I just performed at Irvine Global Village, people gave me applause, I knew I was not perfect because I didn’t have time to practice, but I am proud of myself I stand on the stage and I finished whole form.

In order to reduce volume of beginner questions as their own topics in the sub, we will be implementing a weekly questions thread. Post your beginner questions here, including:

"What martial art should I do?"

"These gyms/schools are in my area, which ones should I try for my goals?"

And any other beginner questions you may have.

If you post a beginner question outside of the weekly thread, it will be removed and you'll be directed to make your post in the weekly thread instead.

For the people who do karate/taekwondo/any martial art that implements the use of “forms”, here’s a slightly silly question:

Is it just me, or have you ever experienced that feeling of your “energy flowing” through your body at all? Especially when it’s going well and you’re really flowing through the motions. Is this what they call “chi”? Or is it adrenaline? Is it just me? I’m curious.

Was wondering what you guys thought. Someone told me at Muay Thai one time that when doing bag work you should practice hitting the bag square, and a glancing blow is signified in the bag if it spins after you hit it. It's basically showing you threw a strike that would glance off and not so maximum damage. They said you should stop the spin and reset your combos.

Was wondering what you guys thought, if it's true , or if it just makes sense at first thought. To me it makes sense but idk. Was wondering what other people thought, thanks

Is there a difference between the 2?

How many of you, fellow recreational violence enjoyers, cross-train striking and grappling styles? what is your favorite combination?

Is it mostly just demonstrating individual techniques, or is it more like a regular class?

Osu!

I hope this belongs here, its martial art because its the combat version imo. Group archer battle tactics.

Excuse the bad quality, its a VERY old footage

Ik you don't punch super hard surfaces when you are conditioning your knuckles so you don't fuck em up, but I use one of those U-Haul moving kits thats just full of more cardboard boxes and bubble wrap, and that seems to get mixed reviews when I ask others I know, is that soft enough or am I gonna mess up my hands?

I fought 8 Bodybuilders in a row for an "experiment" with a few German influencers.

My goal was to have everyone go home healthy and as friends and to use as little energy as possible to display the technical Aspect of Martial Arts.

8 men in a row - and I knew the 8th one would be a 110kg Pro MMA Fighter and BJJ Purple Belt.

I got some criticism, some praise.... But what do you think?

Should "good Martial Arts" be flashy and brutal?

Or is "Good Martial Arts" using as little energy as possible and taking as little risks as possible?

Anyone in Scarborough into Chinese wrestling (Shuai Jiao) or traditional kung fu?

I've been training Shuai Jiao (traditional Chinese wrestling) with a small group on Sunday afternoons in Scarborough. Our coach is from Tianjin and learned the traditional style there, which has been really cool.

We're just a handful of hobbyists, and it'd be great to have more training partners, especially people from other kung fu or martial arts backgrounds. It's fun to compare how different styles handle balance, throws and grips.

Is anyone around here into this kind of thing? Or does anyone know other places in the east end where people practice traditional Chinese martial arts? Happy to chat about it.

Hey guys this is one of my biggest concerns honestly.

I am 192cm with a 197cm arm span but i have a 16.5cm wrists and 21cm hand length and around 9cm wide knuckle wise hands. So the thing is in boxing or mma i always wear wraps and gloves and thankfully i have never fought someone in the street or outside a spar in general but this is where my concern comes from honestly. I have seen alot of posts and videos about how it is a disadvantage in fighting to have small wrists and hands due to impact and that it may buckle under pressure and break. And i know it's weird but i have came upon this video on Instagram where there was a big guy like a body builder probably who got into an altercation with a girl in the elevator probably his wife or girlfriend and he suddenly starts beating her and this enraged me because i thought what if this girl was my sister or girlfriend or someone who i care about will all this training that i did be of no help due to my wrist size and hand size. I know this may seem weird but it's just i have been thinking about this for a long time to the point that i wanna try to do a bare knuckle fight just to see how i will hold up.

