Any fighters around here?

[Jim Slade]

I used to fight every week.
Martial arts were a mixed blessing, used properly you'll possibly do serious harm to your opponent used improperly they don't really work. If we're talking about fighting as opposed to some sort of sporting event or contest you need to look at the grappling styles, Ju - Jutsu or military styles like krav Maga.
Kick boxing etc.. are little use in a real fight unless you don't mind really hurting the other guy.
The hardest guys I ever fought were, in order of hard bastard
1. Ghurkas
2 Bare knuckle boxer
3. Guardsmen
4. coked up boxers - never ever box a boxer.

how did you fight a Ghurka?
and what is a guardsman? some kind of soldier?

as for me, i thought about starting box or sth in the past, but never really got to it, or found the right place.

I was a doorman working on a club that was frequented by lots of servicemen/women. The gurkas were involved in a fight and we had to remove them. It wasn't easy. The guardsmen (of the Grenadier Guards) were pretty tasty too.

[kidsoftheblackhole]

heh,must have been tough.

thanks for the reply.

[vibragreen]

One of the things I don't like about fighting is you rarely get the chance to really use it. As was said earlier in the thread you can roll around on the floor with your mates but it's not really fighting. With any other hobby you get to practice the real deal constantly (learning a language, weight lifting, writing, sailing etc) I suppose you can enter some competitive fighting sport such as MMA, UFC or Muay Thai but there's still a lot to be desired even in these. Do something Fight Club like with no rules would just result in grudges and severe injury. So really in a no rules fight where you really have to defend yourself you have no idea how shit's going to go down.

I sometimes wish I was born in the past where these martial arts were being developed for practical purposes and were used often. That would be bad ass or am I romanticizing it and have watched too many kung fu movies?

[Kevan67]

You are romantacizing.

I trained for a decade in Karate (traditional) and a militray form of Unarmed comabt. I trained to a good level as well. Anyway, there is nothing clever about fighting, most fights happen in small confined spaces and are over within seconds! They hurt even if you are trained to fight and trust me there is nothing romantic about that the day after. However the fitter you are and the higher levels of stamina you obtain enable / help you recover more quickly its pure adrenalin that gets you through the most of the fight. And if you have a glass jaw theres not a lot you can do about it, some people can handle the physical aspects of fighting and others can't.

So the best form of defense is "to run" if ever you have the option, there is always someone bigger and tougher than you and you never know when you are going to meet them do you. Knives, guns and other general weapons are all too common place these days and to some people life is cheap so why risk it!

If you choose a martial art remember the art is not in how hard you can hit or kick your oponent in the control you apply. There is also no need to kick the s**t out of each other to learn a martial art either, bruising is damage to your body and any sustained bruising especially around the joints is bad for you period. Find another martial art if this is happenign to you or a better instructor.

dojo's can be great places to gain fitness, learn discipline and meet new friends. Good luck in what you choose oh and try a few different styles as well as we all work in different ways!

[Jim Slade]

One of the things I don't like about fighting is you rarely get the chance to really use it. As was said earlier in the thread you can roll around on the floor with your mates but it's not really fighting. With any other hobby you get to practice the real deal constantly (learning a language, weight lifting, writing, sailing etc) I suppose you can enter some competitive fighting sport such as MMA, UFC or Muay Thai but there's still a lot to be desired even in these. Do something Fight Club like with no rules would just result in grudges and severe injury. So really in a no rules fight where you really have to defend yourself you have no idea how shit's going to go down.

I sometimes wish I was born in the past where these martial arts were being developed for practical purposes and were used often. That would be bad ass or am I romanticizing it and have watched too many kung fu movies?

Very intresting point.

Back when I was learning the various schools of Ju-Justsu I often would try to look into the history of the system, and the politics that brought it about. We often would wonder what a practitioner from a previous age would make of our feeble tai-jutsu. When I trained with the older Japanese guys, the higher dan grades, they would be brutal to the point of really damaging us. But when you consider that all the "locks" you learn were developed to break the joint and incapacitate the opponent not make him "tap out" and the throws are capable of killing someone it made me wonder what exactly were we learning.
There is a technique called ganseki nage, which in the dojo has an opponent grab you and throw a punch, you block, take his balance and throw him, he rolls stands up and bows, everyone is happy. I once used this technique in a real fight, the difference was my opponent didn't roll, he smashed his head into the pavement. I had some explaining to do after this.