Another martial arts thread... SW Manchester area?
Discussion
Right.
I used to do Ju Jitsu aged 12-15. I enjoyed it at the time, especially the grappling/wrestling bits. I originally gave it up as it clashed with rugby which I took more seriously at the time (I particularly enjoyed tackling and gaining possession. I was tougher then).
Now in my mid-30s, although I'm reasonably bike & running fit, I feel that I've possibly gone a bit soft. I'm intending to improve my all-round fitness and have been thinking about looking at martial arts again (rather than just circuit training).
The first question is, which styles/variants are the ones to go for?
Given what I enjoyed as a teenager, a physical, grappling & punching style without lots of eastern philosophy would probably be my kind of thing rather than something with a lot of set-pieces, katas, spiritualism and acrobatic, aerial kicking. I'm not intending to become a cage fighter either, though.
Of course I could find it all a bit too much these days...
The next question is, where are the good clubs in the South West Manchester/Trafford area?
Thanks
I used to do Ju Jitsu aged 12-15. I enjoyed it at the time, especially the grappling/wrestling bits. I originally gave it up as it clashed with rugby which I took more seriously at the time (I particularly enjoyed tackling and gaining possession. I was tougher then).
Now in my mid-30s, although I'm reasonably bike & running fit, I feel that I've possibly gone a bit soft. I'm intending to improve my all-round fitness and have been thinking about looking at martial arts again (rather than just circuit training).
The first question is, which styles/variants are the ones to go for?
Given what I enjoyed as a teenager, a physical, grappling & punching style without lots of eastern philosophy would probably be my kind of thing rather than something with a lot of set-pieces, katas, spiritualism and acrobatic, aerial kicking. I'm not intending to become a cage fighter either, though.
Of course I could find it all a bit too much these days...
The next question is, where are the good clubs in the South West Manchester/Trafford area?
Thanks
Edited by MC Bodge on Saturday 21st December 08:55
What you describe you want is clearly a Mixed style. I really think you have two choices:
1) MMA itself, although I would look for somewhere a little more commercial than most MMA-fighter gyms given you don't want to actually compete and aren't a teenage peasant.
2) Krav Maga or another self defence/reality based style. That generally attracts an older crowd and will give you everything you want.
As for clubs in your area, no idea; go and have a look at a few
1) MMA itself, although I would look for somewhere a little more commercial than most MMA-fighter gyms given you don't want to actually compete and aren't a teenage peasant.
2) Krav Maga or another self defence/reality based style. That generally attracts an older crowd and will give you everything you want.
As for clubs in your area, no idea; go and have a look at a few
Haggleburyfinius said:
1) MMA itself, although I would look for somewhere a little more commercial than most MMA-fighter gyms given you don't want to actually compete and aren't a teenage peasant.
What's the typical form of sessions at an MMA gym?No, I'm not a 'teenage peasant' and I've no tattoos or pumped-up biceps. I'm more 'early-middle-aged-middle-England'.
Haggleburyfinius said:
2) Krav Maga or another self defence/reality based style. That generally attracts an older crowd and will give you everything you want.
I have heard about Krav Maga and it does sound to be the right sort of thing. Again, What do the sessions typically consist of? What is the long-term aim/progress for someone getting involved?An MMA type gym will offer training in the 4 core disciplines of MMA: boxing, muay thai (thai boxing with hand/foot/knee/elbow strikes & clinch work), jiu jitsu and submission grappling/wrestling. A good gym will let you train in any or all of those disciplines depending on what you like. If I was younger and fitter it's what i'd be doing mate.
davey68 said:
An MMA type gym will offer training in the 4 core disciplines of MMA: boxing, muay thai (thai boxing with hand/foot/knee/elbow strikes & clinch work), jiu jitsu and submission grappling/wrestling. A good gym will let you train in any or all of those disciplines depending on what you like.
This is what I'm hoping for and will be going along to watch some classes.My experiences(with some hindsight) of Ju Jitsu (20+years ago now) were that it was a bit 'artificial'/contrived at times -eg. All attacks were right-handed. The best bits were the warmup/cardio and the 'wrestling' that we did at the end of the sessions. My experiences of playing schoolboy rugby in the pack (to county level) toughened me up much more due to the constant contact and responding to sneaky digs in the mauls/scrums.
