Hi guys, Is it possible to learn to defend yourself (physically) if you don't spar full-contact or compete. I mainly have boxing and Muay Thai in mind. Say, if one only sparred full contact only a couple of times a year? Now I'm thinking, do people really spar full contact in Muay thai? I mean, those elbows and knees could seriously injure you not to mention leave permanent scars. *I don't have much fighting experience nor do I know how effective a professorial thug would be at administering a beating but my techique in boxing is not half bad after only a year of training Thank you
self defense and fighting are not the same thing. self defense is about not fighting. Much of self defense is about awareness of surroundings etc. The purpose of self defence is avoid situations, control situations, escape situations. only if all other options are used up do you fight. You do not need to be in good shape to keep your guard up and kick an opponent in the knee. Of coarse the fitter and more athletic you are the more you can do and the more damage you can take. Of coarse you only learn to really fight if a partner is really trying to hit you. There is a trade off. How many times do you need to be punched in the head in the ring before you can stop a punch in the head in the street? Its about risk in training vs reward in real life. the answer will vary for each person based on their age sex race occupation social class geographical location and so on.
So many people will never compete. It's not really about competing. You can spar full contact a few times a year no problem and that would probably be enough. Spar light year round. Train smart and you'll be fine.
Cool. What I intend to do. But, do you guys spar full contact in Thai/JKD? I'm imagining elbows to the bridge of nose, spinning back elbow in the eye, knee in the ribs, roundhouse kick to the knee (although you'd have shin guards)....not very pleasant lol. Now I can see the appeal of BJJ/grappling. At least you can go full contact without incurring much damage.
Full-contact, sport-based martial arts like boxing and Muay Thai will teach you proper mechanics to hit hard and fast with straightforward techniques. They will also teach you where to hit to cause damage within the context of their relative rule sets. That last part is important because the most valuable targets in boxing and Muay Thai, and subsequently the preferred weapons for hitting those targets, are not necessarily the most appropriate selections in survival situations. The training methods also are not the most effective - both styles make you comfortable hitting with padded gloves on. They also do not address other factors present in survival situations that are absent in most combat sports and martial arts: the adrenaline dump, weapons, and multiple hostiles for example. This where the old maxim rings especially true: "You become what you do consistently." Not if the coaches care about the health of their athletes.
Nah, never really use elbows tbh. Drill them on the pads all the time and we can show them in sparring but I personally don't bother. Knees I have thrown hard without any issues and received them too.
If your not able to spar someone who is wearing full boxing gloves, your unlikely to be able to do it barefist.
There are minor differences striking with small/no gloves. Making sure you hit with thebig two knuckles is important. My boxing instructor showed me how to land them properly when I'm hooking. Other than that you have to consider the worst outcome. Drill multiple opponents when you can but the outcome will likely be dire. When I put my money on MMA fighter vs RBSD instructor my money is on the fighter most of the time. There is the odd decent RBSD out there but it's rare.
There are differences for sure, but thr actual gross mechanics and ability in timing, distancing, pressure etc are not that far apart, fighting, is fighting is fighting. what is massively different are the pre and post fight elements, as well as the tactical decisions which go along with that.
Edisco, We al think we can have a good swear up now and again, but when someone is right in your face swearing it can be quite a shock. If you're not prepared you are already on the back foot. Getting shoved when being sworn at is the same. The first time you are punched with venom it's horrible. You'll get stuck in an ooda loop, so will have a thousand things running through your head and not know what to do next. Exposure reduces thinking time, so having an understanding and exposure to training with contact will help. As has been said it shouldn't be every week, but now and again you can add some heavier contact. Fighting, sparring and self defence are different beasts, but I think you are aware of that already.
Agreed. What I meant was how much full contact training is necessary to equip yourself with basic combat effectiveness. Is it Full contact sparring just few times a year? Every other week? Every week? or is competing also necessary? You must have some full contact experience if you even hope to be able to defend yourself physically from an attack from a competent thug. You also need to maintain your skills and fitness. All common sense really. And yes, there could be self-defense situations where even a UFC heavyweight champion will find himself in a lose lose situation (I can't think of a more competent and formidable fighter in any scenario). I'm going to take Chadderz advise - makes perfect sense: Although I will definitely have one fight (in a competition) in my lifetime - preferably kickboxing without elbows/knees rather than pure boxing. And of course I spar light almost every class. You do get used to it after a while. I'm surprised how I no longer flinch/close my eyes and remain calm and relaxed. Also, no longer get headaches after a spar and my neck if looking stronger.
As long as your capable of sparring full contact, then how often you do it, will massively vary person to person, it also depends on how you spar when its not full contact. If your light sparring is technically the same as your heavy sparring, (I.e your not cheating by walking through light shots) then your heavy sparting is just to gain confidence, evaluate your power and stop you getting gunshy. It's really not a simple answer. Edit yea I agree with what chaddez said !
Heavy full sparring is also good for dealing with some adrenaline rush. I was going 100% with oneguy twice a week for a recent fight camp. Not sustainable. I won't be doing it again but I'm glad I did because we were basically trying to hurt each other. Learnt a lot. Cardio comes into play and technique when you are tired.
100% agree, ive just started doing MMA sparring again, and its the unattached striking with big gloves that gets my adrenaline shooting through the roof, light technical sparring with wrestling i'm pretty comfortable with, big gloves with heavier (not full) contact and no wrestling gets me covering up quicker then the kelly ann conway after a trump rally.
I think perhaps you should ask him some questions about his life experiences before you call his advice "absurd". The guy is not a softie.