What can average joes accomplish realistically in sanctioned competitions?

jobo

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Sir, lifting weights develop FAST TWITCH MUSCLE FIBERS. A person with a 500 pound deadlift has more fast twitch fibers than someone who can only do 400.

It's not a false assumption I assure you. Just to further this argument, there is a reason combat sports are divided into weight classes. Between two guys who have identical technique, the one with more strength will hit harder.

But I agree. Buka gave great advice and I'll take it to heart.

Give me five years of boxing training. Five years. I won't get very far because I'm too old. But I'm betting if I become refined, my sparring partners would constantly remind me before every match to hold back. Muscle counts. Strength and muscle are the pillars of POWER, and "power", in sports literature, is nothing more than an expression of what a person can do with his brute strength.
its a little more complex than that, just coz your strong dorsnt mean you can hit hard, it certainly has thepotential t, but technque plays a significant part , and perhaps the most impirtant element, you have to be actually able to hit them with out getting hit yourself, they can punch hard as well, and punching thin air soon saps your strengh

as a rule of thumb, strong people want to graple you, as that where their advantages lies, once they have hold of you your toast
 

Buka

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Brian, like you, I was a mass of fast twitchers. Much of it was genetic, the rest developed through study and hard work.

But I had a whole lot more learning to do. Speed doesn't necessarily always mean power. Speed doesn't necessarily mean you'll have the ability to land whatever it is you're throwing against a slower fighter/athlete. And that he won't be able to hit you as much because he's slower, has less fast twitch muscle fiber.

Timing beats speed. And it beats it every time. And you won't be able to develop timing until you've trained for a while. Just keep that timing thought in the back of your mind as you go forward, you're going to love it.
 
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Bee Brian

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Brian, like you, I was a mass of fast twitchers. Much of it was genetic, the rest developed through study and hard work.

But I had a whole lot more learning to do. Speed doesn't necessarily always mean power. Speed doesn't necessarily mean you'll have the ability to land whatever it is you're throwing against a slower fighter/athlete. And that he won't be able to hit you as much because he's slower, has less fast twitch muscle fiber.

Timing beats speed. And it beats it every time. And you won't be able to develop timing until you've trained for a while. Just keep that timing thought in the back of your mind as you go forward, you're going to love it.

Thank you for your posts. Thanks very much.

I just wonder why you chose Don Knotts of all people to be your avatar, but I really do like your posts, Buka.
 

Buka

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Thank you for your posts. Thanks very much.

I just wonder why you chose Don Knotts of all people to be your avatar, but I really do like your posts, Buka.

Lol. I liked Don Knotts. I liked his foolish character of Barney Fife when I was a kid.
And because I used to be a cop, I'm skinny, and in one of his movies, The Ghost and Mister Chicken, at the end when he somehow mistakenly beat the bad guys and was asked about it afterwards he replied sheepishly and full of b.s.....
"Karate, my whole body's a weapon."

That and he always seemed like a nice guy.
 
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Bee Brian

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Lol. I liked Don Knotts. I liked his foolish character of Barney Fife when I was a kid.
And because I used to be a cop, I'm skinny, and in one of his movies, The Ghost and Mister Chicken, at the end when he somehow mistakenly beat the bad guys and was asked about it afterwards he replied sheepishly and full of b.s.....
"Karate, my whole body's a weapon."

That and he always seemed like a nice guy.

Liking someone for being nice and funny is normal. But liking someone for being skinny is pretty new to me. lol. I mean no offense, Buka, I'm just making an observation.

My idols in the world of athletics are either big, somewhat big while fast, or small while super fast. There are the rarities like lots of super-heavyweight Olympic lifters who can run a decent time on the 100-meters, but the big boys who reach the level that I admire are incredibly rare.

Specifically, in martial arts, my favorite is Buakaw. There's that obvious aspect of him being a skilled fighter, but more than that I also like his physique.

Strength and muscle, for me, comes first. Next are fighting skills.
 

Kung Fu Wang

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When this pandemic fixes itself, I'll join a certain boxing gym close to home. ... In your ballpark estimation, how far can I get?
MA is a life long training path. It doesn't matter what's your plan will be for the next 5 years. It matters whether you still have the same desire to do it 30 years from today.

Strength and muscle, for me, comes first. Next are fighting skills.

Human body is like 3 springs. Without MA training, each and every spring will function independently. With MA training, all 3 springs can be compressed at the same time, and release at the same time. IMO, try to achieve body unification should be the 1st step toward life long MA training.

For example, Can you coordinate your punch with your

- back leg straight, or
- front foot landing?

Can your hand and foot start to move at the same time, also stop at the same time?
 
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Bee Brian

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Human body is like 3 springs. Without MA training, each and every spring will function independently. With MA training, all 3 springs can be compressed at the same time, and release at the same time. IMO, try to achieve body unification should be the 1st step toward life long MA training.

