I trained karate for 7 years, then took a year off to train BJJ. After I started sparring at a kickboxing gym I realised I had a lot of tools but cuz I didn't know how to use them I was getting beaten by guys who had less tools. Now that I've started picking up on strategies a bit more I'm able to reintroduce those crazy blitzes & spins which are throwing off a lot of guys who are used to a more standard approach.
This to me is a big problem with TMA. They teach you how to prefect the technique but hardly ever go over how you would set that up. In kickboxing they kind of do the opposite where the individual techniques might be a little more sloppy but your taught ways to set them up almost immediately.
I have some "bunkai" for the high block. One time I was standing under a garage door when it broke and started to slam shut. I instinctively high blocked it and probably saved myself some head trauma.
Belts can sometimes mean different things to different people. When i was in high school and first starting taekwondo, i didnt care about belts. Even tried to attend class without wearing it. Yrs later, after train8ng other martial arts, i got into capoeira which also has a belt(cord) system. But for me, it wasnt so much about the skill level itself, but my own experience, commitment, and struggles to attend classes, after losing jobs and the covid apocalypse. It's having that peice of fabric is like a checkpoint/marker to remind me of what ive overcome. And i think that concept is why people tend to cling to belts, at least for kids, teens, etc. Their goal settings. Not much different than say an associats degree persay. Its a journey of learning and overcoming hardships and reaching goals. If you can attain that black belt in karate, why couldn't you achieve that promotion at work, etc? They dont always have to mean fighting ability.
I really like the bit about sending students to other places and schools. I do HEMA, which, as you know, is pretty niche. There's really only 1 1/2 "schools" in my area, and I wind up sparring the same people over and over. I had the thought occur to me, "Am I learning to fight rapier, or am I learning to fight rapier against this specific group of people?" Because those are two different things. Since then, I've consciously worked at training and sparring people from different backgrounds and learning paths. They find flaws in your fencing you never would have noticed at home, teach new ways of doing things, help you learn to adapt your fighting on the fly, and you can provide them the same benefit.
Yeah man! And it’s not necessarily because people outside your circle do it better, it’s just that they do it differently- and that makes a massive difference.
You can also try Kendo, and Western Fencing clubs for new perspectives. Wushu and Fillipino martial arts also teach various versions of the blade. You might find 'cross training' makes your HEMA more versatile, and besides it is fun. I gotta get around to trying HEMA sometime, it's on my bucket list.
@Taij Devon I've trained with several people with a background in FIE/Olympic fencing over the years. Haven't done it myself,, but one of the new members has invited me to give it a shot once his club has a new intake, and I'm planning on taking it. One of the out of town places I go to occasionally has a guy with an FMA background, and his fighting style is interesting. I'm also planning on going to a Dog Brothers event in Washington State called the Short Blade Symposium in 24.
In my opinion, i think bjj youtube videos include belt rank in their titles because the majoriy of people who watch them are newer white belts. It likely helps their views up. I used to be one of these people until i discovered instructional videos that cost money with dedicated content. I find now when i look at bjj videos on youtube, they are mostly aimed at white belts. Lots of people start bjj, but after a year most eventually slow or stop training which creates the trend of aiming videos at white belts.
Belt ranks in grapling are there for a good reason. It tells you what techniek level you could expect from a certain person. If you start in a grapling martial arts and explain you have no intention of becomming a competitor, most of the gyms will accept that. You will still progress and train, but not everybody is out there to tip your head off. In striking martial arts having many belts make less sence, maybe 3 would be good. 1 for beginner and a second for intermediate. Black for the instructor. Why? In stricking martial arts it feels to me way more than in grapling that everybody has a chip on their shoulder and is out to score a point over you being unconcious. And the other beginners that are 6 months ahead of you can and will score every point on you they can 'proving' themselves to the higher ups there. This is indeed not in every gym, but most boxing gyms. I realy want to learn proper boxing, even though I am in my 40ies, but man, the mentality of most gyms is rotten. So some traditional discipline and some indication of who to safely train with would be much apreciated.
There is also a significant difference between grappling arts and striking arts. There is a lot more chaos in striking, due to the ballistic nature of the techniques. And so there's a lot more margin of error. I suck at grappling but I feel like a guy who knows a little BJJ can beat most people on the ground, while in order to have the same kind of effect in striking you need a much bigger skill gap.
This has been known to be common wisdom for a REALLY long time. And some people just do not have the coordination or physique for good striking, but I think most people have the capacity to do decent grappling
There's always going to be more physically gifted athletes than others. Striking is something you are born with. Grappling is something anyone can get good at. A born striker is the most dangerous fighter of all.
I'm really glad I got / am getting Taekwondo as a base, training other martial arts on the side as well, thinking of going into Amateur MMA fighting within the next 2-3 years. What it really does for me as a 90-95kg fighter is forcing me to work on speed and setups for kicks, as well as cardio to have that back and forth in- and out step, getting used to distance for kicks and punches (We are WTF federation where I'm training, so allowed to punch for the head.). Something I've noticed is how difficult Taekwondo people have of a time to counter people with other discplines like boxing or kick boxing, they often kick fast to score points but for actual fighting this doesn't do anything. And they get confused when someone gets up close with their fists, or even flinch. That being said, as a part of the puzzle I feel like training Taekwondo WTF is a great addition to other arts but alone it's rather weak if you put it into let's say, MMA or Muay Thai. Edit: Also I never cared much for belts, I respect their meaning in terms of people having practiced something for some time but beyond that they don't hold any meaning to me. I think people have a tendency to get hung up on things.
What i hate with traditional martial arts is that you end up taking a lot of time on non-functional things, from tradition. You end up doing less repetitions than practicing for boxing for example. But if that stuff matters to you go do it!
Also, the belt system isnt for you, its for the coaches, to make their job easier. They have manuals on "x belt does z", they just follow it instead of opting for a customized approach. So you may be better than your belt but if you dont wait it out until you change belt you cant get teached the next stuff. I get it though, they have to teach quite a few people to make it commercially viable
When I started training in BJJ in a Gracie Barra studio I got as far as getting 3 strips on my white belt before I had to move somewhere else, the place I moved in had a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu studio which I would later join, and what I noticed was a difference between the two schools that I trained in, in Gracie Barra what we learn is mostly for sport while we do learn self defense, but in the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu studio it was 50/50 with two separate classes ( 1 being about self defense jiu-jiutsu and when that class is over will begin sport jiu-jiutsu. You could choose to stay for both or one but I always stay for both and get 2 and a half hours of awesome training ) I was told I could get my 3 strips back on my belt since I already had some knowledge but because how different it felt training with them I decided to start over as a zero striped white belt, I got as far to get my first stripe with them until covid happened. Now I'm trying to get back to training again at a martial arts studio so I can become an MMA fighter.
I think I finally understand striking, after reading the Jack Dempsey book for the 10th time and watching your videos. Today in sparring I managed to use aggressive defence to a high degree after changing the techniques to accommodate Thai boxing. I'd be interested in a video about principals of striking.
For me Ramsey did the contrary. Now I really can understand grappling, and by adopt grappling with understand of it made my strike evolve, now I have no fear of closing range, my techniques can work close to and if don't. I have knowledge to not being simple grabbed and thrown like a bag. Now I can defend against grappling and using me myself grappling and throws with confidence
Styles are important if only because other people found similar, but different, uses for the movements we all do, and because of that, we figured out a bunch of different, but similar, ways to train them.
Belts might seem important from the outside, but I think most BJJ practitioners understand that what's important is getting better. The best teachers will tell you to not think about the belts at all. But it is a handy way to designate competence, and that can be helpful when belts are given out fairly stringently like in BJJ. This is useful on UA-cam for people looking for advice specific to their skill level. It's also true however that no two blue/purple/black belts are created equal.
My feeling about styles and efficiency is that most styles were created to be efficient, but some of them require more efforts to get there than others, because that efficiency might be buried under traditions, culture and history. Those things will dictate how a style is taught most of the time, so it might be more difficult to find a school that makes you efficient as a fighter in some martial arts than others. I also think that the students make the style. I think people mostly go to boxing class to get in a ring and fight (even if they don't intend to compete), while in my experience fighting is not the main motivation for many Kung Fu practicioners (instead they're looking for aesthetics, fitness, culture, etc.) There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it will shape what the classes consist of, and it will make it difficult for someone who goes there to learn how to fight. Anybody who got to spar with someone who attends the class to do some exercise and meet their friends knows the feeling...
Lifelong martial artist. My excellent aikido sensei encouraged us to study everything. You need credible striking to sell throws. At least enough to induce a desired defense you can then exploit. As always you always say intelligent things. Non trivial points. Still learn things from you after a lifetime in schools and the streets.
@@rwdchannel2901 Absolutely true. Provided you don’t let them get too close, can shoot well & don’t freeze. My people die every day for lack of knowledge. I’m just a hardass former Marine & lifelong martial artist who isn’t afraid and doesn’t take S*** from anyone. But everyone who is better than me doesn’t need to kick @ss to prove they are bad & the rest I can and have handled. And still can & will. Not as good as I once was but once I’m as good as I ever was. And walk my walk.
So cool to hear you mention Dan. I live in Brea and trained with him for a year or so when I was in high school. I ended up taking wrestling shortly after so I put my BJJ career on hold. When I did come back I ended up at CSW with Eric Paulson since ironically I like his style better than Dan’s
Thank you sensei Ramsey! Few comments: in Okinawan karate, the coloured belts don't mean that much, you just learn the basic principles. The art really starts once you become black belt. This is partly becuse of karate's approach. Karate katas have three levels of interpretations. Many schools tend to wait until black belt level before teaching advanced interpretations of kata. In other words, students have hardly had the chance to really train in full application until black belt level. This is in big contrast to BJJ. I'm a karate practitioner myself and the first to admit that karate should perhaps rethink completely their teaching method. The focus should be bunkai, while kata should simply function as a pattern of moves to memorise the techniques (similar to shadow boxing), and not the way around. 🥋
@Ramsey Dewey exactly! It's just like learning a new language, if you don't know the meaning of the vocabulary, the words will remain abstract sounds and almost impossible to really memorise.
Having been in the martial arts for most of my life, starting with TMA and evolving into MMA, when you get a question, I think about how I would answer it. In this case, as usual, well done, Ramsey!
Ramsey's discussion at 12:00 about TKD and belt ranks is interesting. As a BJJ practitioner, one thing I constantly remind myself is that there's a TON of randomness when you do striking. No matter how good you are, if you catch a lucky punch just wrong, you're out. In BJJ, there's a lot less randomness. You don't "accidentally" catch a BJJ black belt in a rear naked choke or an arm bar. But you can totally accidentally catch someone on the jaw with an unexpected haymaker. So I don't think it should surprise anyone that an experienced grappler will almost always win a grappling match, but it's not always guaranteed in striking. To me, the BJJ belt ranking system makes sense. In the American blue collar world, we've got apprentices, journeymen, and masters. In education, we have high school, college, and graduate school. In white collar business, we've got job grades. It just makes sense to judge the relative skill levels of different students with regard to which techniques they've learned and how well they can execute them against resisting opponents. I won't be snooty about it, but personally it doesn't surprise me that grapplers talk about belts so much and strikers don't.