Looking back, learning Judo and boxing would probably have been a better combination than the Ju Jitsu -not unlike what MMA has become.
I'm wondering what Krav Maga will be like.
I'm less keen on doing lots of set-pieces as per my early 90s Ju Jitsu. I'd like to learn useful techniques and I'm keen to grapple/spar, so long as I can learn something and improve, rather than just turning up and being pummelled into the ground every week.
davey68 said:
If I was younger and fitter it's what i'd be doing mate.
It remains to be seen how my battle-scarred body stands up to it...Which clubs have you spoken to?
Is Stockport in reach of you?
I haven't personally trained with Evolve but i did have a friend who trained there and said nothing but good things, not sure where he is training these days mind.
As you have said, the best bet is to visit couple of the gyms and see how the feel/atmosphere is in the gym, very important tbh.
If you want to Spar dont bother with Krav Maga.
Is Stockport in reach of you?
I haven't personally trained with Evolve but i did have a friend who trained there and said nothing but good things, not sure where he is training these days mind.
As you have said, the best bet is to visit couple of the gyms and see how the feel/atmosphere is in the gym, very important tbh.
If you want to Spar dont bother with Krav Maga.
Sorry, i just don't know that side of Manchester well enough to give you a proper recommendation. And i understand about the hour long drives, a reason i unfortunately no longer train Muay Thai, so finding a gym close is vital.
We used to have interclubs with Phoenix muay thai, another good gym, but again a long drive for you.
The Krav maga classes i have seen did not inspire and looked more suited to Womens self defence, infact i think it was, which i proberly why i watched it HAHA, but it depends on the instructor and the class.
If someone pulls a fire arm, well 9/10 times i would imagine your fu**ed.
A knife, i would run, just not worth the risk fighting someone with a knife.
I will highly recommend Muay Thai as a sport to you,as it is very disciplined.. i much prefer it to MMA and boxing.
I'm not sure if Muay Boran is still taught,but very fascinating stuff.
As you will know from the BJJ days,as long as you feel comfortable and don't feel intimidated you will have great fun.
Good Luck in finding a gym you like
We used to have interclubs with Phoenix muay thai, another good gym, but again a long drive for you.
MC Bodge said:
It just seems to me that without some sort of 'resistive' human interaction, there is little point in a 'martial art'. Without a combat element, straight-forward fitness training would probably be more useful.
Very much agree, hence why i would steer clear of Krav Maga and the like. To me proper self defence is Muay thai or boxing, you learn a technique and you practice it, then you practice against someone who moves and tries to hit you.The Krav maga classes i have seen did not inspire and looked more suited to Womens self defence, infact i think it was, which i proberly why i watched it HAHA, but it depends on the instructor and the class.
MC Bodge said:
From what I've read, though, there is a broad range of content even amongst the Krav Maga 'style', whatever it might actually be. Again, from what I've seen & read, there appears to be a strong emphasis on defending against fire-arms and knives due to its origins in military training. I'm fairly open-minded about this.
You do sound like you want to try the Krav Maga,so maybe give it a shot, but from a fitness aspect/Sport/real life im not sure how beneficial its going to be. If someone pulls a fire arm, well 9/10 times i would imagine your fu**ed.
A knife, i would run, just not worth the risk fighting someone with a knife.
I will highly recommend Muay Thai as a sport to you,as it is very disciplined.. i much prefer it to MMA and boxing.
I'm not sure if Muay Boran is still taught,but very fascinating stuff.
As you will know from the BJJ days,as long as you feel comfortable and don't feel intimidated you will have great fun.
Good Luck in finding a gym you like
Haggleburyfinius said:
Absolute nonsense.
Really?Everything you learn in Thai you can use when sparring, when fighting and if needs must self defence.
I don't see the point in showing a student something to never apply it. Eye gouging, grabbing the wind pipe, kicking the balls, wrist locks and more...all common techniques in Krav Maga, but when when has that ever been practiced at full pace in a Krav Maga sparring match?
If you dont practice at full pace against an opponent trying to hurt you why bother?
