military, police, VIP protection and civilian fields.

Just make sure that whichever place you train at is a legitimate branch of Krav Maga (like Krav Maga Global or the International Krav Maga Federation) and not some Israeli dude who thinks that serving in the army is all you need to teach "killer techniques" that bears only a passing resemblance to the real thing.

I absolutely love it.

Advice? Hmmmm... Well, if you're overweight and out of shape Krav can be pretty brutal, at least for a while. I've lost 16kg since I started (granted a lot of that is a change in diet) and my fitness level is so much higher now.

Just keep in mind Krav Maga is designed wholy and solely to keep you alive. That's it. It's not about meditation and being one with the universe. It's not about taking down opponents in a ring. It's not about winning medals and trophies. It's not about following a strict centuries old tradition. Krav has none of those things. Krav's raison d'être is to ensure you and your loved ones can walk in peace and get home safely.

Krav Maga also won't teach you to be the greatest warrior on the planet. Want to be the best striker? Take up boxing. Want to have the best ground game? BJJ and wrestling. Want to have the best kicks, elbows and knees? Kickboxing and Muay Thai are that way.

Krav is about being a jack of all trades so that you can respond to any threat in any situation, whether that be against one person or several. Standing, sitting or on the ground. Against knives, broken bottles and guns. On the bus or in your car. Whether during the day or in pitch blackness and anything else.

That's it. Nothing fancy.

Hope that helps.

 

[IrishNinja]

see, i like what im reading there - and im in no way a martial arts snob like eshas (haha), but whenever i see any technique for "dealing with" knives, much less guns, that doesn't involve either quickly arming yourself or running...it just strikes me a batman shit.

id like to be wrong here though Witchfinder, feel free to share details there man!

 

[Zampano]

I have my first BJJ tournament this Sunday! Am nervous but should be a good experience, win or lose. It's a round robin tournament with three five minute fights over a 25 minute period in the Novice Under 85kg category. The guys I'm fighting look to be largely from an MMA and no gi background so I'm hoping to slow everything down using the gi and go for lots of collar chokes.

 

[Not a Jellyfish]

I do Krav. I've answered this question a few times so here's a few posts I've already written:





Hope that helps.

That helps a ton, exactly what I want. Thanks!

 

[Witchfinder General]

see, i like what im reading there - and im in no way a martial arts snob like eshas (haha), but whenever i see any technique for "dealing with" knives, much less guns, that doesn't involve either quickly arming yourself or running...it just strikes me a batman shit.

id like to be wrong here though Witchfinder, feel free to share details there man!

Well, firstly everythig we're taught is to be used in a "worst-case" scenario. Krav is about self-defence and the best self-defence is avoiding a confrontation alltogether which means running when we can, talking when we can't and fighting if we must. Yes we're taught knife and gun defence and disarmarment but only to be used when we have no other choice as in a life-or-death situation or when a loved one is threatened. Moreover, it is stressed that what we're taught is not gauranteed to keep us harm free when dealing with knives, guns, blunt objects, etc, rather to minimise the harm. If someone comes at me with a knife I will in all likelyhood be slashed several times. The difference with me and someone without training is that I may end up with only lacerations as opposed to someone else who may be fatally injured.

Once again, the only time I'd ever find myself trying to defend against a knife or a gun is because I was taken by surprise and giving the assailant what they wanted (like money or goods) wasn't enough or because I failed to extricate myself from a situation I should have avoided in the first place.

 

[deadlast]

I have my first BJJ tournament this Sunday! Am nervous but should be a good experience, win or lose. It's a round robin tournament with three five minute fights over a 25 minute period in the Novice Under 85kg category. The guys I'm fighting look to be largely from an MMA and no gi background so I'm hoping to slow everything down using the gi and go for lots of collar chokes.

done many of these in the past. my advice to you, work your guard. That is probably your best bet. Good luck!

 

[deadlast]

I did BJJ for a month and loved it and signed a six month contract but then I crashed my car and now I haven't gone for a month and I'm too socially anxious to go back and I don't have a car so I can only go inconsistently and I am stuck paying for this now.

FML.

That sucks. I am in a similar situation for attendance issues. I do a lot of solo training at home. This helps my mobility which is key to being a good bjj player. I'll post links later.

