Tomorrow night, I have a free submission grappling session at 7:30. The place called today and offered for me to take a free kickboxing class immediately beforehand, so I get 2 classes for free. Then next week, I’m doing muay thai there, for free, and I’m taking a BJJ class next Friday, the 1st, for free. Man, this is great.
For those of you who do actively take a MA, how much do you pay for classes? If you don’t want to say on here, just PM me. I’d really like to know what a good deal is and what a rip off is.
If you are going to take any form of MA the most important aspect is the quality of the club, that means the instructor and the students. This is especially true for forms such as BJJ because you will be sparring with several different students every session and the better the students, the better you will become. Be especially wary of BJJ schools because of it’s popularity from UFC, everyone is teaching it. Make sure the instructor has good credibility and make sure the students there include pro fighters. I have sparred against guys such as Shawn Pearson who was the UFC Welterweight Champion and believe me, nothing will teach you what to do and what not to do, faster than being in contact with one of these guys. Muay Thai and kickboxing have also been recommended several times so it doesn’t need repeating that these are very effective and simple arts, but I will add one that I haven’t seen mentioned:Filipino martial arts of Arnis/Kali/Escrima. These are great if you want to learn weapons because they progress from weaponary first and later hand-hand, the opposite of every other style. They are a beautiful art that are very street effective, however because of their low popularity in the mainstream, finding a decent school can be very difficult.
Rodrigo Vaghi started his training in Judo at the age of 4 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He trained with Sensei Yamata; the Japanese champion until the age of 10. He continued training in Judo with Sensei Jorge Medhi, winner of several national and international titles, until the age of 16. Rodrigo was the Rio de Janeiro State Judo champion for 5 consecutive years, from 1979 to 1984.
Rodrigo started his Jiu-Jitsu at the age of l4, in the original Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro. Vaghi’s instructors were Grandmaster Helio Gracie and his sons: Rickson, Royce, Royler and Rolker.
After 14 years of training with the Gracie Family, Rodrigo has become a family friend and black belt instructor representing the undisputed champion of the Gracie’s: Rickson Gracie.
Rodrigo attended law school in Brazil and worked five years in the Brazilian Stock Market. He was also an instructor at the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Brazil. He has several Jiu-Jitsu Championships.
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This is the guy who trains BJJ around me. Being an outside, I honestly would accept this guy as a trainer, due to training with the masters themselves and winning several championships. It makes sense to me.
As SirenChick said, and I said before, try watching a Hapkido class. Since there’s been virtually no talk about it here, I thought I’d mention it again.
For $85 week, you can take BJJ, JKD, and Muay Thai classes. Of course, every time that I tried to do all three classes and sparred on Saturday, I felt like I had been hit by a truck so … Anyhow, that’s the going price here in northern Alabama.
Figure I’ll add my 2 cents. I think thai boxing is the best striking art. Boxing and other kicking arts have rules against clinch fighting so they don’t carry over to the street as well. Thai boxing has striking in the clinch as part of the art. Also BJJ is great in street fights. People think you’ll get pounded on by your attackers friends while on the ground but if you’re outnumbered they are all gonna jump on you and throw you down anyway. At least with BJJ you can snap some joints and even the odds faster than trying to knock everyone out. Also bjj teaches you to control your attacker in the clinch by off balancing so it works well with thai boxing.
Sakuraba, my mistake. UCC,UFC,K-1…there are so many different organizations now that I get them confused. The style of BJJ is called Behring JJ named after the founder Sergio Behring. Eric S. is right in that BJJ goes well with Muay Thai, most BJJers including the Gracies, also do Muay Thai a couple times a week and Royce Gracie also has a Black Belt in Karate.
Tonight was my first grappling class, and they allowed me to go to kickboxing class also. Talk about 2 totally differing workouts. Both were fun, and exhausting at the same time. Kickboxing had a lot of people, so the instructor had to spread himself a little thin. The same instructor taught both classes. He was great. Started Karate at 5, kickboxing at 13, competed at 18, grappling for 8 or 10 years, etc. Very very nice guy, and very easy to get along with. After class was over, I asked him about different styles, and he was very honest in his opinions, albeit a lot of them were neutral (it’s ok, but here’s the good part about it, etc.) Also, he knows the instructor of the Brazilian JJ class I’m taking next week, and he said he’s really good and knowledgeable.
I’m taking Muay thai at the same place next week with a different instructor. I’ve enjoyed it so far, but I’m so tired, my hands are shaking at 10:45, and class ended at 8:15. Talk about fun!!!
I definitely liked it enough to consider membership there. I will find out the prices this week after my free week of classes. This Friday, I’m trying out BJJ for free. The prices for that are $65/month for 1 class/week, $85/month for 3 classes/week, and $100/month for unlimited classes/week. Sounds like a good price. The place I’ve already visited is $77/month for 2 classes/week, but I’m not sure above that.
