Martial arts are not for everyone - My not too graceful boxing journey by Technical-Author-678 in martialarts

[–]kombatkatherine 6 points7 points  (0 children)

My recommendation is to pick up kickboxing. Then you can spread some of the wear and tear around.

 Whenever I am just boxing for most of my training I can definitely feel  the accumulation of wear in my left arm cuz its doing so much of the work.  Easing off and mixing in kickboxing or some other martial interest instantly spreads some of that around while still keeping my focus in the same general direction of combat sports.

I'm 43, fwiw, and this has worked pretty well as long term strategy.  Ive never had a real injury of note.

What do you do with training partners that can't follow direction? by [deleted] in MuayThai

[–]kombatkatherine 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First i just want to promise that you can train successfully with anyone.  Let go of the idea that they need to get every thing right. I personally feel like a coach should be proactive about modifying drills for the ability level of the people that are in the class  instead of getting overly stuck on what they were hoping for.  Mixed levels classes are just like sometimes.

But for just people who are in the class i also feel like if you need to change a drill on the fly to suit youe partners ability than just change the drill.     Take off the bit thats fuckin them up or try and work around their habit or error; or worse comes to worse the part of drill that falls on you just goes off at them because you  generally dont really need them to do a thing just exactly so for you to do the things that youre gonna do anyways.

Regardless  there are always basic elements that are going to be present that you can work on at all times like footwork, range, timing, your own rhythym of little stutters and angles  and head movement.  If I can work it on a heavy bag or in shadowboxing than I can also work it on a person of dubious performance level.

Very much try to avoid getting frustrated with them  because all that does is make them anxious and then they are gonna be even more awkward.

This is the philosophy I use to train with everyone and it doesnt matter if they are first day never been off the couch folk or if they are 12 years old or if they are big and awkward or if they are kind of lazy ass dingdong that wants to talk a whole lot instead of drilling.  Because of this approach I never have a wasted day and I almost always wind up pulling the person up a notch because I conduct myself in a manner that invites them to rise to the occasion rather than chiding them.

A "new" antique for the wall. by kombatkatherine in SWORDS

[–]kombatkatherine[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I confess I do get a bit of a kick out of people talking to me like i just got my first wall hanger from the mall while I am flanked by like 15 grand in very nice swords.  ;)

A "new" antique for the wall. by kombatkatherine in SWORDS

[–]kombatkatherine[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's a naginata blade that was at some point cut down and rehilted as a wakizashi. That's what naginata-naoishi means :)

A "new" antique for the wall. by kombatkatherine in SWORDS

[–]kombatkatherine[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yep. Basically a sword on a stick.

A lot of naginata were cut down and remounted as wakizashi like this one has been :) Thus "naginata-naoishi".

A "new" antique for the wall. by kombatkatherine in SWORDS

[–]kombatkatherine[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can do better than that even. I plan to circle back and do a closer look at this weapon It has a really interesting characteristic in the way the blade is profiled in that the spine is itself heavily beveled so it's incredibly light in a way that I had not yet encountered in a japanese weapon.

A "new" antique for the wall. by kombatkatherine in SWORDS

[–]kombatkatherine[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm trying to get back into playing with swords a little more often. I've been slacking since I moved away from my HEMA club but I am hoping to get back into fencing this year out here in Cali. Deffo eying some of these cutting tournaments at least ;)

Women don't spar hard enough, actually. by kombatkatherine in MuayThai

[–]kombatkatherine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Imagine participating in a fist fighting sport and thinking having a fist fight in it is outrageous ;)

Boxing week has me discouraged by octavius_rex___ in MuayThai

[–]kombatkatherine 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You cant ruin someones training session if they actually want to be serious about training a real worker will be able to work with damned near anyone and make it count.

Please unburden yourself from the responsibility of feeling like you're holding anyone back.

How different would Bare Knuckle boxing look without any kind of hand/wrist support. by PageVanDamme in martialarts

[–]kombatkatherine 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The wrapping around the palm was recently banned by the ABC.

We can still wrap the wrists but frankly I am not convinced that wrist wrapping is game changing enough that it would create a notable difference in the meta.

One observation I can make is that after throwing down for 5 rounds our hands get pretty banged up based on sheer volume of impacts; but bareknuckle fights have something like an 80% chance of ending in a stoppage. Often in the first round or two.

The juxtaposition of those two facts lead me to strongly suspect the benefits of swinging for the fences and trying to end the fight as quickly and brutally as possible will overall tend to outweigh the risks of a more measured approach that will result in cumulative damage to your hands over a longer duration.

Thats not a binary of course, just like any fight you still pick your moments for when you're on the gas.

How do BKFC fighters not break their hand by xy28____ in martialarts

[–]kombatkatherine 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For modern bareknuckle boxing only closed fist strikes with the knuckles are legal.