@Ramsey Dewey What criteria is the question based on? Some styles look cool. Some styles have acrobatics. Some styles fight and some styles very much do not, concentrating on, say, isometrics for long term health or something. Some styles have weaponry, and if you're just practicing for the joy of it, weaponry is really fun. Is the question "What styles are best if you already know how to fight?" Seems like Seth has made a pretty good case for Sumo in self defense. (I could see sumo being useful in a lot of brawl type situation). Is it "What style is the best jumping of point for MMA?" (that's all I got for now. Now I watch video.)
I always thought it was odd how a lot of strikers are so dogmatically against learning grappling, or BJJ guys who refuse to learn the rest of judo or freestyle wrestling or whatever else to round out and complete their grappling skillset. How can being so skilled at one aspect of a skill (fighting, in this case) NOT make you hyper aware of your deficiencies in all the other aspects of the skill? Even if they're only interested solely in competing in a sport, how does that not inspire curiosity in the practical skill that sport is based on? How are there trap shooters who have never gone waterfowl hunting, just to see? Just to KNOW? Even if Art Jimmerson decided to keep focusing on boxing, for professional reasons, how would it, COULD it, not just utterly infuriate him that all the skills he had spent years pouring blood, sweat, and tears into was rendered utterly useless? How could anyone experience something like that and not walk into a grappling class the very next day, out of pure pride, if nothing else? But at least ole Art had the excuse that he was fighting other boxers in his sport career. How did it take so long for cross-training to become a thing in MMA?
Pride in their martial art being the strongest in their head. It comes back down to humans wanting to separate everything into groups. Human like being in their own group and likes to deny things that don't conform
Myself and a few others experienced this first hand, transferring from a sambo gym to a bjj based mma gym. The first thing they try to figure out is what belt colour you are. It's a very tedious process. They will award you a purple belt because you can wrestle with the brown belts, but you get choked out by the blue belts, which you yourself never choke out because you know nothing about chokes. You are no better than the ivory tornadoes in terms of attacking the collar line yet you Confuse the brown belts with your strange and odd constant repositioning. I think the time of belts must go and we all just start wearing headbands. From neon green to Cian, to Halloween pumpkin orange, and so on.
Sakuraba got a BJJ black belt by one of the Machado, and he said: I cant even tie a BJJ belt. The BJJ community is highly materialistic which explains why they desire belts. Then when one without a belt, entered a BJJ nogi comp, most BJJ black belt switched dept to the gi section. Josh Barnett then called it unfair, but Machado handed him a gi and a belt. Most bjj black belts in the dressing mocked and despised Barnett when they saw the black belt around his waist. Again, materialistic. B Team elite grapplers recently mentioned that the more we move forward in time, the less BJJ belts will matter. Another great reflexion I was reading was: what if we do away with BJJ belts today ? How many will still attend their academies ? Hanging on to a piece of certification, a paper, or a trophee/medal is all this is about ? Maybe question BJJ instructors. They're the ones responsible for all that mess, not the students.
My take: It is not so that people obsess over belt ranks over skill, because the belt ranks are supposed to be a measure of skill. It is very difficult to measure skill improvement, and that makes a simple proxy appealing. All the more true when we consider that there are most likely a whole bunch of people watching BBJ videos despite not training
I think the reason majority of the BJJ videos are about belts in some way is because majority of the people practicing BJJ are white belts, blue belts, and even kids and most of that audience is just looking for guidance on how to get the next belt. Majority of blue belts and down are going to have millions of questions on what I need to get recognition like they're in a hurry. While most of the higher belts purple and up tend to have this approach of "welp, the next belt will get here when it gets here"
Hello Coach, the other day sensei asked me if I listen to any podcasts. My answer was not really but I watch a lot of Ramsey Dewey. It was a pleasant discussion about what people expose themselves to on UA-cam. One of the kids told me he watch a video of a guy blowing a bull with an rpg in the Filipines. I asked him if that is the type of stuff he wants to research, and since he knows the effects is he going to watch more videos like that? He told me he thought I would think its cool. It was interesting. I was trying to explain to him he didn't do anything wrong with watching that video and it's good that he is using UA-cam for research, and I use it for research. That's when you came up. It was an interesting change in the discussion, going from rpgs to martial arts research. I had a freak accident happen to me today during sparring class. I don't know what happens. It was a good day, started training with pull contests and other exercises with dead hangs from rolling bars and static bars. It was a good work out then we were going through drills and take downs. Oh yeah so the pull up contest was my idea, like a request as today was my birthday, I didn't win I'm 44 years old now. Then onto the mat, conditioning then drilling and take downs but before actual sparring time. One of my partners was demonstrating a leg reap on me and that when I got hurt. He got me off balance from my right side and swept out my right leg, but something popped in my left calf before I went down. It was the opposite leg of the attack and I have no idea how that happened. What's funny about it yesterday I told sensei for my birthday I'm going to get bloody knuckles and bruises (like on Kung Fu Panda) but he said I wear gloves so I won't be getting bloody knuckles, which was a good comeback. But I didn't think I was actually going to get hurt. This was 7 hours ago and my left calf hurts to the touch. I've been training much harder these past few months than I have the past 2 years and I'm afraid this is a serious injury aside from my current disabilities. It's a minor setback and hearing you talk about sparring in this discussion when you spoke about people saying "their martial art is better because they spar". I'm not weak, and I got hurt from a demonstration without even sparring yet. Accidents happen, this was noones fault. Before sparring class I even went swimming laps at the gym roughly 45 minutes prior just to get to the dojo warmed up. Even though I'm hurt, and going to refrain from training, I still told my instructors I'll still show up to the dojo even if I'm just taking notes. I have nothing else to do and I seriously don't want to stop training. But man, on my birthday I get injured and I swear training was awesome today. And even when sitting out from.sparring, sensei still had me participate by being time keeper. I appreciated that. Geez this was a long comment. Thanks for reading.
TL;DR. At least for now. But I sure hope you meant blowing UP a bull. Had some wild times when I was young but I never got blown by a chick using an rpg. Though I’ve been in a few fields. But we all do what we can mostly. But I had a real estate youth. Got a lot while I was young. But seriously. I find it essential to focus on videos that advance my progress towards conscious goals. Life’s too short even when you are young, to do more than take short breaks with e. g. cat videos. Since my “retirement” I have reviewed grad level linear algebra, taught myself Spanish university level Spanish and am now building a street drag liter bike to chase a record. And maybe use it to raise support for Parkinson’s and FA because they affect the love of my life and our son’s quite wonderful new love of a year plus. Because it beats hanging around fixing If I succeed I win. If I fall short but die getting better at what I love, I still win. Bop til you drop. Always. Living well is the best revenge. Trying but not crossing the finish line is still better than staying in the garage. An added benefit is the love of my life still looks at me with love, respect & admiration for how I still look manlier than other men. And means it. With 3 divorces at 45 I almost gave up entirely. Then lightning struck two people at the same place on the same night. We have shared a supercharged life together ever since. And we sustain and encourage each other still. Proud & happy to be a free born man in the USA. (The mWire).
@@mattgoodmangoodmanlawnmowi2454 I've been in terrible places too. Sometimes you just have to let it all out somewhere and sometimes it's easiest to a stranger. I've given up before, and it was to the enemy in Afghanistan in order to save lives. I was willing to die so others may live, in the end everyone survived without a scratch. I won't speak more about that situation except to say sometimes when times are at its darkest moments and it looks like there is nowhere to go or no chance of survival we can't really stop finding a meaning to keep going. Whether by self sacrifice, for someone else's future or some total stranger in absolute danger we just find a reason even if stretched out thin to bounce back up and keep going. But the key is to not lose our humanity. Broken hearts suck but you don't want to lose your soul. Stay true to yourself and find what works best for you to be the best version of yourself you can possibly be. Just don't try to take the short cut just because things aren't going your way, that hard road builds character so just keep on pushing. -Semper Fidelis
@@bravelilspidey Semper Fi and mad respect for your play. Greater love hath no man… Everything! you said. Wishing you a good and satisfilife. You deserve it. God Bless the Marine Corpd. A bastion of sanity. And full of ordinary men who do extraordinary things. You sir, are a true hero to me, and a real hardcore Marine. I was just yet another POG, and then an amphibious POG jockey, Amtrack crewman. Underwater tanks lol. But McNamara put my West Coast brothers in riverine ops. Marshland. 94% casualties. My unit mostly went to AIT. My a hole buddy Greg & I qualified for a special Navy school. We promptly outperformed 100 sailors. Greg Utley. Tampa Amtrack unit. I’m Matt’s dad, Dan. Looking for Mike Nelson too. Wish we had smartphones and contact DBs back in the day v
Style = Exerting dominance Fundamentals = Not getting dominated Correct me if I'm wrong, but to get consistent results at a given level it makes virtually no difference which style you use. You just need at least one dependable way to outshine opponents of that level, and you need strong enough fundamentals to have that opportunity. It could be the toe stomping game so long as you can dominate the other guy at it. But when you get to a high enough level, your unique physiology and mentality will dictate style.
jiu jitsu guy here, co-signed on jiu jitsu being too obsessed with belts. This is shifting with no gi becoming the focus of competition and a lot of ADCC inspired competitions not using belt rank and guys like the Rodriguez brothers and Rutolo brothers beating black belts on the regular while still blue, purple, brown belts
Style absolutely does matter, My base is folkstyle wrestling with bits of judo, jiujitsu, kyokushin karate, and greco-roman wrestling sprinkled in. I don't think I would have the same style and intensity if I did something like taekwondo in highschool instead of wrestled.
No, you just have to adapt it to yourself. Take what's useful, discard the rest, etc. Basically disregard possibly thousands of years of accumulated knowledge and start from scratch. Infinite monkeys with infinite typewriters style.
In my humble opinion, one should be learning a martial art that teaches martial skills. Nowadays, traditional MA are sport oriented that make them unique and sets them apart from other MA. Just as Taekwondo and Karate teaches their student in a safe environment to grow and learn their unique MA, the skills that it teaches can be done in a setting that requires no hesitation to act. Hesitation will get you beaten up in a fisticuffs. In my own personal experience in which I recently entered into my first BJJ tournament, I found that training in MMA gym can be useful because I had more skills than my opponent. I ultimately lost in my first round reinjuring my elbow. In the second round, I used my skills that I learned from other MA: distance management and timing from 7yrs of Karate, down blocks from Wrestling, and hand fighting and throws from Judo.
In my humble opinion, one should be learning a martial art that teaches martial skills. Nowadays, traditional MA are sport oriented that make them unique and sets them apart from other MA. Just as Taekwondo and Karate teaches their student in a safe environment to grow and learn their unique MA, the skills that it teaches can be done in a setting that requires no hesitation to act. Hesitation will get you beaten up in a fisticuffs. In my own personal experience in which I recently entered into my first BJJ tournament, I found that training in MMA gym can be useful because I had more skills than my opponent. I ultimately lost in my first round reinjuring my elbow. In the second round, I used my skills that I learned from other MA: distance management and timing from 7yrs of Karate, down blocks from Wrestling, and hand fighting and throws from Judo.
Functional aikido. Lenny Sly of Rogue Warriors. Direct student of Seagal. I had independently grown in that direction and have used it often enough that people don’t believe a history I know I have.
