Comments for Ultimate Fighting Systems

Comment on Overcoming Your Self beliefs of Inability to Learn Martial Arts. by Alex

Alex — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 03:03:39 +0000

This is a very good article. I am just at the beginning of my training in martial arts (I’m a no-grade at Valhalla, I train BJJ/MMA and Thai Boxing), and it has at times been very frustrating for me. There are moments in training where I get something and can do it, but I just forget again. I didn’t expect instant prowess, after all BJJ is a totally new way of fighting, and nothing is intuitive for me yet, but it was very disheartening to see that others who were just as new as me were picking things up faster. I started to think I just might be too slow to learn Jujitsu.

That has changed though. The instructors, maybe noticing that I am picking things up slowly, have been giving me (what seems like) more help than before. It slows the class down sometimes, but no-one seems resentful. Also I am starting to get to know some of the guys at training, so it’s more enjoyable. I still feel like I know nothing, and that others are perhaps learning faster than me, but I’m enjoying training and making SOME progress which is enough to keep me looking forward to going to BJJ.

Comment on Martial Arts Injuries – an Excuse to Quit. by admin

admin — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 22:23:30 +0000

Hi Tom

I agree with you whole heartedly.
That if the reasons for quitting are valid, to you, then it is time to move on to other things.
Our priorities change in life and some of us do incur injuries that will prevent us continuing.
One of the main points of my article was that, when we are faced with an injury, loss of motivation to train and are considering quitting, we ask ourselves whether we are being true to ourselves in our decision.
Sometimes the decisions we make, during times, when things aren’t going very well for us, we come to regret later.
In addition, some people find it hard to stick to anything because they have developed a strategy of using any excuse to quit when they realize that it is going to take a lot of hard work to achieve the full benefits of the particular discipline, that they originally saw.
This is a character flaw that will seriously impair someone’s ability to achieve anything useful in life.
Developing the resilience to overcome adversity and stick to our original goals is a valuable attribute that training in martial arts will help develop.
I am still recovering from a serious shoulder injury which really tested my resolve to continue (see my latest post).
However, I never at any time wanted to give up training, I worked (and continue to work) around the injury, slowly increasing the strength, range of motion and subsequent ability of the joint to function again, so that now I am back training Muay Thai, BJJ and MMA at full capacity.

Thank you for your insights.

Geoff

Comment on Martial Arts Injuries – an Excuse to Quit. by tom

tom — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 23:56:51 +0000

Hey good article man! I agree with what you say, with people who are all too willing to give up when they discover that they will not be overnight champions and that progress in combat sports/academics/relationships is a product of hard work. injuries are part of the game and you have to adopt a mindset that takes this into account and work through it. That being said I’m not sure you gave proper due to Mark’s point, though he does sound a bit jaded, which brings up the question of priorities. You mentioned quitting as “taking the easy way out.” This is my only beef with your article, I imagine myself in 25 years, god forbid, with herniated discs in my back and a doctor that tells me to quit bjj or face impairment in other aspects of my life. (lifting my children, carrying groceries etc..) It sounds a bit like you’d tell me that quitting BJJ, the sport I love, is the easy way out when that forces a person to examine the way their life is structured and change it in a big way. Like I said, I mostly agree with you but I also think there are many activities people can engage in that can bring great benefits to their lives, be it yoga, gardening, whatever, that don’t carry the same risks as MA. At the end of the day your students are living the consequences of their choice to continue training, not you or me. Whether that’s just showing up to work with a black eye or serious back injuries from Judo, I think we as practioners/teachers need to respect that not everybody has the ability or the will to train like we do.

Appreciate the article + thanks for reading,

Tom

Comment on How to Become a Successful MMA Fighter by Randolph Bussing

Randolph Bussing — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 01:36:27 +0000

Aw, this was a very nice post. In thought I want to put in writing like this moreover – taking time and actual effort to make an excellent article… however what can I say… I procrastinate alot and not at all seem to get something done.

Comment on Martial Arts Injuries – an Excuse to Quit. by Dr Geoff Aitken, Ph.D.

Dr Geoff Aitken, Ph.D. — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 21:14:51 +0000

Reply to MarkNZ Comment.
What a very interesting comment. You have clearly missed the point of the whole Blog post.
You have drawn conclusions with a very narrow-minded and completely flawed view of martial arts training.
In the first instance you say that there are only two types of martial arts schools and give your incredibly biased, cynial and, what could be interpreted as, prejudiced opinion of what is taught in them and who attends.
Perhaps you should look around at some of the higher quality schools.
I run a school that has 495 students, ranging in ages from 5 years old up into their 50’s.
I teach MMA, BJJ, Muay Thai and Philipino Stick-fighting.
My students come for all walks of life; I have several doctors, business managers, mums, sales people, school teachers, policemen, scientists together with numerous university students and people who do more regular jobs.
They all enjoy the martial arts that I teach for the reasons that they want to do them.
The majority of my students are there to engage in a life-style pursuit that will give them confidnce, great exercise and an ability to look after themselves.
In addition I produce some of the best fighters in the country. regional, national and international champions.
What I find even more interesting about your comment is that you make an assumption as to type of students that I am talking about and the injuries that they are incurring, then you proceed to criticize me on that view.
That view is a conclusion that you came up with and is not in line with my blog post at all.
In addition, I will add that I do know why my students leave because I do ask them, that is why I have the most successful and professionally run school in my region.
Please take a look at your comments, reread my post with a less biased point of view and perhaps even visit some of the more professionally run martial arts schools and you may come away with a different view.
One last thing martial arts is hardly a fringe activity with limited demographics; in my own city (340,000 people)there are literally thousands of people of all ages regularly training in martial arts.