 

[mrbagdt]

I have my first BJJ tournament this Sunday! Am nervous but should be a good experience, win or lose. It's a round robin tournament with three five minute fights over a 25 minute period in the Novice Under 85kg category. The guys I'm fighting look to be largely from an MMA and no gi background so I'm hoping to slow everything down using the gi and go for lots of collar chokes.

5 minutes goes by pretty damn fast. the concern you should have is getting taken down and then getting smothered for the rest of the time so they win on points. the biggest thing have had to improve on regarding competition is keeping my cool and not gassing myself out to fast. at first i would go really hard for those first few minutes of the first match and id gas out completely fall apart, but after that first match and warming up id start doing a lot better. i would recommend warming up well, getting a little bit of a sweat in before your first match and pace yourself since you are going to wind up fighting 3 times.

 

[Esch]

@JTran2003; here's someone you might wanna look into

Tim Cartmell

Interesting guy. Been a kung fu practitioner from a young age (first San Soo) but then moved into Xingyiquan and Baguazhang in his teens, studying those for ~11 years. He now practices BJJ, and has won first place in some IBJFF competitions (as a brown and then a black belt)

despite years of traditional training, he's very open minded, but retains thorough understanding of the XYQ/BGZ curriculums

an interview

his website, which is a good primer for the IMA in general

 

[Witchfinder General]

Holy crap, I am wiped from tonight's class. We had a circuit with several stations that we would do two rounds of with a partner. The first station was fighting/defending where one person would throw straight punches at the partner's head and he would have to defend and then swap. The second station involved each person standing on the opposite side of a punching bag and the idea was to hit it as far over to their side whilst they did the same. The third station was random chokes. The fourth was ground-fighting and the fifth knife defence with a final repeat of the first station. We then grabbed a medicine ball and one partner had to throw upper-cuts to it for a round. Finally we ended with sprints and shadow-boxing.

I'm dead.

 

[JTran2003]

@JTran2003; here's someone you might wanna look into

Tim Cartmell

Interesting guy. Been a kung fu practitioner from a young age (first San Soo) but then moved into Xingyiquan and Baguazhang in his teens, studying those for ~11 years. He now practices BJJ, and has won first place in some IBJFF competitions (as a brown and then a black belt)

despite years of traditional training, he's very open minded, but retains thorough understanding of the XYQ/BGZ curriculums

an interview

his website, which is a good primer for the IMA in general

That was a very awesome read. Thanks for the link. That is what I want to achieve, to be more open minded and better myself as an individual. Reading his description on Xingyiquan makes me feel it is not for me in that it is more attack oriented for he states, "...with the Xing Yi Quan fighter preferring to attack, otherwise taking the smallest defensive angle possible before counter-attacking". I started learning defensive styles and always felt it was a great fit for me. I did try out shotokan karate for a year and probably would have continued if time permitted but it was more for conditioning and getting in shape. Plus, I had a really great instructor and it was very attack oriented which I felt may be good for me . I will be attending the Xingyi class this weekend with the mindset of obtaining a good workout but I will be sure to keep an open mind about it. I am very excited to try out something so different from what I am used to. Who knows, I may continue to practice for a long time.

 

[Esch]

That was a very awesome read. Thanks for the link. That is what I want to achieve, to be more open minded and better myself as an individual. Reading his description on Xingyiquan makes me feel it is not for me in that it is more attack oriented for he states, "...with the Xing Yi Quan fighter preferring to attack, otherwise taking the smallest defensive angle possible before counter-attacking". I started learning defensive styles and always felt it was a great fit for me. I did try out shotokan karate for a year and probably would have continued if time permitted but it was more for conditioning and getting in shape. Plus, I had a really great instructor and it was very attack oriented which I felt may be good for me . I will be attending the Xingyi class this weekend with the mindset of obtaining a good workout but I will be sure to keep an open mind about it. I am very excited to try out something so different from what I am used to. Who knows, I may continue to practice for a long time.

Xingyi is offensive for sure, but at its core so are most martial arts. Basically the goal is just to overwhelm your opponent with coordinated bursts of power. Make no mistake though, there are elusive and defensive animal styles in the compendium. But its always defensive or elusive to draw or create an opening to nail someone with lol

edit; id also read that bagua link on his site, pretty good

 

[deadlast]

Going to a buddy's house tonight to learn some kung fu and teach him some Jiu Jitsu. I'm expecting to come away with a beautiful weave of the 2 arts.

