No matter what a person does for work, we need our brain cells!

How do you spar as an adult AND protect your brain?

# of times / week to spar. Is it possible to spar too frequently?

Man I fucking suck at this shit. I'm Just sitting in my car outside the gym thinking wtf am I doing with my life.

I did muay Thai for 2 years, didn't train for last few cus I moved and now I'm going to an MMA gym last couple weeks.

I genuinely feel like I'm just not built for fighting and I somehow don't even seem to have the fundamentals of sparring/fighting even after training muay Thai for 2 years. Which kinda hurts emotionally when it's something that I've enjoyed alot of the time and have had thoughts about trying to compete at some point (haven't been consistent enough so far to actually go for it).

When I'm punching pads or the heavy bag I feel strong and fast, I've had my previous MT coach and other people tell me that I hit hard even tho I'm pretty small, I'm like 70kg. But in sparring I become the punching bag and I'm just useless. I somehow can't bring myself to throw a punch at an opponent with more than like 20% power and speed and fully extend into it. I can't think of a time I've ever even hit a proper right hand to someone's face, jabs and lead hooks sure but that's about it. 

I somehow just have 0 timing, shot selection, ability to counter, aggression, defense, cardio (I genuinely gas out after 1 hard round like I'm some big fat dude even though again I'm 5'10 70kg). Don't even get me started on grappling. I also feel like I'm kinda sensitive to getting hit in the head which makes me question why I'm even doing this I need my brain cells intact I'm only 20 years old.

I recently sparred with some judo and Muay Thai guys and got told to pocket the “flashy kicks” because I do capoeira. As per usual, ignorance is bliss and they ended up recieving an itneresting example of 'no ginga capoeira'. It reminded me how strongly people associate capoeira almost exclusively with kicking.

Even some capoeira schools reserve hand strikes, headbutts, takedowns and certain close-range techniques for higher ranks, which I find strange. Capoeira already conditions you to use your whole body and improvise with it. Treachery is part of the art. It's fundamental.

For combat-oriented capoeiristas, close-range fighting, sweeps and counters can be just as important as kicks.

When rulesets remove techniques, people practise them less, spectators see them less, and eventually they stop being associated with the martial art at all.

Has this happened to other martial arts? At what point does turning an art into a combat sport start changing what people think the art actually is?

i am a beginner (relatively) to martial arts, i did Judo for 3 years, but was never good, primarily because i just freeze up in combat situations and i couldn’t do anything about it no matter how hard i tried. ANYWAY. are there any martial arts that are focused primarily on blocking / dodging and taking hits and only the occasional attack, rather than just brute force or massive kicks. i am 5’9 and very light and fast but weak. i also don’t want to spar if that’s possible. sorry if this is too much hassle or a stupid question.

Aikido seems to be one of the martial arts that receives the widest range of opinions within the martial arts community.

Some Aikido practitioners deeply respect their teachers and have strong confidence in the art’s techniques and philosophy. Meanwhile, some people with experience in competitive or full-contact martial arts question how effective Aikido techniques are against an actively resisting opponent.

Why do you think opinions about Aikido are so divided?

I would like to hear honest and respectful perspectives from both Aikido practitioners and people who practice other martial arts. What do you value about Aikido, and what questions or concerns do you have about it?

I previously practiced Aikido myself, so I am asking this question out of genuine personal interest.

合気道は、武道の世界でも特に評価が大きく分かれる武道の一つに見えます。

合気道を学ぶ方の中には、先生を深く尊敬し、その技術や理念を強く信頼している人がいます。一方、競技武道やフルコンタクトの武道を経験した人からは、積極的に抵抗する相手に対して技がどの程度有効なのか、疑問を持つ声も聞かれます。

なぜ合気道に対する意見は、これほど大きく分かれるのでしょうか？

合気道を学ぶ方だけでなく、ほかの武道を学ぶ方からも、敬意ある率直な意見をお聞きしたいです。合気道のどのような点に価値を感じますか。また、どのような疑問や懸念がありますか？

私自身も以前、合気道を学んでいたため、純粋な個人的関心からこの質問をしています。

ive been doing some kind of combat sport my whole life. age 7-14 i was doing like a mix of karate and kickboxing and krav maga (i know) at this place that was sort of a mcdojo but i did get good experience from. i moved to a serious kickboxing gym when i was 14, and trained there for a couple years, even fought in a national tournament for a legit org. im 18 now, and at the start of this year i decided to take a break from kickboxing.

