No BS MMA and Martial Arts

3rd Kyu

Evilenzo — Sun, 19 May 2013 08:01:46 GMT

Hello!

Yesterday i took the exam for 3rd Kyu and passed. Virtual beer for everyone!

3097 members currently online

Ke?poFist — Sat, 18 May 2013 22:23:50 GMT

Some of you should go outside and run for an hour, then do some push-ups.

Yes I mean you.

Richard Spencer, International Combat Authority

OwlMatt — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:42:25 GMT

Richard Spencer appeared on the Martial Arts Planet forums in March 2012 as MAP user Xa-Ryu, advertising a martial arts system of the same name. When MAP members called him out on some extremely questionable claims and material that his website copied from other sources without citation, he locked non-members out of the Xa-Ryu web site, made a new MAP account and claimed the old one was a fake (both accounts had the same IP address), and then disappeared from MAP altogether.

Shortly after his embarrassment on MAP, Master Richard Spencer of Xa-Ryu disappeared and reappeared as Soke Richard Spencer of the equally questionable Kong Sento Bujitsu. This apparently didn't pan out either, because Spencer disappeared again, this time to reappear as Dr. Richard Spencer of the International Combat Authority. The ICA, which claims to be a worldwide close quarter combat (CQC) organization training and certifying security personnel all over the world, is now on its third website.

Throughout the whole story, the various incarnations of Richard Spencer have all claimed martial arts experience and ranks far beyond what anyone so young (he told MAP he was 32) could have achieved, and have all claimed service in the British Army as a "commando".

Spencer has been covering his e-tracks as he goes by shutting down his websites, but this whole matter has been catalogued by MAP in the thread Spencer originally started as Xa-Ryu: http://www.martialartsplanet.com/for...d.php?t=108072.

We've just found Spencer's new ICA website: http://www.icacqc.com.

Spencer's strategy this time seems to be to provide no information at all so that no one can catch him in a lie. The site provides no information about the qualifications of ICA instructors, no list of organizations it has worked with, no names of specific people to contact, and no address for the ICA or anyone in it.

Notice the pictures on the site's homepage. Both appear to be marked "(C) ICA". I discovered as ran my mouse cursor over the images that the "(C) ICA" is not part of the image, but separate web site text, which makes me wonder if this isn't another case of Spencer re-branding others' work as his own.

I stuck the only phone number on the web site into to Google and turned up two LinkedIn pages on which Spencer is selling his services at some pretty steep prices:
http://www.linkedin.com/company/inte...-ica-/products
http://www.linkedin.com/company/inte...220360/product
Notice that one of these even has a recommendation from another LinkedIn user.

Some of Spencer's previous e-incarnations indicated a location in or near Cardiff, England, but I haven't been able to find anymore than that yet. If anyone here knows anything about this guy, I'd love to hear it, and so would my friends at MAP.

I'll post more as I find it as well.

Battle "Bruce Buffer" Fields

battlefields — Sat, 18 May 2013 17:42:31 GMT

Tonight was the amateur MMA fight card I was meant to appear on but due to a rib injury I received two weeks ago, I had to pull out. If you are a sadist and/ or really want to read about me being hurt because you have something against me personally, check out my training log to find out the details of this injury and the devastation I felt from having to pull the plug on something to which I had been so dedicated. I'd also suggest seeing a psychiatrist or something, 'cause that **** is fucked up, I'm a dude on the Internet, why you hating so bad? Some of you may be aware of the sacrifices I made for this program, the daily circuits, sparring and strict dietary habits. Never before have I been so disciplined.

But this thread isn't about that part of the experience. This is about something else.

Despite being injured, I still went to training every day. I was there to support the team, I was there to help out where I could and although I couldn't work out with them physically, I hoped I was there for them mentally. They were my team mates, I had bled and sweated with them through some gruelling workouts and punishing sparring sessions, we had bonded and there was no way I could in good conscience not be there for them. Every night I watched from the sidelines, listening to coach and offering my limited advice where I could. Often I would just provide a sounding board, or a calming tone when I saw frustration that wasn't going to help come fight night.

It allowed me the chance to indulge in my hobby of filming the fight game, doco style, behind the scenes in my own gym, something I had been neglecting since the hard core training had intensified. I was able to film the final sessions, the motivation speeches, the coaches adamant demands of the fighters. I began to prepare all my recording devices for the night, hoping to be a part of it, if only to record everything for my team mates.

