[TravelerKai]

(05-24-2018 03:25 PM)Parzival Wrote:  

The book meditation on violence was mention here. I have read it and was very good. Here is a very good interview about self defence. I like this channel as well.
Most attacks are an ambush, happen when you don't expect it, lack fairness, lack rules. Also how important is your mindset to survive. Will you give up? Will you fight to win? To survive? To death? How strong is your desire to life? To give resistance? How fast can you pull the switch in your head?

Finally some last words of wisdom:
Brick don't hit back!

A few thoughts:

1. He talked about the differences between violent assault vs sport fighting not being the same.

My take: Yes and no. When you are drenched in sweat and trying to fight another dude covered in sweat and both of you are running on fumes, it gives you this factor of stubbornness. You are developing a drive of "Staying in the Fight". No Quit Mentality.

At some level, it's not what you always know, it's about that DOG. The Dog in you. That nastiness. That grit in the other guy's asshole needs to be you.

That old Mexican man in the video I posted earlier rushing that robber is a paramount example of this. Were that old man younger he would have dominated that guy alot better but nevertheless, he still won because he refused to stop.

It's more mental than physical. A half assed resistance yields a half ass result. Every time. The sport fighting helps develop that mindset and the character. This is why when guys PM me for advice on what to take or whatever, I often suggest them to take some boxing for 6 months or a year in between the knife fighting and other stuff they want. To understand violence to some degree you have to feel some appreciable amount of it.

Me personally. Having guns pulled on me by dope dealers growing up conditioned me to disarm a knife attacker much later. Mindset was fixated on disarm disarm disarm. Nothing else. Razor sharp focus like some corny anime character having an epiphany or something. Ultra Instinct Goku for those of you that are cool and watch DB. When I try to replicate that same focus after that happened, I can never do it. Too relaxed. Danger is just different. Go time is just go time. You either have it in you, or you don't, but the training helps.

Quote:

If it's natural to kill, how come men have to go into training to learn how? -Joan Baez

This silly woman actually is right although she probably isn't thinking about it the same way I do. The instinct to kill is natural, but to learn how to do it well or efficiently is not.

2. So one thing he talks about is how when people that are not trained come out with flurry of punches etc.

My Take: Yeah that is definitely true, but I will say this: When you see untrained attacks coming you smirk because it actually looks slow compared to whatever pros and semi pros you spar with from time to time. To me at least that is how it feels.

When you have to deal with people that are so fast, you have to get hit a couple times observe their strikes then instead of parry, block, or evade with your eyes, you do it on timing instead, you honestly should not get surprised like that by untrained people. You outta look like Floyd in his Philly Shell Defense where his face looks like "What is this punch?"

Age is a factor though. We will not always be young enough to do what we can do today. So his points are more valid from an older guy's perspective certainly.

Last point, he spoke about practicing being ambushed and his 2 man katas, etc. I highly agree with this. That is the way you want to train self defense. Unfortunately not all teachers do this. Attacks from the rear are invaluable. Hell we used to attack each other randomly outside or when we would stand around waiting for class to start. It really takes the stun out of being ambushed to the point where you never overreact and just quickly get the guy off you first and then ask questions later, from a mindset point of view.

As for the rest of the interview it was fine. Nothing to add.

Parzival you being a German, what do you take from the video? You do not live in the USA and cannot carry a firearm like these guys are talking about and whatnot. I cannot remember if you can even carry a knife there. How can you prepare your mindset for ambushes if you do not take self defense coursework and train? Does the change in environment put any pressure on you there?

[Parzival]

Where I grow up its extreme safe. Most encounters are drunk people at festivals. Easy to avoid. The other thing is some guys try to rip you off. Pickpockets are common in bigger cities and certain places. What also happen is assault attacks. A group just attack you, kick you down the stairway in a metro, ask for a cigarette and then beat you up or use a knife. It's not a daily basis, when I can trust the reports violent attacks go down but when happen they are fast and brute. People die, get crippled by the sudden impact, the kick to the heads or they drop hard on the ground. Mostly its a group of certain people that approach you in an aggressive way and want to see your submission.

