I'm so hungry for some Lechon right now.
Just had lechon this weekend. :-)
Thank God for Muay Thai.
I didn't read every post, but let me just say this. I remember many years ago hearing a student of Kali say, "I like training in Kali because you don't have to sweat." I remember thinking, "You must not be doing it right!"
Martial arts is really the art of staying healthy. If your ground work is bad, focus on that so you don't get hurt. If your knife sparring is lousy, focus on that so that you can survive a knife attack. If you can't discipline your food intake and exercise, then you need to concentrate on those areas to avoid self-inflicted health problems. I used to be overweight, so I know it just takes some small changes in habit to create a new direction. As instructors, we lead mainly by example, and being fit is as important as any other aspect of the art.
I went to my first FMA class last week, Doce Pares, and I wasn't out of breath in any way the whole time. Tapping sticks isn't really very hard work. BJJ on the other hand wrecks me every class. FMA is just waving your arms in the air generally, BJJ or thai boxing or whatever requires full body movement and has resistance in every class nearly the whole time.
Your not getting the physical workout you want because you are doing those tap drills. Hopefully later they will let you spar.
I get guys sparring first day, basic stuff hit the hand, but not much later I have the guys spar in all rangers, at first with the padded sticks, that is when you will get the full physical workout you desire. Ya know MMA with a stick.
Sometimes people go to the wrong school for the wrong reason. FMA schools are notorious for WAY to many drills and not enough all range sparring.
Ask to watch an advance class, .see what that looks like.
Phauna, if you like sweating so much, there's a step-class I can recommend to you.
We strongly believe in sparring and getting good cardio workouts in with our Kali class =)
^^^That was sweet. :)
I hear what you guys are saying, but in a BJJ, wrestling or thai boxing class you are going to sweat and gasp from day one. I think lots of FMA devolves into TMA, where the master becomes too skilled to work with the junior students, so no sparring turns them into fatties.
I think Doce Pares is meant to have a lot of sparring, but I'm not sure how enthusiastic the students are for it. They seem an unathletic TMAish lot. A couple of fat seniors, a really skinny old woman, etc. I'll see where it goes, not much choice in my area.
If the class dosn't pan out, start your own group. See if some of the local MMA guys want try it out. Get padded sticks to start off.
Good luck bud.
May I recommend joining us over at www.DogBrothers.com as well. Join the members forum, I can't express how much it has helped me.
I tried to sign up but I think my application has been rejected. They ask you to prove you're a human, so I made a joke, in hindsight it may not have been the best proof but I didn't want to give my resume either. I figured a spambot couldn't make a joke.
I might just try to pervert the class itself by suggesting sparring a lot, doing sparring before class with someone. One of the fat seniors made the 'not wanting to go to the ground' quip last session, he even mentioned broken glass on the floor of a nightclub.
phauna -I wouldn't go to the ground in a night club either man. In fact, if anyone ever tried any of the roysee gracie stuff on me, . . . .I'd just get up!
I might just try to pervert the class itself by suggesting sparring a lot, doing sparring before class with someone. One of the fat seniors made the 'not wanting to go to the ground' quip last session, he even mentioned broken glass on the floor of a nightclub.
twinkletoesCT -nowaydo - Many martial artist do not do enough basic cardio exercises to prevent heart disease, nor the basic mobility exercises and stretching to allow them to live and practice without pain. Not to mention, diet.
Martial arts is a small % of "life". Most conditioning should be done just to be a healthy and pain-free participant in "life".
There is much truth to this.
Interestlingly, I read something once by an Aikidoka who laid out the statistics of "being attacked" vs "injuring yourself by falling". As you might imagine, the odds of seriously hurting yourself by a fall around the house is astronomically higher (for most people). It DOES make you think about how much ukemi you practice... :)
I've always thought this as well. I learned Judo when I was 7 years old for 6 months. The first 2 months we only did breakfalls. I don't remember anything else except a double grapevine from mount, but those breakfalls stuck with me for years after without training, and I used them a lot. Outside of highschool I've never been in a fight, but since then I still have slipped on ice. Aikido also seems pretty neat in having a bunch of methods of falling or going to the ground without hurting yourself.
I've been suplexed on asphalt by a D1 wrestler. . .true story.
Update on the unhealthy FMAers at my school. No one has equipment to spar except the instructor so I bought a WEKAF helmet and got another guy to get one too. So we did some sparring. Two rounds was the most anyone wanted to spar. They are so unhealthy. One guy has such huge love handles.
I got some padded sticks off of Ebay so I'll see if they want to do some non-geared up stuff to get their wind up. The old woman quit, too.
phauna,
Do they have you locked into some long term contract? Why are you still training there if you hate it so much? I'm sure they will show you the door if you would like to leave.
When I do stuff like sumbrada or Sinawali with my instructor he hits the sticks HARD and fast. Sometimes I'll start sweating because I'm worried I'll lose a finger(or worse!)I stick spar 4-5 times a week now. Sometimes we'll set an interval timer and switch between stick,knife,both(espada y daga) or unarmed every 1 min. All MMA stuff is allowed at all times. Nothing like hearing that timer go off and busting a$$ for that training knife on the floor... Helps my cardio tons! Most FMA people I've met up here do not spar AT ALL.Just a plug-I get all my sticks now at www.bloodsport.com (Nick RULES) I got my padded sticks from www.kaligear.com they are alot like the Inosanto academy "Lameco" padded sticks.I've never used Actionflex,opinions?
ryan, I don't completely hate it just I'm in Australia and there is not much around, even in Sydney. The instructor cross-trains wrestling and MT etc., he just doesn't do it with the class yet. I have some hope that he will make the class more realistic when he works it out.
There is no option for me except to come early and spar with like minded people, or go back to doing just bjj, wrestling and striking. I bought the instructor some padded sticks the other day, perhaps he will get the hint.
phauna,
I understand that situation. In the mean time, find what your instructor is good at and try to suck as much information out of him about it as you can. If he's good at patterns learn as many as you can.
"If a person can teach me one thing, they're of value to me."