What advantages and disadvantages does having big muscles give you in a fight??

I've done amateur boxing, olympic TKD, full contact karate/national rules kickboxing all on a competitive level. I have trained/sparred extensively for years under K-1 rules and MMA. I have done a LOT of work with no gear and when I am teaching/coaching, I take shots without protection of any type to the body pretty regularly. In other words. the students not wearing any pads against my skin, shirt or gi. I grew up in the arts during the 70's and even in TKD, we would only wear a hogu close to competition to get used to it so it wouldn't get in the way as much. Otherwise it was very hard contact during those days with virtually no gear, though our instructors would tell us to wear a cup and a mouthpiece (not that we always did. We weren't always the brightest back in the day). I understand the value of gear and do use it, but I am just as or more comfortable without it.

 

Can't really see any disadvantages for Michael Jai White being "big". He's 227 lbs, fast, flexible and 'ard as nails.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fylDp1VtZbA"]YouTube - Michael Jai White training[/ame]

 

You have great luck then. I do knockdown karate sparring all the time and I and most of the people I know regularly have bruises everywhere, including the stomach. I have a lot more such bruises since I lost about 25 kilos.

 

I doubt this one could be bruised...

 

Didn't the roman gladiators used to eat lost of barley for this very reason?

 

Not to seem too silly, but wouldn't it have to be a pretty impressive bruise for you to um...see it?

If you're talking about the undoubted fact that I couldn't hit him in the stomach hard enough for him to feel it if I took a running start because of his world-class conditioning, I won't argue.

 

I think he's a bit bigger now, doubt he's that cut.

 

sorry if someone said this, i didnt go through all 8 pages lol

It depends on what kind of muscle. Myofibral muscle is usually attained with lower reps, and sarcoplasmic with higher reps like 8 or more. Sarcoplasmic muscle is just more mass without as much strength. Myofibral muscle doesnt get as big.

Big muscles can help cushion blows. Huge lats could block a kick to the ribs as opposed to someone with no muscle.

you dont need big muscle for power, power is just the force, speed, and time something goes across a given distance, so really a person with mainly myofibril muscles could be 4x as powerful as someone twice his size with mainly sarcoplasmic muscle. But a strengh lifter could be less powerful, if they just focus on strength, than they might not produce force very fast making them less powerful.

big muscles will make someone not want to try and mess with you, stopping the fight before it happens. of course u'd look like a pansy if someone smaller than you beat you up.

 

im 6foot 4
im not huge but im fairly muscular i strech every day and can kick my own head hight.
my mate is 5foot9 and skinny as hell but cannot touch his toes.

im faster stronger and more powerfull than him.

muscle = strenth
strength= good.

so yes being muscular and stron will help in a fight.

the people who say otherwise are the "less weight more reps makes you stronger" crowd or the "you dont need a protien shake eat an apple" gang
hopefull you are aware that they are both wrong

 

Faster and stronger muscles are always a bonus. World strongest man Mariusz Pudzianowski has recently started MMA, he is extremely flexible and an all round athlete, the same with Brock Lesnar. Of course there is the flipside of things with guys like Bob Sapp.

I disagree, Foreman, Marciano or Shavers in my opinion.

 

muscles don't mean jack diddly

 

Exactly. Every single other sport you can think of has adopted resistance training as an invaluable tool that greatly enhances athletic ability, so to attempt to go against fact is silly.

Not to mention if you're a pretty big guy, sheer size can be intimidating. You're probably less likely to get messed with if you look like this guy....



...than if you look like this guy.

 

gcollin, you just failed the entire internet seven times over.

drag your ass to the gym, NOW

 

Hmmm.... I managed to read through all 8 pages (got my ankle elevated and wrapped AGAIN so I can't move too far, haha) so here's my take on the muscle question based on my experience:


Attraction factor: being female (and a fairly muscular one at that), the generally accepted figures are curvy figures or an athletic, boyish figures or the scrawny supermodel figure with legs that I could snap between my fingers. So really well-built girls may either be considered "hot" or not, depending on personal preference (I like my guys built, tall and limber...). Granted, I have more muscle on the bottom half of my body than the top, lending to my hourglass shape (big hips the size of ships!). So bigger muscles can be attractive, if sculpted and shaped right and if the audience in question is favorable to your shape.

Intimidation factor: I wouldn't go out of my way to pick a fight with a big, muscular man or woman just for the sake of getting into a fight or sparring match. However if I had to defend myself or had to go up against someone with a lot of muscle, I wouldn't back down just because their muscles are bulging beneath their clothes (then again, I'm considered a Heavyweight in TDK, so I generally go up against larger and taller people with a lot of muscle).

Endurance factor: Proper training and conditioning can make a big, muscular man or woman a powerhouse that can run for hours. Poor training and conditioning will leave anyone huffing and puffing after one match or even five minutes, no matter how much muscle they have. Fact.

Speed & Power factor: It comes down to training and conditioning and possibly technique. Bigger muscles may not slow you down and maybe they do, depending on your body and your experience.

Flexibility factor: While I have yet to be able to get into a full split again (I'm working on it!), muscles don't seem to have any effect on full flexibility (from what I have seen). Granted, I've seen guys who can't touch their elbows together due to their huge arm muscles, but I have yet to find someone who simply can't function because of their muscles, either.


Just my opinions.

 

Mhmm. I like how you broke that down Tian Tian. Good insight.

Kuma you are right. Regardless if I think I could take the big muscle guy when it comes to a fight I would probably feel that my chances are better against the second guy you posted. Of course on a different note I would probably not have my guard up for the second guy. The first guy I would be completely prepared, or at least as prepared as I can be. If the second guy was to do something unexpected he could very easily catch me unaware.

It seem that appearance, at least to me has some kind of effect.

 

Here's a video of Scott Adkins in training:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWu_LXME510"]Scott Adkins - Becoming Boyka - Undisputed 3 - YouTube[/ame]

He beefed up for that role, but you can quite clearly see the extra muscle had no negative effect on his speed or agility.

 

What the heck at 0:47??? *whistles* For sure that takes quite a bit of muscle power and flexibility to hold one's self up like that!

In other news, that's just hot. I approve of this message, Van.

 

Haha it DOES look like an inflatable hammer. Awesome.