Martial Arts and Real World Fighting
Posted by pad-up 30 May 2011, 10:45:44
Flipping through any martial arts magazine will yield a bombardment of advertisements claiming to greatly enhance one’s odds of winning a street fight. Of course, no method will work if the student doesn’t spar. Now, some may say that sparring is not a street fight and that is true, but, sparring is the bridge required to develop solid skills and attributes. In order to understand this connection, one needs to understand what martial arts sparring is, what a street fight is, an how to develop the training module to create the bridge.
Sparring is not a fight; it is a learning experience designed to help the student polish strong points, develop an individualized strategy, building conditioning and endurance. Most importantly, martial arts sparring drills are primarily designed to provide the student with the skills of combating a non-cooperative opponent through the safety net of protective martial arts sparring equipment. In order to be well rounded, sparring should also consist of both isolated stand up, close quarters and ground fighting as well as an MMA style mix of all three.
Keep in mind, the aggression that you will be facing in such a confrontation will be much different than martial arts sparring mainly because street fighting barrels forward aggressively throwing weight behind an overhand blows. The offense barrels in with the hopes of knocking the person to the ground so as to stomp a prone figure. In the absence of sparring gear, such an attack will prove severely injurious.
Keep in mind, the above described street fighting aggressive tactic is also the definition of how NOT to spar because it is absolutely awful from a technical standpoint. However, any type of violent confrontation can prove dangerous even to someone who has decent boxing or martial arts sparring experience if the level of danger and intensity is beyond what the individual is familiar with.
So, to deal with this type of aggression is to spar well and often then to take the skills that have been developed and bring them to drills designed to deal with brutal aggression. This is done in the form of a changing the sparring rules. First, since this type of sparring will be full contact it is critical to wear proper martial arts equipment designed to maintain safety as the contact level of this drill strikes intended for quick knockouts within a short timeframe. (There is a great variety of sparring equipment on the market that can provide adequate safety so there is no reason for unnecessary injuries) In terms of the drill itself, the aggressor’s goal will be to throw all his weight behind his punches “head hunting” with overhand punches. If these knockout blows aren’t working the aggressor has the option to tackle/ takedown and headlock his “victim”. The good guy now must counter the punches and the takedowns while using his high level of skill to end the fight QUICKLY as these rounds will be short (one minute) so as to simulate the ballistic nature of a street fight. There are many variants one can come up with to this described drill so you are never limited to a particular approach.
AM Caro
Copyright Pad-Up.com
Posted by pad-up 23 May 2011, 08:49:21
Boxing is a sport in itself, but individuals who are training in a form of martial arts also commonly practice it. There are several key items that you will need before you start practicing boxing, and I will tell you all the boxing equipment that is needed when boxing here, so you know which boxing supplies that you will need to start practicing. This will make sure that next time you would like to practice boxing, when you are practicing martial arts, you will be prepared to train and have safety on your side the first time you practice boxing. Below you will be given explanations of several different types of equipment that you will need to safely practice boxing; I will also let you know which brand is the best to be used when purchasing your martial arts supplies, that you can purchase from the online martial art supply shop.
One of the main areas inside of boxing that you will need to protect is your hands; this is why the first item that you will need to start your boxing training is boxing gloves. When it comes to gloves, quality should be something that the person training in boxing should pay a large amount of attention to. The reason it is important to pay attention to this is because if you get poorly made boxing gloves for when you would like to box, the gloves you get could not provide the cushioning that you need, to comfortably have a boxing round with an opponent. The Top Ten Boxing Gloves are recommended, as they are one of the safest kinds of boxing gloves that are currently available to anyone who would like to take up training in the field of boxing.
To get good at the sport of boxing, you must first improve your hand speed, and something that can help with the speed of your punch is a speed bag. A speed bag help you get the rhythm of your punches in the right timing, having your hit lined up perfectly with a strong force behind it is a great asset to any good boxer. Using a speed bag will help you develop fast punches and steady combos; this will help you if you are ever in a boxing martial art competition where you need to land strong and accurate punches to win the fight. The Century Speedball is recommended to use to start your boxing training.