Drunk guys at festival and football. Most easy to avoid with common sense. Verbal defence, distance.
Ambush attacks, happen mostly at night, at the weekend. Avoid certain kind of people. Its not Asians, its not Indians, its not Germans. Its almost every time a certain type. Turkish, Arab, Northern African looking. When you see some of them keep the distance. Its not common that stranger talk to you in German and by the way they talk, the language they use you can know where to place them. Keep distance to them. Situation awareness. No earplugs and so on. For some attacks, like a bottle over the head from behind, some kick down the stairs. There is almost no preparation. Knives you can carry but they limit the length of the blade. So any knife that you could use is illegal to carry in public so far. Even if legal and you use it mostly you face some tried manslaughter issue after use it. Batons are forbid as well to carry, CS spray is allowed. Any use of a tool even in self defence bring you more legal harm then good. Gun attacks are so low, you not even have to think about it. If used then with a robbery but this also seldom.

Mindset: Well I agree that training helps you, to know the distance, your stance. How much keeps in a stressed panic situation? When I do boxing with my friend I see how he improves and get used to take some punches. Not drop. At the end you have to turn the switch in your head. I don't know why I'm able to do so, maybe a lot of hate and anger as a teen. Braws and fights, encounters with cultural enrichment skilled workers. I often did explode. So I have a natural level of aggression that I now can pull easy. My mindset is, I really don't care about people. Live and let live. When someone steps a certain line, I don't see this person as a human. I see him as a disgusting piece of trash that lost everything by his action and his outcome is nothing of my concern. A vermin. It's a radical thinking but consider that even a push can lead to heavy injury or dead when happen bad, my aim is to eliminate all threat to me. By this I try to strike fast, hard and brute. I consider that I have a very good situation awareness of aggression, my gut tighten, my body tension up. Also keep the distance to people then helped me to avoid a lot of situations. When nothing helps, again, strike fast, hard and brute.

The improvement of my training improves boxing sparring, makiwara, reaction training by double speed ball, tennis balls and so on. I consider the reaction training now even more important then the heavy back. I chocked out people, pulled ears, thumbs in the eyes by holding the head, throwing. What I lack over the age is stamina. Compensate with situation awareness lol
For most people, they go into submission. Try to talk things out thats how a extreme safe society shape them. Oh you poor attacker, did you get disrespected in some way? Here take my submission. Most people here live in a bubble. Naive at best, ignorant at worst. I just hate those scum. There are so much behaviour that cross my sense of justice that my blood rage.
Most people are to soft, on the other hand most people also will never face such an encounter. Some friends joke about my training but such a situation just has to happen once in your life and it can change everything. It's like talking to a fat person that they shouldn't drink 3 Liters of Cola every day.

So what do I take from it?
- Situation awareness
- keep distance to suspect people
- verbal de escalation
- train hard, fast attacks
- aggressive mindset, able to turn a switch in the mind
- de humanize the attacker mental
- willing to survive and destroy any threat to you
- no victim ( body language, appearance, language )

[cascadecombo]

(05-24-2018 08:28 AM)TravelerKai Wrote:  

Good stuff Combo. That 10 List guy's videos are idotic Bullshido forums claptrap nonsense.

Capoeira can have very powerful uses, most people just use the dance form of it. I honestly do not know too many people or places where you could learn it. Like your video shows, some Brazilian guys in MMA have used as well as former breakdancers, in order to get openings and throw off opponents.

I used to train a couple of breakdancers and they would bust it out on occasion in sparring, so I have seen it first hand. I even taught a Capoeira instructor BJJ once back in the day. Guys like that, you could skip the whole fight with rhythm stuff and just teach them techniques. They made their own timings and stance styles, that actually made sense and were very hard for other orthodox style fighters to read.

If you really want to get down in the weeds, the Brazilian UFC, Pride, MMA fighters for a long time, were hard to film study and read because they had those dance sambas when they fought. Anderson Silva, Marco Ruas, Wanderlei Silva, Pedro Rizzo, Nog, all those Brazilian Top Team and Chute Boxe guys, etc.

