Newb to MA

Jaybee2010

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Hi all, first post at SD here - apologies in advance if this is the wrong subsection.

Ok, me, I'm 43, bodybuilder 6' and 243Ibs. Did a teeny bit of Muay Thai back in my 20's but can't remember much except getting a contact lens knocked out in sparring. Have a VERY good record of non-violence - not a single fight since my teens, which I atrribute partly to my size acting as a deterrent, partly to my own good judgement in avoiding rough areas/bars etc. Yes alright, a couple of face-offs in the pub and the odd shove (given and taken) over 20 years but never so much as thrown a punch at a man since then, which is actually why I've decided to take up MA.

Goals are:

1) Confidence - don't want to freeze up or overthink if I'm ever dumb enough to get cornered, if I have to hit I want to hit out of strategy, not fear/anger;

2) Outlet - been giving this one a lot of thought recently, it might seem a bit 'Tyler Durden' but I think a man SHOULD be in a fight once or twice in his adult life, I've led an oversanitised life since my teens, worked at a desk for the most part of 20 years, (though for a year during '00 had a job where confrontation occurred weekly, and loved the adrenaline rush) and want to experience hitting, and getting hit;

3) Diversify physical exercise; MMA is the best form of cardio in terms of calorie burning, that plus I've got all this muscle, but all it does is shove iron - I want to stress them on another route.

4) Develop Situational Awareness - ie know how to never get cornered, to have that yellow flag pop up in my mind when a trusted someone innocently puts himself in a position where he could easily snap my knee, and a red flag pop up when that someone is untrusted. It's much better to run and be labelled a coward, than win and be scarred for life, that's my decision, but I want to be ready if ever the decision to fight as grabbed out of my hands;

Not an exhaustive list, I HOPE there are more I'll learn, but the main attacks I want to develop defences/counters against are:

  1. Punch thrown abruptly;
  2. Grabbed around neck from behind;
  3. Broken bottle being swung;
  4. Knife being swung;
  5. Grabbed by the throat abruptly.
Finally, I know I need to work towards being able to do splits, to practice getting hit to the face and body, and find a school that isn't run by franchise or has little/no sparring available.

I look forward to the considered thoughts/comments of you experts here!
 
Hi all, first post at SD here - apologies in advance if this is the wrong subsection.

Not an exhaustive list, I HOPE there are more I'll learn, but the main attacks I want to develop defences/counters against are:

  1. Punch thrown abruptly;
  2. Grabbed around neck from behind;
    [*]Broken bottle being swung;
    [*]Knife being swung;
  3. Grabbed by the throat abruptly.
Finally, I know I need to work towards being able to do splits, to practice getting hit to the face and body, and find a school that isn't run by franchise or has little/no sparring available.

I look forward to the considered thoughts/comments of you experts here!

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sounds like you need krav maga?
 
I HOPE there are more I'll learn, but the main attacks I want to develop defences/counters against are:

  1. Punch thrown abruptly;
  2. Grabbed around neck from behind;
  3. Broken bottle being swung;
  4. Knife being swung;
  5. Grabbed by the throat abruptly.
Finally, I know I need to work towards being able to do splits, to practice getting hit to the face and body, and find a school that isn't run by franchise or has little/no sparring available.

I look forward to the considered thoughts/comments of you experts here!

you sound like a nice guy but im in a hurry so :

you wanna learn all that shit from an MMA school ?

:icon_neut

without any sparring too ?

:icon_neut :icon_neut

secondly , how the fuck do intend on getting used to being hit in the face/body without any sparring ?

definitely one of the strangest posts i've read in a while.
 
i've been taking MMA for 5 months now.

little or no sparring in MMA = not going to happen.
we spar every class working on our ground game, and quite often boxing too and muay thai.

MMA does not teach you weapon work (knives, bottles, etc).
it teaches you ground game/submission skills (and in a real street fight, it really becomes no holds barred, and there is no tapping out, so keep that in mind) and striking skills.
now, there's no way that you are going to get used to getting hit, without getting hit. it's just a simple fact. can't take the pain - get outta the gym.

in MMA you dont get into the mount position and strangle your opponent. you need to have a real submission move. the only one that you've stated that MMA will help you with is being choked from behind - the closest move i can think of for this would be the 'rear naked choke' or chokehold - you put your hooks in by the person's legs, wrap your arm around their neck, lock your arms and squeeze. but in a street fight i doubt they'd care about much more than knocking you out and honestly strangling you.

the things mma will help with:
- confidence. i've noticed since i've started i've felt a lot better about myself, a sense of accomplishment i never had before.
- outlet. it's a GREAT stress reliever.
-physical exercise. MMA workouts are among some of the hardest there are - if your instructor is any good he'll push you to your limits, but never anymore than you can honestly handle. but YOU have to push yourself. if you think you can't do it anymore, know you can..


MMA is a lifestyle.
many people eat, sleep, live, drink & breathe MMA. it's a state of mind - and one that isn't understood by most. the ones that go pro, a lot of people can't understand why they train, to go beat each other up inside a cage.. but it's because they are competative people. and even the people who aren't pro... we like pushing ourselves to the maximum, not giving up, having that individual challenge that if we screw up we have no one else to blame. it's truly a passion, and if you don't like the sport, you'll have a horrible time there. you love it or you hate it, there's not really an in between.

good luck and i hope that you make the best decision you can make.
i'm sure you don't wanna hear all this from a 15 year old girl, but hey, what do i know? ;)
 
I think he meant he doesn't want a franchise or a place with little or no sparring.

Anyway, glad to have you. There are some very knowledgable people here (once you get past what seems to pass for internet etiquette :)).
 
I think he meant he doesn't want a franchise or a place with little or no sparring.

Anyway, glad to have you. There are some very knowledgable people here (once you get past what seems to pass for internet etiquette :)).

Thank you for the welcome and well spotted, my mistake on the keyboard, I VERY DEFINITELY want to spar, and avoid any school that DOESN'T spar like an outbreak of the Plague!!

Not much time to type right now, but although I find the idea of Boxing/Free Wrestling intriguing (I also have a bit of experience with the former), as it would stand me in good stead against larger, more powerful fighters than average, wouldn't that leave me vulnerable to lighter, nimbler opponents? I can't assume that every moron who looks for a fight is untrained, my knee joint is as vulnerable to attack as any other guy's, more so if I'm not moving as much as a lighter, fleeter-footed opponent.

Thanks again all !!
 
I'm going to second both Bas Rutten's self-defense thing, and krav maga. But frankly, it sounds like you want two separate things: realistic self-defense, and competitive sport. Now I'm not the most experienced guy so there may be an art that has both, but my first thought is that you might do better to take something like MMA, where you get the sparring and exercise and so on, and then also take something like krav maga where you get the realistic self-defense.
 
I also couldn't quite understand if you are after self-defense or competitive fight sport.
If the later, I have to agree on boxing. At your size and being a bodybuilder it will be easier to get very good at punches than at kicks, although you should take some Muay-Thai once you are comfortable with Boxing so you learn how to check kicks and also practice low kicks which would be fine for you too. For grappling, either Wrestling, BJJ or Sambo would do.
For the record you don't need the splits for self-defense.
 
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