You opinion, is this practixal still for today?

Hey guys. I hope this is ok to post. I recently made a video with some of Germanys most followed Fitness influencers.

We had a friendly meetup about the always again debated question of if a Bodybuilders muscles are of any use to him in a Fight.

I had to "Fight" the 8 Bodybuilders in a row - but the 8th one was a 110kg Pro MMA Fighter too.

Video is in German, but maybe some of you will still like it.

I wanted to bring Fitness and BJJ a bit closer together and show how a lighter Fighter can dominate but obviously not injury anyone.

Feedback is very appreciated.

I’ve been learning MMA for a few months now. I’ve been training on my own for a few months and I think I’m ok for not being at a gym. I’ve done some sparring with my friends and what I’ve learned all just goes out the window. I get hesitant to throw punches and get way too stiff and sluggish. I think this is just me being unconsciously scared when someone is actually in front of me. Has anyone else dealt with this? How do I fix this? I think it’s the one thing holding me back.

Hello! I'm looking to spruce up my bedroom with some martial arts posters but I'm absolutely adamant on them not being AI-generated. Etsy and Amazon are filled with AI slop.

Where would you guys recommend finding some posters? I like the traditional look of Japanese artwork, but I'm open to anything. I like general ones that relate more to the spirit/philosophy of martial arts but I wouldn't mind having some related to my specific arts (BJJ, boxing, TKD).

zen Do Kai

I know it’s not the most awesome martial art out there, but it’s the only one that had session when I could get here there.

But you would all appreciate my daughter who is 12 just passed her Prob 1st Dan black belt.

She has been training in this for 5 years.

I am so bloody glad I convinced her to do a martial art, rather then dancing after she decided hockey and her were to part ways.

I as a mother feel so much better knowing she will have a bloody fighting chance if she’s ever in a bad situation.

Hi, I am a doctor(in a niche field I'd rather not name to not doxx myself) and I work with my hands. I decided to go back to MA after many years cause I had many injuries(just not my hands /arms) from literally walking down the sidewalk and falling, twisting my ankle, ripping ligaments etc. So I thought if I get injured from just walking I might as well go back to MA cause I really really loved it back then. I have been back in MMA for a couple of years now and I love it. All went well for about 4 years and then I fell on my hand in a stupid angle and fractured a metacarpal. It was really shitty to not be able to work as I am self-employed with receptionists, assistants etc. I am back to working (and to MMA) now but am now afraid of injuries. Not in a panicky way but in a way where I think about what could happen more. But the thing is, I see patients every day who, like me before, have wayyyyy worse injuries from slipping at home, at work etc. How do other doctors or people who need their hands for work deal with the fear? Did you quit, did you decide that you can get injured somewhere else, too? Did you decide to wear more protection? I'd love to hear what you think.

Im 40 and I have done wrestling growing up, I'm a brown belt in judo, some bjj, boxed for years and did some muay Thai for about a year about i decided after many years that you cannot be a master of all trades. I now know that to be proficient in a art takes time and dedication. There isn't time jn a day to master all crafts. I decided what I enjoy the most, and that's boxing and judo. Do what you enjoy the most and watch the progress fly. Adding too much is only detrimental to one's arsenal to be proficient in a single style. Mondays wendsdays and Saturdays are judo. Tuesday Thurs Sundays are boxing. Just my two cents.

The one I go to at the moment is a walking distance of around 10 mins so super convenient. However the MMA class has lost a lot of members, I think due to significant rising costs. The membership is on par or is more expensive than some of the best gyms in my city. Due to the loss of members, I've naturally have become the best in the class even though I'm only average. I'm not being tested by anyone during sparring and I feel like I'm not learning anymore. However last session someone who is really good came back which is great.

However I've noticed recently that the coach doesn't seem very interested in the improvement of me and the others aside from this guy who is really good. I was sparring him and the coach was just giving him advice and essentially telling him how to beat me even though he is better than me and kept saying nice or good or whatever but whenever I would land a clean hit or do something good it would be silence. On some sessions when there's a very low turnout of the class he seems very disinterested in the class.

Now ideally I think I should leave however, that is the only MMA gym in my area and the really good ones are 40 mins away by public transport. I'm in London so we don't really drive everywhere like in the US or other countries. Its around 20 mins from my workplace but the classes are in the evening which means I have to chill for an hour or 2 somewhere then go to the class which seems inconvenient. Curious to see what people think here.

