What martial arts are You in?

[koromitsu]

I started Karate Do Shotakai this year. And I'm practicing Kenjutsu with some friends.

[Yojimbo]

I was boxing for 2 years, now planning to start MMA.

[kotehashi]

Originally Posted by Tenchu

As soon as the head goes down, the knee goes up. Once you train for it, it just becomes reflex. I don't think it's hard.

As for Judo - it's a joke. I guess you won't see it unless you've done Muay Thai. They'll just get kneed in the gut a thousand times the way they fight.

Judo is no joke. I guess you have never seen karo parysian or yoshiro akiyama fight. A thai fighter would be smart not to clinch with a judoka as they would end on their back before they could throw more than 1 knee. Also a need is harder to land on a good shoot than you think as you actually aren't suppose to put your head down when you change levels too shoot. Knees are a good defense but need to be timed well. Its much easier and efficient to develop a good sprawl. A

[Umihito]

Used to go to Judo, but I started going less and less and eventually stopped because of exams etc.
I would love to pick it up again so that all I learned doesn't go to too much waste!

I would REALLY love to pick up Kendo. I love the look of this martial art, but there are no cheap schools for it in my area, so I'll just have to wait a little before I can start that.

[Rinai]

I used to take Taekwondo when I was little. I went all the way up to a yellow stripe! -PROUD- But uh. Yeah. I don't really know to much about all this stuff. BUT. I really love to see people perform Pushing Hands.

*plooka plooka*

[SuperFresh]

I dont believe in staying devoted to any 1 style. Instead I stay devoted to learning and growing. As Bruce Lee said: take what is useful, reject what is useless. To any serious martial artists I recommend you read 'Zen in the Martial Arts' by Joe Hyams.

[SuperFresh]

Originally Posted by Tenchu

As soon as the head goes down, the knee goes up. Once you train for it, it just becomes reflex. I don't think it's hard.

As for Judo - it's a joke. I guess you won't see it unless you've done Muay Thai. They'll just get kneed in the gut a thousand times the way they fight.

All up I have trained in Muay Thai in Thailand for about 2 years (6 or 3 months at a time). Before Muay Thai I studied Shoot-Boxing for 12 years. It was the life of my childhood. Shoot-Boxing is Kick-Boxing with throws and takedowns and locks. There is a lot of Judo we practiced in the style.

Judo is no joke. If you really do train Muay Thai in Thailand, you would know that Judo throwing techniques are illegal (in a MT fight) and will cause you point deductions (in Thailand). This is because it works. Before a Muay Thai fight I have to unlearn all the Shooto because I get point deductions. At Fairtex in Bangplee (when I have fought in Thailand I fight out of this club) I am notorious for point deductions. However some of the Judo leg trips can be masked as Muay Thai technique and I use this a lot (the Thai crowd really hates this and if done to much you will also get point deductions). The point is Judo is not a joke as you say, and many of the techniques do work ESPECIALLY against a Kickboxer with no grappling experience. And in judo we throw with the hip, not the gut, so I have no idea what your talking about.

One more thing, your assumption about simply kneeing a BJJ practitioner in the head when he goes for the shoot is ridiculous. I admit, when this does happen it is awesome. But it is uncommon. That is what sprawling is for. You have obviously never trained in MMA. Go watch some fights on youtube.

Every style has its usefulness and uselessness. Know what you are talking about before you talk about it.

[Ronin4hire]

Originally Posted by Jaydelart

I don't know. Although it would be arrogant to imply shooters can easily be defended with a knee, and I'd agree that it wouldn't necessarily be easy to execute, I doubt the likelihood of receiving an accurate knee, even at low force, as being ineffectual. As far as being ineffectual goes, shooting requires a considerable amount of commitment, meaning, to me, the degree of effectiveness can vary significantly -- in favor of a high potential for damage, reiterating that the knee hits its mark. Eating a knee isn't exactly a cup of tea.

Though, you do have a point about Judo's standing throws.



In any case, it's all about the artists not the art, right, Ronin?

I would say look at MMA today. While there was a surge of strikers that started to dominate once the UFC and other franchises started to sign some decent Muay Thai and Karate fighters, the dominance has swung back to the jiu-jitsuka and wrestlers that have learnt how to strike rather than strikers that have learnt how to grapple.

Regarding the knee. You're assuming that the knee and the takedown exist in a vaccuum. The key to a take down is the setting up of it. A better takedown defence as SuperFresh says is the sprawl as it is usually too late to get in a knee 9 times out of 10.

[termogard]

Originally Posted by Ronin4hire

.... the dominance has swung back to the jiu-jitsuka and wrestlers that have learnt how to strike rather than strikers that have learnt how to grapple.
.

True. Usually, wrestlers easily defend themselves of strikes and kicks.

[ZenOfAnger]

It's nice to see other members here doing martial arts.

I myself am currently learning Judo and BJJ (white belt in both), and have about 6 years experience in Tae Kwon Do. Personally, I prefer sport oriented martial arts like Judo and Bjj, because competition is a great way to gauge your skill in whatever style you practice, so you dont have to wait for an actual self defense situation and hope you know what to do.

How do you know you can throw somebody? Enter a Judo tournament. How do you know you can submit a person on the ground? Go to a Bjj tournament. How do you know you can punch someone? Compete in a boxing match.

Obviously, one should not enter those things if they have not yet trained for a few months prior at least, but I feel that combat sports like those are some of the best ways to train martial arts. Anyways, that's how I approach my training.

Sincerely,

ZoA.