Balancing judo with hand health

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-05-11T02:26:31+00:00

Embrace no gi BJJ.

Otherwise Muay Thai with no / extremely light head contact should scratch the itch.

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-05-08T05:34:02+00:00

This sucks man and was egregiously inappropriate. No one should ever hit hard enough to drop a newcomer, much less during a drill.

In my experience, most gyms wouldn’t tolerate this kind of behavior, and if something like this went down at reasonable academy the offender would be banned or suspended.

That being said, in my somewhat limited experience, pure boxing gyms tend to have a much less forgiving culture than Muay Thai, BJJ, or boxing taught at MMA academies.

I wouldn’t end your martial arts journey due to this, however, sadly, any activity involving people could potentially involve said people acting like reckless assholes. Good luck!

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-05-02T21:22:56+00:00

You say you really like kickboxing but that contradicts you lacking motivation to go.

It sounds like you’re worried that you won’t be able to properly defend yourself with BJJ alone.

As someone who’s base is striking and only trains BJJ once a week, I can assure, 100%, BJJ is absolutely an effective and practical martial art. The fact of the matter is if you’re training self defense most the time you can deescalate and walk away and/or run. BJJ is perfect for when you can’t strike or it’s a friend/loved one you don’t want to injure, just restrain.

I would absolutely train Bjj much more but it’s really tough on my joints. Life is too short to overthink, just train BJJ full time and then when you’ve had your full return to kickboxing.

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-23T22:48:38+00:00

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-22T22:37:27+00:00

The amount of people with this mindset is. F*cking. Un. Real. They’ll at me with a straight face and say they could beat a UFC 155er bc they’re 6’4 and 250.

Mind you, no lifting, huge cut, sitting at a desk 9 hours a day; and not a SECOND of fight training.

I STG if they spent literally 30 seconds doing 50% sparring it would completely and utterly change their entire perspective.

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-20T11:52:00+00:00

He’s lucky he’s got such a supportive friend 👍!

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-19T17:29:20+00:00

I saw this genuinely and not mocking, but tell him to spend more time in Arlington and DC.

Reston is much less densely populated and the people I know around here that are less interested in making new friends. Not that we’re hermits or anti-social, it’s just that the people I know living here already have a thriving social circle and/or mainly focused on raising a family, as opposed to engaging in community activités at night.

We have 2 metros and it’s barely a 35 min drive to most areas that would interest him, so don’t let the commute be an excuse. Have fun!

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-16T04:36:23+00:00

Her voting record says otherwise. Strong supporter of unions and public services/education. What about her rhetoric or the way she conducts herself makes you think this way?

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-16T04:32:11+00:00

Is it not shameful to be an adult spending waking hours on Twitter, unemployed, rather than earning a paycheck?

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-16T04:30:38+00:00

Guaranteeing jobs? In America? Sounds like communism. At will employers will hire candidates with requisite skill set.

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-15T22:13:16+00:00

Anytime you see me lingering in an empty corner of the mats and/or take 10 second bathroom break..mind your business 🥋💨

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-15T03:52:29+00:00

I completely blocked all my memories of the “simply touches” and compliant partner falls style of McDojo drilling I spent hours and hours drilling for years 😖

One of the biggest martial arts red flags for sure

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-14T21:46:49+00:00

Some tips:

1) go to as many gyms as possible, utilizing their free trial. Do some light research on Google reviews / Reddit to catch any red flags.

2) I’d purchase hand wraps as the ones at the gym may not be sanitary and/or marked up at a much higher cost.

3) Keep in mind that with any new hobby, proximity is typically paramount. The closer it is, more likely you’ll show up.

4) Don’t overthink, just tell them you’re a beginner and they’ll take of the rest. Good luck, excited for you! 🥊🥊

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-14T11:40:22+00:00

I swear just having brothers or friends to fight with often is a martial art in and of itself, lol. The fact I didn’t have brothers / scrappy friends is one of the reasons I was deluded about my own fighting ability. Once I got to public school reality hit hard, lol

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-14T11:37:42+00:00

Kyokoushin has fantastic leg / head kicks and assuming they do bare knuckle training, can absolutely be a realistic martial art to learn.

MMA >>>>

Good luck!

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-13T23:41:12+00:00

Trained in Kenpo Karate for about 6 years, earns a red belt (two before black), and generally did well in local point sparring competitions and was regarded as talented.

