Have you ever felt you needed to have at least one competitive fight?

[Balrog]

I'm sure there's other reasons both good and bad but I'm interested if anyone has felt they wanted or even needed to have one fight? I know plenty of people who have never felt any inclination to have a competitive fight but have they ever been tempted?

Never. I've never even been tempted, either.

 

[takadadojokeith]

We get quite a few people in to our MMA classes who just want to train for their own reasons, maybe to get fit or fitter, maybe for confidence whatever. No one is ever pushed to fight in fact we don't ask, if you want to fight you have to ask and if you aren't ready you'll be told so. However people who start off thinking they don't want to fight often feel they'd like one fight, they don't want to be a fighter but they feel they want to have that one experience.

I think it's for a few reasons and I have seen this in TMA as well. It could be because they want to prove something to themselves, rarely to others though. Those that want to fight to impress others tend not to last the distance in training. Some people want to see if they can pull it out when attacked, to see if their techniques work and when the adrenaline is flowing it flows in the right way.

Some people I think just want to have that experience of a fight, to be able to say they've survived a full contact situation, this reason is probably a male thing lol.

I'm sure there's other reasons both good and bad but I'm interested if anyone has felt they wanted or even needed to have one fight? I know plenty of people who have never felt any inclination to have a competitive fight but have they ever been tempted?

Interesting topic. I've done plenty of competition, mostly grappling and MMA stuff. Other things, like kickboxing and boxing, I've done a few times. Might do it some more, too. The temptation is always there.

I'm always surprised by the number of people at fight gyms that don't seem interested in competition. I always imagine the desire to get in the ring/cage is just below the surface. Judging by this thread, that only seems about half true.

 

[takadadojokeith]

I've had the desire, especially when I was participating in our school's kickboxing program. But I didn't have the time then to train at the level required for a competitive match. Plus, reluctant though I may be to accept it, I'm prolly too old for that sort of thing. Had I started training at a much younger age, I might have done it.

41 isn't necessarily too old to fight. I'm middle-aged, too and still compete. You could probably still do it if you don't have any health problems stopping you.

 

[Benevolentbob]

Well, I originally got into martial arts for fitness, fun/enjoyment, mental discipline, and as a release from life. Now after training for only five months I've felt the desire for competition. I don't know how long it will take until I truly feel ready (I know I want to have trained for at least year more and with much more sparring experience than I have now), but I would like to at least give it a try eventually.

 

[shihansmurf]

I boxed in college and I've done a few MMA "Smokers" ,for lack of a better term, but my competition days are behind me. I have a TBI from an IED in Iraq, so I'm carefull about how I train nowadays. I'll spar at moderate to heavy contact but I wear head gear and I tap out if I have any dizzyness or such. I'm not willing to risk my long term health to engage in my sport.

Now, if I didn't have that problem I'd be in the cage as often as I could.

Mark

 

[Emma]

I'm very tempted to get in the ring, because I'm stupidly competitive, and my instructor and other people keep asking me when I'm going to have a go. Around this area there is a guy who organises about 3 padded amateur fight days a year, so I'd love to have a go in one of these next year. The only thing that might stop me is not having enough time to train, and not having enough faith in myself.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I like to compete occasionally, though in my case it is kendo/kumdo (we don't compete in hapkido).

I've had enough actual fights in my life time to prove to myself that I can effectively defend myself if need be, and in last two decades, I have found that keeping my wits about me and use of verbal hapkido works quite well in keeping me safe.

If I ever take up the study of another competitive art, such as MMA or boxing, yes, I will compete at least a few times.

Daniel

 

[Blade96]

We get quite a few people in to our MMA classes who just want to train for their own reasons, maybe to get fit or fitter, maybe for confidence whatever. No one is ever pushed to fight in fact we don't ask, if you want to fight you have to ask and if you aren't ready you'll be told so. However people who start off thinking they don't want to fight often feel they'd like one fight, they don't want to be a fighter but they feel they want to have that one experience.

I think it's for a few reasons and I have seen this in TMA as well. It could be because they want to prove something to themselves, rarely to others though. Those that want to fight to impress others tend not to last the distance in training. Some people want to see if they can pull it out when attacked, to see if their techniques work and when the adrenaline is flowing it flows in the right way.

Some people I think just want to have that experience of a fight, to be able to say they've survived a full contact situation, this reason is probably a male thing lol.

I'm sure there's other reasons both good and bad but I'm interested if anyone has felt they wanted or even needed to have one fight?

Yeah, I'd like to sparr in competition and in the dojo because I've already done Kata twice in two competitions and spar is the only thing I never did yet and i want to learn.