Regards Geoff

Comment on Martial Arts Injuries – an Excuse to Quit. by MarkNZ

MarkNZ — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 03:31:52 +0000

From my experience there are two types of martial arts classes (a.)the air-fairly impractical, esoteric ‘mc dojo’ types where you get taught stuff that’s semi-useful and never get to put into practice what you learn or get a bleeding nose (b.) the full-on dojo’s where you get down and dirty. Mostly the first category is for the kids of rich kids and the other working class.

The problem for the later group is the students, which I gather you are referring to(?) don’t like getting their bones broken as they can’t afford time of work.

What you deem as merely a weak excuse to leave – I see as a credible, rather than a character flaw.

Since I left JJ I have completed an Ironman Tri and several multi-day endurance events, so to paint those who leave the sport as lacking motivation shows you have never actually asked your students “why did you quit?”

Instead you have rushed to judgment, made assumptions.

Getting your nose broken and two black eyes is not like a runner having a calf injury.

MA is after-all 99% training – stop enjoying training by getting constantly injured and you are finished.

There are plenty of other things for people to do and martial arts may be a big part of your life but not others.

As I discovered getting beaten-up learning to defend yourself seems to be counter-productive.

These people aren’t weak – they see the emperor has no clothes – MA is a high-risk fringe sport.

Some individuals bask in the physicality and have jobs that mean its O.K to front-up looking like you’ve gone through 3 rounds with Mike Tyson – others don’t have this luxury and live under the roofs of partners who prefer their other halves in one piece.

There will always be the ‘old school’ involved in Martial Arts that see injuries and the more blood that is spilt as being a badge of honour.

That’s why MA remains a fringe activity with limited demographics (testosterone filled males under 30) and perpetually massive turn-overs.

That’s my penny’s worth.

Perhaps try asking ‘ex’ members why they became an ‘ex’ member?

My bet is they’ll tell you they were sick of getting injured as did their employers & partners.

Cheers.

MarkNZ

Comment on Self Defense Training Must Include Use of the Environment. by Edward

Edward — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 22:33:17 +0000

Training for self defense techniques should also include some realistic scenario where you get to learn also what you learned in the real world. Thank you for your time constructing this article. I have learned so much today and I am looking forward for your new blogs.

Comment on Martial Arts Injuries – an Excuse to Quit. by Darrel

Darrel — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:39:44 +0000

AS the popular cliche goes, “No pain, No Gain”. Aren’t you just wondering why there are still many people who pursue martial arts training? It is because they have learned to live with the pain until one day that they don’t anymore feel that way. So dropping out should never be an option unless you don’t know that martial arts training is painful.

Comment on The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Influence and Other Martial Arts Systems Claims to Ground-fighting Techniques. by GK

GK — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:48:01 +0000

It’s even worse than you say. Lyoto Machida has a book out called “Machida Karate-Do”. Half the book is BJJ techniques (which he has a black belt in)and the striking half looks almost indistinguishable from MT. Yet he is called a shotokan fighter; as though he has ever dropped into a ridiculous low stance (“keey yah! Wax on”). Kyokushin looks to me to be almost identical to MT. Why can’t the Japanese be justifiably proud for originating the outstanding grappling systems of judo, jiujitsu and pancrase, and admit that karate sucks and that their striking is basically Muay Thai. Japanese style fighters practice MT in a gi and call it “karate”.

Local McDojo’s are worse. Local TKD, karate and kung fu schools are now calling themselves MMA schools and teach the very basic MMA techniques, but they don’t have any fighters actually fight in amateur MMA, MT or BJJ matches. They spend the other half of the time teaching traditional bullshit; no doubt telling naive students that they are beter than legitimate MMA schools (that compete) because they teach MMA techniques combined with “deadly” traditional techniques that work on the street but are “too deadly” for “mere sports”.

Comment on Martial Arts Injuries – an Excuse to Quit. by SenseiMattKlein

SenseiMattKlein — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 09:21:43 +0000

I think it also depends on the life stage you are in. Had back surgery at 32, full knee reconstruction at about 40-something, decided to give up the high risk activity and focus on teaching. It’s all priorities. Can see how many use it as a cop-out however.