@@jestfullgremblim8002 I will swear on my honor it has worked in the streets for me more times than I can remember Over almost my entire life. I have other tools I use, but it’s all around aikido principles. In its finest form, aikido is so effective that if you totally take out number one, no one will rush to be next. My responses are proportional. But when I was surrounded and on the deck, I didn’t rise and look for a throw. I faked a nut punch out of a modified iaido draw, got the expected karate low cross block, used a Chinese boxing principle to put my entire body behind a bladder punch. Felt spine from the front. Lifted a maybe 160 lb guy up and back. Put on a real Más oyama game face and they all stayed ten yards away. After I meditated in a yoga lotus position and pondered my mortality and my responses. A good way to reduce PTSD, something I learned from the psychology I have studied out of interest. And I carefully considered if I could have survived with a less destructive response, in accordance with Biblical, Rinzai Zen & Omotokyo principles. Given the specific circumstances, 40 years later I still have not come up with a better response, so I have no guilt or shame about destroying an aggressor’s bladder for life to save mine. But I did think a lot about Bruce Lee saying he was just a finger pointing at the moon. Don’t look at the fingers, look at the moon. And be water. That time I was water amassing all its unified force to smash out of a dam. So I have learned from many. But my core style is built around acceptance of my mortality, moving off the line of attack, natural stance, move in not away, etc etc are all classic aikido and aiki-jitsu, but incorporating any tool I’ve acquired that fits the job & takes care of business. But yes, it was an aikido mindset that enabled me to improvise and overcome. Without it I would not have reached for the most effective tool in the right timing. The biggest breakthrough for me was realizing I was often too quick wan otherwise correct response. That took away a lot of street anxiety. In “retirement” I am still prepared to handle my business. And I’m going racing on a liter bike. Because I know I can. Without killing or maiming myself. Because aikido has given me lightning reflexes and the belief that the only way to know if you can do something is to try to perfect perfect it. If I were restricted to one “style “ it would be aikido with kobudo training. Fortunately that’s what he did for his students with the proper spirit. Never a lecture. Never a demo for the class. Just a one on one demo, with a silent passing atemi, that sort of thing. You were expected to grasp that it could be either a feint or a strike. And yes they became part of my ingrained automatic defense response, with no problems connecting when a feint wasn’t enough. Probably only about one in ten or twenty got occasional old school demos one on one. and never talked about, just quietly shown to those who could handle it. Without aikido I would have died or been mutilated forty years ago. And there would have been no Matt. And I wouldn’t have met and married a ten plus woman, our sons Mom, if I didn’t make her feel safe only with me, because of ten seconds of my art. So yes, aikido works. If you are open-minded and thorough in your tray. -Matt’s dad But a shoutout to iaido speed & economy of motion and energy.
@@RamseyDewey Hi Coach. Just saw the latest self defence championship episode which had knife combat. It really bust some myths I had about knife defence lol 😂. Thanks for going through such a gruelling physical challenge to expose the realities of knife defence
Ramsey I keep telling you this. Turn to science when comparing skill; whence comparing TKD to BJJ black belt. 10yrs or 10,000hrs, to mastery as famously discovered by Malcolm Gladwell, a journalist who studied world class athletes as well as game athletes in chess, utilising scientific study. TKD black belt is 3.5yrs from a legitimate Kukkiwon school and the lowest in martial arts versus 10-12yrs in BJJ. Of course the latter will be better then. Apples to oranges. And I love the former. Also you talk about 1000/1000 times BJJ guy will win - then what about the world champion strongman/bodybuilder who more or less beat the champion BJJ black belt? I'm a big guy, overweight but highly athletic, was very, very hard for weedy purple belts to beat me as a white belt in fact they couldn't, whereas others could. I don't even know if the instructor could beat me (and I'd don't want to find out if he could or I could LOL).
If people really want to learn to fight, I believe they would get much more out of MMA than any other martial art. Otherwise, you waste a lot of time learning things that aren’t very useful for real fighting. Plus, belts are basically useless to determine fighting ability, which is why people that fight, often don’t care at all about belts. They just seem ridiculous to me now. But, as someone who has often been tasked with ending violence, why does everyone continue worry about how well their martial art can do in an actual fight? The answer, is probably not what you want to hear. To learn to fight, train to fight. MMA is the closest thing to reality. Thanks for the video. PS: I can also share with you from a legal, health, and common sense perspective, most everyone would be best served by learning how to avoid real fighting.
Such a good video! Thanks coach! There are styles, there are gyms, and there are body types. Pick the best gym with the most experienced fighter vs a bear like Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson and you are going to have a bad day! ESPECIALLY if he had a little training. Some styles are better for some body types. Some gyms work better for some people and are not a good fit for others. Pick a gym that keeps you coming back year after year and has a good gym culture consistent with what you want out of life!
Ok martial arts are the Art of War not the earth of a gym the most important element in the military or Marshall heart discipline discipline and rank Japanese karate which all Modern martial arts come from is about discipline and rank not one on 1 combat or such is my humble opinion my humble opinion thank you for your wonderful videos
There are only 2 forms of fighting Striking & Grappling & there are many different cultural interpretation of these methods but they all follow a simple mindset of either Offensive or Defensive so in all you have Offensive Striking & Defensive Striking Offensive Grappling & Defensive Grappling Now you can't be a real fighter without with out understanding how to both strike & grappling as well offense & defense but there is a difference in intention when you are striking to grapple & grappling to strike as well offense for defense & defense for offense how these differences in intention & purpose come about is due to many factors such as Rules, Arenas & Wears which come from a cultural preference once you realize this you then notice that there tends to be a Rock Paper Scissors Effect Offensive Strikers < Offensive Grapplers Defensive Strikers < Offensive Strikers Offensive Grapplers < Defensive Grapplers Defensive Grapplers < Defensive Strikers Offensive Strikers = Defensive Grapplers Defensive Strikers = Offensive Grapplers The reason why one style beats the other or is equal to is due to the difference between the intentions of Striking & Grappling where Strikers like to keep the distance while Grapplers like to close it & how the Mind Sets of Defense & Offense change the purpose of your intentions Other factors of wether you win or loose depends on the Rules, Arenas & Wears of the fight for instance if you are fighting with Gloves or a Gi & how Big or Small they are or if some techniques are banned or not which will make some styles stronger or weaker same with the Size & Shape of the Arena another factor is just how good of a fighter you are compared to your opponent if you are have a less optimal style to fight your opponents but you are on a higher level then them you will either match or even best your opponent re gaurdless of style As for the different cultural interpretation of these 4 methods it really only depends on how rich the systems are when it comes to their library of techniques & how well they teach & apply them beyond that all style are valid & how valid they are is just up to you, your teacher & your school
One time I tied my belt in a judo/bjj knot and sensei made me redo it. Striking arts like karate and TKD is ends stick to the left and down like a suit tie. Grappling arts use regular double knot and ends stick to the sides.
@@micaylapresley actually it does because tied the karate way it made training front kicks hard. The belt would flap up and hit me in the left eye. I looked at other people and they were not getting hit in the eye. So I cut the belt shorter and it didn't happen. This pissed off my sensei and he stopped giving me belt so often because he felt it was disrespectful. Maybe this is a politics or ego thing but nonetheless it did effect my training. You can't fight if you can't see. The choice of clothing you wear has a big impact on how you train and fight. It would be better to wear clothing made for battle instead of something watered down.
I do think if there was a taekwondo gym, not some belt school BS, where the attitude was like Muay Thai, boxing or kickboxing, there would be dramatic improvements of the abilities of those who came to fight. Belts may be a mask obscuring the complacency behind the mirage of accomplishment. What do you think?
My BJJ/wrestling coach hates talking about rank. He’ll promote someone, give them their flowers for two seconds, and then have us get right back to training lol. It makes for a more skill-focused environment as opposed to a belt-focused one.
I was wondering RAMSEY if you are still a blue belt???? Because in a recent video you did on Sambo uniform vs. Judo uniform, you were wearing a brown belt.
Im blackbelt in several styles.. "shakwoarang" aka "the champion of the toilets" is 6th dan in tkd former worldchampion and olympic athlete, everybody knows it whenever and wherever.. also in aikido, karate, muay thai, and several fma and kungfu styles..the focus of the martial arts depends from their use in a martial arts practice or competition and a real fight / war combat situation.. there is a diference between try to touch a plastic surface to earn a medal or fighting scenes or capture a movement for videogames than to hit a guy to break his bones or kill him instantly in a life -death or war situation is a matter of context.. and the intention of use by the practitioner.. in ancient times, the efectivity of a style was proven by "trial by fire" if you could survive using it, otherwise if it failed, you and your family, town or country will be killed in war, thats why each kingdom, country, dojo, clans and schools were so secretive with their styles and techniques.. their own survival depended of their effectivity and its ignorance by their rivals and enemies.. people didnt have time to watch youtube or internet to sell bullshit for diplomas, dvds and likes or trolling in socialmedia.. about the neverending dilemma of which is best, depends of the context, I love all martial arts, ive just learned to use what suits best for me and the situation.. you cant use a screwdriver when you need a hammer... in 90% of the fights your enemy doesnt know or gives a fuck whats your martial training, level or lineage.. he just want to kill you, fuck you up, compete, to prove or take something from you
You mentioned Range as the reason you dont think folks use the high block. This is a critical point in the broader discussion of what works. I use all the traditional blocks in sparring, but I had to learn the range to use them and honestly it really is way closer than most want to be fighting at. Styles are about range, and not just grappling or striking, but at what range they work best at. Does not matter how good you are with a skill set, if you are not willing to fight at the range they are meant to be used the skills end up ineffective. Boxing punches vs karate punches is a classic example. Most karatika when they start sparring, especially with heavier contact, default to longer range of boxing so end up throwing bad boxing punches instead of pushing into the shorter striking range the karate punch is built for.
Range as the reason that some people might not want to use the high block the way I do, specifically because they don’t know how to grapple: ua-cam.com/video/f9y2rpbxfhI/v-deo.html
@@RamseyDewey true I saw the video, but interestingly if you compare the range of a typical tkd or karate reverse punch and grappling distances you will notice a large overlap. As defenses are designed to work with the offenses this also becomes the functional range for the blocks be it strikes or grapples. Interesting side ont on the high block is that it also shows up in pure boxing at this distance.
Bukai has its uses, but to be. An abuse of Bunkai is when people find applications I'm bunkai and then argue that Karate "teaches it". Sure you can find legitimate applications, say grappling or boxing or all sorts of applications. But unless those applications are worked on as part of the Katate training, people are not going to apply those. That wrestling or judo application from that Bunkai really doesn't mean much.
Hi Ramsay, I'm not sure where to post questions but what are your opinions on Movies and Animations (particularly Japanese Animation) inspiring people to train Martial Arts/Combat Sports?
Style matters very little, IMO. Each individual person is unique, and you can say each individual is his/her own style. But at the end of day, what's effective is what effective (training, technique, etc), style is irrelevant.
The logical endpoint of "it's the practitioner, not the style", is that you have to reinvent the wheel and make something out of basically nothing. If I show the most naturally talented preteen how to throw haymakers, he might instinctually refine it into something approximating boxing. Is my flailing equal to boxing then?