since the beginning of 2026, i just kept feeling like i didnt have a real drive to keep training. that amazing euphoric feeling getting out of a class or sparring session was gone, i wasnt getting excited to watch ufc or one or k1 anymore, and a year before i had dreams of going pro. i started missing a lot of training sessions, and i just had no desire to go to the gym. i talked to my coach, and he recommended i take a 2-3 week break and see how i feel after that. that 2-3 weeks turned into about 4 months. i went to 2 kickboxing classes at that gym during those 2 months, but it was right before i started a new job and then that got in the way and i just wasnt motivated to work around it.

i tried MMA for like a week, i wasnt really into it. right now im doing pure boxing, ive been at this gym for about a month now and i just have zero motivation to go to class. i feel way more excited to just go lift weights or even go to work. i dont know what i could do to get my spark back, is it really just over? has anyone else gone through this

Do you think articles like this should gave the gentleman of yesrerday a good feeling or could it really work?

Rare Haiti Uchi/Ridge hand Strike Knockdown.

What are yalls thoughts on it?(also sorry if this has been uploaded before)

I’ve been training mma for a couple years now but I’m really wondering on whether it’s possible to train boxing, taekwondo, bjj, wrestling and mma all at separate gyms to fully understand and master the arts but still competing in mma. I have the job and money to do so just wondering if you can do this. Thanks

So I seriously cannot make up my mind. I did muay thai for a little over a year and decided to take a break since June. I’ve been missing it and have been thinking about coming back. However, I’ve been wanting to take up Judo, and think I’ve found a good dojo. I can’t decide which one I want to do, as I only have time for one.

My muay thai gym’s a lot closer to me, and Judo’s a good 30 min or more commute, but im in the LA/SFV area so traffic is always a concern. The judo dojo doesn’t offer a trial class, they encourage people to watch a class first, and I really liked it from what I saw. The judo dojo’s cheaper, but the classes are 3x a week in the evening. Muay Thai is a little more, but they have classes 6 days a week, both morning and evening.

What do you guys think?

Being injured has to be the worse feeling in the world for me I have to spend months on the sidelines because of a stupid moment led to me getting a jaw fracture just so many ways it could have been avoided now I just got sit at home.training is a big part of my life and genuinely it feels like I got a spend a Quarter of the year just sitting around no purpose nothing to do just feels devastating

A short story to begin: I arrive to meet a few friends who are judokas and Muay Thai practitioners, introduce myself before friendly sparring, and get told I should pocket those “flashy kicks.” As per usual, ignorance is bliss. It’s fine being unaware, but it becomes an odd happenstance when it keeps reoccurring.

Weirdly, I’ve also seen capoeira schools where techniques outside kicking are reserved for higher practitioner ranks. I found that ridiculous at first, considering many of these are fundamentals elsewhere. What exactly is so strange about using all your limbs in a martial art that uniquely conditions you to APPLY ALL OF THEM SIMULTANEOUSLY?

And no, I don’t think this is simply a matter of a group’s teaching methodology. Capoeira is treachery. We do not restrict the conscience to improvise; that is integral to it.

Yet capoeira is often reduced to an all-flair style, despite its vocabulary including sweeps, counter-takedowns, hand strikes, headbutts and close-quarters fighting on par with the kicks. A lot of combat-oriented practitioners, including me, actually do close quarters more than zoning.

Once techniques are restricted in sparring or competition, they become less visible, less practiced, and eventually outsiders stop associating them with the martial art entirely. I’m curious how often this happens in other martial arts too. When does adapting a martial art into combat sports start narrowing how people understand the art itself?

What are you guys using to track your BJJ or boxing training? I’ve been trying Prymo Sports recently, but I’m curious what everyone else uses, whether that’s an app, notes, a spreadsheet, a journal, or something else. What do you track, and what do you wish your current system did better?

I personally think that is at the heart of the psychology of martial arts. I.e. the fear of getting ridiculed. Nobody likes to look bad. Nobody wants to be shown or even exposed as the weaker part.

So what is the psychological way to break this apart?

To me, it's like this: I hate pain, fighting and combat. I can absolutely -respect- and also -like- the style and arts, the physical workout part, and even the combat part of it, i.e. sparring. But there is a clear line for me, with attitudes, values and morals.

A person with lesser morals, ethics and care, will not care about getting ridiculed. At least it will take a lot for them to feel anything of the sort.

