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
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?
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...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
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.
Gogoplata said:
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.
It's good stuff and I am really enjoying it. I've learned a few things and have also been reading up and watching a few grappling videos on the www -I can now identify some familiar techniques at least.Yes, I am getting "owned" a lot!
Edited by MC Bodge on Saturday 25th January 23:02
MC Bodge said:
It remains to be seen how my battle-scarred body stands up to it...
..."badly" seems to be the answer 
An old radial head injury has now come back to haunt me. 5 days pain after every session (with discomfort remaining afterwards) isn't really practical and I suspect that the pain and discomfort would only become worse if I were to continue.
It's possibly not surprising, but I had been hopeful.
It is a pity as I found it really interesting and enjoyed it a lot.
I now need to try to think of something else to do as an alternative.
Halb said:
What caused it to reappear?
I suspect that it was having my arm forcibly straightened, repeatedly bending it through the full range and rotating the wrist with my arm straight. The radial head was broken when I was a teenager, 20-odd years ago, and operated on to tidy it up about 11 years ago
(Ok, so it was probably never a good idea to start grappling or punching).
The range of motion has increased a little over the years, but there now appears to be a painful bone-on-bone interaction limiting it's full extent. It was clicking and cracking quite nastily after my last session and is still uncomfortable.
Unfortunately, it's one of those injuries that never really heals properly.
Edited by MC Bodge on Tuesday 4th February 14:15
Gassing Station | Sports | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff