The Martial Arts Thread

Had a good experience withDatsusaratoday. My primary gi started developing a hole near a patch on the sleeve. I contacted their customer support service and they are just going to send me a replacement top. While I only had the gi for around 8 months, I am still pretty impressed they have a 1 year warranty on clothing you wear that is purposefully getting yanked and grabbed all the time.

I am sure it is for good publicity, but my circle of BJJ friends isn't the biggest market. Regardless, unless the wear issue is a consistent problem I know where I am going for my future gis. Just need another sale to hit. The unbleached version has been very unique so far.

Nice! My 7 year old and 5 year old just started 2 months ago when I did. They are using the free ones they got for signing up.

Didn't realize we had this thread. Anyone else train in Silat or traditional Chinese Bagua? (or Pagua)
Been an instructor for almost 11 years, training since I was about 4-5.

Suffered a stupid spinal injury about 3 years ago and haven't fully recovered but I'm on the way...really miss teaching and practicing every single day at full capacity.

also; I definitely second what Grumpus recommended about the cheap little stress ball toys for grip stregthening. Also there are these little thick metal springs with grips wrapped around them that are specifically made for grip training that are not too expensive. I'll find a pic later.

In general, I also cannot recommend sand enough as a training tool. Get some of those larger Ozarka jugs that are shaped like super round half gallon jugs of milk and fill em up. Top it off and maybe seal the lid with ductape or something if you have to. Get 2 of them and put them on top of a table or other flat surface. Get into a stance and push each bottle the same distance everytime with a strike, one after the other. Same force every time. Get a partner and push them back to each other. Do this for 30 minutes a day and you start to gain some real precision in your forcefulness.

Also picking up sand beneath your toes with your feet and gripping a handful of sand is useful also so you can start to guage how much pressure you are really using as the sand runs out or by how much you are gathering.

edit; Does anyone have any knives they recommend for training?

Anyone hitting up the IBJJF Worlds Masters in Vegas this September?

World Master Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship - IBJJF - International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation

I was actually considering competing as my Professor is out of Drysdale Jiu Jitsu just off the strip. Unfortunately, no white belt division. Still going to head down to check out the competition and hit up home base and, after all, it is also Vegas.

Anyone have any success with putting their kids in a program? I have my black belt in American Kenpo. There are no good studios for that around here (and the way Ed Parker designed it, every studio was allowed to develop differently). We have a private lesson at an MMA studio here locally setup for her this week. They do have a belting system, and it's important to me. My daughter is 10 years old, she's going to need some extracurricular activities for her college application.

When I trained in my studio, there were a couple of kids who had already reached second degree black belts before they got out of college. In my studio, you had to be 18 to be given adult black belts. These kids took their training so seriously that they got them when they were 15. They were in the studio every day, six days a week. One thing I like about this studio so far is that they said it took five years on average to get a black belt. There are so many belt mills out there that will give one to you in little over a year. Anyway, I was always amazed at how badass these kids were, and it's because there parents enrolled them in martial arts as soon as they could walk.

I tried it with my son but the saying that you can't force a kid to like something is true in his case. While in class he was having fun, smiling, etc., afterward he'd be like, "I don't want to go anymore", which is basically him not liking being pulled out of his at home activities. Ah the tribulations of a parent of an autistic kid. We just started taking my daughter and she liked the first class so she's going to try it for a month. We're hoping it sticks because we can see the troublesome teenage years coming and hope to curtail some of that before it even starts.

That said, this school has a good history of success, and there's a fair amount of "transplant" students from other schools who wanted to take things more seriously. They have high standards to even start in on the advanced programs to reach black-belt. On the adult side they have a JJ program, and kickboxing, and they actually have a few students who participate in local amateur tournaments for both. The kid programs are pure TKD but the adult programs mostly just incorporate TKD forms to help with focus and as a baseline for advancement.

