Bob Sapp was still a trained fighter! Nowhere near Nog’s level, but trained nonetheless. He knew enough to hold down Nog, which isn’t an easy thing to do.
Slams are a thing, and they definitely favor the big and strong. I suppose it is my plan A, should I somehow piss off my instructor and all of the other instructors where he teaches. Concrete pile drivers might be my only hope in that terrible situation.
At that point in his career, his training was pretty minimal. Although it seemed, the more he trained, the better he got at throwing fights, haha.
Slams are neat trick. My 1 and only triangle escape. But for every Bob Slapp slamming Nog, there are a dozen over the hill Tim Sylvia’s making 5x World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski look like a child.
My instructor’s instructor went on a tear on one of his last podcasts at the lack of what he calls “recovery strategies” in modern BJJ. A less-than ideal triangle is one of these, where you might have to choose very quickly between working the choke and letting it go.
What is your next pathway, and how much have your trained that specific scenario?
You’ve left the safety of mount to go for an armbar. You may have even broke the arm, but the fight isn’t over. What next?
I don’t have any real recovery strategies except scramble and fight, but it’s a whole other game that high level guys train at that school. It’s part of why they’re so damn scary, and part of what sets their training apart from sport. There’s no reason to train for what happens beyond a successful armbar if your goal is sport competition. That would be the end of any match under any rule set.
Shishisha!
Because of the self defense skills or the weight training?
Because of the combination of the two. Not saying she’s going to be Wonder Woman, but it seems that combination could sure help her get out of some scrapes, especially against an attacker who expects her to be an easy target or an aggressive drunk who can’t keep his hands to himself.
There is one very high level retired female pro fighter in my area. I’ve never trained with her, but I know quite a few people who have.
She’s a fit and strong but normal-sized female, a bit past her physical prime who can easily fuck up a majority of men in single combat.
Easily. I have this on good authority.
At some point she could be overpowered by brute force, but the same is true for everyone. Even the best fighter will probably lose to a silverback gorilla, even though they also have two arms, two legs and and a neck to choke.
You can basically train grappling and striking indefinitely as long as you do it conscientiously. You will stop getting significantly bigger and stronger much sooner along life-long time scales.
Your points are well-taken. However, I’d suggest that the drop in muscle size and strength as we age has more to do with lifestyle choices than with the inevitable process of aging. I’m not saying age isn’t a factor; it is, just maybe not the decisive factor. People who train with gusto in their teens and twenties often just get tired of it and stop, and of course they get small and weaker. When we see this enough, it starts to look like age making them smaller and weaker, when, to a great extent, it is their unwillingness to keep training hard with weights that is the cause of their strength loss. People who are willing to train hard as they age can display startling levels of strength. Combine that with some modicum of regularly practiced fighting skill, and it seems to me you have a strategy that most people can employ to increase their chances of getting out of a nasty encounter without getting killed or seriously injured. Of course, all that needs to be combined with good situational awareness and whatever you might call that intangible quality that makes people prefer to not even test you (confidence, street smarts, or some similar idea).
None of what I’m saying is in conflict with the points you’re making here. I’m 40. The gal I’m speaking of probably has four or five years on me. We’re both strong-as-shit, by any measure for any age.
Being strong is great. Really great. Fantastic, even. I got by on big and strong way more than I did martial arts training as a bouncer in both verbal and physical encounters. Fitness, conditioning, work capacity, all of these things add up to make you a bigger handful in a struggle. But you get to a point, as I probably have, where you are unlikely to become a lot stronger than you are now, but have plenty of room to improve as a fighter.
I’ve got decades of productive combat training ahead of me, if events happen to favor me. The same may be true for strength, but I’m unlikely to move past the strength peak I’ve already reached unless I make that a priority that will need to exclude serious combat training.
It sucks to be 40 I guess, but I’m happy to have a strong body that’s in good shape to pursue whatever I want with some degree of seriousness.
Lifting weights to prepare for physical combat without learning how to grapple or strike is like stock piling bullets without a gun.
Agreed.
Just curious, what is that improvement on because I’m considering sprint training. Not sure how far I need to take it.
If you want to train for combat, do some basic combat training, imo.
The reason I say this is, is that big and strong is good obviously, but nothing replaces fighting skills. I have done some boxing and dutch kick boxing. I have spared with bigger and stronger guys than me and it is a cake if they do not have skills. I have sparred against stronger people with better skills and that is a pain.
Remember when he found out this dad was in the gay rodeo ? Dale episodes are my favorites
Incidental comment based on personal experience: I never got much transference from my olympic lifting into my fighting. Same for rugby. I achieved my best lifts (95/120) simultaneously with my most consistent training (wrestling/BJJ/MT). I noticed no extra speed or snappiness in my shots / punches as my lifts improved, and whatever resting qualities that transferred well came primarily from the existing strength base I had from basic barbell movements. Movements that did seem to make noticeable improvements were plyo-types (sprints, jumps, slam ball, etc). I’m not saying oly is counterproductive btw - I’d expect an experienced olympic lifter to excel at a novice level of fighting in comparison with an average POS. But it’s not like my takedowns became unstoppable just because I learned how to snatch either (which is how I often see folks characterize the transference).
the best way to end a fight is not having one. run away or get big enough that no one will mess with you in the first place xD
Being big is a deterrent to most, but also a magnet to some who CAN fight and get their jollies beating up bigger dudes.
I can also be a magnet for people who CAN’T fight but who are full of “liquid courage” and think they can. In my experience, that’s the more common problem, especially at parties or in clubs or anywhere a substantial number of drunk people congregate. We’ve all come across guys who wouldn’t start trouble sober but whose resentment is brought out by alcohol. These are also the guys most likely to play victim once they get their asses kicked if the cops show up. Somehow in their own minds, they’re just standing up for themselves, even when they cross a crowded room to start shit with you. Go figure.
I find the best self defense there is to avoid those situations in the first place.
Yep. I wish I knew when I was younger what I know now about what sorts of places to avoid. I could have saved myself a lot of trouble.