So i did that experiment you did, but with TKD. Most the results were teaching techniques. I have noticed this big crave of BJJ belt talk. It feels a bit like they don't want you to take it. It's almost always, white belts join, get choked out for 3 or more years, and you might get your blue belt. They don't talk about learning. Just competing. Almost like they are an Olympic sport. But it doesn't seem welcoming. Just talk of prepare to lose, even if you never competed.
Your hate on belts is understood but unnecessary imo. Fact of the matter is people like belts. They like a physical representation of the work they have done. People really like BJJ belts because while the quality of TMA belts seems to have diluted over time there is still a perception, maybe a reality, that a BJJ belt of a certain level correlates to a different level of skill. And as a judoka there are practical. Reasons for belts as well. You wouldn't fully toss a white belt the same way you would a blue or black belt because you can't expect them to have the same ability to breakfall, etc. Anyways you are right that skill, the ability to do the thing, is all that really matters at the end of the day.
Yo styles don’t with fights people do. In a real fight you won’t have time to think about the series of techniques that will put your opponent in check. It’s fast aggressive and usually hyper aggression wins real fights. Now if you couple that with M.A and home your “aggression” you’ll win 85% of encounters probably. But then again there are some freaks out there that styles don’t work on.
I dont agree on the tkd and bjj thing you said... Because the only way it could be real is if doing tae kwon do was worse thsn doing nothing... The average person has 50/50 chance to win... If they train taekwondo for a few months and gets their yellow belt, it would be a bigger chance than not training... By the time they are a blackbelt in taekwondo, they know what it feels to be kicked full contact, have footwork, fast kicks, etc... Against an average person they will win 10 out of 10 times... On bjj, its similar but faster... Learning bjj gives you new tools from day 1... Everyone know what a kick is, they just suck at it... But most people know nothing about grappling
Of coirse this is about vs average... Vs anyone at all inclusing stronger people than average, neither bjj nor tkd would have a 10 out of 10 win rate... If not... Find me an average bjj blackbelt and make them grapple that guy who shrugs ridiculous weights and screams alot... That guy has more strenfht in his bicep than most people in their whole body... And size does matter alot in grappling
Styles are systems of movement that should be designed to help you hurt someone that generations of people have accepted. If it doesn’t work, then maybe you need to look into the institutions and history and see if there is something else going on with the intentions of the style.
My teacher would encourage us to train elsewhere , that's a good quality. Not all styles are the same just like all cars are not the same and all drivers are not the same. Happy training. ☯️ Beware the Cult of BJJ.
Styles absolutely do matter because everyone is different. Some are born to be strikers, others born to be grapplers and so on. Some like to test their skills in matches, others in the outside world. People are different. That’s why styles exist.
Not all martial arts have been damaged by overemphasized belt hiarchies. Some, like Kung fu have been damaged by completly different reasons. Ironically in Chinese kung fu, China itself damaged it all at once within a few decades, but then wushu saved it for posterity, but then turned it into performance art which damaged it even more. I have great respect for the founders of wushu, for saving the arts, but have great sadness for the resulting styles that have permeated all of Kung fu.
I've seen purple belts that don't know how to tie their belts. Half the time they lose their belts. Makes it way easier for my judo grips I tell you what.
so no answer...goodness. one thing i dislike about everyone who claims this style has deficiencies, or this style won't work, that technique is flaw etc etc. So basically no art of martialness or fighting is effective, and that the street fighter will prevail over everyone! so we should just go in the streets and fight street fighters to be able to self defend...
Belts are great for the memes like the spazy white belts, overly aggressive and insecure blue belt, the purple belt that only shows up for rolling and the bald or fat or bald and fat brown belt!
Regarding your karate upper block passage. I've used it extremely successfully only once. I was cross-training in Muay Thai at that time. I am 191 cm and a pretty heavy guy, and I once sparred with a guy who was 200 cm. It was the only time I fought a guy bigger than me. He was a decent boxer with virtually useless kicks, but it was hard to get in. Forcing the guy to throw a cross and parrying it with a classical jodan-uke made me consistently get in with a body shot. I was so surprised that afterwards I started training the useless thing religiously for almost a year. Got a good guard pull to cross setup out of it. Later made me kinda good at the standing kimura takedown (forgot how it's called, sorry). The jodan-uke is still nearly useless for a tall guy like me, but it opened my mind to a lot of interesting techniques and had a great influence on my personal fighting style.
Imagine a world in which there are no belts. What would be your predictions for what would happen then? For example, in Chess and Go (Baduk or Weiqi), for the slightly more serious, there are no belts. Do you think martial arts would then be very similar to them, or are there major differences still? One big difference to me is that your improvement becomes so transparent that you can get very easily disheartened. And people get way over the top on winning at all costs, since winning is the only true measure (coach appraisals, formal prizes (belts) have very little value in those contexts).
I really hope not. It's super organized the way it is right now, where you rank up by wins, regardless of how long youv been training for. Once you throw the belt system in, than you have the white belts that could be brown in some gyms completely destroying everyone, while the gyms were the instructors buddies all have brown belts in 3 years wonder why they don't do well at tournaments.
Hello Ramsey let's say hypothetically that someone comes to your gym that isn't interested in martial arts and wants to learn only the basics of fighting in order to have an edge in a self defense scenario /everyday life, what are you teaching him and what is the minimum amount of time needed ? (it can include both wrestling and striking, it doesn't have to be a specific martial art )
I am not a self defense instructor. The self defense industry is power fantasy. There is no minimum amount of time to be ready fo’ da streetz. People who don’t plan on competing in cage fighting come to my gym all the time. They learn the same thing everyone else’s does: how to fight. The basics of fighting take a lifetime to achieve.
Hi coach, I'm moving from mma/no gi to gi bjj and I'm having trouble changing levels and going for bread and butter takedowns because people will make grips on my lapels and straight-arm me. What can I do in these situations other than pull guard?
Great question! Set ups for takedowns in the gi are a lot different than without. This is one of those show, not tell kind of answers. I can make a video about some of my favorite set ups in the gi, but in the meantime, I suggest you look at judo and sambo grip fighting videos. You can learn a lot.
Mr. Dewey, as a Mormon, may we get your opinion on "The Burned Man" Joshua Graham? He is a Mormon in Fallout: New Vegas and remains my chief citation for, "coolest Christian character" if you'll forgive me conflating Mormonism and Christianity in this instance.
It’s called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Always has been. Of course the constituents of Christ’s church are Christians. Mormon and Mormonsim were intended to be pejorative nicknames by enemies of the church in an effort to remove the name of Christ from our identity- whereas the whole purpose of The Church of Jesus Christ is to take the name of Christ upon you, to keep His commandments, and to always remember Him- just as He taught. To quote Joshua Graham: “This may not seem important to you now, but it’s the most important thing I’ve told you.”
@@RamseyDewey I don't expect a reply or anything; just wanted to show you this incase it has some value to you. Again, thank you! ua-cam.com/video/fDAnmujWlsM/v-deo.html
The belt system is something that almost fall apart where I train. We do a Shaolin based whusu, we have only 2 ranks, white shirt, you are in this rank for the 2 first fist styles we learn, both teach about striking and grappling/ throwing. Above that you have black shirt, the other styles also do grapple and striking. But have more techniques that you don't learn for sports. Small joint etc. I really like cause is a almost complete martial arts, but people don't focus to learn weapons the same amount.
Hey coach, I have a specific question, when I throw high roundhouse kicks I noticed that I throw my weight vertically to some extent too, this causes me to slip on the pivoting foot on rare occasions, is this something I could work on fixing? If yes how?
@RWD Channel Yeah I've heard that the Okinawans were just adopting karate to Japanese tastes so ghat karate could even survive during the runup to WW2.
I think it’s funny when I hear belt systems.karate did start off not having belt systems….I don’t even wear my black belt when I train anymore….there just stupid to me now…this is why old Okinawan karate never had belts.belts weren’t introduced till the founder of Shotokan got it from the founder of judo.good way to know who’s ranked but do we really need them??but then Ramsey I have a question tho.are there other ways we can know where our students skill level is??
If you don’t know your own students and where their skill level is without having to look at a belt rank, you’re the worst coach in the history of coaching.
@@RamseyDewey gotchu.time to being real martial arts back.teach Correctly,I’m only 19 but aiming to bring it back,this world is to dark to be going out in with a bunch of things that will never work,that will get u killed.that’s wat I hate about instructors.there life is in your hands…yet all u care about is there money.gotta keep pushing hopefully I can bring it back.thank you love you bro❤️
I trained karate for 7 years, then took a year off to train BJJ. After I started sparring at a kickboxing gym I realised I had a lot of tools but cuz I didn't know how to use them I was getting beaten by guys who had less tools. Now that I've started picking up on strategies a bit more I'm able to reintroduce those crazy blitzes & spins which are throwing off a lot of guys who are used to a more standard approach.
This to me is a big problem with TMA. They teach you how to prefect the technique but hardly ever go over how you would set that up. In kickboxing they kind of do the opposite where the individual techniques might be a little more sloppy but your taught ways to set them up almost immediately.
I have some "bunkai" for the high block. One time I was standing under a garage door when it broke and started to slam shut. I instinctively high blocked it and probably saved myself some head trauma.
Outstanding! I love your screen name, by the way.
Belts can sometimes mean different things to different people. When i was in high school and first starting taekwondo, i didnt care about belts. Even tried to attend class without wearing it.
Yrs later, after train8ng other martial arts, i got into capoeira which also has a belt(cord) system. But for me, it wasnt so much about the skill level itself, but my own experience, commitment, and struggles to attend classes, after losing jobs and the covid apocalypse. It's having that peice of fabric is like a checkpoint/marker to remind me of what ive overcome. And i think that concept is why people tend to cling to belts, at least for kids, teens, etc. Their goal settings. Not much different than say an associats degree persay. Its a journey of learning and overcoming hardships and reaching goals. If you can attain that black belt in karate, why couldn't you achieve that promotion at work, etc? They dont always have to mean fighting ability.
I really like the bit about sending students to other places and schools.
I do HEMA, which, as you know, is pretty niche. There's really only 1 1/2 "schools" in my area, and I wind up sparring the same people over and over. I had the thought occur to me, "Am I learning to fight rapier, or am I learning to fight rapier against this specific group of people?" Because those are two different things. Since then, I've consciously worked at training and sparring people from different backgrounds and learning paths.
They find flaws in your fencing you never would have noticed at home, teach new ways of doing things, help you learn to adapt your fighting on the fly, and you can provide them the same benefit.
Yeah man! And it’s not necessarily because people outside your circle do it better, it’s just that they do it differently- and that makes a massive difference.
You can also try Kendo, and Western Fencing clubs for new perspectives. Wushu and Fillipino martial arts also teach various versions of the blade. You might find 'cross training' makes your HEMA more versatile, and besides it is fun. I gotta get around to trying HEMA sometime, it's on my bucket list.
@Taij Devon I've trained with several people with a background in FIE/Olympic fencing over the years. Haven't done it myself,, but one of the new members has invited me to give it a shot once his club has a new intake, and I'm planning on taking it.
One of the out of town places I go to occasionally has a guy with an FMA background, and his fighting style is interesting.