All those guys had good head movements and hip and foot movements borrowed from Capoeira. Now lots of guys copied this and fight like this as if this thing is a pure MMA thing. They have no idea where all that comes from.

The only reason why I do not think Boxers never borrowed much from it, is because they cannot kick, and most pro boxers are savvy enough to adjust. That said, Mike Tyson had lots of the same head movements even before he honed his peekaboo style. I watched on Youtube recently some super old footage of him before going pro, and you can hear DAmato yelling at him to keep moving his head.

I was fortunate in college to meet a caporista who had a prominent school/maestro in Tampa.

I can't help but play devil's advocate when I see those ridiculous videos of idiots sharing bad opinions. Every art can and probably does have a use its just finding which apply to your body and style. I've adopted a few things from that and toss them out during sparring because they flow well into my movements and catch people off guard very easily.

Just look at wondering if you want to see another commonly trashed art, karate, and how some of its base concepts transferred quite well into fighting.

[Ringo]

Do you guys have any clicking joints?

I've twisted, sprained and stubbed my big toe 20+ times over the last few years. Every time I move it or close it, it clicks. It's not a good feeling and it often hurts. Plus, after I hurt it once I often bump it more times in a row.

Feels like I must have fractured it slightly at some point and something is loose in there.

When it hurts I just tape it up so it won't bend and resume training.

Anything else I can do about it?

[Parzival]

As I mention in my post before, I consider reaction training and harden up your body a way more important then hitting the heavy bag. Of course when you are younger you just want to hit it hart. With some simple tool you can get some nice stuff for training. I don't recommend the Makiwara when you have no experience about prober technique. Some of my friends broke their wrist at the heavy bag. Can't imagine what would happen at the Makiwara.

Anyway, I have a cheap Makiwara, about 30 Euro, some screws and a wooden plate. So for about 40 Euro you can build something like this.
Same for the tennis balls and an elastic rope. Maybe 10 euro all in all. For 50 Euro complete you don't get a good heavy bag at all.
I consider to place the Makiwara in my basement. My neighbours for sure question my mental state when I hit it. It does some noise for sure. Not to mention when someone try to hit a tennis ball on his balcony.

   

[TravelerKai]

(05-25-2018 11:14 AM)Ringo Wrote:  

Do you guys have any clicking joints?

I've twisted, sprained and stubbed my big toe 20+ times over the last few years. Every time I move it or close it, it clicks. It's not a good feeling and it often hurts. Plus, after I hurt it once I often bump it more times in a row.

Feels like I must have fractured it slightly at some point and something is loose in there.

When it hurts I just tape it up so it won't bend and resume training.

Anything else I can do about it?

You might have loose junk (bits of bone or cartilage) in inside the joints like some people have with knees.

I will give you some advice someone in special forces told me. Do not let them scope your knees, etc. You will have to keep going back over and over. It never fixes the underlying issue.

Time to build a good stack for joint health.

Fish Oil (high quality like Kirklands)
MSM and Chondroitin Sulfate
Glucosimine

Take it everyday. Stretch well.

Over time the loose shit will leave your joints. May take a while, but you will feel better lubrication and actions the whole time, making it less of an issue, until you realize you do not need to take it anymore. I used to have this problem bad all the time, now I take my fish oil for mental fog only. Temperature drops when it gets cold, is the only real time I need the stack. You live in Brazil, I doubt you have that problem. The clicking may or may not stop, that comes with the BJJ and Judo lifestyle.

Judo/BJJ guys get Judo Knee and Judo Back after some point in time. Learn how to stave it off with good supplements and taking it easy whenever you can. Judo Back is it's own topic. We can cross that bridge when you get there.

[TravelerKai]

Hot off the presses!

Brazilian JiuJitsu fanbois enjoy!!

Maybe Parzival should take BJJ since this was Germany.

Btw, how did that German get that pistol to rob that casino?

