A Sub-Reddit for all things martial arts related
A public forum for all-ages martial arts and related discussions
/r/martialarts
We’ve all heard of the 4 styles of boxing. Our fighter, swarmer, slugger, boxer-puncher. What y’all reckon are the styles of mma? I imagine with all the other martial arts mixed in, it’s gotta be more than 4 styles but maybe I’m wrong. What do y’all think? For sure out fighters and sluggers exist but are there more specific to mma? Like I reckon you could call Khabib a swarmer, idk. Interested in yalls input
Happy New Year!!!
My friend (15f) has been concussed 3 times in 5 months. 2 from wrestling and 1 from getting knocked out in a fight. She complains about headaches, blurry vision and some other stuff too.
I haven’t had any, but seeing what’s happened to her has had me think a lot more about it and I’ve tried blocking it out, but it’s been wild to see it up close. I find myself worrying about them more now.
I don’t tell her, but I think about it way more than I want to now.
I've seen a lot of variance to 紮馬步 but what is the actual proper way to train it? If you don't mind sharing a picture of video of a proper stance, I appreciates it a lot!
How long should I do it everyday to build good foundation?
Hey guys, sorry for the weird question but one of my resolutions for 2025 is to learn some martial arts, since I've been a fan of the UFC for a while, and BJJ seems like it would be most useful to a smaller girl like myself.
Due to personal reasons though, I'm not too comfortable rolling around with men so just wondering if gyms have some sort of segregation in this regard or if I should look for female-only gyms.
Now this doesn't happen to everyone or everyday, but it happens often enough; now the nationalistic bent only seems to happen when you are dealing with people who are holding on to historic rivalries. For example, my friend practices traditional Cambodian martial arts Kun Khmer aka Pradal Serey which gets confused for Mauy Thai a lot which is understandable. However, what annoys him personally is having his combat art dismissed a rip off of Mauy Thai just because it doesn't have the same media footprint even after giving proper historical context for example. And if was just your average Joe ok but sometimes it is people who has a martial arts background that should know better that is thankfully rare but is still annoying because it comes off as disrespectful.
Alright martial artists of Reddit I summon your wisdom! I have been doing judo for about a year now and got the basic throws down, decent at tachi waza and honestly I’m pretty slick on the ground with ne-waza.
But here is the thing, judo has zero striking and I can’t shake the thought that if an MMA guy and I squared up he could just boop me on the jaw and I would be out cold before I even tried my sick ippon seoi nage. I love judo it’s like human chess to me...... with more bruises. But I also want to feel like I could hold my own if someone decided to throw hands and feet. Should I stick with judo or is it time to switch into MMA and learn how to punch stuff?
Anyone on here looking to be part of a sparing group in Edison NJ? Either at a park, YMCA or gym to train and just fight each other to learn a new system called ICC that teaches how to fight better and then applying it in our personal training. It’ll be a fun group to fight, discuss, learn, and train.
Hello, I (21M) really want to learn about a martial art and i would love to do some boxing or wrestling but i dont have a lot of time because of college so i cant join a gym. The thing is my college has some extracurricular activities and one of them is judo, it really sounds interesting and i think im gonna try that. What do you guys think? i would only have 1 class a week but its better than nothing right?
In my ripe old age I'm considering learning a martial art, but as the title suggests I've had knee surgery. Which art from would be best for someone with a medically weaker knee/leg or is anything fine once I've built enough stabilising and protective muscle around it?
Update? (I guess)
Thanks for the replies and I'm liking the common sense approach of checking with the experts and checking out a few classes to see what sticks. Thanks everyone!
I’ve dealt with plantar fasciitis for several years, I wear orthotic inserts which help big time. Obviously being barefoot on the mats means I can’t wear my orthotics which leads to a bit of foot and heel pain during and after classes. Does anyone on here have experience dealing with the same thing? Wondering if there are any recommendations for ankle/foot braces or supports that help provide some arch support while training barefoot.
Hope you find this useful! :)
When it comes to writing any goal, the key to success lies in how you frame it.
Phrase your resolutions with clear manageable steps that emphasize action.