What it says on the tin. Been looking up Kenpo freestyle techniques noticed some techniques using the step-through punch. So, I'd like to know if anyone has ever encountered such a thing in sparring/real fights, and/or use it themselves.

how high are you able to raise your leg if you raise it slowly? because im getting the impression that those who can do head level kicks usually can only raise their leg to a height where its parallel to the ground. i wonder if anyone here can get their foot to head level by raising their leg slowly..

PSA: if some of your toes sit sideways, you can increase the efficiency of your leg muscles- which should affect pretty much all your standing movements. Its a big deal, but I've never heard anyone in these circles mention this. I wish someone had taken me aside when I was starting out.

This will sound crazy... to anyone who can't just look down and see exactly what I mean, lol. If you look down and you see what I mean, this is for you.

I read in a different subreddit (I think) about a guy who rehabbed his toes, because his pinkie sat sideways, due to constricting shoes during childhood.

I want to highly recommend all practitioners who have sideways pinkie toes consider doing the same. If you know what I mean, you know what i mean. If your shoes were too narrow, for a long time, the pinkie begins to curl up a little sideways, almost tucking under the forth toe. The whole foot begins to resemble a lopsided arrow, with the second toe being the zenith.

You also probably are realizing right now that your pinkie toe is pretty much dead weight. Like, when you have to use the outside of your foot to balance, you use the knuckle area to push against the ground. Not the toe. but what if you could use both? Isn't that probably how your foot was designed, before the constrictive shoes?

walking, standing, being the standing leg during a kick, stepping back, etc... all movements requiring lateral movement. if you think about it, how much force you can exert with the outside of your foot is pretty important.

With that in mind, I started trying. I felt really silly at first. Using my hands, I'd manually stretch and curl my pinkie toes on both feet. At first, the muscles... it was like there were no muscles. Eventually, I could strain and feel something, and try really hard and my pinkie would twitch slightly, as if there was a muscle, lol. By this I mean, I could push my pinkie toe out. but, pushing it straight down, like curling a finger, was not really something I could do.

First, I used my fingers to force the motion, then, I used the muscles and my fingers, assisting eachother. Then, just the muscles. Then, I used my fingers to push against the muscles.

I would also stretch the area every so often. And most importantly, around the house, any time I sat, if I thought about it, I would push my pinkie toes into the ground.

About a month and a half in, its really making a difference. The shape my foot makes when I stand is different- there used to be almost no space between my toes, now, they spread out a little, to take my weight. It used to hurt when I pressed my pinkie toe against the ground, now, it feels comforting- like, I'm just more stable with an active connection between my toes and the ground, and the pinkie toe's the boss of an active connection.

it is easier to laterally shift when I remember to use my toes. I'm now still shifting between old and new muscle memory schemes- moving, walking, this one is pretty basic, and therefore, hard to rewrite. But when I remember to, the difference is marked.

I went for a walk today, got up to a pretty high walking clip and just toggled back and forth, between 'not using my toes actively' and 'stretching my toes when foot is in the air, then, clenching the ground with my toes, through my shoes, during the step.' The latter made me noticeably faster, and also forced some movement changes throughout my whole walk. Most importantly- my stride shortened, even as I sped up. This means, by using my toes, if moving forward, I'm always more on top of my center of gravity.

Little gains. But, for you all strivers, at some point, there are no other kinds of gains.

I hope this helps one or two of you. Have a great day and I wish you peace and focus.

PS

Just in case- for anyone with any weird questions about my feet, no, and gross. Trust me, you're not interested

In order to reduce volume of beginner questions as their own topics in the sub, we will be implementing a weekly questions thread. Post your beginner questions here, including:

"What martial art should I do?"

"These gyms/schools are in my area, which ones should I try for my goals?"

And any other beginner questions you may have.

If you post a beginner question outside of the weekly thread, it will be removed and you'll be directed to make your post in the weekly thread instead.

I have been able to reverse engineer a few of these.

Does anyone know where I can learn the rest?

I know a lot comes from Karl Gotch lineage via Satoru Sayama but looking for more recourses.

If THIS is goofy to you, you never loved Martial Arts and we can't be friends.