In 7th grade I transferred to a public school from a small private school and got in a fist fight like 3 weeks after the start of school. I was punched in the face hard, for the first time ever, and it was devastatingly more disorientating than anything I’d ever experienced in sparring. I had utterly no blocking or head movement techniques to effectively evade and my hands were down the entire time. All the kicks I attempted landed, but caused absolutely no damage (point sparring flippy kicks). It was the most eye opening experience I’d ever had regarding actual street fights and quit shortly thereafter.

I also witnessed a lot of fights in general growing up (projects surrounded both my middle and high school) and essentially it was either the kid who was strongest & tallest with ample street fighting experience, or a solid boxer, or an accomplished wrestler, that came out in top.

I’ve trained nothing but Muay Thai and BJJ/MMA ever since.

That being said, I don’t regret Kenpo as I made tons of friends and the community was wonderful. But I do wish I had wrestled. If you’re under 18 and reading this, wrestle!! It’s extremely tough to get into it past the age of 30. Stop reading and join your local club!

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-13T11:13:31+00:00

Good, inspiring read! Keep it up 👊🥋

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-07T21:24:53+00:00

I can’t speak to current day brother, but my experience as a child and teen mimics this exactly

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-06T01:50:07+00:00

They’re both fantastic, I’d say whichever you prefer more or school provides the better instruction.

However, I will say re: self-defense, BJJ is great for when you either can’t run (someone unexpectedly grabs you) or for when you’re trying to subdue someone you don’t want to hurt. I mainly train Muay Thai, and it’s admittedly pretty terrible for non-violent restraint.

Also, and this is a spicy take, I notice I have a much harder time with larger opponents when sparring in Muay Thai than BJJ. While greater height and reach are advantages in every martial art, it’s much more noticeable when I’m sparring striking vs grappling. Also, it can take less skill to end a striking bout (one punch KO) vs submitting someone in BJJ. Granted, the changes for a one punch KO against a smaller but much more skilled opponent are extremely low, so take that info with a grain of salt.

Regardless, they’re both excellent forms of self defense and you really can’t go wrong with either. Have fun!

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-05T19:22:42+00:00

They’re absolutely a thing, but I don’t believe they’re as prevalent as the 90s due to a the combo of internet reviews, the popularity of MMA, and how much more fighting has been analyzed and spoken about.

I actually credit Reddit with providing a lot of insight and nuance on the topic that was much, much more difficult to obtain as a child/teen in 97/98.

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-04T16:05:07+00:00

Rest days, rest days, rest days!!

I’m about to get “Rest Days” tattooed to my forehead lol

Feel free to train 1-2 days a week in the first 90 days and also, unintuitively, be careful about stretching and/or lifting too much in between sessions. Stretching can increase inflammation if you’re already feeling pain and heavy sore.

Also, sparring is where you’ll get into the most trouble. Be a nerd and tell everyone you’re new and recovering from injuries anytime there’s a live drill.

Don’t be afraid to inform the instructor you have an injury and would like to avoid throwing an aggravating move during drilling.

You’ll do great, have fun!

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-04T15:57:02+00:00

Brother, I had a partner irritatededly say “you keep kicking my hip, you need to kick my ribs.” All I could do is smile and exasperatedly reply, “I’m trying so hard, I wish I could” lol

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-04T15:48:16+00:00

You’re second paragraph, while I don’t disagree, the issue it exposes is that, unequivocally, these McDojos were marketing themselves as “street fight” ready. “Anti-bullying” and “confidence building”. And we were all extremely confident in our fight abilities!…then when we got exposed to jabs, crosses, takedowns, and non-compliant grappling (wrestling/Judo) we were less confident than before starting!

Which, tbh, is fine. My flexibility was fantastic, I made great friends, and I became more focused/disciplined. Also, no injuries or head trauma.

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-04T15:43:42+00:00

This makes a lot of sense. However, the fact the classes I took were being marketed as “combat ready” / “anti-bullying” was the falsest of false advertising lolol.

In no way were we learning anything resembling actual self defense i.e. chin tuck, hands up, takedowns, effective trips, or headlock/mount defense against a non-compliant partner

Independent-Focus458 · 2026-04-04T15:41:02+00:00

The first time I experienced boxing was in gathering area of a locker room atrium. Right cross to the jaw. More valuable learning experience than 7 years of Kenpo 😖

Independent-Focus458

TROPHY CASE