[Saweeep]

(05-28-2018 09:20 AM)Parzival Wrote:  

As I mention in my post before, I consider reaction training and harden up your body a way more important then hitting the heavy bag. Of course when you are younger you just want to hit it hart. With some simple tool you can get some nice stuff for training. I don't recommend the Makiwara when you have no experience about prober technique. Some of my friends broke their wrist at the heavy bag. Can't imagine what would happen at the Makiwara.

Anyway, I have a cheap Makiwara, about 30 Euro, some screws and a wooden plate. So for about 40 Euro you can build something like this.
Same for the tennis balls and an elastic rope. Maybe 10 euro all in all. For 50 Euro complete you don't get a good heavy bag at all.
I consider to place the Makiwara in my basement. My neighbours for sure question my mental state when I hit it. It does some noise for sure. Not to mention when someone try to hit a tennis ball on his balcony.

I haven't caught up on this thread for a few years but if you don't mind me asking; is hitting your Maki and evading the tennis ball all you're doing for combat training?

I gotta disagree with you on the heavy bag...if you know how to use it there is nothing better than a live pad man who knows what he's doing!

[Saweeep]

(05-25-2018 11:14 AM)Ringo Wrote:  

Do you guys have any clicking joints?

I've twisted, sprained and stubbed my big toe 20+ times over the last few years. Every time I move it or close it, it clicks. It's not a good feeling and it often hurts. Plus, after I hurt it once I often bump it more times in a row.

Feels like I must have fractured it slightly at some point and something is loose in there.

When it hurts I just tape it up so it won't bend and resume training.

Anything else I can do about it?

The obvious thing would be to stop taping it up and rest it properly for a while...perhaps even go see a physio??

I don't know how old you are but these little things can become big things as the years pass.

For the first time ever this year in my mid-late 30s my body has broken down after 3 months of camp in Thailand. Just won't do it anymore. The niggles become problems and the problems don't go away with a magic sponge.

[vinman]

(05-29-2018 07:56 AM)TravelerKai Wrote:  

(05-25-2018 11:14 AM)Ringo Wrote:  

Do you guys have any clicking joints?

I've twisted, sprained and stubbed my big toe 20+ times over the last few years. Every time I move it or close it, it clicks. It's not a good feeling and it often hurts. Plus, after I hurt it once I often bump it more times in a row.

Feels like I must have fractured it slightly at some point and something is loose in there.

When it hurts I just tape it up so it won't bend and resume training.

Anything else I can do about it?

You might have loose junk (bits of bone or cartilage) in inside the joints like some people have with knees.

I will give you some advice someone in special forces told me. Do not let them scope your knees, etc. You will have to keep going back over and over. It never fixes the underlying issue.

Time to build a good stack for joint health.

Fish Oil (high quality like Kirklands)
MSM and Chondroitin Sulfate
Glucosimine

Take it everyday. Stretch well.

Over time the loose shit will leave your joints. May take a while, but you will feel better lubrication and actions the whole time, making it less of an issue, until you realize you do not need to take it anymore. I used to have this problem bad all the time, now I take my fish oil for mental fog only. Temperature drops when it gets cold, is the only real time I need the stack. You live in Brazil, I doubt you have that problem. The clicking may or may not stop, that comes with the BJJ and Judo lifestyle.

Judo/BJJ guys get Judo Knee and Judo Back after some point in time. Learn how to stave it off with good supplements and taking it easy whenever you can. Judo Back is it's own topic. We can cross that bridge when you get there.

Something else to try for joints is bone broth or collagen hydrolysate. I'm about to turn 50, so I'm trying it all.

[Richard Turpin]

Does fish oil work?

(I can't believe I'm of an age where I'm seriously asking about Fish Oil)

As an old guy myself I'm starting to think about adding stretching to my routine. We did a lot in Judo but they were very specific and took a long time. And when I google stuff there's just too much info to make any sense of. Does anyone here know, or incorporate themselves a 10 minute stretching routine of 2 or 3 exercises that pretty much covers all the bases? I already do too much and have no time so whatever gives the best return is what I'm interested in. My knees are still good but back and groin are ropey most days until I get warmed up.

[Ringo]

(06-04-2018 12:49 PM)Saweeep Wrote:  

(05-25-2018 11:14 AM)Ringo Wrote:  

Do you guys have any clicking joints?