I started taking the kickboxing classes back in September. Barely made it halfway through the first class before I started getting dizzy and had to stop (made the mistake of taking my first class on a high cardio day). My first belt test was brutal and by the end I felt pretty close to passing out. Since then, I've been getting better and better at the conditioning aspect, to the point where 3 "amateur" rounds of jump rope is manageable, even if my calves scream at me afterward. The instructors here really push you to find that extra little bit. I've lost like 10 lbs, which isn't a lot but I'm not a natural fatass so shedding weight was never a priority (though some pants fit better now). The friend who got me into this has shed like 50 lbs. I fully intend to stick with this as long as I can afford it. I kind of regret not sticking with Karate back when I was a kid.

It's totally hit or miss with kids and you can't force it. Before I switched to BJJ I was an instructor at a TMA school. There were kids that had been "training" for 10+ years and couldn't remember things other students would pick up in a week. They enjoyed themselves on the mat, but were clearly only there because their parents told them to. Everyone would have been better off if they'd stayed home.

Outside of rare cases, I'd say that kids get almost nothing from martial arts until they start getting near puberty. It's hard to develop real skills until you have a more mature body frame. Most small kids are just sticks held together by rubber bands.

I definitely want my children to train some, if only for the emotional confidence that bleeds over from knowing how to handle yourself physically. I won't push them until something like age 12 or until they start getting bullied in school.

Captain Suave_sl said:

Outside of rare cases, I'd say that kids get almost nothing from martial arts until they start getting near puberty. It's hard to develop real skills until you have a more mature body frame. Most small kids are just sticks held together by rubber bands.

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Truth. Took my daughter to her second class yesterday and I had to walk away and go practice on my own just to keep from constantly cringing at how generally uncoordinated all the kids were. I think that those ages, oldest was like 10, youngest like 5, it's more about instilling focus, discipline, and self-esteem. The coordination will come as they grow, as long as they keep with it.

moontayle_sl said:

Truth. Took my daughter to her second class yesterday and I had to walk away and go practice on my own just to keep from constantly cringing at how generally uncoordinated all the kids were. I think that those ages, oldest was like 10, youngest like 5, it's more about instilling focus, discipline, and self-esteem. The coordination will come as they grow, as long as they keep with it.

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When I lived near my studio, they had me teach 5 and 6 year olds. They were so cute. But they also had zero coordination. In a class of 20, maybe only 2 of them had correct form. And they just didn't have the motor skills to remember even the lowest of white belt techniques. Eventually, my instructor changed it up, to where they were getting physical activity, and training, but not knowing it. Like he'd have them play tag, but the tag was designed to help them be evasive in fighting.

Childhood obesity is real. My kids have been playing Little Big Planet all Summer. I want them to get more physical activity, and start learning how to be more mentally disciplined. My daughter is 10, it's time, in my opinion. My five year old wants to take it also, we'll see about that.

moontayle_sl said:

it's more about instilling focus, discipline, and self-esteem.

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Yeah, but you get the same from playing soccer or baseball or whatever. Team sports probably provide better social skills, too. The real benefits from martial arts come from the physicality and development of fighting skills, which kids can't really develop meaningfully. If they want to train, sure, but for my $0.02 there's no point in pushing them at a young age. (Science experiments like Sage Northcutt notwithstanding.)

Captain Suave_sl said:

Yeah, but you get the same from playing soccer or baseball or whatever. Team sports probably provide better social skills, too. The real benefits from martial arts come from the physicality and development of fighting skills, which kids can't really develop meaningfully. If they want to train, sure, but for my $0.02 there's no point in pushing them at a young age. (Science experiments like Sage Northcutt notwithstanding.)

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Don't forget a sense of being humble and that failure is ok. Speaking directly to BJJ, getting tapped is how you learn. You have to be comfortable with losing and understanding it is part of the process making you better, not the end of the world. Also, watching teenage boys get tapped by a smaller girl is incredibly amusing. I know of at least two that went to my gym and didn't come back after they got controlled by a girl much smaller then them. Hell, she gives me trouble and I have 50 lbs on her. Lots of children (and adults really) cannot handle a loss to what they see as 'inferior' in their minds. Again, with BJJ, you get over stereotypes very quickly based on what someone looks like.

