Style call out

[ironshaolin]

Just to keep this section active, nobody posts in here.

If you train, what style/discipline do you practice?

What are the positives to this style?

What are the negatives?

Have at it.

[machineman]

whooo first in!

Style: Traditional Japanese Combat Jujitsu

Positives: great training for MMA, great workouts, great people to be around, great style to study for no Gi grappling tournaments

Negatives: the aches and pains sure do suck, this form does not translate well to Gi graplling tournaments....at least not for us....we train mostly no Gi, so that is a huge reason why there is not a good translation.

[Necromatrix]

Style... Hmm a little Kempo, Kickboxing, Ju Jitsu.. Anything I have been able to learn really.

I suppose an advantage is unpradictability. The disadvatage is a lack of specialization. I have never had the opportunity to be a part of a dojo or such.

[ironshaolin]

Good stuff so far guys,

I'm a 2nd degree black belt in Kempo Jiu jitsu. Kempo focuses on hard, multiple strikes to vital areas, and the jiu jitsu we use comes from our Kyoshi's Red Dragon combat jiu jitsu. Its a nasty, lethal combination.

I would say benefits are understanding circular motions, so once you begin attacking, you don't stop until your opponent is down. The strikes go to many non-legal targets in MMA, so its not practical for cage or sport fighting, as there are many eye gouges, groin and neck strikes. Downside, is its hard to spar like that. We have self defense techniqes, and sparring. Our sparring is using kicks and punches, so you don't really get to test and see how those fast hands and vital strikes may actually work in a combat situation.

[violator]

shaolin kung fu, wing chun base... stopped this style 4 yrs ago...
now im doing only Hung Gar...or "Tiger Style", one of the 5 traditional animal forms of shaolin gung fu.... been at it for around 10yrs on & off...

pros:

increased skeletal strength
'hardens' hands
explosive strength

cons;

possible arthritis in later life if soft form is not used to counter the joint degradation..
puking after most lessons...haha, sifu really breaks us, im a fairly fit/ strong guy & i struggle most of the time...

the style was devised to be used as a last resort, when ur taking a beating and have nothing left to lose, the tiger comes out to play...

most strikes are designed to incapacitate or kill, very low horse stance, hips low to ground for low centre of gravity, long strikes and hard, low kicks....

instead of fists, open hands or 'claws' are used, a strike will involve impacting the target with the palm, then grabbing as much flesh/ skin as possible & tearing away...

All exercises are done on fingertips, ie pushups etc

my school, check it out... http://www.shaolin.co.za/index.php/Randburg/Randburg.html

Sifu Frank is a monster!, and he trains with the iron too!

[Girevik 69]

Just to keep this section active, nobody posts in here.

If you train, what style/discipline do you practice?

What are the positives to this style?

What are the negatives?

Have at it.



I used to train in Filipino eskrima and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I've also done modern Western fencing (French school, foil and saber).

Eskrima

Positives: Being a weapon-based style focusing on the use of jungle short swords (bolos, etc), sticks, and knives, it's great for making use of improvised weapons on the street--eg., using a long maglight instead of a stick. It's also extremely practical in terms of unarmed vs. weapon defenses.

Negatives: Classical eskrima focuses principally on weapons, and the unarmed component is negligible. Modern eskrima styles have sought to remedy this, by adding unarmed fighting from other methods.



Brazilian jiu-jitsu

Positives: One of the great grappling methods, and certainly the premeire style of groundfighting, given it's lack of restriction on technique, when compared with judo, sambo, catch/shootwrestling, freestyle, Greco-Roman, and so on.

Negatives: A practitioner must cross-train in other methods, to cover standup fighting.


Western fencing

Positives: This combat sport is thoroughly underrated these days. Fencing with the foil, epee, & saber has its immediate roots in weapons like the French smallsword, and the Italian duelling saber. The only sport that requires faster reflexes than fencing is racecar driving. Fencers have stronger legs (for their bodyweight) than NFL football players. Practitioners of Asian martial arts have also seen the effectiveness of fencing--eg., Bruce Lee was an advocate of Western fencing, and incorporated numerous fencing concepts and techniques into his Jeet Kune Do.

Negatives: Modern fencing is bastardized to some degree. This is particularly true of saber fencing, where crucial combative elements, like edge awareness & alignment, are no longer taught.

[jandirigma]

Style: Boxing

Positives: Economy of movement, constant variations of striking angles using the hands, very active footwork which gives the fighter even more striking and defensive angles, practical, solid and well-balanced stance, very applicable to any martial art, emphasizes combinations and setting up power shots, practitioners are trained early on to take punishment and fight for prolonged periods, uses entire body systematically to generate power. boxers generally train to fight period.

Negatives: Modern boxing no longer utilizes headbutts, grapples, kicks, elbows, and other hand-striking techniques, tap punching is common in amateurs since they compete for points (lack of power due to scoring objective), in no holds-barred fights, weaving and slipping too low like in pro boxing matches can make you vulnerable to knees and kicks, boxers may have an advantage in angles and lateral movement over styles with kicks, but when most boxers get nailed with these shots, they freeze.

[Girevik 69]

Style: Boxing

Positives: Economy of movement, constant variations of striking angles using the hands, very active footwork which gives the fighter even more striking and defensive angles, practical, solid and well-balanced stance, very applicable to any martial art, emphasizes combinations and setting up power shots, practitioners are trained early on to take punishment and fight for prolonged periods, uses entire body systematically to generate power. boxers generally train to fight period.

Negatives: Modern boxing no longer utilizes headbutts, grapples, kicks, elbows, and other hand-striking techniques, tap punching is common in amateurs since they compete for points (lack of power due to scoring objective), in no holds-barred fights, weaving and slipping too low like in pro boxing matches can make you vulnerable to knees and kicks, boxers may have an advantage in angles and lateral movement over styles with kicks, but when most boxers get nailed with these shots, they freeze.


There certainly have been plenty of top-notch boxers from the Philippines... folks like Pancho Villa (Francisco Guilledo, Flyweight Champion 1923-1925), Joe Sacramento (Lightweight Champion of China c. 1929, who was very popular with American servicemen stationed in Shanghai), Ceferino Garcia (Ciprano Pedro Garcia, Middleweight Champion 1939-1940), Gabriel "Flash" Elorde (Jr. Lightweight Champion, 1960-1967), and, of course, Manny Pacquiao.

Excellent observations on the positives and negatives, bro.