I've twisted, sprained and stubbed my big toe 20+ times over the last few years. Every time I move it or close it, it clicks. It's not a good feeling and it often hurts. Plus, after I hurt it once I often bump it more times in a row.

Feels like I must have fractured it slightly at some point and something is loose in there.

When it hurts I just tape it up so it won't bend and resume training.

Anything else I can do about it?

The obvious thing would be to stop taping it up and rest it properly for a while...perhaps even go see a physio??

I don't know how old you are but these little things can become big things as the years pass.

For the first time ever this year in my mid-late 30s my body has broken down after 3 months of camp in Thailand. Just won't do it anymore. The niggles become problems and the problems don't go away with a magic sponge.

Yeah... I guess technically I could rest it properly...

Just kidding.

In my case I don't think it warrants it as it's "just" fingers. If it were something major, like shoulders or knees, definitely.

I think TK's supplement stack will help though.

[Saweeep]

I honestly believe that there are only "so many miles in the tank" for anyone, with any sport.

Like engine hours on a boat.

[Ringo]

(06-05-2018 08:24 AM)Richard Turpin Wrote:  

Does fish oil work?

(I can't believe I'm of an age where I'm seriously asking about Fish Oil)

As an old guy myself I'm starting to think about adding stretching to my routine. We did a lot in Judo but they were very specific and took a long time. And when I google stuff there's just too much info to make any sense of. Does anyone here know, or incorporate themselves a 10 minute stretching routine of 2 or 3 exercises that pretty much covers all the bases? I already do too much and have no time so whatever gives the best return is what I'm interested in. My knees are still good but back and groin are ropey most days until I get warmed up.

Ten minutes is plenty if you use it well.

If you train like 3x a week, doing a 10-minute strech routine after training will make a world of difference in a few weeks/months. I like to do it after training because you're already warmed up and it's a good way to cool down.

Look up a routine on YouTube, there's ton of 10-minute yoga tutorials.

As you build up your repertoire of stretches and learn which parts of your body need the most help (apparently your back and groin), you can be more instinctive about your approach.

I'm not going to go into specific poses because it's best if you do your own research - watching a few tutorials and trying out poses will help you more in the long run than if I give specifics.

If you're feeling stiff you can try to use lacrosse balls or foam rollers during those 10 minutes. They really help.

[Ringo]

(06-05-2018 09:08 AM)Saweeep Wrote:  

I honestly believe that there are only "so many miles in the tank" for anyone, with any sport.

Like engine hours on a boat.

That's a depressing thought in some ways, but you are probably right.

[TravelerKai]

(06-05-2018 09:13 AM)Ringo Wrote:  

(06-05-2018 08:24 AM)Richard Turpin Wrote:  

Does fish oil work?

(I can't believe I'm of an age where I'm seriously asking about Fish Oil)

As an old guy myself I'm starting to think about adding stretching to my routine. We did a lot in Judo but they were very specific and took a long time. And when I google stuff there's just too much info to make any sense of. Does anyone here know, or incorporate themselves a 10 minute stretching routine of 2 or 3 exercises that pretty much covers all the bases? I already do too much and have no time so whatever gives the best return is what I'm interested in. My knees are still good but back and groin are ropey most days until I get warmed up.

Ten minutes is plenty if you use it well.

If you train like 3x a week, doing a 10-minute strech routine after training will make a world of difference in a few weeks/months. I like to do it after training because you're already warmed up and it's a good way to cool down.

Look up a routine on YouTube, there's ton of 10-minute yoga tutorials.

As you build up your repertoire of stretches and learn which parts of your body need the most help (apparently your back and groin), you can be more instinctive about your approach.

I'm not going to go into specific poses because it's best if you do your own research - watching a few tutorials and trying out poses will help you more in the long run than if I give specifics.

If you're feeling stiff you can try to use lacrosse balls or foam rollers during those 10 minutes. They really help.

Pendergrass has a good video too.

And yes fish oil works very well. It's a must try you have nothing to lose.

