MMA is well established as the preferred fighting method of the Uber Tough. Do many of these schools/gyms incorporate any form of weapons training?
Most of the JKD based MMA gyms, such as Straight Blast Gym feature a prominent weapons curriculum. However, weapons training is the most common weak link in most MMA clubs.
funny, i was thinking the same thing. "are there fma schools here with mma components?" the answer is yes i guess.
Matt Thornton and the Straight Blast guys are pretty complete, all the way to weapons. You could also look up (shameless plug) Walt Lysak, Jr.'s SENTO method, or David James and his Vee-Arnis-Jitsu system. All three (Straight Blast, Vee-Jitsu, and.. ehem.. SENTO) work perfectly well in an MMA, street, or weapons environment.
Another question is... do those that DO have a weapons component apply the same reality based pressure testing critique to their weapons training that they do to their MMA? And does their weapons training reflect that or is it functional sparring and assessment on the mat and then fancy twirling and 100 variations of an angle 1 disarm with a stick? I know Matt T's SBG trains with the same criteria with weapons as without - how many other MMA people do?
i don't see why not. the only thing that should be worrisome would be "how much protection to be used"? headgear and gloves and a live strick? no gear and a thinly padded stick? in some cases, the use of blunt bolos and knives and a pair of squash glasses? (pssst...hey bud, wanna buy some medical insurance)
Great, great, point, Yoda. It is very easy to fall into the trap of neglecting one for the other. Matt's work in terms of balancing the two are a great model that other schools would do well to look up to. I feel Walt Lysak, Jr. also has that same attention to balance. As for David James, he is, in fact more inclined to weapons and reality training than MMA. Good post.
It's more difficult to translate the pressure testing of MMA into a weapons format, just because of the simple fact that you CAN'T replicate true weapons fighting in a safe training format. Injury is much more common, and even those who do pad up and go all out (such as the Dog Brothers) don't get the degree of realism you would find in a real stick or knife fight.
I agree to an extent. All the more reason why this aspect shouldn't be dismissed. Taking you and I for example; You're taller, heavier and most likely stronger. If I had a genuine beef with you, I wouldn't be standing toe to toe. I'd obtain a weapon before approaching you, and most likely come at you unawares. You can dismiss 'too deadly for the streets' empty hand training all you like, but the 'how you train is how you react' crud goes out the window, cos anyone with a knife can hurt you, trained in MMA or not! You need to appreciate the effect a weapon has on 'ranges of combat'. You also need to get tagged, in however controlled a manner, to appreciate them. Not addressed at you personally Trent!
I'm more likely to be attacked with a knife by Skippy for not doing the dishes than by some street thug, but I try to prepare for it nonetheless. Now the Skippy scenario, there is no defense.
RSD versus MMA Hope these comments aren't too off topic ..... I don't really do much MMA stuff these days (and I never was any great shakes to start with) so then maybe my opinion isn't worth much. Personally I enjoyed doing the rough and tumble in my younger days but as I get longer in the tooth I can see where the weapons ,and perhaps more traditional MA ,might be more functional in some situations. I keep bumping into MA patients who are needing hip surgery and the like and can no longer safely go to the ground . It would be interesting to see what sort of injury pattern emerges over time as the ravages of high contact MA start to show on the MMA crowd. So wrt mixing MMA and weapons I personally would suggest this is should be an important paart of your training as the weapons component might be the only thing that comes to your aid as you get a bit older in years. Cheers, pow choy
In a sense... But is fighting with softer sticks less realistic then fighting with softer hands (boxing gloves)? True realism is impossible without getting hurt empty hand or sticks, can still have fun and learn what to do though.
We are strictily BJJ and kickboxing. We are encouraged to seek out wrestling from wrestling clubs, and our local Kali club if we wish to incorporate weapons training. Its the essense of cross training really. BJJ doesnt claim to have great striking and weapon techniques, nor does kick boxing claim to have weapons and ground work. If you want to learn takedowns, go to a wrestling school, if you want to learn weapons, got to Kali etc. I think the problem with many arts is that they try to do a bit of everything, rather than sticking with what they do best.
