Muay Thai / Brazilian Ju-Jitsu

[twoblink]

Anybody study these two arts?

I can't find any place near me that teaches it, so time to read and teach myself.

I might not have guns on me at all times, but my fists and legs (hopefully) are always attached and I don't leave home without them!

I'm getting fairly flabby, and with the recent theft, I figure, time to work out and break a few knees.

 

[Don Gwinn]

I don't know what your experience level is, but if you're just starting out in MA, I think you'd do a lot better with real live instruction from a master of an art than trying to teach yourself, even if you have to start out with an art you don't like as much as Muay Thai. I went through the same process and decided that despite some things I don't like about TKD I made a LOT more progress learning TKD from a master in a good dojang than I could ever have done at home with books and videos.

Aren't you in Taiwan right now? Surely there are some good instructors in Chinese styles around? Trust me, your instructor matters a LOT more than your art. When you return to California there will be MT/BJJ schools all over. They all seem to be either out there or in Texas.

Having said that, I have had the pleasure of getting beaten up by a guy who studied BJJ, and it seemed to be working well for him.

I'm still not in love with TKD, but I respect my instructors a great deal and I think I made good progress with them, so when I have two dimes to rub together again I'll go back to them.

 

[twoblink]

Actually, there are quite a bit of SanDa classes here; but the commute is very long. Thanks for advice..

 

[mons meg]

No FMA schools in that part of the world? I confess I am ignorant about Taiwan.

 

[CWL]

It is impossible for you to teach yourself Ju-Jitsu. Stay away from books. This is one MA that requires full contact sparring for understanding & technique delevopment. Pretty hard to learn grappling when you have no one to grapple. Ju-Jitsu (and Judo) is not a MA that is learned through solo "forms" like in Karate.

Muay Thai or any of the kickboxing styles can be self-taught to rudimentary stage. There are "forms" to learn. You well never truly develop without a teacher or practice partners though.

While TKD is taught to Taiwan Military, why don't you find a WuShu/Kung Fu studio? Probably not many around because of lack of interest, but you should be able to find something. Look for old guys who practice in parks in early morning (5:30AM). Some of these guys know some amazing stuff you don't see anymore.

Kung Fu/WuShu is good for starters because one main emphasis is speed & flexibility -everybody needs this. Next will follow explosive force & impact. It is a great foundational MA that you can expand to other MAs from.

Also look for combative weapons training, which may be found in Taiwan. Fan, Single baton, double baton, 9-sectional chain, all make deadly & improvisable skills.

 

[twoblink]

There are a few problems I face here in taiwan with respect to finding an MA to take:

First, things like TKD, heavily geared towards (young kids) and so I'm about 3x older then most of the students there.

Second, they are $$$$.

Third, if I don't take formal classes in the studios, there are "clubs" on most colleges. But most are not very "focused" shall we say? Kind of a bunch of people with an interest, mucking around. I don't want that, if I want to learn, I want to learn.

I've taken some basics of BJJ, and I know, you NEED 2 things; a partner to practice the moves on, and an instructor correcting you as you practice. Nope, no attempts on training on my own in BJJ.

Muay Thai, I can teach myself the fundamentals, to a basic level, but that's it. Taiwan is trying to promote "San Da" the counter to Muay Thai, and so there isn't any in Taiwan... I know the local San Da teacher, very cool. But commute is 3 hours roundtrip, and it's $$$ as well...

 

[Aikibiker]

twoblink,

Don't count out the college clubs out of hand. Sure some of them are kids wanting to hangout but there are probably one or two that will suit your needs just fine.

What I would suggest to do is go to the universities and talk to the instructors at the various MA clubs. Find one that is not a student filling time between classes but an actual instructor who is teaching his art at college because he wants to, not because he is a working toward a degree and wants to stay in shape for his drinking. Also don't cross any arts off your list just because they don't sound like your cup of tea. I understand you are interested in NHB and mixed martial arts, but if they aren't available and you find a good teacher of a traditional art that stresses self defense in his instruction I would say training there would be a hundred times better then trying to learn from books and videos.