[TravelerKai]

(06-05-2018 09:14 AM)Ringo Wrote:  

(06-05-2018 09:08 AM)Saweeep Wrote:  

I honestly believe that there are only "so many miles in the tank" for anyone, with any sport.

Like engine hours on a boat.

That's a depressing thought in some ways, but you are probably right.

When it comes to kickboxing, there is definitely a time limit. Any smart man would be done with Muay Thai by 30 and other kickboxing and regular boxing by 33 or so. Not saying you cannot practice drills, but you gotta cut out all that sparring and full on fights. Fighting like that until 40 isn't smart at all for a litany of reasons.

Anything else martial arts wise is fine to do at older ages (except Renaissance armed fighting), but you might have to get on regimens and do more preventative care to keep down or avoid issues.

Acupuncture saves lives. Go to your local Chinatown and find an expert. Thank me later.

For bones and joints, use that stack, as well as Vitamin D, Magnesium, Zinc, and Calcium.

Unless you work outside in the sun everyday, your vitamin D is low. You all would be amazed at what breaks when your D gets too low for too long. For starters your Testosterone levels can get wrecked.

[Parzival]

(06-04-2018 12:42 PM)TravelerKai Wrote:  

Hot off the presses!

Brazilian JiuJitsu fanbois enjoy!!

Maybe Parzival should take BJJ since this was Germany.

Btw, how did that German get that pistol to rob that casino?

Could be a gas gun, you can buy those legal when you turn 18. But also its not so hard to get illegal a gun. The Munich Amok shooting was commit with a pistol sold in the dark net. Also the Arab clans, Russian, Albanian and Italian mafia have their share. A lot of from the Balkans after the wars or former Soviet Union stuff.
When the crime is a little more organized, there is access to guns. Also legal there are enough ways to own one.

(06-04-2018 12:46 PM)Saweeep Wrote:  

I haven't caught up on this thread for a few years but if you don't mind me asking; is hitting your Maki and evading the tennis ball all you're doing for combat training?

I gotta disagree with you on the heavy bag...if you know how to use it there is nothing better than a live pad man who knows what he's doing!

I do hit the heavy bag but not as much as I used to be. Its good to increase the stamina and power. I do boxing training, train the mitts, sparing. Also train other stuff by myself that I had in the past from other trainings I did.
Not gonna lie, take a full self defence class would be better. Should bring in more stuff with my training partner. I lift weights, boxing training and so on. Don't consider my self a self defence expert or a pro boxer. I stay fit, strong, know some basics. Situation awareness is the key. Could I do more? Sure. How do I look compare to my environment? I say I'm in the advanced level.

Guess my training pays off in the case that I hadn't any serious trouble in the last decade. You never know about the future so I keep my eyes open but things slow down with the age.

[Dalaran1991]

Kai, here's a big one I ask of you, on behalf of everyone!

Can you write a bit (well, might take a library but please do your best) about pain tolerance?

What variables determine it? Mass? Bone density? Age? Practice? There are big lugs who can't take a punch to save their life and small muay thai guys who literally can't feel pain.

Just how important is it in a fight? Well this one is a no-brainer but as always you know something we don't

The type of attacks that cause the most pain?

What can be done to increase it? Moreover, is pain tolerance training even good for your body?

Is it possible to gauge the pain tolerance of your adversary?

==============

Case in point: so in HEMA club the other day was group combat. Scorching hot so we decided to have some fun by removing our chest protection and fight berserker styles. Weapons are foam padded swords of course. Normally while wearing a gambeson you can easily take a dozen of direct hits and feel nothing. That day however I took a slash across my ribs and though it didn't "hurt" nor did it leave a lasting bruise, at the moment of impact I feel like my ribs was imploding and I can't help myself but fold on my knees.

And I'm among the crazier guys in the group! That was just a blunt strike from a solid foam padded sword. So if you get hit with a baton or bokken I guess the fight is over? Or is it?

Thanks in advance Sensei!

[H1N1]

Being bigger obviously increases the amount of punishment you can take. It is mental to a degree, your ability to grit your teeth and keep going, but there's a reason fight sports have weight classes.