When practicing boxing one of the most important things is protecting your hands, beyond this it is also very important that you protect your face and head, this is why the next piece of equipment that you'll need to start boxing is a boxer's head guard. A boxer's head guard lessens the impact of your opponent’s blows. This can be very helpful as some opponents hit rather hard when boxing, and without a head mask the boxer could end up breaking a bone that is located on their face. The recommended brand is Black Top Ten Head guard, the retail price for this piece of martial arts training equipment is high ,but if you were to get this piece of equipment at pad-up.com which is a boxing supply and martial arts equipment store, you would be able to give the Black Top Ten Head Guard for a much lower price then any store can offer you. The Black Top Ten Head Guard carries a discount if you were to purchase multiple of them, think of this when purchasing this piece of martial arts equipment at the online martial arts shop.
Last not least one of the items that you will need for boxing is a mouth guard, you can pick this up in the martial art supply section of this websites’ store, and the price ranges on the mouth guards. It is always recommend that you go with a better brand and product, as this will provide more quality protection for your mouth, when boxing. Beyond this you have everything you need to start training for boxing, after you have purchased all of the training equipment listed. Don't forget when boxing, that safety should always be put first before competition, practicing safety is important when practicing any physical contact sport.
Disclaimer: This article was written for pad-up.com by one of our customers and does not necessarily reflect the views of pad-up.com. Pad-up.com have not endorsed any of the advice given in this article.
MMA - History of the Guard
Posted by pad-up 23 May 2011, 08:43:53
The guard has been a position utilized in Mixed Martial Arts competitions for a very long time. Although the origins of the position are the subject of much debate, the general consensus is that what we call the guard evolved from Japanese Jujitsu and Judo. Since the position was introduced to Brazilian fighters decades ago, the guard has become a very powerful weapon. Endless submissions and sweeps originate from this seemingly defensive position. To see the guard used to it’s fullest degree, drop into your local Brazilian Jujitsu school. But how effective is the guard in MMA?
Royce Gracie introduced most of us to the guard in the mid nineties when he fought in the original UFC matches. At that time very few people understood what he was doing and how he was able to use this position to tap out his opponents. The crowd was baffled and amazed when time and time again Royce would submit larger opponents from his back. Before long, many fighters would follow suit and the guard would become a staple of MMA bouts.
As the sport evolved, many fans and officials became frustrated with what they considered stalling. Fighters were holding their opponents in the closed guard for entire fights without doing much of anything, which halted the action and slowed the momentum of the fights. Some fighters in MMA became well known for “butt scooting” across the canvas. Audiences typically don’t like this sort of thing. To combat this, officials began to stand up the fighters and enforce a time limit on time spent on the ground without action. The sport evolved once more.
And that brings us to today.
You would be hard pressed to find one MMA fighter that did not have some understanding of guard work. Fighters are much better rounded now, which translates into cross training between disciplines. Even well known stand up fighters are seen working from their backs from time to time. But how effective is the guard now that the rule changes have been implemented and fighters are better versed in it?
It’s hard to say either way. In the past, fighters who were primarily guard players could contain their opponents and wait for them to “gas out” and slip up. Since the pace of the fights is much quicker, guard players must press the action much more. They cannot wait for their opponents to tire any longer. It is much more common now to see guard players like BJ Penn and Nick Diaz attempting a long series of submissions all in a row.
There are some fighters who have a very dominant ground game but choose not to fight from their backs. Many wrestlers tend to fight this way. Matt Hughes is a perfect example of a fighter who avoids going to his back. This fighting style may be more tailored to the modern form of MMA.
On the other side of the coin, many fighters are style enlisting the aid of “guard gurus” like Eddie Bravo and the Gracie family to advance their game. In the last UFC several of the fights ended in submission, many of which where attempted from the back. So, while it is true that some fighters are choosing to lean towards stand-up and ground n pound tactics, many are still choosing to equip themselves with a strong guard game.
It’s been fifteen years since Royce Gracie first introduced us to the guard and its use in MMA competition. Although things have changed quite a bit over the years, the guard remains to be a key element in most fighters’ arsenals. Even those who don’t use the guard certainly seem to respect it.