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Other/Mixed Short Thoughts on Martial Arts I've Done

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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Something I'll add is that you end up eventually losing your sense of fear after the kind of training Raid describes above. Fighting just seems fun and exciting eventually. That's when you want to start watching yourself to be sure you aren't the problem.
 
Hello,

Most of the time, a combat training remains only a training. Mentally, this is very different. I did a lot of judo and boxing. Sometimes, we chose in the boxing to do some rounds versus multiple oponents. Receiving a punch with a glove, not @100% is far different from getting punch for real, because in the first case, the oponent will stop soon.

Fear can also be a powerful engine to get a kind of "warrior" spirit. Even a "realistic" training is biaised because we are always in classes to be teached. In the street, you are potentially fighting to save your life, with no rules excepted one: getting out of there as safe as possible

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Fear should remain your greatest friend. A physical altercation on the street could cost you everything including your life. Too many variables and unknowns. Apart from a pre-emptive strike it becomes a lottery. If I need to test my mental resolve I'll spar in M Thai or indulge myself with KB snatches..each to their own but I would always advise walking away from situation that could flare into something physical...just my two cents
 
I've practiced a few martial arts in my 40+ years, & thanks to a misled youth & some very poor choices later in life I've also had to defend myself sometimes others on many occasions. The best skill you can learn for self defence is awareness. Be aware of your surroundings & others at all times. I've unfortunately seen some very proficient martial artists of various styles get badly hurt, one I'm sad to say deceased because they weren't aware of the situation that escalating around them or were to hesitate to "pull the trigger" so to speak. You can have toughened hands & iron shins but if you don't get a chance to use them, you can train weapons but how often do you carry them on your person. I enjoyed training in the arts while I was younger to improve certain skills, but I learnt a lot more about self defence from the street. Not that I condone fighting on the street, it's an idiotic way to learn self defence, but nothing compares to real life experience, & if you don't have fear then you've a mental problem or are lying. Fear is to be managed not lost, fear will keep you alive. JMO
 
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If you want to be able to do the business for real...u have to hit and get hit, and get used to it. As far as fear goes, everyone will have it, but its how u manage it that counts. Getting a little scared in training and still being able to function will go a long way in helping you control that fear in the streets. Getting scared and getting hit in training helps, you have to do this. Get used to that feeling of fear, and still do ur stuff. If you've never felt it, fear or getting attacked/hit, it is going to be a lot worse that it actually is. I have seen guys go down to hits that my grandmother could take, mainly due the shock of it, not the actual damage, in ohter words, they got scared.

Practice pre emptive striking, and actual fighting, like a match fighting as in u and ur enemy go to toe, coz while it's best to avoid, soemtimes it just happens, and u are in the s***, if all you know is how to hit, but can't actually fight. Forget about waiting for him or blocking, ur jsut a sitting duck. Unfortunately, hitting someone first is looked at unfavorably by the law...yes, the thing that can save u, makes u look like the bad guy. But waitng for him, ur on the back foot. Most self defense stuff, teach you how to counter, which is great in theory and in hte class. Not so good in the streets, not saying it won't work, but ur not putting your self in the best possible position waiting for the attack.

Of course, awareness and avoidance are key. If you stuffed up on awareness, then you have already stuffed up the avoidance,lol. It really just comes down to looking out for s*** (awareness) so you can get away from the s*** (avoidance). If those two fail, then Action. Either go away, or fight like the devil, and pre-empt, dont stop until he's out.

Even better if you hit him with a weapon (very naughty and totally unlawful, but very effective). Of course, I am not talkign about what is legal or what is not, I am purely talking about combat. As far as defending against weapon, which u should never do, unless u really have to, get an equaliser. And if you don't have an equaliser? Then GOOD luck.

This is a good thread, lots of good posts so far.