I'm also planning on going to a Dog Brothers event in Washington State called the Short Blade Symposium in 24.
Hi Scott!
No kidding about the small group of practitioners. It's another reason tournaments are good.
"In Okinawa if you have belt means you no need rope to hold pants".
Mr. Miyagi Sensei , 1984.
In my opinion, i think bjj youtube videos include belt rank in their titles because the majoriy of people who watch them are newer white belts. It likely helps their views up. I used to be one of these people until i discovered instructional videos that cost money with dedicated content. I find now when i look at bjj videos on youtube, they are mostly aimed at white belts. Lots of people start bjj, but after a year most eventually slow or stop training which creates the trend of aiming videos at white belts.
Belt ranks in grapling are there for a good reason. It tells you what techniek level you could expect from a certain person.
If you start in a grapling martial arts and explain you have no intention of becomming a competitor, most of the gyms will accept that. You will still progress and train, but not everybody is out there to tip your head off.
In striking martial arts having many belts make less sence, maybe 3 would be good. 1 for beginner and a second for intermediate. Black for the instructor. Why? In stricking martial arts it feels to me way more than in grapling that everybody has a chip on their shoulder and is out to score a point over you being unconcious. And the other beginners that are 6 months ahead of you can and will score every point on you they can 'proving' themselves to the higher ups there.
This is indeed not in every gym, but most boxing gyms. I realy want to learn proper boxing, even though I am in my 40ies, but man, the mentality of most gyms is rotten. So some traditional discipline and some indication of who to safely train with would be much apreciated.
There is also a significant difference between grappling arts and striking arts.
There is a lot more chaos in striking, due to the ballistic nature of the techniques. And so there's a lot more margin of error.
I suck at grappling but I feel like a guy who knows a little BJJ can beat most people on the ground, while in order to have the same kind of effect in striking you need a much bigger skill gap.
This has been known to be common wisdom for a REALLY long time. And some people just do not have the coordination or physique for good striking, but I think most people have the capacity to do decent grappling
Yup, there's a reason after a long time training how to grapple, you can basically crawl around your partner's body while closing your eyes
Krav Maga
IF it's mutual 1v1 and IF they don't have a knife, yes you are correct.
There's always going to be more physically gifted athletes than others.
Striking is something you are born with.
Grappling is something anyone can get good at.
A born striker is the most dangerous fighter of all.
19 min flys by! Keep being Ramsey Dewey.
I'm really glad I got / am getting Taekwondo as a base, training other martial arts on the side as well, thinking of going into Amateur MMA fighting within the next 2-3 years. What it really does for me as a 90-95kg fighter is forcing me to work on speed and setups for kicks, as well as cardio to have that back and forth in- and out step, getting used to distance for kicks and punches (We are WTF federation where I'm training, so allowed to punch for the head.). Something I've noticed is how difficult Taekwondo people have of a time to counter people with other discplines like boxing or kick boxing, they often kick fast to score points but for actual fighting this doesn't do anything. And they get confused when someone gets up close with their fists, or even flinch. That being said, as a part of the puzzle I feel like training Taekwondo WTF is a great addition to other arts but alone it's rather weak if you put it into let's say, MMA or Muay Thai.
Edit: Also I never cared much for belts, I respect their meaning in terms of people having practiced something for some time but beyond that they don't hold any meaning to me. I think people have a tendency to get hung up on things.
What i hate with traditional martial arts is that you end up taking a lot of time on non-functional things, from tradition. You end up doing less repetitions than practicing for boxing for example. But if that stuff matters to you go do it!
Also, the belt system isnt for you, its for the coaches, to make their job easier. They have manuals on "x belt does z", they just follow it instead of opting for a customized approach. So you may be better than your belt but if you dont wait it out until you change belt you cant get teached the next stuff.
I get it though, they have to teach quite a few people to make it commercially viable
After you go into amateur MMA, then you can say you can beat Bruce Lee like Ramsey.
When I started training in BJJ in a Gracie Barra studio I got as far as getting 3 strips on my white belt before I had to move somewhere else, the place I moved in had a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu studio which I would later join, and what I noticed was a difference between the two schools that I trained in, in Gracie Barra what we learn is mostly for sport while we do learn self defense, but in the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu studio it was 50/50 with two separate classes ( 1 being about self defense jiu-jiutsu and when that class is over will begin sport jiu-jiutsu. You could choose to stay for both or one but I always stay for both and get 2 and a half hours of awesome training )
I was told I could get my 3 strips back on my belt since I already had some knowledge but because how different it felt training with them I decided to start over as a zero striped white belt, I got as far to get my first stripe with them until covid happened.
Now I'm trying to get back to training again at a martial arts studio so I can become an MMA fighter.
I think I finally understand striking, after reading the Jack Dempsey book for the 10th time and watching your videos. Today in sparring I managed to use aggressive defence to a high degree after changing the techniques to accommodate Thai boxing. I'd be interested in a video about principals of striking.
For me Ramsey did the contrary. Now I really can understand grappling, and by adopt grappling with understand of it made my strike evolve, now I have no fear of closing range, my techniques can work close to and if don't. I have knowledge to not being simple grabbed and thrown like a bag. Now I can defend against grappling and using me myself grappling and throws with confidence
Styles are important if only because other people found similar, but different, uses for the movements we all do, and because of that, we figured out a bunch of different, but similar, ways to train them.
Belts might seem important from the outside, but I think most BJJ practitioners understand that what's important is getting better. The best teachers will tell you to not think about the belts at all. But it is a handy way to designate competence, and that can be helpful when belts are given out fairly stringently like in BJJ. This is useful on UA-cam for people looking for advice specific to their skill level. It's also true however that no two blue/purple/black belts are created equal.
My feeling about styles and efficiency is that most styles were created to be efficient, but some of them require more efforts to get there than others, because that efficiency might be buried under traditions, culture and history.
Those things will dictate how a style is taught most of the time, so it might be more difficult to find a school that makes you efficient as a fighter in some martial arts than others.
I also think that the students make the style. I think people mostly go to boxing class to get in a ring and fight (even if they don't intend to compete), while in my experience fighting is not the main motivation for many Kung Fu practicioners (instead they're looking for aesthetics, fitness, culture, etc.) There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it will shape what the classes consist of, and it will make it difficult for someone who goes there to learn how to fight.
Anybody who got to spar with someone who attends the class to do some exercise and meet their friends knows the feeling...
Lifelong martial artist. My excellent aikido sensei encouraged us to study everything.
You need credible striking to sell throws. At least enough to induce a desired defense you can then exploit.
As always you always say intelligent things. Non trivial points.
Still learn things from you after a lifetime in schools and the streets.
Samurai considered firearms a martial art. If I bring my pistol my martial art is too deadly for the ring.
@@rwdchannel2901 Absolutely true. Provided you don’t let them get too close, can shoot well & don’t freeze.
My people die every day for lack of knowledge.
I’m just a hardass former Marine & lifelong martial artist who isn’t afraid and doesn’t take S*** from anyone.
But everyone who is better than me doesn’t need to kick @ss to prove they are bad & the rest I can and have handled. And still can & will.
Not as good as I once was but once I’m as good as I ever was. And walk my walk.
So cool to hear you mention Dan. I live in Brea and trained with him for a year or so when I was in high school. I ended up taking wrestling shortly after so I put my BJJ career on hold. When I did come back I ended up at CSW with Eric Paulson since ironically I like his style better than Dan’s
Thank you sensei Ramsey! Few comments: in Okinawan karate, the coloured belts don't mean that much, you just learn the basic principles. The art really starts once you become black belt. This is partly becuse of karate's approach. Karate katas have three levels of interpretations. Many schools tend to wait until black belt level before teaching advanced interpretations of kata. In other words, students have hardly had the chance to really train in full application until black belt level. This is in big contrast to BJJ. I'm a karate practitioner myself and the first to admit that karate should perhaps rethink completely their teaching method. The focus should be bunkai, while kata should simply function as a pattern of moves to memorise the techniques (similar to shadow boxing), and not the way around. 🥋
Also, it’s much easier to remember kata when you actually know what the movements are for.
@Ramsey Dewey exactly! It's just like learning a new language, if you don't know the meaning of the vocabulary, the words will remain abstract sounds and almost impossible to really memorise.
Having been in the martial arts for most of my life, starting with TMA and evolving into MMA, when you get a question, I think about how I would answer it. In this case, as usual, well done, Ramsey!
Ramsey's discussion at 12:00 about TKD and belt ranks is interesting. As a BJJ practitioner, one thing I constantly remind myself is that there's a TON of randomness when you do striking. No matter how good you are, if you catch a lucky punch just wrong, you're out. In BJJ, there's a lot less randomness. You don't "accidentally" catch a BJJ black belt in a rear naked choke or an arm bar. But you can totally accidentally catch someone on the jaw with an unexpected haymaker. So I don't think it should surprise anyone that an experienced grappler will almost always win a grappling match, but it's not always guaranteed in striking.
To me, the BJJ belt ranking system makes sense. In the American blue collar world, we've got apprentices, journeymen, and masters. In education, we have high school, college, and graduate school. In white collar business, we've got job grades. It just makes sense to judge the relative skill levels of different students with regard to which techniques they've learned and how well they can execute them against resisting opponents.
I won't be snooty about it, but personally it doesn't surprise me that grapplers talk about belts so much and strikers don't.
@Ramsey Dewey What criteria is the question based on? Some styles look cool. Some styles have acrobatics. Some styles fight and some styles very much do not, concentrating on, say, isometrics for long term health or something. Some styles have weaponry, and if you're just practicing for the joy of it, weaponry is really fun. Is the question "What styles are best if you already know how to fight?" Seems like Seth has made a pretty good case for Sumo in self defense. (I could see sumo being useful in a lot of brawl type situation). Is it "What style is the best jumping of point for MMA?" (that's all I got for now. Now I watch video.)
I always thought it was odd how a lot of strikers are so dogmatically against learning grappling, or BJJ guys who refuse to learn the rest of judo or freestyle wrestling or whatever else to round out and complete their grappling skillset. How can being so skilled at one aspect of a skill (fighting, in this case) NOT make you hyper aware of your deficiencies in all the other aspects of the skill?
Even if they're only interested solely in competing in a sport, how does that not inspire curiosity in the practical skill that sport is based on? How are there trap shooters who have never gone waterfowl hunting, just to see? Just to KNOW?
Even if Art Jimmerson decided to keep focusing on boxing, for professional reasons, how would it, COULD it, not just utterly infuriate him that all the skills he had spent years pouring blood, sweat, and tears into was rendered utterly useless? How could anyone experience something like that and not walk into a grappling class the very next day, out of pure pride, if nothing else? But at least ole Art had the excuse that he was fighting other boxers in his sport career. How did it take so long for cross-training to become a thing in MMA?
Pride in their martial art being the strongest in their head. It comes back down to humans wanting to separate everything into groups. Human like being in their own group and likes to deny things that don't conform
Myself and a few others experienced this first hand, transferring from a sambo gym to a bjj based mma gym. The first thing they try to figure out is what belt colour you are. It's a very tedious process. They will award you a purple belt because you can wrestle with the brown belts, but you get choked out by the blue belts, which you yourself never choke out because you know nothing about chokes. You are no better than the ivory tornadoes in terms of attacking the collar line yet you Confuse the brown belts with your strange and odd constant repositioning. I think the time of belts must go and we all just start wearing headbands. From neon green to Cian, to Halloween pumpkin orange, and so on.
