[Dalaran1991]

I used to do both and really enjoyed both of them, I think they are equally necessary and masculine. Its just that recently I no longer have time for both, since I have to keep dancing an active hobby to keep the pussy streaming

I stick with Martial arts for the moment bc It teaches me a very useful skillset. Im small so even if I lift and get jacked most people will be stronger than me. Plus, if you have bulked out before in the gym doing MA is a great way to cut to lean muscle. Theres also the social aspects.

Lifting makes ya stronger and jacked. And you dont need to find a good master or a friend to go with.

Do you guys do both, or if you have to choose which one would you choose? Name your MA if you practice one.

Sidenote: do you guys get into situations where defending yourself physically is necessary?

[KC4]

Submission wrestling but I used to still hit the gym about 4-5 times a week with practice 2 times

[Captain Gh]

Used to do Muy Thai, Jui-jitsu and Wrestling but had to stop due to $ reasons. No matter what it takes, even if it's a 20 minutes workout, to keep on lifting heavy. I made the mistake of not lifting while doing those 3 diciplines and I was still in great shape, but overall way weaker. My advice would be to get a 1 day a week pass at a gym for a really low price and simply do 1 compound movement for every body part to keep them in the habit of lifting heavy.

[el conquistador]

I'm struggling with this at the moment. I lift 3x a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) and I train in Shoot Wrestling on Tue and Sat. This with working 9-5, hustling to start my own businesses and gaming is all hard to juggle.

You can do both if you lift first thing in the morning and then train in martial arts in the evening.

[Dalaran1991]

Its difficult doing both. To lift well demand a good diet and sleeping habits. If you get up early to train and also do MA in the eve that means you get 5 hours of sleep per day (you have to do other stuff too)

@Cap GH, if you do these 3 disciplines you really dont need to be strong. All muay thai fighters are scrawny but their punches and kicks can knock a heavy lifter out after a few. Its great for developping balistic muscle and explosive strength. Jiu jit su if you are good at it you dont need the weight advantage.

[The Beast1]

Why not do a bulking regimen in the winter and use the MA as a way to cut?

It sucks because you can't really practice in the winter though. Hard to manage strength gains and the like.

This past weekend I wish I was bigger and better able to subdue an opponent peacefully without hurting him. Got into a brawl over something stupid. Didn't start it and didn't finish it. I should have been able to finish it.

[Pantheon Dweller]

Had the same problem, here's my opinion : the benefits of MA last far longer and with lesser maintenance than the benefits of lifting. If a good judoka gave up judo 15 years ago, he wouldn't be as sharp now as he was before but he could still use it if needed. While you could lift heavy and be really big, stop for 15 years and nothing's left.

What I did : I did 2 years of krav maga and then focused entirely on lifting, I keep sparring once every few months with some friends I met at KM in order to maintain the reflexes I had. Works for me.

Of course, krav maga is designed to be learned very quickly (one year and you've done 90% of your progression), so 2 years probably wouldn't be enough if you're doing traditional martial arts. It works the same though, get to a great level and then focus on lifting, while spending just enough time at MA to maintain your muscle memory.

Another option, would be to do martial arts only once a week (2-3h) so it won't interfer with lifting, you won't be the best so it depends on your priorities, but if you stick to it for years you may progress decently even with only once a week. I'd like to learn a second MA so I may do that in a near future. Haven't tried it yet though, maybe once a week won't be enough.

[WilliamShatnersEgo]

I do wado kai karate. I'm advanced enough that I train on my own. When you train hard enough you can maintain a great physique and hit all of your muscle groups. Plus, you can defend yourself.

[Jazzman92]

If you want to gain both strength/size and learn martial arts techniques look into greco roman or freestyle wrestling.

Wrestling is all about throwing people and lifting people so you gain strength and size from that, plus you learn techniques and skills. Bulk up on the food and take up wrestling then when you have time start focusing more on kickboxing or muay thai and go on a cut to lean down a bit.

[VincentVinturi]

I train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 3-5x week and lift 2-3x week.

If I had to choose one I'd just lift.

Martial arts is amazing and you make great friends but there's absolutely nothing like the hormonal benefits you get from lifting heavy.

Although for martial arts I go lighter weight and higher rep to essentially stay strong and prevent injuries without putting on much mass.

Squats, deadlifts and presses jack your testosterone up so nicely, you just don't get that from training martial arts.

In fact, with most martial arts you run the risk of overtraining on cardio and getting weak.

If you have to pick one, I'd say lifting wins out.

[Ostermann]

Now that's a tough choice!
MA: More fun to do, more mentally engaging, spends many calories, makes you able to defend yourself
Lifting: Easier to do, makes you look bigger, less exausting mentally, you can lift whenever the gym is open as opposed to MA classes.

Personally, I felt best when I did both (3 days MMA 3 days lifting), but then I took a decision to be more serious with my university, and quit MMA temporarily. I plan to come back as soon as I graduate. Now I look much bigger, but I yearn for that adrenaline rush when sparring hard or doing an amateur match (never had ambition or skill to go pro).

I had a couple of situations where my martial arts knowledge/confidence combined by physical size and strength saved me from serious injuries.

[Dalaran1991]

@Pantheon: heh, funny you mention it. Just came back from Aikido practice and one woman there is pretty good. She used to train for 8 years then left for 15 years, only picked it up again recently. Not as sharp as she would like, but still very indicative of her grade. The muscle doesn't forget.