I arrived several hours early, did several errands to make sure the show ran smoothly then began to mentally map out my camera positions; when, where and how I could use them all to make as professional a piece as I could being one man with three cameras and no special platform from which to film. Then coach threw a bit of a curveball.

"Hey, just wondering what you'd think about MCing the show? Nothing major, just introducing the fighters and things like that."

Now, I've MC'd before, I hosted my sisters wedding and I was front man for a few bands, but I hadn't touched a mic outside of a studio for nearly five years. And when I was on the mic, I had "assistance" from my friends, Mr. Al Cohol and Dr. Ugs. It was an hour before start time and I was now hosting an event with hundreds of people in attendance, many that I didn't know. At least I was well known at my sisters wedding. ****, even the bands I fronted only ever played in venues that were lucky to crack the triple digit mark, at absolute best I think I performed in front of 120 people, mostly friends and friends of friends. As the time for the start of the event neared, I started to wish I was fighting. At least they only had to be centre stage for 3x3.

In order to gain some sort of control of the situation, considering it felt like I'd been thrown in the deep end, I liaised with the ref, the DJ and even the timekeeper. I knew some of the judges, having trained with them and also knew some of the opposing teams fighters and coaches. Again, to gain some control I made sure to ask the proper pronunciation of the fighters names. Small things, but in the long run I figured if I was confident I knew what I was saying, I'd be good. I already started to feel better about the role.

I was asked to inform the crowd that there was fifteen minutes to start time and suddenly I was reminded of a school play in which I had one line. It was an odd thing to remember. I began rehearsing the welcome speech I would say after telling them of the estimated start time, but I discarded it as I seemed to be muddling up my words. **** it, I thought, just wing the whole night.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, FIGHTS WILL BEGIN IN FIFTEEN MINUTES."

That felt good. I began to improvise, informing the crowd of certain requirements for the evening, including keeping a path free for the fighter entrances. It was all coming together.

I'm not sure of the exact moment of the realisation, but suddenly it dawned on me that I had seen and heard fight announcers thousands of times before, live and on TV. I knew what needed to be done and said, hell, I'd been preparing for this for years, I just didn't know it. This was going to be fucking fun. I went from standing to the side and having people wonder whose voice was booming through the PA, to centre stage, adding a bit of battlefields flavour to the mix, careful not to take the limelight from the fighters, but ensuring I was heard and seen.

I introduced the night, the fighters, a charity fundraiser who shaved her head in front of everyone before she goes into chemo next week and had the crowd cheering when I said she looked beautiful with a shaved head; I had the crowd making "some noise" on command "in this third and final round", announced the winners of the fights (which was, when my team mates lost, the hardest part of the job) and wrapped it up nicely by thanking everyone for coming out.

Throughout it all I still managed to film every fight. Fucking multitasking, yo.

I had people coming up to me afterwards saying I am "a natural" and did "a great job". I was pleased.

At least I know if I suck at fighting I can still pursue a career in the cage.

Learning Combat Taijiquan

Lao Tse — Sat, 18 May 2013 03:42:46 GMT

Hi everyone,

A few quick points before I begin.

1) This is my first post on Bullshido, and I'm still finding my way around. I apologize in advance if this is the wrong format or location for this question.

2) I'm hoping to avoid debate about whether taijiquan is an effective martial art. I recognize there is some ongoing debate in the community concerning this question, but it is tangential to the intended purpose of this thread.

With no further ado:

I have a little bit of background in taiji basics from a long time ago. I am now intent on returning to it, but this time I want to learn it in a martial context. There seem to be a lot of poor instructors/styles out there, so I'm turning to you guys for help.

My biggest problem is not knowing where to begin. I imagine that I am not alone in this experience, and thus I'm creating this thread both for my personal edification and in hopes that others may find it useful. Here are the specific questions I have:

1) It is commonly touted that all styles of taijiquan can be used effectively in a martial context. Nonetheless, their are some obvious differences in both aesthetics and training.
a) What are the stylistic differences in how the major styles (Yang, Chen, and Wu) fight?
b) Are some styles more immediately transferable to a street fighting context?

2) What does a combat taijiquan curriculum look like? Does it include hand form practice? If so are short or long forms more popular among the martial crowd?

Answers to any/all of the above would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!!

Hook

Cuddles — Sat, 18 May 2013 03:42:36 GMT

I was doing a bag workout today (A full one! Not a slacker hit-the-bag-a-few-times-cause-I'm-bored one) and noticed that my hooks well, don't hook. They don't snap off the bag, rather I end up driving through the bag.