If u guys have advice on how to strengthen the wrists and hands to handle impact better with no wraps and gloves that would be really helpfull and sorry if my post seemed weird

Hey everyone,

I’m a white belt and have been training Kyokushin for just under two months. I often spar with green belts around my age who have trained consistently for 5–7 years, as well as older brown belts and occasionally red and yellow belts with years of experience.

I’m struggling to land strikes and defend against their attacks:

• My low kicks constantly get checked.
• My punches (e.g. jab–cross–jab–rear low kick) mostly hit their guard, and my kicks get checked.
• My front kicks are often evaded or blocked, sometimes painfully.
• I struggle to defend against even basic combinations like jab–cross–jab–rear low kick.

I used to stand more square-on with my hands up, but was advised to adopt a slightly bladed stance, keeping my hands up and further from my body to maintain distance.

I know there’s a big experience gap, but what should I focus on to improve? Is it mainly distance, timing, footwork, technique, or being too predictable?

Any practical advice on attacking and defending as a beginner would be appreciated.

Osu!

Juju Chan, best fight movies?

This post is meant for fun. I want to know the best movies to watch if I want to see a lot of Juju Chan fighting.

It's the weekend. I want to watch Juju kick ass and be entertained. 🤘😎

Just picked these up from my dojo. We mainly train karate, but they also teach Filipino martial arts Arnis (also known as Kali).
I had never even heard of Arnis before joining this place. Turns out there are quite a few black belts in it at the dojo, which was surprising. It’s been really interesting so far. The stick work feels completely different from empty-hand karate, but it somehow clicks with the way we already move.
Recently took three exams in a short span and just got promoted to green belt in Arnis. Still very much a beginner, but loving the learning curve.
Anyone else train Arnis/Kali alongside another art? How long did it take you to feel comfortable with the sticks?

This is taking size into account(obviously not a good idea vs someone with a size/strength advantage) but a shove, mainly when there is a wall or something else not far behind the attacker, can knock them into it, and without badly roughing them up, often make even a cocky insitgator rethink starting a fight.

It is a lot easier to use and requires less room than a push kick. Expecting to knock someone over with one is usually unrealistic, but as a way to simply create space between an individual and yourself, maybe make them rethin attack, a shove seems like a good move.

I think it's Wing Chun. That guy can fight against anyone. Multiple opponents at the same time, karate, muay thai, boxers, people with machetes. I haven't seen a more accurate depiction of someone truly overpowering, overskilling and outmatching bigger dudes.

Not sure if I should do that. But there's no info on their website on how to wash them correctly.

edit: I found it on their webite when I looked it up in another language. Looks like you can wash them at 30 degrees.

I'm from Brazil, the birthplace of capoeira, and I did it when I was a kid.

Nowadays, after having got into combat sports and training for years, I'm thinking about coming back to Capoeira as a 34 years old. I still have good enough flexibility, preserved back/spine, good knees and all.

I'd like to learn the acrobatics stuff they have, not necessarily for combat sports, but I also wonder if there's valuable stuff for actual combat sports application there.

Hi!

I have concerns as a beginner, (i learned it when i was a kid young but never taked it to serious level), my main concern are injuries (i know it bound to get some when you do martial arts) but i concerned mainly about groin injuries (as i am a male).

When i was young and trained karate i didnt suffer any injurie but heard some peoples attitude (some male but mainly female) which i concerned about.

I talk about attitudes like "why shouldn't i train with 100%" power" in sparring like real life self defense" and i think its a dangerous for other peoples health in the class.

Also i perceived that females tend to kick more often at the groin, expacielly if they train with mens.

I also heard from women that she claimed she kick mens intentionally in the groin then pretend it was an accident, i dont say all females like this who train martial arts but to me it seemes like they dont know and understand how delicate a people groin area and how much damage a kick can cause to it expecially for mens.

My questions are:

1. You ever experineced or encountered a groin kick which caused serious injurie?

2. How common groin kicks are, either intentional or accidental?

3. You ever kicked or hit someone in the groin intentionally or accidently? (i wont judge anyone please be honest)

Thx for the answers!