She had her first session. It was weird, seeing her do Muy Thai, when I've done Kenpo for so long. Kenpo practitioners don't believe in high kicks (or rather, no high kicks until upper Brown belt). He had her kicking to where her head would be on the first session. My daughter must have seen me doing Kenpo, because she kept altering her punches and kicks to Kenpo. But all in all, she smiled and had fun the whole time.

So, it's a little different, with Muy Thai/MMA, but if she's learning how to defend herself, getting physical activity and having fun, I'm all for it. Plus all of the Kenpo schools in this area are pure shit. I ask the instructors about their lineage, and they don't know it.

It's pretty weird when you walk into a school and there are no techniques or forms, and it's the norm. I'm going to say the popularity of the UFC has wiped all of that out. It's also a little weird that there are no self defense techniques, but I can teach that.

At times, I miss training in a studio setting, but I know my lineage, and it's hard to join a style that is pretty much a mutt. No offense, but these modern studios take a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and mix it all up. How proficient are they at one thing? We'd have MMA fighters all of the time come train with us for a year to get good at striking, then they'd go back to their MMA training. One of my old instructors broke off from our Grandmaster (over money, of course), started a new school, and ended up making it a hybrid Kenpo/BJJ/Kickboxing school. It makes sense because you are complete, but it's a lot of stuff. Hell, Kenpo-wise, there are over 300 techniques from white belt to black belt. Imagine adding in BJJ on top of that. The Kickboxing and Kenpo aren't that different (Kenpo teaches the same thing, but tells you not to do it).

Ubiquitrips_sl said:

Don't forget a sense of being humble and that failure is ok. Speaking directly to BJJ, getting tapped is how you learn. You have to be comfortable with losing and understanding it is part of the process making you better, not the end of the world. Also, watching teenage boys get tapped by a smaller girl is incredibly amusing. I know of at least two that went to my gym and didn't come back after they got controlled by a girl much smaller then them. Hell, she gives me trouble and I have 50 lbs on her. Lots of children (and adults really) cannot handle a loss to what they see as 'inferior' in their minds. Again, with BJJ, you get over stereotypes very quickly based on what someone looks like.

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Sure, I know that first hand - I'm a BJJ purple belt. I didn't mean that the benefits were restricted to fighting skills in the most direct sense, rather that all the unique benefits of martial arts accompany the development of those skills. If you're not going through the rigors of real training, including the mental and personal growth required to willingly getting your ass kicked over and over by tiny people, then you're just LARPing and might as well stick to tennis. That's not a knock on tennis; I'd rather my kids play tennis than half-ass martial arts.

I've been helping her train. They wanted me to, so I am. Apparently, you have to be able to do your basics to even get a white belt and join class. It's a bit weird helping her punch, as the Muy Thai punches are different, and fighting stance is different. Also, they having her doing kicks to the head, which is not something we do in Kenpo until brown belt. I've lectured her about the difference between combat sports and street fighting. You aren't going to want to kick anyone in the head cold, or you can injure yourself.

She's taking it pretty well. Her friends are doing other sports, and she's been feeling left out. A bunch of her friends are doing gymnastics, I want her to learn something that will help her defend herself. She's smiling all of the time when practicing, and jumping up and down and dancing in between fighting stances. She's pretty pumped. I told her that it's not all about excitement. I earned my black belt, and there were plenty of times when I didn't want to train, and had to force myself. I told her there will be times when she's tired, injured or hurting, and she's going to need to practice anyway. She'll learn more about life that way.

Life is tough; she'll need to be tougher. She'll need faith first and foremost, she'll need to be tougher than everyone else or the world will chew her up and spit her out.

Does $99 a month sound a lot, for a ten year old, living in the Midwest? Apparently, this school charges kids and adults the same rate. And this is not for all of the classes. When I trained in a studio, kids paid 25% of what adults did. I called my studio to get their opinion, but they are on break for the 4th of July.

Forget what I just said. I've sat here researching the instructors, and they have both amateur experience in kickboxing, jiu jitsu and one guy has a lot of fights in Bellator. That's probably as good as it's going to get around here, me being in the Midwest.