Fitness and shit

[KSGregman]

I'm 44

6' - 164
7% BF
Ripped

Strength and stamina to burn...spend my time now finding new ways to USE it.

Still working out every morning at 5:30...working through an Animalistic Fitness program currently. (http://www.animalisticfitness.com/) Have leaned out...made the nutrition content necessary to maintain a lean body my "normal."

So far I've done a half marathon (not in a hurry to do that again. LOL) a couple of Tough Mudders (I'd do that again tomorrow) and numerous 5 and 10k runs.

This is the best I've felt in my life....ever.

Thinking of taking up a combat based program...jujitsu or something...still studying my options as I know NOTHING about it.

Kaneman...what would you tell a fit person, but a complete novice in martial arts, interested in starting down that path?

[OneSickPsycho]

Originally Posted by Triple

I've seen some wrestlers who turned into neanderthals from all the swelling / scar tissue in their brows and cheek bones, presumably from having their faces constantly smashed into the mat.

I assumed other grapplers would experience the same.

Different styles...

In wrestling your bury your head into the guy, using it almost as another appendage for control... when squaring off, you go head to head... literally, forehead to forehead sometimes, using your head to create space and avoid takedowns... Wrestling is much more takedown-focused. You drill a LOT of takedowns and in matches there's a lot of resetting, scrambling, then another takedown. On the ground it's used more as well to either create space or for control, but generally that's contact with soft parts... not head to head.

The problem with using your head the same way one the ground in BJJ, you'll get choked. In wrestling you don't have to protect your neck like you do in BJJ, making your head a good option to assist in controlling your opponant. And yes, matches start standing, but you don't square off exactly the same because takedowns vary more... BJJ utilizes many wrestling takedowns, but there's also different throws and trips... More importantly, if you squared off like in wrestling, head to head, someone is just going to pull guard (pulling the opponant to the ground, on top of you, with your legs wrapped around their body) and given your posture is going to be able to do it pretty effectively. Some guys do lock up like wrestlers when standing, but most prefer to keep some distance to create more opportunities.

[OneSickPsycho]

Originally Posted by KSGregman

Kaneman...what would you tell a fit person, but a complete novice in martial arts, interested in starting down that path?

I'm not a fit person, but I can tell you... Grappling is the most taxing of styles from a fitness perspective. You see it all of the time in professional fighting... a striker with cardio for days, gets ground to a wind-sucking pile of nothing by a wrestler/bjj guy within 3 minutes of the fight.

If you are interested in a martial art, first determine why. If it's a fitness outlet, bjj is hard to beat. If you're looking for something that's incredibly effective, again bjj... though a good case can be made for muy thai, especially on the street. If you're looking for something that may not be incredibly effective, but is fun and has a fuckload of history and tradition, there's a bazillion options - various forms of karate, kung fu, etc. If you want to just be a badass killing machine, MMA is where it's at.

Once you have the what sorted, figure out the where. Not all schools are created equally... most offer free trials or free classes to check out to see if you like it. Check them out and if you like it, sign up.

A few things to look out for is level of instruction and honesty of the testing process. If you go somewhere that has 10 year old black belts in the kids class, turn around and leave. Ask guys, including the instructors, how long they've trained, how long it took them to get to their current belt (understand their system beforehand), and if they've ever competed. Most of the guys in at my school have or continue to compete... even the hobby guys, like me. If nobody competes or there are very few who do, it's going to be hard to determine the level of training (and training partners) you'll receive. It also certainly doesn't hurt if there are some pro's that train there.

[Kaneman]

Originally Posted by shmike

Fuck that.

It's not a badge of honor, it's gross.

I'm with Triple. I'm too pretty for that shit.

Most people don't get any cauliflower ear at all. lol @ a man being worried about his ears though. Fag.

Originally Posted by Triple

I assumed other grapplers would experience the same.

Nah, I know a lot of BJJ competitors and I don't know anyone with facial scars. A few guys have pretty bad cauliflower ear but this really comes down to genetics and how stiff your ears are naturally. BJJ is all about being smart and being overly aggressive like a wrestler isn't usually the smartest way to fight. In fact, I've rolled with many college wrestlers that are pretty easy to tap. Triangles and guillotines all day son.

Originally Posted by KSGregman

I'm 44

Kaneman...what would you tell a fit person, but a complete novice in martial arts, interested in starting down that path?

OSP covered this nicely. My advice is to go straight to a good BJJ school, sign up, and get started. You guys think P90x is hard...try escaping a purple belt's mount without getting tapped. SUPER physically demanding... Start with BJJ, learn how to use your body, how to defend yourself, etc...and then if you'd like move into MMA.

I'll be happy to verify whether a local school you're looking at is legit or not, I pretty much know BJJ peeps all over the country.

[Porkchop]

Still working out every morning at 5:30......

How do you guys do that? My muscles don't work in the morning after i get up. Its like they run at half power for about 45 minutes. Let alone being up at 5:30 to do it. Yuck.

[shmike]

Originally Posted by Porkchop

How do you guys do that? My muscles don't work in the morning after i get up. Its like they run at half power for about 45 minutes. Let alone being up at 5:30 to do it. Yuck.

Although I am totally off the wagon right now, I'll chime in.

Getting up that early sucks. However, you get used to it. It never really becomes fun, but bearable.

I am NOT a morning person, but I get up at 5:30am to go to the track, to go skiing or a handful of other activities, so it can be done, I just have to WANT to do it.

Give your muscles 10 minutes of warming/stretching and they'll work just fine.

[Archren]

I notice no one has posted in here for a while, but I thought I would share what I've been doing for the last three months and change.

It actually started 4 years ago when I started doing CrossFit at the job, but with a deployment and a lot of other shit in between, I didn't get back into it until February. I really jumped on the bandwagon, drank the kool-aid, whatever you want to call it. I love it, and as a person who truly hated working out before that point, it's been a 180 degree turnaround for me. I look forward to the next WOD and getting to hang out with the folks from my box (gym). It's a lot of fun, it's inspiring, and I'm seeing gains in several areas (weightlifting, cardio, energy levels throughout the day, etc). It even inspired me to change my diet - I've gone and done the Paleolithic (aka Paleo, Caveman, Ancestral, etc.) diet, which I've noticed I feel much better on than my previous diet of "whatever crap was in the fridge I could stuff in my mouth."

While I haven't lost much weight (only about 8lbs in 3 months), I've lost inches, am toning up, and just feel so much better about my own physical ability than ever before.

Anyway, I'm currently in a video for photographers class at school, and I've made a couple videos about my CrossFit gym. I enjoy it, I realize it isn't for everyone, but it works very well for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCA0NCsP8lk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a6OEghfaSs

[pauldun170]

Yeah....she squats
https://www.facebook.com/yeahshesquats/photos_stream

[Porkchop]

Originally Posted by pauldun170

Yeah....she squats
https://www.facebook.com/yeahshesquats/photos_stream

You just made like a whole hour disappear... I don't know where it went.

[Turbo Ghost]

Originally Posted by Porkchop

You just made like a whole hour disappear... I don't know where it went.

Oh Lord! How did I miss this!? I feel funny in places now!