I still have to constantly remind myself this but I created an newsletter where I share self-improvement tips and inspiring combat sport stories. Not only to keep myself accountable but to help others too.
You know those movie scenes where the protagonist is getting provoked, but he remains as calm and collected as possible, says some cheesy line like "I really don't think you should do that, for your own good", before snapping and beating the antagonizer to a pulp, walking off without breaking a sweat?? Yeah thats my goal, but I have no idea how realistic that is. I have no desire to fight for sport, I just would like to live my life knowing that if it came down to it I could more than likely beat the next guy's ass. How much training do you think it would take to be able to beat the average untrained individual? I have an athletic background, but zero trained fighting experience, 6'1 male, slightly above average strength. Also, which style would be best to start out? I've been debating between Muay Thai and Boxing, my heart is leaning towards Muay Thai just because I feel like in a street fight nobody expects kicks or knows how to defend it.
Edit: Ok reading this back I see how it sounds lol, I know in a real life scenario fighting is an absolute last resort, I've only ever even been in one street fight (only cause we were all drunk tbh), and hopefully I don't end up in any more. I just mean I want to be able to know I could defend myself in case I absolutely had to, and that besides sparring for training I don't have the goal of actually competing to win a fight for sport so my goal wouldn't be to beat the next heavy weight champion it would be to become skilled enough to defend myself against an average untrained opponent.
I’m really into King of the Streets and love the raw, no-holds-barred vibe of their fights. The underground setting, the intensity, really set it apart from mainstream combat sports.
Are there any other underground fighting promotions or similar organisations out there worth checking out?
It doesn’t have to be exactly like KOTS; I’m open to different formats as long as it keeps that underground energy. Whether it's bare-knuckle, street-fight style, or just lesser-known organisations.
Everywhere I go, it seems like boxing gyms are either focused on "fitness" classes with insanely high prices (which I respect they’re running a business but I’m not about to pay $999 a month for a coach who’s essentially just a personal trainer with no real boxing experience).
Recently, I tried out a local boxing gym, and honestly the experience was disappointing. There wasn’t much structure to the class. Having worked as a personal trainer and knowing how my friend ran their gym, I can recognize good structure when I see it and this wasn’t it.
The coaches spent most of their time talking to each other and occasionally throwing out vague instructions like, “Throw a 1-2 combo on the bag,” before walking off. There was no detailed instruction and no engagement. Then they had us do a circuit, but again, no explanation of the movements or timing. It all felt very thrown together.
After the class, I spoke with the head coach, who pitched me an 8 week program for $999 that included a meal plan, an accountability coach, and three classes a week. I was polite and expressed interest in the boxing aspect, but when I asked about joining their fighter team, things took a weird turn. I mentioned my experience as a former amateur MMA champion (admittedly, I relied more on my athleticism than formal training), and he laughed it off, saying I couldn’t do that in boxing. I told him I’ve fought some talented boxers, but it felt like the conversation became an ego thing for him.
He also made side comments about my weight, saying things like, “Losing that weight would be good for you,” and, “I want real fighters who are focused, not just trying things out.” I had already told him I was serious about getting into boxing and fighting again, but it was clear he wasn’t really listening.
What really threw me off was when he dismissed other local gyms, saying, “Yeah, those other gyms are in the hood. They’re not like us.” That comment showed me exactly where his priorities were. The irony is that many of boxing’s greatest champions came out of “hood” gyms places where the focus is on grit, skill, and dedication, not flashy facilities or overpriced programs.
It’s frustrating how hard it is to find real boxing gyms these days. So many places are just fitness studios using boxing as a trendy workout, offering cookie cutter meal plans and classes with no real training or passion for the sport. I just want authentic boxing training, but it feels like it’s becoming increasingly rare.
I spent the past 15 years with a hapkido program. Whenever we practiced strikes (on a bag, holding pads for each other, or even sparring) we were naked handed - no gloves at all. Part of this is their focus on hand techniques, but mostly we just trained for real-life self-defense.
I've left that school, and started muay thai, and I have to say, it drives me crazy that they force us to use gloves. I'm curious about what the community thinks, bec I am very adamant that martial arts should NOT be practiced with gloves, for these reasons:
Why are schools teaching people to rely on fake padding?