Anyone here do martial arts?

[DuckDogDr]

Anyone here do on a routine basis? And type?
Just started Jiu jitsu a short time ago.
Trying to figure out how to incorporate some karate or some striking form as well.

Things sometimes get a little shady at night at the ER lately.. also using to try and help get in shape

 

[CCH]

Only up late checking in here after a follow up to SOTU stuff before teaching tomorrow. Personally, I’m a bit removed from serious training in martial arts. However, jiu-jitsu is a great start in throws and manipulations. Personally, I recommend you research the teachers around you and not focus on a style for striking. It’s more the instruction that counts. If you are in an urban area with many options, perhaps you can shop for style, otherwise go observe your instruction options.

I started with TKD taught by a high level guy from Korea who was also highly ranked in judo. I don’t recommend TKD to anyone as an efficient self defense style, but I also didn’t go when you could find it in every strip mall and we were open to incorporating other styles that helped. The Jeet Kun Do mentality prevailed prior to MMA more as SD than MMA competition. If you study jiu-jitsu rather than judo, you know what I mean. Combat vs sport. MMA has become the in thing, and it means anyone teaches anything sort of.

Probably more than you wanted from an old guy with a handy gun, but I choose instructor over styles most any day. Probably teacher bias…

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I’m a purple belt in BJJ unless it expires, I havnt trained in several years. Used to do a lot of Muay Thai and boxing as well, trained in Thailand and all that.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Was a master instructor when I was on the job, mostly Akido based. Wrestled D1 in college, still like to roll around a little.

 

[bbell]

I wish there were gyms that had wrestling. It’s a great base for self defense. My wife did Krav Maga and that was pretty good for self-defense plus a good workout. Right now I’m decide between judo and jujitsu. There’s two clubs near me where I can work out for pretty cheap.

 

[Fatcamp]

I think boxing and jiu jitsu would be a great combination.

 

[Wvroach]

I'd recommend looking for instructors in your area with real world experience. Shen chuan, krav maga, bjj, Muay Thai etc are all great. But if your ground game is great i.e bjj but you can't get out of the way of a knife it doesn't do you much good. Or if you have a great upright form i.e. boxing, but can't defend yourself if you get tackled to the ground it doesn't serve you well.

It's important to incorporate multiple practices, I need to get back to it more often myself. I wrestled through highschool and took Muay Thai a few years after.

Currently I focus more on medical and firearms training with an occasional hand to hand class once every few years. When I worked in the prison it was amazing the amount of "training" they give people to deal with maximum security inmates. 1 week of DT and 2 days a year.

Saw quite a few officers who thought they were badasses because they had "training" get manhandled. The biggest thing is to learn to avoid putting yourself in those situations whenever possible and if you find yourself there have the ability to get out of them asap. Also remember their is no such thing as a fair fight when it is someone intending to do you potentially lethal harm.

Good on you for realizing the need to be able to defend yourself and family/coworkers. If you never have to use it, you are not out anything and it's a great workout and good place to meet people as well.

 

[MallardSX2]

My wife karate chops me daily.....

Does defending myself count towards any form of a belt?

 

[Desk Jockey]

I have done various stuff over the years.

jits is great. Probably my number one recomendation for overall benefit. Fitness, self defense and just fun. If you want to add some striking to the mix, I would look for an MMA gym that is doing a lot of mixing and matching or a muy Thai gym or kick boxing or plain boxing in that order. I did and love a lot of traditional martial arts over the years but think for self defense, there are just better options these days That weren’t around when I was a kid watching Chuck Norris and JCVD movies and dreaming of being a black belt.

if you do anything but in particular jits, play smart And for longevity. Most of the guys I know that have done that for a long time come away with health issues. Elbows and shoulders from not tapping. Knees and hips from throws. Neck and spine from an accumulation of evil. everyone I know that went above blue belt (+2-3 years)has some degree of spine issues after a time. Most of the top players and many black belts have to have spine surgery in middle age. Some are more open about it than others. I spent a few years at the renzo Gracie gym in NYC. Big gym. Lots of VERY good players. I am a bigger guy and tried to “run with the bulls” too much even though I was 10+ years older than the 20 something crowd. When a couple of +250 pounders start tossing each other around, it takes a toll. I “retired“ after a blown shoulder. Focus on learning and flowing with the techniques. Protect yourself and your partners.

finally, martial arts are great for confidence and fitness but real fighting is a whole other thing. if you go hands on at work, make sure you know what you are getting into both I t terms of safety and liability. Consider various other self defense options. Sprays, stun guns, knives, saps, batons, real guns. I know a couple of ER workers and paramedics that carry under their scrubs or uniforms. wrestling some asshole to the ground and putting him in the king fu grip is cool And all but thumping him behind the ear with a blackjack a few times until he takes an unscheduled nap may be a better choice.

 

[Rich M]

I have done various stuff over the years.

jits is great. Probably my number one recomendation for overall benefit. Fitness, self defense and just fun. If you want to add some striking to the mix, I would look for an MMA gym that is doing a lot of mixing and matching or a muy Thai gym or kick boxing or plain boxing in that order. I did and love a lot of traditional martial arts over the years but think for self defense, there are just better options these days That weren’t around when I was a kid watching Chuck Norris and JCVD movies and dreaming of being a black belt.

if you do anything but in particular jits, play smart And for longevity. Most of the guys I know that have done that for a long time come away with health issues. Elbows and shoulders from not tapping. Knees and hips from throws. Neck and spine from an accumulation of evil. everyone I know that went above blue belt (+2-3 years)has some degree of spine issues after a time. Most of the top players and many black belts have to have spine surgery in middle age. Some are more open about it than others. I spent a few years at the renzo Gracie gym in NYC. Big gym. Lots of VERY good players. I am a bigger guy and tried to “run with the bulls” too much even though I was 10+ years older than the 20 something crowd. When a couple of +250 pounders start tossing each other around, it takes a toll. I “retired“ after a blown shoulder. Focus on learning and flowing with the techniques. Protect yourself and your partners.

finally, martial arts are great for confidence and fitness but real fighting is a whole other thing. if you go hands on at work, make sure you know what you are getting into both I t terms of safety and liability. Consider various other self defense options. Sprays, stun guns, knives, saps, batons, real guns. I know a couple of ER workers and paramedics that carry under their scrubs or uniforms. wrestling some asshole to the ground and putting him in the king fu grip is cool And all but thumping him behind the ear with a blackjack a few times until he takes an unscheduled nap may be a better choice.

You bring out the ugly side of the sport - it is hard to do serious training in a lot of physical sports without paying for it later on.

Thanks for shedding that light.

 

[DuckDogDr]

Thanks guys. I do carry under my scrubs. I keep that little secret to myself. I have 2 other co-workers that do was well. But we are the only 3 that “know”. I’m sure there are several that assume correctly I do but I’ve never broadcast it.

The only reason I know of the other one night shift.. she asked me one night if I wanted to carry hers in the room.. she never left home without… just told her I was fine and winked.

Most of my co-workers are purple haired., liberals that can’t decide if they are a she / he or / (I wish I was kidding). ..

Long winded but we did have one doctor that was thrown up against the wall because she told a client his dog would have to wait.. ruptured anal gland vs a gunshot she was treating…
Then I had to go in and “back up” another Dr on day shift some guy was trying to whoop his arse…

 

[805Bowhunter]

JJ is great for many of the reasons listed above. I received my purple belt last fall (right before elk season) and I've loved the entire journey. Ive been training consistently for five years (2-4 days a week) and love it. I tap early and often as it is a hobby and I dont want to risk injury. It did take a while for my hands to get used to the abuse, especially in gi. This was a bit of a challenge with the bow as I hunt that way but also shoot archery all year long. I had a lot of variability in my bow and release hand in that first 6-8 months of JJ because my fingers were getting demolished. I have to admit that my arms, hands and shoulders are much stronger as a result of JJ and my archery definitely benefits. The cardio is insane too. I highly recommend JJ to anyone.