How should I work on getting the proper form? A resource on proper mma hook form would be great.

My woeful punching also led me to rethink how I strike at all.

Thus, if it isn't too much to ask, a resource on a mma jab, straight, and uppercut would be great and much appreciated.

I am asking for mma striking because I'm more interested in the mma sport than pure striking ones such as kickboxing and boxing.

Thanks a ton for helping out a nub like me!

-----------------------------------------------

On an unrelated note, I've FINALLY been able to secure wrestling training because my school doesn't have a wrestling team or program. Due to Bullshido.net's encouragement on grappling, I've spent the past 2 months or so talking with my school's administrators as well as wrestling coaches on how I can wrestle for school.

After talking with three coaches, 2 athletics directors, my principal, my vice principal, and a CIF referee, I've succeeded in gaining free school Wrestling! There is still some debate on whether or not I will be allowed to compete in the state tournament (CIF), but at least I can train now. Yay! :) My first practice is next Monday I believe. My dad's also bringing me to check out a Judo dojo and club this next week since AP testing is over! Woot!

shadow sparring

rnc357 — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:27:45 GMT

Anyone see any value to shadow sparring as a supplement to training. for example: going through the movements of certain techniques such as RNC, collar chokes, Guillotine chokes ect. for the purpose of building proper muscle memory. Thanks for any replies.

24 hour (ninja) randori session

CrackFox — Fri, 17 May 2013 22:03:38 GMT

So, em I guess I have to say something or get chewed out for positing a low content thread...

I can do about 30 mins of randori before I need a a nice sit down. An hour and a half and I need to be carried home, even if I try to pace myself.

These guys apparently do 24 hours. In a rocky environment.

Now either there are a bunch of ninjas with fitness levels that I could only dream of, or they have a very different idea to me of what randori/free practice means.

Does anyone have more info on this?

UFC 160: Velasquez vs Bigfoot II - 25 May, 2013

Tranquil Suit — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:29:01 GMT

MAIN CARD
=========================
Cain Velasquez vs Antonio Silva
Junior Dos Santos vs Mark Hunt
Glover Teixeira vs James Te-Huna
Gray Maynard vs TJ Grant
Donald Cerrone vs KJ Noons
=========================

Preliminary Card (Fx)
=========================
Mike Pyle vs Rick Story
Dennis Bermudez vs Max Holloway
Colton Smith vs Robert Whittaker
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Abel Trujillo

Preliminary Card (Facebook)
=========================
Stephen Thompson vs Nah-Shon Burrell
Brian Bowles vs George Roop
Jeremy Stephens vs Estevan Payan

Jerryrips

devilboy7778 — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:47:06 GMT

Has anyone watched any of his videos?
I found out from Luke Rockhold, he has some backstage footage he has edited together, theyre actually really good. There is one where Miguel Torres can't remember who where he is, who he fought, and what weight class he is in.

https://twitter.com/JerryRips

They are really interesting videos in my opinion, some funny too. It just shows like UFC for what UFC really is, the videos are just more behind the scenes then ufc even does with their videos, it almost makes UFC seem like a shady organization. It shows the dark side of fighting but also the real side, which can be funny and interesting too. My favorite video is the one with Matt Hamill

Who taught you to fight?

Permalost — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:21:33 GMT

So it seems fairly common, in America at least, for boys to learn to fight from their dads, or uncles or older siblings. Its even become a trope in movies and TV shows: a kid is bullied, and his dad teaches him to stand up for himself, using whatever hard-won knowledge the dad has learned over the years, culminating in a fight with the bully.

The thing I find interesting is what, exactly, an adult passes onto a non-training kid as fight advice. My dad was in prison so I didn't get that experience, but we sorta cobbled together our fight notions from wrasslin' on the neighbor's lawn, watching pro wrestling, and Jackie Chan movies (somehow boxing wasn't much of an interest, probably due to lack of spin kicks).

Friends of mine had dads that show them the basics of how to box, some wrestling, some "dirty tricks", whatever they can cobble together.

The thing about it that amuses me the most is that most of these teachers have no idea how to fight. Maybe they've seen a few brawls and fought a few times twenty years ago, but the dad doesn't want to tell their teary-eyed kid that they don't know as much as it seems. So, they sorta make stuff up as they go along, often assuming that if its not legal in boxing, its good in a fight.