Today is just a great day. I discovered this new dojo. Mostly old people but close to my home, and it has a gym! And only cost 100$ a year for students, so I guess I'm signing up. Plus, all the people there are military, so I guess I ll learn some cool shit.

Krav manga is awesome for self defense, and very similar to aikido.

@Vince, I dont think with our young age and over-the-roof metabolism we risk over-train I haven't lift since I left US a year ago and people still compliment my muscle all the time, to the point that I think no French dude even lifts.

All wrestling arts, especially BJJ has the added benefits of really exciting bedroom submission play

@Osterman, mind sharing your stories? Did any of you guys here got into a fight where lifting/MA saved your ass?

[Rubio93]

Done shotokan karate and aikido at various times... mostly just do weights pullups and yoga now... it's hard to reconcile my schedule with those MA classes...

The aikido has saved my ass more than once, both in bicycle accidents on the street and once when attacked by a gang of kids trying to mug me...

[VincentVinturi]

(07-09-2014 04:11 PM)Dalaran1991 Wrote:  

@Vince, I dont think with our young age and over-the-roof metabolism we risk over-train I haven't lift since I left US a year ago and people still compliment my muscle all the time, to the point that I think no French dude even lifts.

Everyone's different. I've overtrained plenty of times. It sucks. But you may have a more resilient body. Men are cut from different cloths. Some dudes can train in a way that would make another guy's body fall right apart.

Quote:

All wrestling arts, especially BJJ has the added benefits of really exciting bedroom submission play

Sex jitsu has got me laid countless time.

"I do jiu jitsu."
"What's that?"
"Here I'll show you"
(rough her up a bit)
...

[Ostermann]

(07-09-2014 04:11 PM)Dalaran1991 Wrote:  

@Osterman, mind sharing your stories? Did any of you guys here got into a fight where lifting/MA saved your ass?

Well, the funny thing is that I never actually kicked anyone's ass on the street, since high school, and I didn't train anything back then.

But when you are confident in your physical strength and martial arts technique, people see that in you and your body language, and weaker people know better than to mess with you. And there is usually mutual respect between people who are martial artists, so they don't attack each other.

But the problem is when you get attacked by groups of drunk/high/lowlife people.

Once a group of gypsies tried to mug me and my friend in a park at night. One of them pulled a pocket knife, but i scared em off with shouting and aggressive behavior, being bigger and more confident than them definitely helped.

The other time I was drunk and one guy I know (pussy) shouted something at me, I shouted back and he and his 4 friends attacked me. I was able to stay on my feet and escaped with no injuries apart from few scratches and a black eye, its damn near impossible to fight 5 people. Back then I used to lift and wrestle a little, I am sure it helped me not to fall down, where I was sure to get stomped.

The third time I got into a fight with club security because they kicked my drunk friend out. There were about 15 of them and I was scared shitless... By this time I was kinda good in MMA, and I grappled and exchanged some punches, while trying to bob my head around. I backed off to some cars and leaned on it, grappling with one guy, wile others were trying to punch me from the side. The cops arrived after 2 or 3 minutes and broke it up. I was amazed that I wasn't hurt apart from a minor scratch on my face, bruised ribcage and I lost my cap

There were a couple of times where I had to push/throw/scare an aggressive drunk guy, but anyone could do that .

[Dalaran1991]

I have a lot of respect for people who are willing to physically defend themselves. I always stay away from fighting if I could, but I wont back down when its necessary. A lot of guys today, including a fucking surprising number of guys in aikido, think that any kind of physical violence is bad and would rather just give their wallet than fighting with a bunch of kids. Those men who are afraid to escalate physically, in both sex or conflict, are very detached from their masculinity.

That said, dont ever go out looking for a fight.

[Saweeep]

(07-10-2014 04:54 AM)Dalaran1991 Wrote:  

I have a lot of respect for people who are willing to physically defend themselves. I always stay away from fighting if I could, but I wont back down when its necessary. A lot of guys today, including a fucking surprising number of guys in aikido, think that any kind of physical violence is bad and would rather just give their wallet than fighting with a bunch of kids. Those men who are afraid to escalate physically, in both sex or conflict, are very detached from their masculinity.

That said, dont ever go out looking for a fight.

I think it ultimately boils down to how much you've got to lose.

I'm a former kickboxing ring fighter, current fight team coach, 6'4" & stocky build and I think I'd probably give a bunch of kids my wallet if they had weapons.

[Dalaran1991]

(07-10-2014 08:15 AM)CrashBangWallop Wrote:  

(07-10-2014 04:54 AM)Dalaran1991 Wrote:  

I have a lot of respect for people who are willing to physically defend themselves. I always stay away from fighting if I could, but I wont back down when its necessary. A lot of guys today, including a fucking surprising number of guys in aikido, think that any kind of physical violence is bad and would rather just give their wallet than fighting with a bunch of kids. Those men who are afraid to escalate physically, in both sex or conflict, are very detached from their masculinity.

That said, dont ever go out looking for a fight.

I think it ultimately boils down to how much you've got to lose.

I'm a former kickboxing ring fighter, current fight team coach, 6'4" & stocky build and I think I'd probably give a bunch of kids my wallet if they had weapons.

This.

If a bunch of kids all got weapons and you still want to fight them for your wallet, its not courage any more, its recklesness Kudos to Ostermann for getting out of said situations alive

@Frenchie, if you want to peacefully subdue an opponent, take aikido or jujutsu. They are made for that goal, especially aikido, though the situational awareness and positioning you learn will be invaluable if you want to switch to a striking art. Also make you look better in the eye of the cops if things go south