Are there any martial artists on here?

[Rmcdermott927]

Let me intoduce myself, my name is Rob McDermott.    I have fought at an amateur and semi-pro level for the last 7 years.  My main focus is Muay Thai and I have had the privilege to train with some of the greatest masters of all time including Ajarn Chai Sirisute.  i've also studied Jeet Kune Do and have done many hours worth of seminars with Brice Lee's best friend, Dan Inosanto. I also have a background in BJJ, having trained under several UFC fighters over the past few years(I hate BJJ and I'm not that good).  What i want to know is, what do you train in and what is your most surreal martial arts experience?   I know there must be a bunch of you in here, so lets get a thread of our own started.

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[pandafly]

in the past I have practiced karate and kickboxing but now I am old

[Rmcdermott927]

in the past I have practiced karate and kickboxing but now I am old

What form of karate?

[aplistir]

I have practised several martial arts

-Judo  (3 years)
-Jiu-jitsu (2 years)
-Hapkido (4 months)
-boxing (6 months, no contact, just bags, speed balls etc.)
-Capoeira  (2 years)

Of those, the best for fighting would be boxing, but the one with most fun and good memories is definitely Capoeira.
Our Capoeira teachers motto was:
"It has to be fun. If it is fun, people will come back and when they keep coming back they will learn."
And so it was. I wouldn't have ever stopped Capoeira, but our group was terminated

Currently not doing any martial arts, but it would be fun to start Capoeira again, if I just could find a good group.

[Rmcdermott927]

I have practised several martial arts

-Judo  (3 years)
-Jiu-jitsu (2 years)
-Hapkido (4 months)
-boxing (6 months, no contact, just bags, speed balls etc.)
-Capoeira  (2 years)

Of those, the best for fighting would be boxing, but the one with most fun and good memories is definitely Capoeira.
Our Capoeira teachers motto was:
"It has to be fun. If it is fun, people will come back and when they keep coming back they will learn."
And so it was. I wouldn't have ever stopped Capoeira, but our group was terminated

Currently not doing any martial arts, but it would be fun to start Capoeira again, if I just could find a good group.

Nice.  I would love to try learning Capoeira.  Unfortunately there are no places near me.   I’m not sure I quite have the crazy level of balance it requires. 

[mr.robot8]

i have been practicing kung fu for about 5 years, i would also like to try capoeira i think it is very spectacular

[Rmcdermott927]

i have been practicing kung fu for about 5 years, i would also like to try capoeira i think it is very spectacular

What type of Kung fu? There are dozens. 

[pandafly]

in the past I have practiced karate and kickboxing but now I am old

What form of karate?

shotokan and wado ryu,i'm a black belt in both styles

[Jet Cash]

I was fortunate enough to spend a year or so in a school run by Victor Kan - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Kan
He trained with Bruce Lee under the instruction of the great Ip Man, and one of the things I liked about his school was his different attitude to paying respect.  I had a brief period when I started Karate, and at the commencement of the lesson, I paid my respects to my Sifu. With Victor, I paid my respects to his Sifu , Ip Man. One other major difference was the manual dexterity that Victor had retained, and he was able to use a fine brush to form small and intricate Chinese characters. This was the result of using contra exercises to preserve natural dexterity.  If one spent 20 minutes punching a bag full of ball bearings, one needed to spend the next 20 minutes avoiding the loss of mobility.

[Rmcdermott927]

I was fortunate enough to spend a year or so in a school run by Victor Kan - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Kan
He trained with Bruce Lee under the instruction of the great Ip Man, and one of the things I liked about his school was his different attitude to paying respect.  I had a brief period when I started Karate, and at the commencement of the lesson, I paid my respects to my Sifu. With Victor, I paid my respects to his Sifu , Ip Man. One other major difference was the manual dexterity that Victor had retained, and he was able to use a fine brush to form small and intricate Chinese characters. This was the result of using contra exercises to preserve natural dexterity.  If one spent 20 minutes punching a bag full of ball bearings, one needed to spend the next 20 minutes avoiding the loss of mobility.

Very cool.   Still to this day, once or twice a year Dan Inosanto comes to town and does a weekend long seminar.   He was one of Bruce Lee’s closest friends and training partner.   He has a lot of great stories about Lee.