Thanks very much!
Sakuraba got a BJJ black belt by one of the Machado, and he said: I cant even tie a BJJ belt.
The BJJ community is highly materialistic which explains why they desire belts.
Then when one without a belt, entered a BJJ nogi comp, most BJJ black belt switched dept to the gi section. Josh Barnett then called it unfair, but Machado handed him a gi and a belt. Most bjj black belts in the dressing mocked and despised Barnett when they saw the black belt around his waist.
Again, materialistic.
B Team elite grapplers recently mentioned that the more we move forward in time, the less BJJ belts will matter.
Another great reflexion I was reading was: what if we do away with BJJ belts today ? How many will still attend their academies ? Hanging on to a piece of certification, a paper, or a trophee/medal is all this is about ? Maybe question BJJ instructors. They're the ones responsible for all that mess, not the students.
My take: It is not so that people obsess over belt ranks over skill, because the belt ranks are supposed to be a measure of skill. It is very difficult to measure skill improvement, and that makes a simple proxy appealing. All the more true when we consider that there are most likely a whole bunch of people watching BBJ videos despite not training
I think the reason majority of the BJJ videos are about belts in some way is because majority of the people practicing BJJ are white belts, blue belts, and even kids and most of that audience is just looking for guidance on how to get the next belt. Majority of blue belts and down are going to have millions of questions on what I need to get recognition like they're in a hurry. While most of the higher belts purple and up tend to have this approach of "welp, the next belt will get here when it gets here"
Martial arts, fighting and self-defense are 3 separate subjects that in some ways overlap, and in some ways completely don't.
Hello Coach, the other day sensei asked me if I listen to any podcasts. My answer was not really but I watch a lot of Ramsey Dewey. It was a pleasant discussion about what people expose themselves to on UA-cam. One of the kids told me he watch a video of a guy blowing a bull with an rpg in the Filipines. I asked him if that is the type of stuff he wants to research, and since he knows the effects is he going to watch more videos like that? He told me he thought I would think its cool. It was interesting. I was trying to explain to him he didn't do anything wrong with watching that video and it's good that he is using UA-cam for research, and I use it for research. That's when you came up. It was an interesting change in the discussion, going from rpgs to martial arts research.
I had a freak accident happen to me today during sparring class. I don't know what happens. It was a good day, started training with pull contests and other exercises with dead hangs from rolling bars and static bars. It was a good work out then we were going through drills and take downs. Oh yeah so the pull up contest was my idea, like a request as today was my birthday, I didn't win I'm 44 years old now. Then onto the mat, conditioning then drilling and take downs but before actual sparring time. One of my partners was demonstrating a leg reap on me and that when I got hurt. He got me off balance from my right side and swept out my right leg, but something popped in my left calf before I went down. It was the opposite leg of the attack and I have no idea how that happened. What's funny about it yesterday I told sensei for my birthday I'm going to get bloody knuckles and bruises (like on Kung Fu Panda) but he said I wear gloves so I won't be getting bloody knuckles, which was a good comeback. But I didn't think I was actually going to get hurt. This was 7 hours ago and my left calf hurts to the touch. I've been training much harder these past few months than I have the past 2 years and I'm afraid this is a serious injury aside from my current disabilities. It's a minor setback and hearing you talk about sparring in this discussion when you spoke about people saying "their martial art is better because they spar". I'm not weak, and I got hurt from a demonstration without even sparring yet. Accidents happen, this was noones fault. Before sparring class I even went swimming laps at the gym roughly 45 minutes prior just to get to the dojo warmed up. Even though I'm hurt, and going to refrain from training, I still told my instructors I'll still show up to the dojo even if I'm just taking notes. I have nothing else to do and I seriously don't want to stop training. But man, on my birthday I get injured and I swear training was awesome today. And even when sitting out from.sparring, sensei still had me participate by being time keeper. I appreciated that.
Geez this was a long comment. Thanks for reading.
That great that you can still find a way to get out there and train even when injured!
TL;DR. At least for now.
But I sure hope you meant blowing UP a bull. Had some wild times when I was young but I never got blown by a chick using an rpg. Though I’ve been in a few fields.
But we all do what we can mostly.
But I had a real estate youth. Got a lot while I was young.
But seriously. I find it essential to focus on videos that advance my progress towards conscious goals.
Life’s too short even when you are young, to do more than take short breaks with e. g. cat videos.
Since my “retirement” I have reviewed grad level linear algebra, taught myself Spanish university level Spanish and am now building a street drag liter bike to chase a record. And maybe use it to raise support for Parkinson’s and FA because they affect the love of my life and our son’s quite wonderful new love of a year plus. Because it beats hanging around fixing
If I succeed I win. If I fall short but die getting better at what I love, I still win. Bop til you drop. Always. Living well is the best revenge.
Trying but not crossing the finish line is still better than staying in the garage. An added benefit is the love of my life still looks at me with love, respect & admiration for how I still look manlier than other men. And means it.
With 3 divorces at 45 I almost gave up entirely. Then lightning struck two people at the same place on the same night. We have shared a supercharged life together ever since. And we sustain and encourage each other still.
Proud & happy to be a free born man in the USA. (The mWire).
@@mattgoodmangoodmanlawnmowi2454 I've been in terrible places too. Sometimes you just have to let it all out somewhere and sometimes it's easiest to a stranger. I've given up before, and it was to the enemy in Afghanistan in order to save lives. I was willing to die so others may live, in the end everyone survived without a scratch. I won't speak more about that situation except to say sometimes when times are at its darkest moments and it looks like there is nowhere to go or no chance of survival we can't really stop finding a meaning to keep going. Whether by self sacrifice, for someone else's future or some total stranger in absolute danger we just find a reason even if stretched out thin to bounce back up and keep going. But the key is to not lose our humanity. Broken hearts suck but you don't want to lose your soul. Stay true to yourself and find what works best for you to be the best version of yourself you can possibly be. Just don't try to take the short cut just because things aren't going your way, that hard road builds character so just keep on pushing.
-Semper Fidelis
@@bravelilspidey
Semper Fi and mad respect for your play. Greater love hath no man…
Everything! you said.
Wishing you a good and satisfilife. You deserve it.
God Bless the Marine Corpd. A bastion of sanity.
And full of ordinary men who do extraordinary things.
You sir, are a true hero to me, and a real hardcore Marine. I was just yet another POG, and then an amphibious POG jockey, Amtrack crewman. Underwater tanks lol.
But McNamara put my West Coast brothers in riverine ops. Marshland.
94% casualties. My unit mostly went to AIT. My a hole buddy Greg & I qualified for a special Navy school.
We promptly outperformed 100 sailors. Greg Utley. Tampa Amtrack unit. I’m Matt’s dad, Dan. Looking for Mike Nelson too.
Wish we had smartphones and contact DBs back in the day v
I did not know that Sambo does not have belt rank!! I thought it did !! Thanks for the information!!
The most important belt is the white belt, because it means you took the first step and started.
Style = Exerting dominance
Fundamentals = Not getting dominated
Correct me if I'm wrong, but to get consistent results at a given level it makes virtually no difference which style you use. You just need at least one dependable way to outshine opponents of that level, and you need strong enough fundamentals to have that opportunity. It could be the toe stomping game so long as you can dominate the other guy at it. But when you get to a high enough level, your unique physiology and mentality will dictate style.
Love the wind-up on the intro
Martial arts are as different as accents of the same language across a country. There are as many styles as there are teachers.
True, true.
I totally agree, there's always a punchers chance but no submission chance of an untrained grappler against an advanced one imo^^
God bless ya Coach.👍❤️
Big like! Great video!
Style lays the foundation for a person
jiu jitsu guy here, co-signed on jiu jitsu being too obsessed with belts. This is shifting with no gi becoming the focus of competition and a lot of ADCC inspired competitions not using belt rank and guys like the Rodriguez brothers and Rutolo brothers beating black belts on the regular while still blue, purple, brown belts
Style absolutely does matter, My base is folkstyle wrestling with bits of judo, jiujitsu, kyokushin karate, and greco-roman wrestling sprinkled in. I don't think I would have the same style and intensity if I did something like taekwondo in highschool instead of wrestled.
No, you just have to adapt it to yourself. Take what's useful, discard the rest, etc. Basically disregard possibly thousands of years of accumulated knowledge and start from scratch. Infinite monkeys with infinite typewriters style.
In a real fight style is not a consideration.Ending the fight to one's own advantage is everything.
But a style can affect a fights outcome
Lol there’s more than one way to end a fight
Thanks Paul mitchell.
So study bjj then?? Lol
In my humble opinion, one should be learning a martial art that teaches martial skills. Nowadays, traditional MA are sport oriented that make them unique and sets them apart from other MA. Just as Taekwondo and Karate teaches their student in a safe environment to grow and learn their unique MA, the skills that it teaches can be done in a setting that requires no hesitation to act. Hesitation will get you beaten up in a fisticuffs.
In my own personal experience in which I recently entered into my first BJJ tournament, I found that training in MMA gym can be useful because I had more skills than my opponent. I ultimately lost in my first round reinjuring my elbow. In the second round, I used my skills that I learned from other MA: distance management and timing from 7yrs of Karate, down blocks from Wrestling, and hand fighting and throws from Judo.
Coach Dan is really good. I've trained at Brea bjj
Yep, he certainly is!
In my humble opinion, one should be learning a martial art that teaches martial skills. Nowadays, traditional MA are sport oriented that make them unique and sets them apart from other MA. Just as Taekwondo and Karate teaches their student in a safe environment to grow and learn their unique MA, the skills that it teaches can be done in a setting that requires no hesitation to act. Hesitation will get you beaten up in a fisticuffs.
In my own personal experience in which I recently entered into my first BJJ tournament, I found that training in MMA gym can be useful because I had more skills than my opponent. I ultimately lost in my first round reinjuring my elbow. In the second round, I used my skills that I learned from other MA: distance management and timing from 7yrs of Karate, down blocks from Wrestling, and hand fighting and throws from Judo.
Functional aikido. Lenny Sly of Rogue Warriors. Direct student of Seagal. I had independently grown in that direction and have used it often enough that people don’t believe a history I know I have.
I definitely believe in Aikido that works. If you train it right, it always will
@@jestfullgremblim8002
I will swear on my honor it has worked in the streets for me more times than I can remember Over almost my entire life.
I have other tools I use, but it’s all around aikido principles.
In its finest form, aikido is so effective that if you totally take out number one, no one will rush to be next.
My responses are proportional. But when I was surrounded and on the deck, I didn’t rise and look for a throw.
I faked a nut punch out of a modified iaido draw, got the expected karate low cross block, used a Chinese boxing principle to put my entire body behind a bladder punch. Felt spine from the front. Lifted a maybe 160 lb guy up and back. Put on a real Más oyama game face and they all stayed ten yards away.
After I meditated in a yoga lotus position and pondered my mortality and my responses. A good way to reduce PTSD, something I learned from the psychology I have studied out of interest.
And I carefully considered if I could have survived with a less destructive response, in accordance with Biblical, Rinzai Zen & Omotokyo principles.