When i say use a weapon, that's the filipino side coming from me, coz we use weapons when we fight, which is frowned upon here. Eskrima kind of goes like this....use the weapons first, then if you lose ur weapons, ur empty hands will be ur emergncy tools. It's the complete opposite in most western countries, where empty hands get used first, then use weapons in emergncy if theempty hands don't work...lol. The way we look at it...its kind of a bit late if u use your hands first...u could be dead already....

When i first started in living here, I was amused or confused by empty hands first before weapons...that would get u dead very quickly back home...lol
 
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Something I'll add is that you end up eventually losing your sense of fear after the kind of training Raid describes above. Fighting just seems fun and exciting eventually. That's when you want to start watching yourself to be sure you aren't the problem.

I wouldnt say you lose ur sense of fear, it will always be there, but u just become familiar with that feeling, but u still have to control it. As far as fun and exciting, sparring back and forth is fun and exciting, but I don't know about street fighting! After all these years, I still would not say it's fun and exciting..lol.
 
Hello,

Most of the time, a combat training remains only a training. Mentally, this is very different. I did a lot of judo and boxing. Sometimes, we chose in the boxing to do some rounds versus multiple oponents. Receiving a punch with a glove, not @100% is far different from getting punch for real, because in the first case, the oponent will stop soon.

Fear can also be a powerful engine to get a kind of "warrior" spirit. Even a "realistic" training is biaised because we are always in classes to be teached. In the street, you are potentially fighting to save your life, with no rules excepted one: getting out of there as safe as possible

Kind regards,

Pet'

It depends how realistic the training is. You have to attack your partner, all out, really try to take his head off. No matter how much he thinks it's only training, he will feel it, and the "reality" of getting belted will soon set in. I guess what i mean in realistic is....its not so much as the techniques, or what equipment they're using, its the "feeling" that u have to get, plus a good dose of getting belted. Its old school, but anything less, and people are just kidding themselves. Cooperative training is fine..when ur learning the techniques, then you have to test it, for real. Knowing how to stop an attack is differnt to being able to. You are right about the warrior spirit, it;s being able to overcome fear, coz u can use it to ur own advantage, but if you've never felt it?...then ur a#@ is grass..
 
I've practiced a few martial arts in my 40+ years, & thanks to a misled youth & some very poor choices later in life I've also had to defend myself sometimes others on many occasions. The best skill you can learn for self defence is awareness. Be aware of your surroundings & others at all times. I've unfortunately seen some very proficient martial artists of various styles get badly hurt, one I'm sad to say deceased because they weren't aware of the situation that escalating around them or were to hesitate to "pull the trigger" so to speak. You can have toughened hands & iron shins but if you don't get a chance to use them, you can train weapons but how often do you carry them on your person. I enjoyed training in the arts while I was younger to improve certain skills, but I learnt a lot more about self defence from the street. Not that I condone fighting on the street, it's an idiotic way to learn self defence, but nothing compares to real life experience, & if you don't have fear then you've a mental problem or are lying. Fear is to be managed not lost, fear will keep you alive. JMO

Very true...
 
I have to say, having only been in a relative handful of "real" situations once there's contact or the possibility of it ending peacefully is gone I have tended to feel...not chill, but calm in a strange sort of way. Maybe is the effect of higher than accustomed levels of adrenaline, I don't know where that comes from. Less nervous than when sparring someone in class I know is liable to hand it to me.

Watching stuff happen in low light, watching myself strike and the feel of someone's head rebounding off my fist or seeing a kick land, subliminal stop motion of their fist just before it pops me, the feel of being hit. Like dental work with novacaine - you know it'll hurt later but for now is just numb contact.

Of course for me all this is several decades in the past.

As @Raid said in earlier post, when its "Go Time" you need to realize it and go. Most people get worked because by the time they convince themself it IS real they've already been slammed and mentally they aren't going to catch up.

In the States, most penal code is written to allow pre-emptive physical force if a "reasonable person" would have felt the unlawful use of force by another party was imminent. Be reasonable!
 