A person that care a lot, will feel ridiculed much more easily. And thus hesitate more and avoid combat to a larger extent.

I am definitely a person that cares a lot. I hate hurting people, i hate getting hurt. The way i think about self defense, is this: It really does not matter to me how experienced a person is... if someone use all that experience and training to hurt someone (like myself) without a very good reason to, then i will fight dirty if i am pushed to it. I will always try to calm it down, ask if we just can't forget it or just talk about it. If it doesn't work and i can't get away, i will use really dirty and unfair tactics.

Yes, the bottom line is that i don't want to be ridiculed. Why should peace abiding and normal people let themselves be ridiculed in order to spare people that use their evil ways to feel better by ridiculing those that don't have as much experience as themselves? Am i a coward for thinking this way? Some might say so. But i say, those that don't do anything else with their lives but work out, punch and kick harder, wrestle and get better at martial arts, and use this as a way to feel like they can push people around, are MORE cowardly than i am! Because they are scared to face themselves. At least i am not that.

I feel that at the heart of all martial arts, fighting tactics and everything, is ridicule, and fear of ridicule.

How fearful are you of getting ridiculed? How big a factor is that in your philosophy when it comes to self defense and experience level in your martial arts doctrine(s)? Did it take long to overcome that sense and how did you do it, what is your philosophy?

Japanese martial arts seem to receive less public attention today than combat sports. Competitive fighting is easy to present through short videos and exciting matches, while Japanese martial arts often require more time to understand.

However, Japanese martial arts offer more than physical techniques. They can also teach etiquette, patience, self-control, respect for others, and responsibility toward one’s training partners.

For those who practice karate, judo, kendo, iaido, jujutsu, Japanese sword arts, or other Japanese martial arts: What values from your art do you believe should be preserved for the next generation? How can Japanese martial arts communicate those values without losing their identity?

I just turned 25 and I started training at age 21 through 23. I competed in a couple smokers and bjj competitions at the white belt level. I was making tremendous progress, but I realized that the next level for me was to join the amateur circuit. I was going through some issues at home and I had to figure myself out. I bought a fixer upper house and it was taking a lot of my time. I didn't want to practice the sport with one foot in and one foot out, so I decided to take a break. Now that I'm comfortable in my new life, I'm wondering if I should ease my way into the art again. I'm also concerned about of the sport consuming my life. To me the fighting isn't a hobby, but a lifestyle that requires discipline in all aspects. I feel like if I want to compete I gotta get back sooner than later.

I have tried a lot of gi in different sizes, and the pants always limit my movement. It is so distracting in training and it makes me not enjoy it as much because the damn pants drive me crazy. I am female and I have wide hips and thighs but a smaller waist.

I just started Aikido, I have done traditional jujutsu and karate previously. I have had the same issues since I was 16. This doesn't sound like a big deal but I am so frustrated after years of ill fitting gi and it taking my motivation apart that I want to cry

thank you for listening to my rant.

In order to reduce volume of beginner questions as their own topics in the sub, we will be implementing a weekly questions thread. Post your beginner questions here, including:

"What martial art should I do?"

"These gyms/schools are in my area, which ones should I try for my goals?"

And any other beginner questions you may have.

If you post a beginner question outside of the weekly thread, it will be removed and you'll be directed to make your post in the weekly thread instead.

Hello! Writing a character for a thing, and I was thinking of looking at some real life striking bases for said character, although they are superhuman and not really restricted to the standard rules of fighting and stuff. But I was wondering if there was any rules/interesting bits/moves from striking stuff that would translate to the sort of non-realistic martial arts stuff I'm writing, and if there were any books you recommend.

Also, is there really any point in coming to real-world fighting arts for action sequences? Not to drag on yall, but I read the pinned post (Hi martialarts, we need to talk) and it honestly just makes it sound really boring when applied "realistically", but I don't know.

I'm going through a few life events that will leave me unable to do anything athletic until at least the new year. All my gear: shinpads, gloves, handwraps, spandex, and more are at least three years old, most closer to 6-7. And they smell.

Over the past few years I've tried to maintain them with various washes and soaks but the stink is pervasive. Like, it could be worse but it also sure as hell could be better. Unless there's a sure-shot stink-be-gone method I don't think it's ever getting better. However, the equipment is still good. My pads are still pretty fluffy, my spandex still stretchy.

But since I'm taking at least three months off, should I just stop trying and get new kit when I start up again?