Given the specific circumstances, 40 years later I still have not come up with a better response, so I have no guilt or shame about destroying an aggressor’s bladder for life to save mine.
But I did think a lot about Bruce Lee saying he was just a finger pointing at the moon. Don’t look at the fingers, look at the moon. And be water.
That time I was water amassing all its unified force to smash out of a dam.
So I have learned from many. But my core style is built around acceptance of my mortality, moving off the line of attack, natural stance, move in not away, etc etc are all classic aikido and aiki-jitsu, but incorporating any tool I’ve acquired that fits the job & takes care of business. But yes, it was an aikido mindset that enabled me to improvise and overcome.
Without it I would not have reached for the most effective tool in the right timing.
The biggest breakthrough for me was realizing I was often too quick wan otherwise correct response.
That took away a lot of street anxiety. In “retirement” I am still prepared to handle my business.
And I’m going racing on a liter bike. Because I know I can. Without killing or maiming myself. Because aikido has given me lightning reflexes and the belief that the only way to know if you can do something is to try to perfect perfect it.
If I were restricted to one “style “ it would be aikido with kobudo training. Fortunately that’s what he did for his students with the proper spirit. Never a lecture. Never a demo for the class. Just a one on one demo, with a silent passing atemi, that sort of thing.
You were expected to grasp that it could be either a feint or a strike. And yes they became part of my ingrained automatic defense response, with no problems connecting when a feint wasn’t enough.
Probably only about one in ten or twenty got occasional old school demos one on one. and never talked about, just quietly shown to those who could handle it.
Without aikido I would have died or been mutilated forty years ago. And there would have been no Matt. And I wouldn’t have met and married a ten plus woman, our sons Mom, if I didn’t make her feel safe only with me, because of ten seconds of my art. So yes, aikido works. If you are open-minded and thorough in your tray.
-Matt’s dad
But a shoutout to iaido speed & economy of motion and energy.
Coach, what is your opinion of the straight bash technique ?
Also, what is your opinion of Filipino Kali knife combat ?
Can u do a video if possible ?
I don’t know what you mean by straight bash technique. Sorry.
I don’t practice knife fighting at all.
@@RamseyDewey I meant straight blast of Jeet Kun Do (Jik Chun Choi)
Here is a link :
ua-cam.com/video/whN5OmhqxZg/v-deo.html
@@RamseyDewey Hi Coach. Just saw the latest self defence championship episode which had knife combat. It really bust some myths I had about knife defence lol 😂. Thanks for going through such a gruelling physical challenge to expose the realities of knife defence
Ramsey I keep telling you this. Turn to science when comparing skill; whence comparing TKD to BJJ black belt. 10yrs or 10,000hrs, to mastery as famously discovered by Malcolm Gladwell, a journalist who studied world class athletes as well as game athletes in chess, utilising scientific study.
TKD black belt is 3.5yrs from a legitimate Kukkiwon school and the lowest in martial arts versus 10-12yrs in BJJ. Of course the latter will be better then. Apples to oranges. And I love the former.
Also you talk about 1000/1000 times BJJ guy will win - then what about the world champion strongman/bodybuilder who more or less beat the champion BJJ black belt? I'm a big guy, overweight but highly athletic, was very, very hard for weedy purple belts to beat me as a white belt in fact they couldn't, whereas others could. I don't even know if the instructor could beat me (and I'd don't want to find out if he could or I could LOL).
Boxing SHOULD have belts, and so should MMA.
That's just how it should be,
PERIOD!!
Why?
If people really want to learn to fight, I believe they would get much more out of MMA than any other martial art. Otherwise, you waste a lot of time learning things that aren’t very useful for real fighting. Plus, belts are basically useless to determine fighting ability, which is why people that fight, often don’t care at all about belts. They just seem ridiculous to me now. But, as someone who has often been tasked with ending violence, why does everyone continue worry about how well their martial art can do in an actual fight? The answer, is probably not what you want to hear. To learn to fight, train to fight. MMA is the closest thing to reality. Thanks for the video.
PS: I can also share with you from a legal, health, and common sense perspective, most everyone would be best served by learning how to avoid real fighting.
Such a good video! Thanks coach! There are styles, there are gyms, and there are body types. Pick the best gym with the most experienced fighter vs a bear like Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson and you are going to have a bad day! ESPECIALLY if he had a little training. Some styles are better for some body types. Some gyms work better for some people and are not a good fit for others. Pick a gym that keeps you coming back year after year and has a good gym culture consistent with what you want out of life!
Ok martial arts are the Art of War not the earth of a gym the most important element in the military or Marshall heart discipline discipline and rank Japanese karate which all Modern martial arts come from is about discipline and rank not one on 1 combat or such is my humble opinion my humble opinion thank you for your wonderful videos
There are only 2 forms of fighting Striking & Grappling & there are many different cultural interpretation of these methods but they all follow a simple mindset of either Offensive or Defensive so in all you have Offensive Striking & Defensive Striking Offensive Grappling & Defensive Grappling
Now you can't be a real fighter without with out understanding how to both strike & grappling as well offense & defense but there is a difference in intention when you are striking to grapple & grappling to strike as well offense for defense & defense for offense how these differences in intention & purpose come about is due to many factors such as Rules, Arenas & Wears which come from a cultural preference once you realize this you then notice that there tends to be a Rock Paper Scissors Effect
Offensive Strikers < Offensive Grapplers
Defensive Strikers < Offensive Strikers
Offensive Grapplers < Defensive Grapplers
Defensive Grapplers < Defensive Strikers
Offensive Strikers = Defensive Grapplers
Defensive Strikers = Offensive Grapplers
The reason why one style beats the other or is equal to is due to the difference between the intentions of Striking & Grappling where Strikers like to keep the distance while Grapplers like to close it & how the Mind Sets of Defense & Offense change the purpose of your intentions
Other factors of wether you win or loose depends on the Rules, Arenas & Wears of the fight for instance if you are fighting with Gloves or a Gi & how Big or Small they are or if some techniques are banned or not which will make some styles stronger or weaker same with the Size & Shape of the Arena another factor is just how good of a fighter you are compared to your opponent if you are have a less optimal style to fight your opponents but you are on a higher level then them you will either match or even best your opponent re gaurdless of style
As for the different cultural interpretation of these 4 methods it really only depends on how rich the systems are when it comes to their library of techniques & how well they teach & apply them beyond that all style are valid & how valid they are is just up to you, your teacher & your school
One time I tied my belt in a judo/bjj knot and sensei made me redo it. Striking arts like karate and TKD is ends stick to the left and down like a suit tie. Grappling arts use regular double knot and ends stick to the sides.
The way you tie the belt has no impact on training or skill. Useless comment.
@@micaylapresley actually it does because tied the karate way it made training front kicks hard. The belt would flap up and hit me in the left eye. I looked at other people and they were not getting hit in the eye. So I cut the belt shorter and it didn't happen. This pissed off my sensei and he stopped giving me belt so often because he felt it was disrespectful. Maybe this is a politics or ego thing but nonetheless it did effect my training. You can't fight if you can't see. The choice of clothing you wear has a big impact on how you train and fight. It would be better to wear clothing made for battle instead of something watered down.
I do think if there was a taekwondo gym, not some belt school BS, where the attitude was like Muay Thai, boxing or kickboxing, there would be dramatic improvements of the abilities of those who came to fight. Belts may be a mask obscuring the complacency behind the mirage of accomplishment. What do you think?
Remember bjjscout? That was a great UA-cam channel
It certainly was.
My BJJ/wrestling coach hates talking about rank. He’ll promote someone, give them their flowers for two seconds, and then have us get right back to training lol. It makes for a more skill-focused environment as opposed to a belt-focused one.
Now I am supercurios about your high block - bunkai :)
Maybe I’ll make a video about it.
I was wondering RAMSEY if you are still a blue belt???? Because in a recent video you did on Sambo uniform vs. Judo uniform, you were wearing a brown belt.
I have never been a belt. I’m a human being.
Im blackbelt in several styles.. "shakwoarang" aka "the champion of the toilets" is 6th dan in tkd former worldchampion and olympic athlete, everybody knows it whenever and wherever.. also in aikido, karate, muay thai, and several fma and kungfu styles..the focus of the martial arts depends from their use in a martial arts practice or competition and a real fight / war combat situation.. there is a diference between try to touch a plastic surface to earn a medal or fighting scenes or capture a movement for videogames than to hit a guy to break his bones or kill him instantly in a life -death or war situation is a matter of context.. and the intention of use by the practitioner.. in ancient times, the efectivity of a style was proven by "trial by fire" if you could survive using it, otherwise if it failed, you and your family, town or country will be killed in war, thats why each kingdom, country, dojo, clans and schools were so secretive with their styles and techniques.. their own survival depended of their effectivity and its ignorance by their rivals and enemies.. people didnt have time to watch youtube or internet to sell bullshit for diplomas, dvds and likes or trolling in socialmedia.. about the neverending dilemma of which is best, depends of the context, I love all martial arts, ive just learned to use what suits best for me and the situation.. you cant use a screwdriver when you need a hammer... in 90% of the fights your enemy doesnt know or gives a fuck whats your martial training, level or lineage.. he just want to kill you, fuck you up, compete, to prove or take something from you
You could learn all the techniques in the world, but if you are out of shape, it does no good in a fight.
You mentioned Range as the reason you dont think folks use the high block. This is a critical point in the broader discussion of what works. I use all the traditional blocks in sparring, but I had to learn the range to use them and honestly it really is way closer than most want to be fighting at. Styles are about range, and not just grappling or striking, but at what range they work best at. Does not matter how good you are with a skill set, if you are not willing to fight at the range they are meant to be used the skills end up ineffective. Boxing punches vs karate punches is a classic example. Most karatika when they start sparring, especially with heavier contact, default to longer range of boxing so end up throwing bad boxing punches instead of pushing into the shorter striking range the karate punch is built for.
Range as the reason that some people might not want to use the high block the way I do, specifically because they don’t know how to grapple: ua-cam.com/video/f9y2rpbxfhI/v-deo.html
@@RamseyDewey true I saw the video, but interestingly if you compare the range of a typical tkd or karate reverse punch and grappling distances you will notice a large overlap. As defenses are designed to work with the offenses this also becomes the functional range for the blocks be it strikes or grapples. Interesting side ont on the high block is that it also shows up in pure boxing at this distance.
Nice blue belt, what have you learned lately?
I can tie a really nifty belt knot now....
Bukai has its uses, but to be. An abuse of Bunkai is when people find applications I'm bunkai and then argue that Karate "teaches it". Sure you can find legitimate applications, say grappling or boxing or all sorts of applications. But unless those applications are worked on as part of the Katate training, people are not going to apply those. That wrestling or judo application from that Bunkai really doesn't mean much.
Hi Ramsay, I'm not sure where to post questions but what are your opinions on Movies and Animations (particularly Japanese Animation) inspiring people to train Martial Arts/Combat Sports?
Style matters very little, IMO. Each individual person is unique, and you can say each individual is his/her own style. But at the end of day, what's effective is what effective (training, technique, etc), style is irrelevant.
So if I give bad instructions to a savant, and he overcomes it out of pure instinct, my "style" is equally as good as say, wrestling or Muay Thai?