The best skill you can learn for self defence is awareness. Be aware of your surroundings & others at all times. JMO

Awareness. That is so true. I've been a cop for the last 5+ years and that has been the no.1 skill that has served me extremely well when dealing with violent and aggressive people.

I'd also add that awareness is not just of your environment but also your internal state.

'Feeling' the adrenal dump happen in the moment means you can consciously start relaxation breathing (similar to what Pavel recommends) which undoubtedly gives you back control and keeps your rational brain on-line for longer.

Excellent books by Rory Miller go into great detail... well worth a read!

BTW brilliant discussion - I particularly like the mention about peripheral vision - undoubtedly this helps in conflict situations because it helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system (another route aside from conscious breathing patterns) and calms the adrenaline dump for sure.
 
I wouldnt say you lose ur sense of fear, it will always be there, but u just become familiar with that feeling, but u still have to control it. As far as fun and exciting, sparring back and forth is fun and exciting, but I don't know about street fighting! After all these years, I still would not say it's fun and exciting..lol.
Well, if you lose it isn't, of course! Hahaha!
 
I have to say, having only been in a relative handful of "real" situations once there's contact or the possibility of it ending peacefully is gone I have tended to feel...not chill, but calm in a strange sort of way. Maybe is the effect of higher than accustomed levels of adrenaline, I don't know where that comes from. Less nervous than when sparring someone in class I know is liable to hand it to me.

Watching stuff happen in low light, watching myself strike and the feel of someone's head rebounding off my fist or seeing a kick land, subliminal stop motion of their fist just before it pops me, the feel of being hit. Like dental work with novacaine - you know it'll hurt later but for now is just numb contact.

Of course for me all this is several decades in the past.

As @Raid said in earlier post, when its "Go Time" you need to realize it and go. Most people get worked because by the time they convince themself it IS real they've already been slammed and mentally they aren't going to catch up.

In the States, most penal code is written to allow pre-emptive physical force if a "reasonable person" would have felt the unlawful use of force by another party was imminent. Be reasonable!
Don't y'all have guns in the States? How often would fist fights happen?
 
Hello,

When someone has a gun, there is kind of "rule": if the gun is still in the pocket or holster, and if you are closer to 6 or 7 "big steps", you can have a chance to take the gun from the opponent (time for him to get the gun out, to target, to shoot). Of course, this is based on the fact you know what to do. Otherwise...

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Thanks @pet' for the article, & thank you for the many other articles or conversations you seem to be able to find hidden within the forum & blogs. You are the "table of contents" for the forum, much appreciated. Cheers dc
 
Hello,

@dc
Thank you very much for these kind words ! :) It pleasures me !

I hope it can help you ;)

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
@pet' it pleasures you?? Now you got me worried!! Just kidding, I know what you meant . You're welcome, you are one of many hidden treasures of this community.
 
@pet' it pleasures you?? Now you got me worried!! Just kidding, I know what you meant . You're welcome, you are one of many hidden treasures of this community.
Hahaha! It's like saying, "Pet, vos contributions m'excitent!" - at least I think it's like this.
 
For me, training some contact sports and martials arts has been positive in many ways. I'm not involved in a real fight since school. I've seen trouble, but I use to get out fast, that's the best self-defence. But training boxing, thai boxing, MMA or BJJ has taught me many things. First, in a physical aspect, it's good for cardio, explosiveness, power, agility and coordination. Specially if you spar (if you don't do sparring I find it a nonsense). You don't learn how to avoid a punch in the face until you don't get one and see how it hurts. In a mental aspect, first, feeling how it hurts makes you think that you better don't do that often (huge awareness sense) and second you feel more confident and... more in peace with yourself (don't know if it makes sense, but it's what happened). For me, I've become a better myself for training this and it made a huge change in my life.

Now I can't train anything and I feel like I'm losing something. I'm trying to figure my way to keep doing something, but family is first and now with my baby girl priorities are other. But I hope I will do something again, I really miss it
 
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