 

[Esch]

Going to a buddy's house tonight to learn some kung fu and teach him some Jiu Jitsu. I'm expecting to come away with a beautiful weave of the 2 arts.

coool. What kind/school of kung fu?

 

[thirty]

my bjj professor tried some Jedi mind trick on me yesterday. I had the day off and instead of attending my usual night class I attended the noon class. after the hour long class my professor asks me if I was going to stay for open mat, I told him I had things to do (errands). he then tells me in a master-like tone, "you have something more important than training?" i thought about it for a quick second a realized he was absolutely right; my haircut, grocery shopping, etc can wait.

 

[deadlast]

coool. What kind/school of kung fu?

Wing Chun. I have some experience in wing chun, but nothing more than hand trapping techniques.

 

[mrbagdt]

my bjj professor tried some Jedi mind trick on me yesterday. I had the day off and instead of attending my usual night class I attended the noon class. after the hour long class my professor asks me if I was going to stay for open mat, I told him I had things to do (errands). he then tells me in a master-like tone, "you have something more important than training?" i thought about it for a quick second a realized he was absolutely right; my haircut, grocery shopping, etc can wait.

open mat is the best part!

 

[thirty]

great week of training for me; muay thai monday and bjj tues, weds, thurs. i am a bit worried that i over trained tonight. i am older (37) so i try to manage my workout hours for proper recovery. some dude asked me to roll after class tonight and it turned into a 40 min session. i am exhausted, hope i don't come down with a cold or something.

progressing right along too, 3 months and i've got 3 stripes on my white belt. i thought my promotions were undeserved since my ass is always getting handed to me but after meeting a few other white belts i learned that many have been there for 9-12 months before getting 3 stripes on their white.

good night and happy training this weekend.

 

[Metroid Killer]

Completely exhuasted after 9-10 hours of training throughout this weekends camp. I also did my 3rd Dan test which I passed, albeit with some basic mistakes here and there. Oh well you can always do better and at least this gives me something to work with in the coming months. We did the test after having trained from 10 in the morning till 4 pm, with the test itself somewhere around 60-90 mins (I didn't

Here are some pictures from the test. I'm the bearded guy. The other guy also tested for 3rd dan. We had to show some basic Aikido techniques and sword partner training.

 

[thirty]

great pics

 

[Gilby]

great pics

Agreed. Man, I miss Aikido sometimes, it just felt so good when you did something correctly.

 

[AltogetherAndrews]

I would like to hear some thoughts on Krav Maga, anyone on GAF train actively? Anyone used to? If so why did you stop?

Thinking of giving it a shot, checking out a couple of places that offer classes this week.

Started training Krav Maga a while ago, can't believe the intensity after only a few sessions. By the 4th session we were dealing with knife defense and circles of death (ie. being physically strained, dizzied, blinded and then assaulted by multiple attackers). Good stuff. I'd say the hardest bit has been getting into the mindset of it, to drop any notion of fighting "fair."

And as Witchfinder said, it's purely about self defense and survival. In our system there aren't even grades, just various situation stress tests to see if the techniques (or principles, really) have become second nature. This reflects in everything about the training, from the open-handed fighting stance to aliveness and the focus on 360 degree awareness. And if you don't read the surroundings the trainer may well pummel you. A few of those attacks and it becomes reflex.

 

[Witchfinder General]

Completely exhuasted after 9-10 hours of training throughout this weekends camp. I also did my 3rd Dan test which I passed, albeit with some basic mistakes here and there. Oh well you can always do better and at least this gives me something to work with in the coming months. We did the test after having trained from 10 in the morning till 4 pm, with the test itself somewhere around 60-90 mins (I didn't

Here are some pictures from the test. I'm the bearded guy. The other guy also tested for 3rd dan. We had to show some basic Aikido techniques and sword partner training.

Awesome pics, man. It's humbling to see someone show such dedication, passion and grit to pursue a martial art as far as you have. Great work.

Started training Krav Maga a while ago, can't believe the intensity after only a few sessions. By the 4th session we were dealing with knife defense and circles of death (ie. being physically strained, dizzied, blinded and then assaulted by multiple attackers). Good stuff. I'd say the hardest bit has been getting into the mindset of it, to drop any notion of fighting "fair."

