Importance of variety in full contact sparring and looking for a striking coach in SF.

Discussion in 'MMA' started by UrbanOkami, Jul 10, 2017.

  1. UrbanOkami

    UrbanOkami New Member

    Hey guys I have noticed that in lots of full contact sparring in mma gyms there is a lack of diversity in technique and styles. Its the usual Muay Thai striking format maybe with some footwork. (IT's very effective and nothing is wrong with it) however I come from a traditional full contact Karate background along with some Kuk sool won(a traditional Korean martial art) and have noticed that I have lots more options when it comes to kicking techniques some punching techniques, angles and overall combat strategy. I recommend training traditional martial arts/another striking style or with someone who has expertise in either. It will broaden your arsenal as well as your view of combat strategy and martial arts.

    I also believe that finding a good open minded coach/training partner is very important to help you broaden your understanding of combat strategy. Speaking of which if anyone knows of a good Kickboxing/striking coach in San Francisco or the nearby bay area let me know! Or even a gym/dojo. Maybe a training partner to spar or discuss technique and train with. I am looking to get into more full contact competition soon.

    Thanks guys. I've posted before but this is my first official .. lets call it a "my perspective" post. I would love some feedback and let me know if this helps you in away or if you feel the same way. even if you don't and know good places to train or would love train, get back to me :)
     
  2. Pretty In Pink

    Pretty In Pink Moved on MAP 2017 Gold Award

    It's better to go from a full contact MMA/Kickboxing style and delve into TMA, rather than the other way around in my opinion.if you start in a restrictive "style" it can carry loads of bad habits, but the other way around you can pick and choose what you want to worn for you. I would agree that not enough MMA guys go for TMA style movement and techniques and that's a shame. There's loads to improve on.
     
  3. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Mod note: moved from articles area. :)
     
  4. UrbanOkami

    UrbanOkami New Member

    I respect that and I understand and agree in some part but overall I don't think base matters too much. I think there is a lot of gain in studying/training tma regardless of starting with a tma background or modern mma background. I started with tma and I think it gave me a good base and a edge with movement, flexibility and variety of attack. I agree that it can bring bad habits but everything can be worked on :) also thanks for the response Pretty in Pink ^^
     
  5. Southpaw535

    Southpaw535 Well-Known Member Moderator Supporter

    It can be double edged. There's examples of people in the UFC who have a traditional background and have unorthodox movement and angle work that really helps them. But I agree with PiP that I'd see it being more advantageous the MMA then TMA route than the opposite. Just because the very fundamentals of striking and striking survival (stance, footwork, guard) don't carry over very well. I think its easier to teach someone to alter how they throw a technique or to build one into their repertoire than it is to alter those basic building blocks, and there's no point working on anything else until you get those down. If you do watch high level mma, you do see weaknesses in the mma style and we are seeing more and more people bringing traditional styles back into the fold, but I would presume that's because they can now train those styles with the knowledge of mma and that background allowing them to be a lot more careful with what they bring over. Again like PiP said, it lets you cultivate your traditional art a lot more efficiently when you have the experience that, in full contact, some of the things that will otherwise be drilled into second nature (like stance) just don't work as well in full contact.
     
  6. axelb

    axelb Master of Office Chair Fu

    I can agree to a certain degree, that going to a striking specific style (I wouldn't say TMA specifically as that narrows down too much) is beneficial for focusing on strikes that would not be trained to an extent in some MMA gyms.

    MMA has come a long way and at the same time there is no governing body to enforce a standard syllabus to MMA, the standard is "what is effective".
    I have seen MMA gyms come and go, the ones which are most successful usually have a number of different coaches, BJJ, Wrestling, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, TKD, boxing, Karate, or whatever else.
    You can find a club that does cover the focus on specific area's with striking coaches, or you may find a club that is mostly "MMA" focus, which as a skill set is about applying what you have and making the fight what you are best at.

    The first works well for most who are beginner/intermediate, as they have the chance to test the various strikes as they go along. So it is not necessary to focus only on TMA first to bring in more versatile strikes.

    You may only see just "muay thai style" strikes in use, is this at a particular MMA club you attend, or on video's you've seen?
    I can tell you that the few MMA clubs I've been to, the sparring had a variety of strikes used.

    Conversely, I have been to Karate, TKD, KungFu clubs that have not ventured much outside the "safe" set of moves in sparring.

    It can largely come down to club, coach and individual students, not so much the style of the club - if they embrace testing new things out in sparring, and encourage it, or do they just allow people to play it safe in sparring.
     
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  7. UrbanOkami

    UrbanOkami New Member

    Thanks for your input! :) I agree with you in some ways but just saying that in my experience some schools format the striking in that way so if one is a part of these schools it would be beneficial to crosstrain or train with others who have variety in their approach. However I have been to some mma gyms that do encourage more diverse movement and striking similar to what you were saying. they use multiple striking coaches of different styles. I prefer them :)
     
  8. UrbanOkami

    UrbanOkami New Member

    You described it perfectly with double edged sword. That's the beauty of it all. Is that there is no right or wrong way exactly but it is what works for you. I do think that there are advantages to coming from a tma background into mma as long as you have an understanding of the weaknesses you have are and what works verses what doesn't. Same for the opposite if you crosstrain something else while training mma. thanks for the input guys! I love discussions like this. I havent come across many Traditional martial that train mma here in my city only a few(2 competitively and 1 just for fun and exercise) but they all say starting with tma then transitioning gave them a strong start into mma but they did have to work hard just like me to break some bad habits
     
  9. Fish Of Doom

    Fish Of Doom Will : Mind : Motion Supporter

    The trick lies in training the TMA with hard contact too :p (half-facetiously speaking)
     
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  10. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    Tom bayley and axelb like this.
  11. Tom bayley

    Tom bayley Valued Member

    Speaking of the importance of variety. As a rule I discourage my students from spinning back fists. They are fairly easy to counter and if countered correctly they can end up in a very compromised position. I never say "never" but advise that they be used as a cover to regain position / balance rather than as a deliberate attack.

    But! I saw an MMA fight were an attacker used a spinning backfist to recover from temporarily falling of balance, and caught his opponent perfectly.

    Having succeeded once (following the maxim - if it works keep doing it), he followed it with another spinning backfist, this time deliberately setting it up . And it worked! His opponent had no way of dealing with it. It looked like the opponent had never trained against a spinning back-fist and so had never learned how to counter them. Ten seconds and 3 more successful spinning back fists later - the opponent was out for the count.

    Lesson - variety is good.
     
    UrbanOkami likes this.
  12. aikiMac

    aikiMac aikido + boxing = very good Moderator Supporter

    Wow, he's almost as good as I am!
    ... ahem. Cough. :eek: Seriously, that is amazing. Very inspiring. Talk about "age is just a number." :eek:
     
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  13. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    I have thrown knuckle with him many times...his boxing is top notch too!
     

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