How important it will be can't really be classified, though being more durable is always better.

Look at the areas police are trained to attack with batons. The collar bone, shins, sides of the knee, elbow joint etc. These are non-lethal compliance points. Other places like behind the ear lobe, and in the roof of the eye cavity can also be excruciating.

Serious injury can give you a good reference for what real pain is, but generally it's mind over matter.

Hooligans often wear bubble wrap on areas that police target with their batons, like the ones listed above. They'll wear shin pads etc too. Whether getting hit by this stuff takes you out of the fight or not will depend on the weapon, where it's deployed on your body, your own preparedness, and any precautions you may have taken in anticipating that kind of combat (eg I know bodyguards who don't leave the house without shinpads on).

Personally I don't think there are general answers to your question, it's circumstantial, beyond the obvious statement that the tougher the life you lead, the more likely you are to toughen up yourself.

[Parzival]

(06-12-2018 03:39 PM)H1N1 Wrote:  

Personally I don't think there are general answers to your question, it's circumstantial, beyond the obvious statement that the tougher the life you lead, the more likely you are to toughen up yourself.

Just man up...

[TravelerKai]

(06-12-2018 08:45 AM)Dalaran1991 Wrote:  

Kai, here's a big one I ask of you, on behalf of everyone!

Can you write a bit (well, might take a library but please do your best) about pain tolerance?

What variables determine it? Mass? Bone density? Age? Practice? There are big lugs who can't take a punch to save their life and small muay thai guys who literally can't feel pain.

Just how important is it in a fight? Well this one is a no-brainer but as always you know something we don't

The type of attacks that cause the most pain?

What can be done to increase it? Moreover, is pain tolerance training even good for your body?

Is it possible to gauge the pain tolerance of your adversary?

==============

Case in point: so in HEMA club the other day was group combat. Scorching hot so we decided to have some fun by removing our chest protection and fight berserker styles. Weapons are foam padded swords of course. Normally while wearing a gambeson you can easily take a dozen of direct hits and feel nothing. That day however I took a slash across my ribs and though it didn't "hurt" nor did it leave a lasting bruise, at the moment of impact I feel like my ribs was imploding and I can't help myself but fold on my knees.

And I'm among the crazier guys in the group! That was just a blunt strike from a solid foam padded sword. So if you get hit with a baton or bokken I guess the fight is over? Or is it?

Thanks in advance Sensei!

In a nutshell, your muscles are the kevlar armor. Your bones are the plate inserts. Plates are limited in coverage but the kevlar is inside nearly the entire vest.

As for pain tolerance, pain is your body's way to tell you that something is wrong or harmful to your health. Tolerance comes from conditioning.

Conditioning can come from many sources, not just martial arts.

1. Rock climbing
2. General Fitness/Gymnastics
3. Full contact sports (American Football, Hockey, Rugby, etc.)
4. Soldiers/Military/Infantry/Marines/Spec Ops/Warfare
5. Running
6. Weight lifting, body building, and Strength and Conditioning programs
7. Extreme Sports (Snowboarding, Skateboarding, BMX, Parkour, Certain Sky Sports, etc)
10. Pro level dancing

I am sure I am missing some, but you get the idea.

All these things improve musculature and tensile strength of muscle fibers, improve cardiovascular ability, and resilience to uncomfortable physical situations.

Hormones play a major role as well. Adrenaline, Cortisol, Dopamine, and Serotonin naturally dull pain, can heighten awareness and focus, and temporarily allow you to do things just an extra bit better than normal. They also have bad sides to them if overused or if the glands are damaged. Stress is the major issue here and while mental is usually considered the major factor, there is a physical component to it as well.

The human body has fight or flight response (large topic by itself)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response



Fights or dangers to your life are different than sport. Sparring with someone your very first time could invoke this chart, but regular practice does not, especially in a controlled environment for mere practice.

Ever had a pitbull run up on you? A mugger come up behind you and demand your money? A thug run up and pull out a gun? A police officer tackle you? Someone swing a knife or broken bottle at you? Ever get surrounded suddenly by a gang or group of thugs? Ever lose control of your vehicle mid operation right before the impact or crash? Ever hit black ice while driving a car but still did not crash?