For example, Can you coordinate your punch with your

- back leg straight, or
- front foot landing?

Can your hand and foot start to move at the same time, also stop at the same time?

I refuse to waste my time learning ancient Chinese secrets if I don't even know how to properly throw a jab yet.
 

Monkey Turned Wolf

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Liking someone for being nice and funny is normal. But liking someone for being skinny is pretty new to me. lol. I mean no offense, Buka, I'm just making an observation.

My idols in the world of athletics are either big, somewhat big while fast, or small while super fast. There are the rarities like lots of super-heavyweight Olympic lifters who can run a decent time on the 100-meters, but the big boys who reach the level that I admire are incredibly rare.

Specifically, in martial arts, my favorite is Buakaw. There's that obvious aspect of him being a skilled fighter, but more than that I also like his physique.

Strength and muscle, for me, comes first. Next are fighting skills.
People like that which they can connect with. I like mugsy bogues cause he's short like me.
 
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Bee Brian

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Dude I'm short too!

5'6.

Mike Tyson is obviously taller than me but isn't he only 5'10 as a heavyweight? Yeah, he's short too (relatively). AND FAR FROM LANKY.
 
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Bee Brian

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They start off with labels but after being kicked around they quickly lose them...lol.

Excuse me? I once sparred with a can of peaches from Walmart and he never managed to shed his label after I landed some roundhouse kicks to his butt.

I did, however, observe that his calorie information on his back became dyslexic.

lol... "Tomato can" is new to me. I had to look it up.
 

Buka

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Liking someone for being nice and funny is normal. But liking someone for being skinny is pretty new to me. lol. I mean no offense, Buka, I'm just making an observation.

My idols in the world of athletics are either big, somewhat big while fast, or small while super fast. There are the rarities like lots of super-heavyweight Olympic lifters who can run a decent time on the 100-meters, but the big boys who reach the level that I admire are incredibly rare.

Specifically, in martial arts, my favorite is Buakaw. There's that obvious aspect of him being a skilled fighter, but more than that I also like his physique.

Strength and muscle, for me, comes first. Next are fighting skills.

Sure, but we play the cards we’re dealt. I’ve been the same weight since junior high, back in the covered wagon days.

Haven’t had much problem with big guys, yes they hit hard, but everyone in the fight game hits hard, short guys who had good defense were always my most challenging fights.
 

Buka

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Liking someone for being nice and funny is normal. But liking someone for being skinny is pretty new to me. lol. I mean no offense, Buka, I'm just making an observation.

My idols in the world of athletics are either big, somewhat big while fast, or small while super fast. There are the rarities like lots of super-heavyweight Olympic lifters who can run a decent time on the 100-meters, but the big boys who reach the level that I admire are incredibly rare.

Specifically, in martial arts, my favorite is Buakaw. There's that obvious aspect of him being a skilled fighter, but more than that I also like his physique.

Strength and muscle, for me, comes first. Next are fighting skills.

I didn't like him because he was skinny, I identified with him because I'm skinny. I just liked him as I had read a lot about him, liked what I read.

Happiness and peace, for me, comes first. Next is everything else. But fighting skills are kind of fun. I kind of like those a little bit, too.
 

Leviathan

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I think you totally overestimate muscle power in martial arts.

You say lifting weights works on your fast twitch muscle fibers. Well is it really fast? The speed of a bench press or a squat is nothing compared to the speed of a punch... A truck has no chance against a Ferrari on a racing track.

Scott Adkins claimed in a video that putting on muscle for some movies made him slower because of the extra weight. And he knows what he's talking about.

Large muscle mass also puts a burden on your cardio.

Honestly I don't think you'd last a round in a boxing fight against a decently trained opponent who's going for the ko.

Cheers
 

drop bear

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I think you totally overestimate muscle power in martial arts.

You say lifting weights works on your fast twitch muscle fibers. Well is it really fast? The speed of a bench press or a squat is nothing compared to the speed of a punch... A truck has no chance against a Ferrari on a racing track.

Scott Adkins claimed in a video that putting on muscle for some movies made him slower because of the extra weight. And he knows what he's talking about.

Large muscle mass also puts a burden on your cardio.

Honestly I don't think you'd last a round in a boxing fight against a decently trained opponent who's going for the ko.

Cheers

Yeah but neither would anyone else.
 

drop bear

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Anyway here is Ben Kellerher who comes and trains with us a bit. My coach corners his fights.


Might give a bit of a perspective on what fighters do.
 

Leviathan

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And another point: A weight lifting champion has trained muscles in a certain way that is not completely unrelated to a fight but his / her nervous system is totally untrained for a fight -> Reflexes, knowing what to do, feeling for fight distance etc. all that has to be appropriately trained.
 

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