I am currently training in Aikido in a college club. The instructor is a former infantry man from the Korean war who was first introduced to the art during the war? Needless to say this man has a lot of knowledge and experience in what he is teaching. We have several regular members that are staff members at the school or locals that have been practicing for a while, every semester we get to beat up on the college kids. (it's quite therapeutic)

The most important part of the equation is the instructor.

Perhaps you could try posting on a martial arts BBS explaining your situation asking for locations to local schools.

Here are a few good ones with international membership.

www.e-budo.com

www.budoseek.net

Good luck in your search.

 

[twoblink]

That's the problem right there, you nailed it.

The Judo class that I went to, and now don't go to anymore, was like that. The instructor was there only once a month; and the rest of the time is filled with horseplay... I think the type of art is secondary to the SERIOUSNESS of the instruction...

I look at:

Instructor seriousness
Seriousness of other students
Results of previous students
Facilities
Martial Arts type

In that order..

 

[krept]

I studied BJJ under Nelson Monteiro and Marcelo Periera out in Del Mar, SoCal back when Nelson was teaching there and Marcelo was a brown belt. I live out west of Phoenix, AZ now and there aren't any BJJ school OR Thai schools near me. Not many Thai schools to begin with out here. So I bought a canvas heavy bag and have been trying to teach myself basic techniques without getting too caught up on proper 'form.' I throw what feels right for the given angle I'm at.

There are some solo BJJ drills that you can do that will help your flow from submission to submission or from position to position but other than that you pretty much do need a partner. Good thing I've got some buds that are interested in MMA.

I recently got a pack of rattan sticks from bloodsport.com. They were the rejects (the 'ugly stick'pack of 10) but it's great to get a feel of what size stick fits you both length and diameter wise. Hopefully soon I will be confident enough to roll with some of the Dog Brothers crew at their gatherings.

Working out with sticks is very fun IMO and suppliment both the Muay Thai and BJJ techniques VERY well.

Oh yeah, you will also want to practice your double leg and single leg shoots - something that is usually missing in people that crosstrain in BJJ and MT. Good wrestlers are all around and will be able to help you out with the technique and can show you solo exercises to help with your explosiveness.

 

[krept]

and btw, one GREAT resource for martial artists is MMA.tv


cheers

 

[twoblink]

I wrestled all throughout high school.

What I learned was that done right, a double leg takedown is near impossible to defend against. A person rushing at you, is hard to stop, and when his intention is to grab you, and if he does, it's hard to defend against it, as he's got momentum on his side usually.

I am hoping the local college gym will let me use the facilities for free...

 

[krept]

Exacto. One thing you might be able to do if they won't let you work out for free (because of their insurance?) is you can sign up for a 1 credit gym class and audit it... in other words take it without a grade. I know a local community college that will let people do this and it usually comes out to around $60 for the whole semester.

Double leg takedowns are great because if for some reason you need to finish a fight quick you can go in low and fast then scoop them up and slam the bad guy near the upper back. Especially on a hard surface, no punch, elbow, knee or kick is going to hit as hard as a slam.

If you wrestled then you prob know about the benefits of the sprawl and underhooking the arms. This you can transition to a thai clinch if you want to keep it up or if the bad guy still has a good base and is thrusting up. If you want to go to the ground you can oversprawl (flatten them) and go for rear mount or keep the north/south and knee to head.

Biggest thing in all MA is that if someone is rushing you not to go straight back, but to step offline and use your footwork in such a manner that it sets you up for your next move depending on where the bad guy ends up.

BTW, as a last resort and you can't find any schools or people to roll with you might want to go on mma.tv and ask about some recommended video series. It's much better than nothing and there are some really good tapes out there. Several successful MMA fighters have learned with tapes to get a feel for the moves (the good tapes give you specific tips where you might make a mistake or give you insight as to the "why" of a particular position). When these guys finally found a good school to learn at, they were leaps and bounds above the beginners.

cheers