After a period of extended unemployment and you know, ‘hitting the gym’ due to not having much else to do, I’ve decided to pursue this hobby of violence that seems to attract far too many chuds. I’m hoping it’ll give me a thin veneer of confidence and security, and an ability to fend off fucking assholes with my bare fists
In all seriousness, how do I become a better fighter, I truly suck at this. Any of you fight for fun? Practice a martial art, boxing, wrestling? What’s your opinion on the sport?
Went to an mma gym about 10 hours a week for 8 years, then spent a few years as a private trainer before eventually just freely training anyone willing to listen so I could have sparring partners (am lonely). I’m not much of a grappler, and realistically only know enough to out-grapple a beginner bjj practitioner. I sunk my sweaty painful hours into muay thai, had a few fights, and without exaggeration can make a surgical theater show of your average goon. Training in it was easily the best thing that ever happened to me. The confidence is the obvious benefit, but the peace and capacity for deeper self-understanding and critique that comes from developing your theory and praxis of fighting serves me in all other ways, especially socially. Now that I think about it, I wonder if I could have overcome the reflexive liberal mental defensiveness to become a Marxist-leninist if I hadn’t first spent years being honest with myself about why I got my ass kicked this or that time.
That’s the key, by the way. Obviously there’s no one secret to success in this stuff but if I had to give mine it would be: you have to get your ass kicked a lot. You have to get your ass kicked so many times that getting your ass kicked ceases to hold any fear or meaning, and then once you’re over that, you’re free to learn how to calmly engage with a fight for the dialectical puzzle box it is. It’s a lot of grinding but with very noticeable milestones, and my one of m biggest “I feel like I just leveled up” moments was when I just…stopped being afraid of being punched in the face after being punched in the face so many times. Another was when I got so locked in to the movements and reactions of my opponent during sparring, that I had so conditioned him with a curated regimen of real and feinted attacks, that I was actually full-on puppeting him. There’s no more humble way for me to put it, the way I moved my hands and the micro-reactions it elicited, the shifting of weight where I wanted to to go, felt exactly like operating a marionette. It felt unbelievable, I felt like a spider. I know it might sound unbelievable too, but shit gets psychologically intense in those moments, and for the first time I truly understood what the books and trainers were saying about tempo: the idea that all other things being equal, the one who controls the pace of the fight will win.
I could go on and on in a kind of unstructured ramble, it’s a huge topic and it’s been a huge part of my life, but for that reason it’s all sprawling in my mind. Anyone feel free to ask my anything about kickboxing, from the general down to the very granular and technical, and I’ll do my best to answer.
This is my shit
Truly incredible account and one I’m hoping to replicate maybe someday.
I had my literal first ever combat course yesterday, a group class at Muay Thai gym. My worry is I’ve started too late at 33. How long before I’m even slightly good as a fighter? 4 years?
Do you maybe have any prescriptions? What should I do become as good of a fighter I can be? How much should I train a week? Which other martial art?
Good is relative. If we assume say, 3 or 4 hours a week (consistency and repetition are key), then after a year you’ll be able to beat, for example, most people who are at your current level right now, whatever that is, and youll feel the fufillment of that. 2 years in you’re also gonna start seeing serious benefits to your body awareness, balance and agility. I would say that with a good mix of drill and sparring (can’t have too much of one or the other, but in this case a little more direct contact would accelerate things) you can become a capable brawler in like 2.5 years, and ive had people take to it quicker than that. As for being 33, there were guys in their 30s or 40s in the gym who did just fine, and guys in their 50s among the grapplers.
For literal perscriptions, tiger balm, medical tape and painkillers are all essentials, and epsom salts will make your life a lot nicer too. I’ll come back and add more to this when I get back home.
I did this stuff actively for a long time and enjoyed the focus parts and skill parts of it. Am fairly competitive so did a few competitions as well and enjoyed it. It was also good for my physical self-esteem, but that I feel could have come from any sport I like. The actual physical stuff can be pretty fun and challenging. I think it’s a bit of a neurospicy catnip that kept me humming pretty well in everyday life.
But, the people doing these sports were often not the best people, at least not where I am from. Cops, violent men, misogony and just all that. I participated in these sports as a woman and it always took me twice as much effort to get the belts or whatever “the boys” got very easily. I was also ostriciced a lot due to my gender.
There was lots of stanning for Japan and a lot of the sort of weird male hierarchy that felt very uncomfortable. Eventually I quit and just instructed fitness boxing for others, just as a sport for all kinds of people, genders and bodies.
I sometimes miss the actual sports, but not the clubs and people. I still practice at home and do some online martial arts combat classes sometimes, but just for covid alone I would not go back to doing this face to face anymore.
I took boxing for three years, it’s loads of fun. Stick out the first two weeks and you’ll be addicted, and have a lifelong confidence boost.
I’ve had a lot of experience. I used to like to scrap a little consensually though. I’d end up with a fat lip and a lot of laughs. Any striking art will be good. The better ones are boxing, muay Thai, and wing chun. As far as grappling, you’re going to be suggested bjj. That’s a mistake. Bjj is really good at fighting one guy on the ground. You mentioned that you want it for self defense. If you’re fighting someone on the ground what are the chances chuds friend is jumping in? What you really want is something that will give you good defense against takedowns. Wrestling and judo are good choices. If I had to focus on one, I’d go muay Thai. If I wanted to go for fun, judo or boxing. Finding a few friends that want to throw each other around in a park, is a blast. Likewise, beating each other up in a gym is tons of fun too. If you find a really good school, you’ll realize how much a street fight is about luck, but you’ll be in better shape, and at some point you’ll start to feel like a shark. It’s a cool feeling. Good luck
When I was teaching muay thai in a corpo gym I had a guy who actually knew wing chun, and I’m still surprised at how well it worked in our sparring sessions. It’s just faster than boxing at short ranges. Certainly less powerful strikes on average, but the speed made him very good at defending.
I want to beat up chuds lol I started Muay thai, I’ve been told BJJ is something that would suit me, and I’m unsure. Seems like it’s good for self defense especially when you’re disadvantaged and for neutralizing opponents but I want to be more aggressive and be able to take people down
Bjj is good for sure. In my opinion you get too comfortable fighting on the ground though. 20 years ago there was a teenager that was pretty good and got in a fight. He took the main guy down and then got kicked to death. I’m sure there’s another 100 anecdotes about a bjj guy that did the ass kicking, but that’s the story that sticks in my head
One time I punched a kid in the nose when I was like 6. Does that count?