One problem I’ve seen is that there is a huge amount of pride associated with whatever school one chooses. For example, I was talking with a girl here who said she’s been taking MA for nine years. Ok, that’s nice? What type? (she responds something I don’t remember now) Oh, cool, I took TKD and Hapkido for years. “TKD is for wussies and Hapkido is for old men.” “So, do they sell that sort of bitchiness in a bottle, or did you have to learn it all byself?”
I think that just about any martial art that provides you with actual combat ‘experience’ is worthwhile and will help you in a fight. But more than anything, these days, it’s still going to come down to who’s ‘naturally’ better. Why? Because everyone and their brother has taken some form of martial art, and everyone has blind spots in whatever form they’ve studied. And if you get into a streetfight (and I won’t even go into the fact that most streetfights end up in the morgue with bulletwounds, not the ground), you’re sure to hit blindspots for both parties.
Kungfudude wrote: “Let’s just say that one should not discount the credibility nor the street effectiveness of a school that does forms and no sparring of any sort (trust me I know about this one). … Also, they say that sparring actually programs one to not strike with the power one can generate.”
This makes no sense. If sparring programs you to not strike with power, what does never hitting someone or getting the feel for a real altercation program you to do? Hopefully run away.
(please note that i did not say that there were no drills without contact…all I meant was that free sparring will limit one’s striking potential in a real situation because we have practiced our strikes in a less powerful way…we won’t want to hurt our fellow students. There is a time and place for conditioning drills…making one’s appendages more resilient and stronger/tougher…and drills of application…what I was referring to was a free sparring time when we are trying to match with someone else without endangering anyone. I hope that made my point of view a little clearer).
If you never spar, you walk around with a false sense of security: “My art is too deadly to spar,” (that’s a great one) OR “I would just do a crane kick so it would never go to the ground.”
(well, in a real situation, there isn’t time to think…you react only…and that reaction will use what we’ve ingrained into our selves…and if we have held back in training, then we won’t generate the power that we would if we had tried for power in every trining session)
Do you do a lot of “non-sparring” on your back by yourself? What does that teach you to do when someone is in the mount pounding your face in?
(Well, first of all,no one really wants to be on the ground on their back in the first place…now before anyone scoffs, let me say that a fight is a very intense and violent event…it’s not like a movie nor a video game…both peole get hurt and take it. You take it and give it out…it’s that simple and the one with the most power and skill will win…and NO, not like JackedHuld/BigConan means…And as a matter of fact, there are drills for the ground…As a matter of fact, I have been jumped by three men who demanded my money…before I could beileve what to do, one grabbed me and the other two started pounding on me…the first tried to hit me in my nose, and I tucked my head and hurt his knuckles with my forehead, then threw the one holding me off me into the other one…then turned back on the first and …well, the story is too long and not exactly in the topic we are discussing…but it is suffice to say I know what I’m speaking of and I have proven it. Now, I am more than happy to attempt to explain further, but that depends on you…do you have a mind open enough to have a logical and practical discussion or are you still going to let emotional “Oh YEAH’s” cloud your logical mind…but truly, I hope that maybe I can continue my growth as a martial artist by speaking with you…it’s one of the ways I can learn…Anyone else is welcome for an enlightening discourse as well, of course…
The choice is yours, Sakuraba…are you up for the challenge?
Peace.
By the way…BOBU…my master was Korean Special forces for South Korea…man, that dude has some stories, so I am very well versed with the ROK troops…and you’re right…hardcore, man…
Peace
I disagree with this -
Sparring makes you not hit as hard.
What are you hitting with “all your power?” The air? We do bag and mitt work as well which you can hit with as much power as you want.
I’m still not sure from your story how you prepare for the ground (we train against uncooperative partners after we learn how to properly execute techniques). A person gets caught in a submission, they tap out - no one gets hurt.
The thought of a boxer not sparring is ludicrous, yet it seems you would advise against it. This is where my contention lies.
Kungfudude: You must be very young and or new to the martial arts, and still believe in the “mystique” of the traditional arts.
The fact of the matter is that none of your “programmed” reactions to a situation will work in a real world situation. The only way to be ready for that is to get on the mat and mix it up free-form. And yes even this has its short comings, but it is far more effective than constantly rehearsing techniques.
In my 20 years of martial arts training, not once have any of those “techniques” ever been effective in a real world confrontation.
Did my first Muay Thai class tonight. Go me, I got to train with the instructor. Yeah, a newbie training with the badass who has won Thai Rules tournies. Well, needless to say, the mother bitch was strong as hell. Through the kicking pads, he has proceeded to bruise my forearms. My shoulders ache from my hands taking the abuse when he hit the hand pads.
I’ve never felt a harder hit in my life.
The kicker? I thought class lasted 45 minutes, which kickboxing and grappling did. Yeah right. It lasted 90 minutes. Needless to say, I’m exhausted.