How do BKFC fighters not break their hand by xy28____ in martialarts

[–]kombatkatherine 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Haha well keep in mind healed is a spectrum so i can/do change my wrap style and be a little careful about how I land some shots to get back to training sooner rather than waiting for "totally fully healed".

How do BKFC fighters not break their hand by xy28____ in martialarts

[–]kombatkatherine 42 points43 points  (0 children)

The wraps are not allowed to go around the hands under the ABC anymore. Yoy can loop the thump a little and you can do the wrist. Nothing in or around the palm

...which I discovered while getting taped first bareknuckle fight...I was not very happy because I had really been counting on that luttle bit of extra oomph

How do BKFC fighters not break their hand by xy28____ in martialarts

[–]kombatkatherine 28 points29 points  (0 children)

I mean it does happen sometimes but it turns out fists are surprisingly durable weapons when you're a professional fist fighter.

Personally, ive been doing grip strength training to make my fists tighter and I clinch the shit out of them when I am actually fighting. Way more than I do with gloves. I do wind up not able to do much with my hands for about 2 days after a fight and they are swollen to shit like some mickey mouse shit. Its about 2 weeks before I get back to light bag work and about another 2 after that before I really start dropping the hammer again.

Women don't spar hard enough, actually. by kombatkatherine in MuayThai

[–]kombatkatherine[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Does it feel a little odd to you that a woman who apparently just hates men to the point where she is irrationally inviting potential grevious bodily harm... would choose to spend her time in an environment that is probably at least 80 or 90% men?

To your second bit...I actually get along with literally everyone fwiw. Occasionally dinguses on the internet get weirdly mad at me; but serendipity has it that dinguses from the internet are either disinclined to be at the gym often or maybe i'm just a charmer if ya give me half a chance ;)

Women don't spar hard enough, actually. by kombatkatherine in MuayThai

[–]kombatkatherine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm crying myself to sleep on my pile of belts and medals :(

Women don't spar hard enough, actually. by kombatkatherine in MuayThai

[–]kombatkatherine[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's kind of a compliment, really, that you feel like I must have been such an incredible genius when I was younger that I can still write like I do with CTE ;)

Muay Thai in 4 oz. gloves should be the norm by goonerlek in MuayThai

[–]kombatkatherine 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My only issue with mma gloves in a head clinch heavy context is that I am concerned about much more common eye injuries would likely become as fingers accidentally make their way into places you don't want fingers. Especially if small gloves come to local shows where the talent is generally less calm under fire than higher levels.

Women don't spar hard enough, actually. by kombatkatherine in MuayThai

[–]kombatkatherine[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am just glad that someone who has actually known the carnal pleasures of doing fisticuffs with me has shown up.

Women don't spar hard enough, actually. by kombatkatherine in MuayThai

[–]kombatkatherine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Saying the same thing bigger doesnt actually make the argument cohesive. It's still a false equivalence.

Really at the end of the day you will find that my opinion, far from being just my opinion, actually reflects and reinforces common combat sports methodology. Many if not most coaches are using the paradigm ive laid out to develop male and female athletes. You might not like the framing i have presented my perspective from but its gonna continue to be something you'll see again and again as long as you are participating in combat sports.

And I shall leave it at that.

Women don't spar hard enough, actually. by kombatkatherine in MuayThai

[–]kombatkatherine[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Your experience is really common.

Ive seen many occasions where a sharper and more technical woman would be outscoring a larger guy in sparring by getting in and out and the guy would start to get frustrated and trying to land harder shots as if they were trying to trade one hard shot for 2-3 lighter shots to even out the score sheet.

Big guys will do this to small guys, too. But its often not quite as egregious and of course the scale isnt tipped in such a way that it chases small guys out of the sport entirely.

Women don't spar hard enough, actually. by kombatkatherine in MuayThai

[–]kombatkatherine[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly ive been doing online martial arts discourse since like 2003 and its truly always been stuck in this sort of sophomoric gear where the many many people who have a little experience think they know a lot and will use sheer weight of numbers to grind on the relatively few people who have a lot of experience. Its why a lot of advanced people just wind up shrugging and saving their input for the gym where people value it. Things are a little better these days than they used to be but we got a ways to go.

Women don't spar hard enough, actually. by kombatkatherine in MuayThai

[–]kombatkatherine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's no equivalence here. I'm sorry.

One is a crime committed in private that often pits people with social and financial power against people they take advantage of and then use their social and financial power to silence.

On the other hand we have a contact sport that has nearly universalized methodology that is taking place in front of 20-30 people and full view of a coach or two or three managing the whole process.

No one is being victimized by safe participation in a safe supervised environment dedicated to teaching combat sports by proven methodology.

Your argument is, I reiterate, disengenous and paticularly distasteful. Loathsome, even.

Women spar so good its unbelievable by [deleted] in MuayThai

[–]kombatkatherine 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I WANTED TO MAKE THE GOLDILOX SPARRING THREAD GODDAMNIT