I've heard of dads teaching to throw dirt in their eyes if you're stooped over, act like you're not fighting then suckerpunch them, wind up for a haymaker then kick them in the balls, and fake with your left/hit with the right. A friend of mine said his dad taught him to karate chop the liver and side of the neck at the same time- a trick learned from a Navy SEAL, allegedly. Its interesting how common t3h d34dly is among childhood fight instruction. I figure its partly for wanting their kid to fight back as violently as possible in case they are in real danger (something that scares the hell out of parents), and not having any real background in fighting so just thinking of what would hurt and confuse the most. Plus it usually assumes that the bully is a bigger, stronger kid, so going toe to toe without extensive training is probably futile. But hey, mud in the eye!

I remember my uncle showed me an especially deadly way of hitting someone- you extend your middle finger halfway out and hit with the protruding knuckle! Looking back, I kinda wonder how much of this stuff was adults bullshitting for amusement or or appeasing annoying requests for fighting secrets.

Its a pretty interesting institution- the blind leading the blind, but with the assumption that the guy knows what he's talking about. Its very much Bullshido, but it comes from a position of wanting to empower and help their children (usually). Its kind of an endearing thing to see, misguided as the teaching may be.

So does anyone have any tales of learning to fight from their dad/uncles/siblings? The less grounded in reality the better.

New 20 Year Study Shows Exercise has Strong Anti-Cancer and Survival Rate Effects

W. Rabbit — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:03:08 GMT

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/16/health...html?hpt=hp_t3

Quote:

Exercise may keep cancer away

Getting into shape may help you ward off cancer -- or boost your survival chances if you are diagnosed, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Vermont studied more than 17,000 men for close to 20 years. They found those who exercised the most were 68% less likely to develop lung cancer and 38% less likely to develop colorectal cancers than the least active men.

Among those men who did develop either of those two cancers or prostate cancer, exercise helped reduce the risk of death by 14% for each incremental increase in fitness level.

This is pretty impressive stuff.

So..not only does regular exercise seem to ward off some of the most common and deadly cancers, but the effect "stacks" as they say.

Some interesting live ASCO discussion on the topic...

http://meetinglibrary.asco.org/content/34803

Moves that shouldn't have worked, but did

strikistanian — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:38:58 GMT

Whether you were the person living a moment of spectacular glory or you were the rube featured on some other guy's highlight reel at your own expense -- hell, even if you were just a bystander to the spectacle -- what are some moves that you've seen work that really shouldn't have?

Bonus points if you've got video!

Let's skip the Showtime kick, though, since we've all seen that one.

For me it's the Kung Fu low-spinning sweep kick. That thing you see people do in movies, which is often countered by jumping over it. I went for a head kick, The Arbiter (a Boston Bully) threw a low spinning sweep at the same time. It was like something out of a movie! My leg went right out under me and I hit the canvas with a resounding thud.

So that was my experience... Hoping for some good stories here!

Decent training resources/videos

Fuzzy — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:57:02 GMT

So I'm missing training yet again because of some sort of terrorist bio-weapon or possibly just a really bad case of the flu and I'm consoling myself by watching videos on the Youtubes.

Now I realise its very difficult/impossible to actually learn a style from videos, but I've found that there are some that can be a great supplement to regular actual training.

I personally like:

Stephan Kesting: http://www.youtube.com/user/StephanK...?feature=watch (Thanks to Tonuzaba for recommending his stuff to me)

Burton Richardson, particularly this video which I've watched a few times:

Lonely Dog's Workouts: http://www.youtube.com/feed/UCSA_l2D2hT33g8-wNZ-fsog

Some of the material from Rodney King's Crazy Monkey Boxing: http://www.youtube.com/feed/UCvOfErQDrP6VsyuRiO5wAVA

Tim Hartman's "Modern Arnis Minute" is often pretty interesting: http://www.youtube.com/user/datutim

Do you have any videos or other resources that you view regularly? I figured it might be nice to get them all in one place.

Please help O' knowledgeable ones

Grab my fist — Thu, 16 May 2013 05:28:37 GMT

Hi Guys,

I don't post here very often these days, but I need some help please.

I am looking into adding some more MMA/BJJ to my training, and have found these gyms close by. I am hoping someone who may be familiar with either of these can provide some insight/recommendations.

http://tuffmuthafightgym.com.au/

The coach here has a pretty decent pro MMA record

and
http://www.peterdebeen.com/

There is a location near home. I hear Debeen BJJ kills it comp wise.

Obviously I am planning to try both, but any options would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks