30
votes
Why Are Traditional Martial Arts Apparently So Reluctant to Evolve?
I suspect that the primary answer lies between that they genuinely deemphasize pitched fighting, and that it's guided by rulesets.
Not every martial art is about fighting, or defending yourself
For ...
- 12.3k
18
votes
Karate doesn't provide defense against wrestlers and MMA fighters. Or does it?
The short answer is: No, karate does not train people to deal with wrestlers.
The long answer is that karate does have grappling built into it, but it tends to be of the stand-up variety and only for ...
- 19.6k
15
votes
Accepted
How to Deal with Unprofessional Sparring Partners
An opponent of this demeanour can be viewed as a curse or a blessing.
As you've probably figured out by now, the development of mental strength represents one of the greatest demands of martial arts, ...
- 3,051
13
votes
How to beat a vastly superior opponent?
The simple answer is: No. You're gonna lose.
You may never win against a guy who is much heavier than you, much stronger than you, much faster than you, and much more skilled and experienced than you.
...
- 19.6k
12
votes
Accepted
How do I avoid getting a cauliflower ear while practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
A common precaution is to wear wrestling headgear, which is designed to protect the ears, while practicing. Cauliflower ear is caused by impacts or rubbing on the ear. Headgear will reduce both of ...
- 14.5k
11
votes
Does BJJ adequately train defence against "ground and pound" situations?
Today we focused on some details of escaping mount. This involves controlling the opponent's hips with your arms. Good luck doing that in a MMA fight when your head is being caved in with ground and ...
- 20.9k
10
votes
Why Are Traditional Martial Arts Apparently So Reluctant to Evolve?
I suspect there's a lot of instructors that are more concerned about the techniques of their art, rather than flooding their students with ever increasing amount of styles. This makes sense that they ...
- 201
10
votes
How to Deal with Unprofessional Sparring Partners
I'd look at this a slightly different way, why is this martial artist sparring you (and others) this way?
As an experienced fighter, I often spar lower grades with my hands down - it allows me to move ...
- 3,139
9
votes
Why is wrestling often not seen as a martial art?
Wrestling isn't often seen as a martial art because it has been primarily pushed as a sport - much in the same way most people don't consider archery, javelin, or shot put, as war arts, though those ...
- 8,403
9
votes
Accepted
Why is wrestling often not seen as a martial art?
Television and movies give people impressions of things that are never corrected.
What is the first thing an American thinks of when they hear "wrestling"? World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which ...
- 14.5k
9
votes
How to condition knuckles?
I second coinbird's motion: don't do this.
There is a theory called Wolff's Law, which is a medical concept first studied by a German surgeon Julius Wolff back in the 1800's, and he found that ...
- 4,141
9
votes
Accepted
Are there MMA rules that prohibits reactions which would render grappling unusable in a real world scenario?
It's certainly possible to hit someone while they work on a takedown. It sounds like you're asking specifically about countering wrestling shots, where the grappler attacks the hips and legs, rather ...
- 20.9k
8
votes
Accepted
How I can read "Record" results of MMA Fight?
The record is Mirko Filipović's cumulative record as of each fight. It is not a recording of what happened in that particular fight.
The breakdown is:
Wins - Losses - Draws (No contests)
Taking ...
- 14.5k
8
votes
Accepted
Why are some people just not getting knocked out?
Boxers, kickboxers, and MMA fighters train to be able to minimize the damage caused by a hit to the head. It's actually pretty hard to knock anyone out who has trained for any length of time in these ...
- 19.6k
8
votes
Is 'pressure point' striking a useful skill to know in a street fight?
I have an answer that I wrote which goes over the pressure point "knock out" phenomenon:
How do you knock someone out using pressure points?
In summary, the pressure point knock-out stuff is either ...
- 19.6k
8
votes
Why are there no competitive martial art champions aged 62 or above?
It is also a simple fact of aging. You could look at any sport, and see the same thing. Champions in any sport at extended ages are outliers. Some examples of these outliers would be:
Al Oerter - ...
- 4,696
8
votes
Is the predominance of grappling in MMA prizefighting primarily a function of the small ring and cage?
Grappling is not predominant in modern MMA, and hasn't been for a decade or two, so the "matches seem to pivot on one competitor being forced against the cage...moving to the ground, and decided ...
- 20.9k
7
votes
How can I build striking power?
From a physics perspective, one way to think about striking is impulse:
To have an effective strike, you want to:
Maximize mass. The normal advice is use your whole body to strike. This means that ...
- 14.5k
7
votes
What does "submission (terror)" mean as method of winning or losing a fight in MMA?
I think the answer can be found in the Wikipedia page you linked to, in the section "Mixed Martial Arts Career"
On April 12, 2002, Son also took part in Xtreme Pankration 2, wherein he faced Joe ...
- 1,565
7
votes
Accepted
Why aren't forbidden moves in grappling sports like Judo and BJJ also a problem in MMA?
Usefulness of "dangerous" moves
why haven't we seen more people landing badly (or purposefully) on legs and breaking them?
Because it's actually really hard to cause damage with these ...
- 20.9k
7
votes
Do leg sweeps work with big people with muscles?
I'm roughly 105kg. One day at the gym, a guy who was maybe 70kg caught me with a low spinning back sweep which almost snapped my achilles.
I wasn't very experienced back then, and I like to think I'd ...
- 3,051
6
votes
Starting two or more different martial arts at the same time
It generally takes two/three classes per week (so four/six hours?) to progress in a martial art. Doing two arts, you will need that in both. Three arts brings you to around fifteen hours! That is a ...
6
votes
Accepted
How can I build striking power?
First, let's cover some basic context.
Coordination of muscle is key
It helps to have muscle, but... the real key is coordinating your muscles to work together to generate power. It's the same ...
- 8,403
6
votes
Accepted
What is the relative frequency of Muay Thai in the UFC vs. other fighting styles and why?
It's almost impossible to shoehorn fighters into individual styles these days since they're all training multiple martial arts. Rarely do we see the old school "karate guy" or "judo guy". Even those ...
- 1,801
6
votes
Accepted
"Lighter" but effective martial art
So you have two qualities you're looking for in a martial art:
It shouldn't put you in a position where you have to really fight your way out (because you have an injured back that won't be able to ...
- 19.6k
6
votes
Accepted
Doing martial arts on LSD
Yeah, go ahead and put a sword in the hand of someone who sees dragons guarding the refrigerator. What could go wrong?
I'll say this about any drug, alcohol, or medication for anyone in martial arts....
- 4,141
6
votes
Accepted
Double jointed martial arts?
Double-jointedness, as a physical condition, is neither desirable nor of advantage in martial arts, and I speak here both from a medical and a first-hand experience perspective. And I clearly ...
- 7,865
6
votes
Accepted
What are the major differences between a mentor and a cornerman, and why would one be preferable to the other?
There is a judo version of this question about the difference between a sensei (mentor) and coach (cornerman). The United States Judo Federation has a long answer to this question that considers the ...
- 14.5k
6
votes
How much would MMA change if gloves and wraps were banned?
From my experience in sparring without a gi both with and without gloves/wraps, there will be two main differences:
Some submissions, like straight armbars, might become more difficult since it is ...
- 7,865
6
votes
Accepted
Escapes from standing rear mount
The orthodox BJJ response to someone on your back with hooks is to first strip the hooks then shuck them off, while protecting the neck. One can do this by standing upright and pushing the hooks down, ...
- 20.9k
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