I have offered the OP my advice and my opinions and dont want to get into a slagging match between different Martial Arts.
But please correct me if i am wrong, i have only seen a few Krav Maga lessons and have been less than impressed.
Having spoken with the club instructors I'm planning to go for visits this week.
Having done a bit more reading up and talking with people with current and previous experience of various styles, I'm of the view that some sort of stand-up style (such as Muay Thai/kickboxing) with some training in a groundwork/grappling style could give a good foundation of skills, sparring(having been away from contact sports for a long time) and physical conditioning.
It appears to me (from my limited knowledge) that the value of something such as Krav Maga may be in the varied 'scenario' training that they focus on.
The often-claimed 'quick to learn' thing does strike me as a system developed for a short course, which is what it appears to have been originally -for Israeli army conscripts. It appears to have been developed quite a bit further in the civilian world, though.
I suspect that building a good foundation of striking, contact and movement and then moving on to learning and practicing the 'scenarios' could be the most beneficial route. I may be wrong.
Having done a bit more reading up and talking with people with current and previous experience of various styles, I'm of the view that some sort of stand-up style (such as Muay Thai/kickboxing) with some training in a groundwork/grappling style could give a good foundation of skills, sparring(having been away from contact sports for a long time) and physical conditioning.
It appears to me (from my limited knowledge) that the value of something such as Krav Maga may be in the varied 'scenario' training that they focus on.
The often-claimed 'quick to learn' thing does strike me as a system developed for a short course, which is what it appears to have been originally -for Israeli army conscripts. It appears to have been developed quite a bit further in the civilian world, though.
I suspect that building a good foundation of striking, contact and movement and then moving on to learning and practicing the 'scenarios' could be the most beneficial route. I may be wrong.
Well, I went along to observe a fairly intensive wrestling 'rolling' session, followed by some kickboxing, at the MMA club, .
The wrestling was excellent stuff and very interesting, as was the kickboxing training.
Apparently a lot of people are put off when they watch the wrestling session, but I was itching to have a go.
I'm going to take part in the next grappling skills session.
Cheers for the suggestions, folks.
The wrestling was excellent stuff and very interesting, as was the kickboxing training.
Apparently a lot of people are put off when they watch the wrestling session, but I was itching to have a go.
I'm going to take part in the next grappling skills session.
Cheers for the suggestions, folks.
Edited by MC Bodge on Monday 6th January 22:43
MC Bodge said:
I now feel like I've been run-over by a large commercial vehicle, but my first session was great.
I gave it my all in an attempt to make up for a lack of technique/ideas.
There's a lot to learn, but I'm looking forward to the next one ....and shall be wearing a cup.
Good for you for getting stuck in there. Rolling is a steep learning curve and you'll get owned for a while which tends to put people off. But stick at it and you'll reap the rewards. I gave it my all in an attempt to make up for a lack of technique/ideas.
There's a lot to learn, but I'm looking forward to the next one ....and shall be wearing a cup.
We'll I had a second session of grappling and really enjoyed it again. I felt that I learned more and was able to progress beyond brute force this time.
It's interesting to go up against the more advanced blokes who can tie me in knots and produce locks and submissions from any loose limb/head, although they have been encouraging and instructive rather than brutal.
I'll be going to a Striking session next.
It's interesting to go up against the more advanced blokes who can tie me in knots and produce locks and submissions from any loose limb/head, although they have been encouraging and instructive rather than brutal.
I'll be going to a Striking session next.
My first stand-up session (boxing) was another good experience.
Donning gloves, practising moving, evasion and doing a few drills before a bit of sparring in an attempt to implement the ideas and get some idea of what it's about.
As expected, it's a bit of a culture shock and it's not at all easy when somebody is trying avoid you and strike you back.
I started getting a bit of a feel for it, and it was a good introduction, but there's a lot to learn technique-wise.
Interesting stuff.
Donning gloves, practising moving, evasion and doing a few drills before a bit of sparring in an attempt to implement the ideas and get some idea of what it's about.
As expected, it's a bit of a culture shock and it's not at all easy when somebody is trying avoid you and strike you back.
I started getting a bit of a feel for it, and it was a good introduction, but there's a lot to learn technique-wise.
Interesting stuff.
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