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Despite having been training martial arts for 41 years now, I don't have a ton of official tournament competition experience. I did some SCA fighting in my late 20s-early 30s, but I wasn't treating it as a serious martial art practice so I never got beyond an intermediate skill level and never...

It’s really fun to watch two down-to-earth humble guys who really love their martial arts. I also see some relevance to recent discussions we’ve had regarding big schools vs instructional quality, TMA vs MMA, and the value of kata.

(I’m the fighter in green.) Obviously, I’m still a beginner in this art (6 months in), but I’m posting this so I can come back and post more sparring footage a year from now and see how far I’ve come. I think we have a few other members with HEMA experience, so feel free to offer critiques.

Drop bear asked this question in the latest Bujinkan thread and I thought it deserved an answer. Since it's not directly relevant to discussion of the Bujinkan, I pulled it out for a separate post. To begin with, HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts, for anyone who doesn't know) is not about...

As of last week, both my wife and I were two weeks out from our 2nd covid shot, and I felt ready to get back to regular training. Over the last 7 days I’ve done: 6 hours BJJ 5 hours HEMA (longsword and dussack via Joachim Meyer) 2 hours archery 1 hour Capoeira ... so an average of two hours...

Note - this started out as a reply to Chris in the "Training Log" thread, but it ended up being enough of a digression that I thought it should go in its own thread. I don't have any problem with the definitions you choose to apply. I understand where they're coming from and it certainly...

So the past 6 months I’ve been doing a bit of training in Sumo on the side. This past weekend I got to attend a 3 day seminar led by Cornelius Booker, the current U.S. lightweight national champion. (Unlike pro Sumo, international amateur Sumo has weight classes.) It was a lot of fun. Got a...

(For those not familiar with the YouTuber, “Misinformed” is the name of his channel, on which he posts humorous videos on a wide range of topics.)

Who “Killed” Kung Fu: Habermas and the Legitimization Crisis within Traditional Martial Arts

How to Do Karate in a Victorian Dress Interesting article and video from writer Marie Brennan.

One of my pet peeves is when martial arts practitioners decide to add an air of scientific authority to their pronouncements by digging out some formulas they remember from high school physics: kinetic energy = mass x velocity squared, force = mass x acceleration, momentum = mass x velocity. 99...

I'm slowly working my way through the list of MartialTalk forum members that I want to meet in real life and train with. Last night it was @gpseymour. He came through town on a business trip and stopped in to train for a few hours. We shared techniques, discussed theory and training methods, and...

A few weeks ago, our gym manager let me know that one of the top MMA fighters in our gym (Portland) had a fight coming up but didn't have anyone coaching him to prepare for the match. This was a title challenge against a very tough and skilled opponent. I wasn't sure whether Portland would be...

After my review of Rob Biernacki’s online academy a few weeks ago I was contacted by Nic Gregoriades, who offered me access to his new online academy in exchange for a review. For those who don’t know Nic, he’s the first guy promoted to black belt by Roger Gracie and author of Jiu-Jitsu:The...

I’m a big fan of BJJ instructional videos, but not all instruction is created equal. Some videos just show new techniques or variations I’m not familiar with. These are fun, but not always good for much more than a distraction. I already know enough techniques to keep me busy for a lifetime and...

This question comes up periodically, so I thought I'd explain my perspective as someone whose primary base is BJJ/Muay Thai/Western Boxing but who has gotten some value from supplemental training in Wing Tsun. For the record, I am far from an expert in WT/WC. I've got less than two years of...

I liked this breakdown. I watched a few of Rigondeaux's fights after viewing this and it really helped me understand what he was doing.

As some of you know, I added Capoeira to my already overcrowded study schedule last year. This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend my first Batizado (seminar + promotion ceremony). It was a bit different from what I've experienced in other arts, so I thought folks might be interested in...

I'm putting this in the general martial arts section rather than in the western boxing section because I think some of the principles are applicable to anyone who wants to do close-range striking.

Unlike most of the Dog Brothers, Thomas Holtmann (Gong Fu Dog) learned his weapons skills from CMA (specifically Seven Star Praying Mantis) rather than FMA. This is the first time I've seen someone demonstrate genuine fighting skill (as opposed to performance skill) with the 3SS. Pretty cool...

(Actual sparring begins at about 8:04 into the video.) Detailed explanation and conclusions here: We Fought with Sharps (So You Don't Have To!)

I thought this was a nice analysis:

I put this in the general martial arts forum rather than the boxing sub-forum because I think the ideas here are applicable to a lot of different arts. Lomachenko just does a better job of executing them under pressure than most of us will ever manage.

There are a couple of schools of thought which sometimes clash in forum discussions. The first is often expressed through the Bruce Lee quote "Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own." The idea is that you don't have to take everything from a martial art as is...

Seems about right.

Now this is how you explore a technique in depth. Youngsteinel & Gambledub: The Ankle Pick - An Analysis (Warning - long read, set aside some time. Or do what I've been doing and read it in chunks.)

Let's see how many of you get this tune stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

Been a while since I posted a link to a Jack Slack article. I liked this one. The Elements of Style: The Jab | FIGHTLAND