One of my favorite things about JJ however is the camaraderie. Virtually everything I do in life is solo or really close to it. I really enjoy the relationships that I have made at the gym and have made some tremendous friends from it.

Wrestling, judo, muay thai and boxing are great additions too which have been highlighted. As with anything, stick with it. There will be areas of significant growth where you are really excited and then there will be times where you feel like you are taking steps backwards and can do nothing correct, even against people that are less skilled than you. Stick with it, keep going. Its an incredibly fun and rewarding journey. There are certain things in life that bring so much value because they are so hard. Martial arts is one of them and I'm pumped to hear you are giving it a go.

 

[Desk Jockey]

If you carry a gun, make sure you learn a bit about weapon retention. Also understand how you carry rig works if you start rolling around with someone. There are plenty of videos that will show you how easy it is for a scumbag to make a grab for your gat in a scuffle.

 

[Bratch]

if you do anything but in particular jits, play smart And for longevity. Most of the guys I know that have done that for a long time come away with health issues. Elbows and shoulders from not tapping. Knees and hips from throws. Neck and spine from an accumulation of evil. everyone I know that went above blue belt (+2-3 years)has some degree of spine issues after a time. Most of the top players and many black belts have to have spine surgery in middle age. Some are more open about it than others. I spent a few years at the renzo Gracie gym in NYC. Big gym. Lots of VERY good players. I am a bigger guy and tried to “run with the bulls” too much even though I was 10+ years older than the 20 something crowd. When a couple of +250 pounders start tossing each other around, it takes a toll. I “retired“ after a blown shoulder. Focus on learning and flowing with the techniques. Protect yourself and your partners.

I’m a brown belt, been training 8-9 years. I’ve had some tight muscle related back injuries for years but it’s really blown up the last year. I’d go train Sunday, Mon-Wed I’d have back spasms when I stood up or bent over; Thur-Sat start getting better, start all over on Sunday. Took a couple months off and healed up about 80%.

Rounding my lower back causes most of the problems think playing a leg intensive open guard, (feet on hips, spider, de la riva, etc). We did a 20 minute open guard passing warm up last week and guess what’s back.

To the OP I’d recommend BJJ and then some sort of striking, boxing or Muay Thai. We have multiple docs that train in our gym and we were actually founded by three. If you ever have to go hands on a close range BJJ will get you used to working at intimate space and you get to train against resisting opponents daily. Our docs like it because if they have to go hands on controlling them somehow will look better than striking their face.

 

[Sherman]

I have competed in wrestling, jits, and boxing at a very high level and dabbled in muy thai. I would highly recommend bjj and boxing. I fell in love with boxing by accident. Went to the boxing gym to get in shape and learned first hand why they call it the sweet science. BJJ is all hands on. With boxing, you can hone your skills until you feel comfortable to start sparring. As long as you’re not in a gym with a bunch alpha assholes trying to knock you out you’ll be fine. Coaching and gym atmosphere are huge when it comes to choosing a gym. With BJJ I would not go to the gym unless it was a structured Gracie or Jean Jacques Machado affiliated gym. Good luck in your adventure.

 

[wind gypsy]

I dabble.

 

[thegrouse]

6hrs a week of BJJ. It is tough on the body, I think I will back off in a month or so down to 3hrs a week.

 

[Dos Perros]

Where’s home OP?

I run a dojo in Preston, ID. Rex Kwon Do. If you’re in the area come by sometime. In my dojo we teach our students to have the strength of a grizzly, the reflexes of a puma, and the wisdom of a man.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

I was trained by the Boone County Ninja

 

[browning2480]

Where’s home OP?

I run a dojo in Preston, ID. Rex Kwon Do. If you’re in the area come by sometime. In my dojo we teach our students to have the strength of a grizzly, the reflexes of a puma, and the wisdom of a man.

Forget about it