@@cchutney348
No, it means his style effective.
The logical endpoint of "it's the practitioner, not the style", is that you have to reinvent the wheel and make something out of basically nothing.
If I show the most naturally talented preteen how to throw haymakers, he might instinctually refine it into something approximating boxing. Is my flailing equal to boxing then?
So i did that experiment you did, but with TKD. Most the results were teaching techniques.
I have noticed this big crave of BJJ belt talk. It feels a bit like they don't want you to take it. It's almost always, white belts join, get choked out for 3 or more years, and you might get your blue belt. They don't talk about learning. Just competing. Almost like they are an Olympic sport. But it doesn't seem welcoming. Just talk of prepare to lose, even if you never competed.
Your hate on belts is understood but unnecessary imo.
Fact of the matter is people like belts. They like a physical representation of the work they have done. People really like BJJ belts because while the quality of TMA belts seems to have diluted over time there is still a perception, maybe a reality, that a BJJ belt of a certain level correlates to a different level of skill.
And as a judoka there are practical. Reasons for belts as well. You wouldn't fully toss a white belt the same way you would a blue or black belt because you can't expect them to have the same ability to breakfall, etc.
Anyways you are right that skill, the ability to do the thing, is all that really matters at the end of the day.
That's why it's called ART.
Why?
Yo styles don’t with fights people do. In a real fight you won’t have time to think about the series of techniques that will put your opponent in check. It’s fast aggressive and usually hyper aggression wins real fights. Now if you couple that with M.A and home your “aggression” you’ll win 85% of encounters probably. But then again there are some freaks out there that styles don’t work on.
I dont agree on the tkd and bjj thing you said... Because the only way it could be real is if doing tae kwon do was worse thsn doing nothing... The average person has 50/50 chance to win... If they train taekwondo for a few months and gets their yellow belt, it would be a bigger chance than not training... By the time they are a blackbelt in taekwondo, they know what it feels to be kicked full contact, have footwork, fast kicks, etc... Against an average person they will win 10 out of 10 times...
On bjj, its similar but faster... Learning bjj gives you new tools from day 1... Everyone know what a kick is, they just suck at it... But most people know nothing about grappling
Of coirse this is about vs average... Vs anyone at all inclusing stronger people than average, neither bjj nor tkd would have a 10 out of 10 win rate... If not... Find me an average bjj blackbelt and make them grapple that guy who shrugs ridiculous weights and screams alot... That guy has more strenfht in his bicep than most people in their whole body... And size does matter alot in grappling
Styles are systems of movement that should be designed to help you hurt someone that generations of people have accepted. If it doesn’t work, then maybe you need to look into the institutions and history and see if there is something else going on with the intentions of the style.
My teacher would encourage us to train elsewhere , that's a good quality. Not all styles are the same just like all cars are not the same and all drivers are not the same. Happy training. ☯️ Beware the Cult of BJJ.
Styles absolutely do matter because everyone is different. Some are born to be strikers, others born to be grapplers and so on.
Some like to test their skills in matches, others in the outside world.
People are different. That’s why styles exist.
Ur comments doesn’t make sense. If styles dont matter then why do they exist?
@@NoNames17899 I said they DO matter.
@@blockmasterscott too bad.
Not all martial arts have been damaged by overemphasized belt hiarchies. Some, like Kung fu have been damaged by completly different reasons. Ironically in Chinese kung fu, China itself damaged it all at once within a few decades, but then wushu saved it for posterity, but then turned it into performance art which damaged it even more.
I have great respect for the founders of wushu, for saving the arts, but have great sadness for the resulting styles that have permeated all of Kung fu.
I've seen purple belts that don't know how to tie their belts. Half the time they lose their belts. Makes it way easier for my judo grips I tell you what.
so no answer...goodness. one thing i dislike about everyone who claims this style has deficiencies, or this style won't work, that technique is flaw etc etc. So basically no art of martialness or fighting is effective, and that the street fighter will prevail over everyone! so we should just go in the streets and fight street fighters to be able to self defend...
Belts are great for the memes like the spazy white belts, overly aggressive and insecure blue belt, the purple belt that only shows up for rolling and the bald or fat or bald and fat brown belt!
I was struggling judging the utility of the belt system, this was the last argument i needed. Yes, the belt system must be preserved😂
they talk about belts cause you need something to hold up the pants
I'm pretty sure that what makes a martial art effective is just Full contact sparring or at least sparring that's realistic enough.
Seth has a cool aikido video where there were some interesting applications for jiu-jitsu.
Regarding your karate upper block passage.
I've used it extremely successfully only once.
I was cross-training in Muay Thai at that time. I am 191 cm and a pretty heavy guy, and I once sparred with a guy who was 200 cm. It was the only time I fought a guy bigger than me. He was a decent boxer with virtually useless kicks, but it was hard to get in. Forcing the guy to throw a cross and parrying it with a classical jodan-uke made me consistently get in with a body shot.
I was so surprised that afterwards I started training the useless thing religiously for almost a year. Got a good guard pull to cross setup out of it. Later made me kinda good at the standing kimura takedown (forgot how it's called, sorry).
The jodan-uke is still nearly useless for a tall guy like me, but it opened my mind to a lot of interesting techniques and had a great influence on my personal fighting style.
Imagine a world in which there are no belts. What would be your predictions for what would happen then? For example, in Chess and Go (Baduk or Weiqi), for the slightly more serious, there are no belts. Do you think martial arts would then be very similar to them, or are there major differences still?
One big difference to me is that your improvement becomes so transparent that you can get very easily disheartened. And people get way over the top on winning at all costs, since winning is the only true measure (coach appraisals, formal prizes (belts) have very little value in those contexts).
They have Elo scores to rank chess players
@@spilliamwooner7588 Yes, horrible analogy.
Its funny, I saw an interview with Sambo world champ, and he said that belt system should be there, and probably will in some time
I really hope not. It's super organized the way it is right now, where you rank up by wins, regardless of how long youv been training for. Once you throw the belt system in, than you have the white belts that could be brown in some gyms completely destroying everyone, while the gyms were the instructors buddies all have brown belts in 3 years wonder why they don't do well at tournaments.
Howdy Coach. What are your favorite stories from each of the standard works of the church?
Hello Ramsey
let's say hypothetically that someone comes to your gym that isn't interested in martial arts and wants to learn only the basics of fighting in order to have an edge in a self defense scenario /everyday life, what are you teaching him and what is the minimum amount of time needed ? (it can include both wrestling and striking, it doesn't have to be a specific martial art )
I am not a self defense instructor. The self defense industry is power fantasy. There is no minimum amount of time to be ready fo’ da streetz.
People who don’t plan on competing in cage fighting come to my gym all the time. They learn the same thing everyone else’s does: how to fight. The basics of fighting take a lifetime to achieve.
Sambo is ruthless
If boxers had bigger heavier gloves to show ranks it would get out of hand fast
I know you arnt a big van of master wong but do you tink his video's haf in proofd his new full nelsin escape looks good and his newer ones to
I have a black belt. It's holding up my pants right now.
Belts were invented in Greece
I assumed so.
@@RamseyDewey 😁😆👍
Pedigree matters
Technically speaking, the title of your video mentions bjj and belts too!
I know! It’s infectious!
Hi coach, I'm moving from mma/no gi to gi bjj and I'm having trouble changing levels and going for bread and butter takedowns because people will make grips on my lapels and straight-arm me. What can I do in these situations other than pull guard?
Great question! Set ups for takedowns in the gi are a lot different than without. This is one of those show, not tell kind of answers. I can make a video about some of my favorite set ups in the gi, but in the meantime, I suggest you look at judo and sambo grip fighting videos. You can learn a lot.
Can I ask a question that is honest and not trolling? What is your reason or why are you going from NoGi to Gi?
Thanks
@@GrapplingwithInsanity i'd like to change belts
@@slinkydinky8018 serious answer? Fair enough
So i call martial arts systems not styles all but tea kwon do, because tae kwon do is a style of shotokan karate.
Mr. Dewey, as a Mormon, may we get your opinion on "The Burned Man" Joshua Graham? He is a Mormon in Fallout: New Vegas and remains my chief citation for, "coolest Christian character" if you'll forgive me conflating Mormonism and Christianity in this instance.
It’s called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Always has been. Of course the constituents of Christ’s church are Christians. Mormon and Mormonsim were intended to be pejorative nicknames by enemies of the church in an effort to remove the name of Christ from our identity- whereas the whole purpose of The Church of Jesus Christ is to take the name of Christ upon you, to keep His commandments, and to always remember Him- just as He taught.
To quote Joshua Graham: “This may not seem important to you now, but it’s the most important thing I’ve told you.”
@@RamseyDewey You just made my day. Thank you!
@@RamseyDewey I don't expect a reply or anything; just wanted to show you this incase it has some value to you. Again, thank you!
ua-cam.com/video/fDAnmujWlsM/v-deo.html
The belt system is something that almost fall apart where I train. We do a Shaolin based whusu, we have only 2 ranks, white shirt, you are in this rank for the 2 first fist styles we learn, both teach about striking and grappling/ throwing. Above that you have black shirt, the other styles also do grapple and striking. But have more techniques that you don't learn for sports. Small joint etc. I really like cause is a almost complete martial arts, but people don't focus to learn weapons the same amount.
So, after all that, how do I know when I’ve become a legit BJJ blue belt? C’mon, Ramsey, tell me! 😂
When your coach give you a blue belt, then you will have a blue belt.
@@RamseyDeweyWISDOM
Hey coach, I have a specific question, when I throw high roundhouse kicks I noticed that I throw my weight vertically to some extent too, this causes me to slip on the pivoting foot on rare occasions, is this something I could work on fixing? If yes how?
Yes. That is something you need to fix. Sounds like I need to make a high kick video!
The best part about training Sambo was never being butthurt about belts. Just wrassle.
The only reason Karate has belts was so it could be apart of the Japanese martial arts sports. Before then there were no belts in Karate.
@@rwdchannel2901 it was because Funakoshi was famboying over Jigoro Kano
@@cahallo5964 hahaha yeah. That also brough the point style competitions, didn't it?
@@jestfullgremblim8002 I think that was his son
@RWD Channel Yeah I've heard that the Okinawans were just adopting karate to Japanese tastes so ghat karate could even survive during the runup to WW2.
Yo I havent even watched the video yet (im sorry)
But what do you think of hardsparring only to the body and light to the head?
That's how most spar
I think it’s funny when I hear belt systems.karate did start off not having belt systems….I don’t even wear my black belt when I train anymore….there just stupid to me now…this is why old Okinawan karate never had belts.belts weren’t introduced till the founder of Shotokan got it from the founder of judo.good way to know who’s ranked but do we really need them??but then Ramsey I have a question tho.are there other ways we can know where our students skill level is??
If you don’t know your own students and where their skill level is without having to look at a belt rank, you’re the worst coach in the history of coaching.
@@RamseyDewey gotchu.time to being real martial arts back.teach Correctly,I’m only 19 but aiming to bring it back,this world is to dark to be going out in with a bunch of things that will never work,that will get u killed.that’s wat I hate about instructors.there life is in your hands…yet all u care about is there money.gotta keep pushing hopefully I can bring it back.thank you love you bro❤️