And as Witchfinder said, it's purely about self defense and survival. In our system there aren't even grades, just various situation stress tests to see if the techniques (or principles, really) have become second nature. This reflects in everything about the training, from the open-handed fighting stance to aliveness and the focus on 360 degree awareness. And if you don't read the surroundings the trainer may well pummel you. A few of those attacks and it becomes reflex.

Great to see another Krav dude. How long have you been training for?

Anyhoo, really great but technical class to day. We dealt with stick defence (swung like a baseball bat as well as a two-handed horizontal attack to the throat) as well as defending against a rifle stabbing forward with the bayonet end and also used as a horizontal attack against the throat. The rifle defence is pretty-high level stuff and was meant to give us a taste of something different as well as show us the similarities in technique and application between a stick-type of an attack and a rifle and how all the techniques flow from similar places. Obviously as a civilian defending against a rifle is never likely to ever come up and is obviously a hold-over from the military side of Krav Maga but it was fascinating nonetheless. Hurt my brain a bit. I'm much better at just hitting things.

 

[PastorOfMuppets]

To the BJJ guys here: What are your games like? Just curious.

Me: I'm a purple belt who heavily prefers no-gi but I have a good gi game as well; they translate very smoothly from one to the other because I don't really play guards that rely on sleeve grips (spider guard for instance). On the bottom, half guard is easily my strongest position. I use it as my default guard and depending on what type of passer my opponent is I can play traditional half, knee shield half, deep half and half butterfly. Half butterfly usually allows me to transition into full butterfly and/or X-guard.

On top I have a very heavy smashing style of passing. I use arm drags to set up single and double legs and once I take down my opponent I like to force them to play either butterfly or half guard. If I'm in closed guard, my goto pass is the Tozi pass which usually puts me in my opponent''s half guard at worst and side control at best.

Submissions: D'arce chokes, kneebars, kimuras and north-south chokes are my go to moves. I'm a bit unorthodox with my back attacks since I prefer the crucifix back mount to the regular hooks in backmount.

 

[Esch]

Nice pics Metroid.

Spoiler

I'm super jealous of dat beard too

 

[mrbagdt]

To the BJJ guys here: What are your games like? Just curious.

Me: I'm a purple belt who heavily prefers no-gi but I have a good gi game as well; they translate very smoothly from one to the other because I don't really play guards that rely on sleeve grips (spider guard for instance). On the bottom, half guard is easily my strongest position. I use it as my default guard and depending on what type of passer my opponent is I can play traditional half, knee shield half, deep half and half butterfly. Half butterfly usually allows me to transition into full butterfly and/or X-guard.

On top I have a very heavy smashing style of passing. I use arm drags to set up single and double legs and once I take down my opponent I like to force them to play either butterfly or half guard. If I'm in closed guard, my goto pass is the Tozi pass which usually puts me in my opponent''s half guard at worst and side control at best.

Submissions: D'arce chokes, kneebars, kimuras and north-south chokes are my go to moves. I'm a bit unorthodox with my back attacks since I prefer the crucifix back mount to the regular hooks in backmount.

brown belt but i prefer gi much more to no gi. i just enjoy having those things to grab which make things a little more complicated and a little more interesting. ive gotten pretty balanced around everything off my back but triangles -> armbar -> omaplata is a series i try to utilize when it is available, but i try to be active with sitting up, using arm drags to go towards the back, just to keep pressing the action even though i am on my back. regarding passing, i try to keep it basic with a knee in the middle and sometimes standing up to get around legs. just get my basics perfect, thats where i am at now.

i trained this weekend with a black belt at a sort of sister school with where i trained, i faced a really good knee shield game that i had never faced before. i got caught in a triangle probably 3 times in 10-12 minutes of rolling because it was hard for me to see that i had one arm in and one arm out with the way his legs were positioned. if you dont run into that a lot and dont know what to do, positions like that can be incredibly frustrating. at one time that position was de la riva, then it was reverse de la riva, and now i think it is this. once i learn it well enough, it will just be another thing to put in my back pocket in knowing how to deal with it. even after 6 years, there is still always stuff to learn.