All this shit will trigger the Fight or Flight Response. You can scare your little children or your wife in the house, into the same effect, if you grab them from behind at the right times.

It happens to everyone at least once in their lives.

You could see someone getting knocked the fuck out cold and it trigger you from just watching it. Insensitive people (like ASPD), autistic people, those with much experience in fights, or those with alot of conditioning of violence are not easily triggered by such displays.

Moving along to your HEMA event, you guys are doing something that is an unequal comparison.

Bone and muscle vs steel/metals?

Sorry bro but this is too silly.

No human body compares to real metal. Master Pang with Iron Fist can break concrete and cinderblocks no problem. He isn't hurting metal brother. You can wrap and pad those items up as much as you want to. The actual specific density is the problem. It's just plain physics brother. You deserved to be brought to your knees.

No amount of conditioning can make your body relevant to sword blows, even blunted edge ones. That is why hit and not get hit was so important in those older centuries. Even if you were not cut open, your bones were broken very likely. Bronze Age swords are nothing compared to Iron Age and newer. The weight alone made blocking the blows bothersome and painful on your forearm, wrist, and knuckles.

If you think historical men were taking blows and giving it back like swashbuckling pirates, you are mistaken. Officers are not taking damage as much because they are not mixing it up as much and are usually better trained. I'm not an expert on Roman History, or anything ancient for that matter, but one thing I notice is how Roman leaders were expected to mix it up on the battlefield. One major thing I noticed is how frequently they would get hurt or killed. Alexander the Great was notorious for mixing it up as well and almost died several times in battle. Most pre-Modern and later leaders almost never did that for a very good reason. Men like Napoleon and Alexander got massive respect for getting their hands dirty and mixing it up for a good reason. It's just fucking dangerous fighting in a battlefield up close.

I hope this helps. If not, let me know and I can clarify.

[Ringo]

TK, did you get the chance to catch Firas Zahabi on JRE last week?

The first half/three-quarters of the show has very interesting information about his beliefs on training, S&C, periodization and longetivity. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[TravelerKai]

I only watched the segments about the crossfit stuff and workout intensity and why does Connor gas out in fights. He is right on the money on both of those segments. I haven't watched the whole thing, just those two segments last week.

If you are gonna do MMA, Boxing, American Football, etc. you gotta have a guy like this for your S&C program before, during, and after your camps. Guys like Firas are not super easy to find and hire, but there are some out there like this that are knowledgeable and can help you get rid of dumb habits and train alot smarter.

The best shit test you can use to find out if any S&C guy knows what the fuck they are talking about:

"What plans or things you give me that can do to help me with recovery management."

Notice how Firas talked about putting George on body weight programs because he could recover super fast? He knew that body weight does not cost you anything on your nervous system. That's the kind of advice you need from a solid trainer. George is not a very young guy.

Notice how when Floyd trains on the focus mitts, he does not use even 50% power? A casual observer probably thinks that looks like bullshit or a show for the press. Nah. There is a reason for all of these things. Firas talked about the beep sprints. Same principles.

Train smarter, not harder.

[Buddydowrongright2]

(05-24-2018 05:00 PM)TravelerKai Wrote:  

Quote:

If it's natural to kill, how come men have to go into training to learn how? -Joan Baez

This silly woman actually is right although she probably isn't thinking about it the same way I do. The instinct to kill is natural, but to learn how to do it well or efficiently is not.

This is spot on. I watched an interview with the Valente Brothers where one of them was talking about how every animal in the jungle has a way that it learns to fight that is optimal for its physiology: lions with their claws, hippos with their jaws, etc. Man, being rational, is the only animal whose innate instincts to fight are not the optimal ones - because his innate instincts do not employ his greatest weapon, which is his mind. That quote always stuck with me in explaining why martial sports that rely on leverage and gravity over brute strength, like BJJ, Judo, Catch Wrestling, and Sambo are so devastating, even if the fighter is a physically smaller person.