The BRUTAL TRUTH: How MMA Is Destroying Traditional Martial Arts

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Do you think traditional martial arts is dying? Feel free to briefly explain.

[@RobertoTheGreat5]

Not really, I think many of the systems have there place.

[@benjaminjones2769]

To a degree some tho

[@josiahbholahillaire3574]

To a certain extent, I think it’s dying.

[@Katcom111]

I don't think it's dying. The ones that are Olympic or AAU affiliated are still running. I seen some karate schools popping up recently the fact that the promotion "Karate Combat" is making a Karate comeback and you got guys like Bas Rutten and GSP involving the sport. I know in South America, "Kombat Taekwondo" promotion is being promoted, so those Taekwondo dojang are making a leap to get into the sport. A sport that doesn't follow the Olympic rules

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I agree.

[@josiahbholahillaire3574]

Sparring IS a simulation of a fight, but people tend to forget that sparring is a teachable moment and it brings both fighters together. I prefer light sparring because I don’t want to risk any serious damage like CTE, but I like hard sparring because I like being pushed to my limits. But I agree with your take on sparring.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Yea they both have there place for sure. Sparring is super important.

[@josiahbholahillaire3574]

@@BuildingPhysiques exactly. I want to medium spar, where we don’t spar light, but we don’t spar hard, but it’s right in the middle and it’s just right. Sparring again is used for learning and it’s a bond between two fighters and I don’t understand why some fighters get cocky and forget the whole purpose of sparring. The goal is to teach, NOT hurt your sparring partner.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Precisely my friend. Sparring is a great tool to learn and get better.

[@B..B.]

I agree. Everyday is light sparring day, light sparring is creating and polishing tactics and techniques. Then sometimes we take hard sparring, hard sparring is for testing safe techniques... If we learned how to land punches and clinching, then we also are capable of landing eye pokes, joint breaking etc...sparring is a tool for evolving and polishing the base.

[@josiahbholahillaire3574]

@@B..B. I agree

[@LordReginaldMeowmont]

Traditional martial arts isn't dying. Schools that don't pressure test students are dying. Sparring was a huge part of traditional martial arts back in history.

[@yaboijoel517]

Karate in Okinawa is a lot different than karate in main land Japan or the rest of the world. The case is similar with Kung Fu. People are unaware of the “boxer rebellion” when martial arts instructors were unalived by the Chinese gov. The legitimate kung fu teachers who taught Chinese boxing, grappling and wrestling derivatives escaped to the Americas. What’s left is showman ship. People now don’t know the wrestling that’s actually behind tai chi, they just know the forms. They don’t know the Chinese boxing under xing yi quan (intention fist) or hung gar. The boxing and wrestling is/was there, but it’s not taught.

[@christiancreasy5268]

In addition, scammers giving real martial arts teachers and their system a bad name. For example, the MMA Fighter in China, beat down the so-called Wing Chun master which turn out to be a faker

[@yaboijoel517]

@@christiancreasy5268 absolutely

[@christiancreasy5268]

@@yaboijoel517 in our Kung fu system we do random attacks sparring/self defense where the person give any attacks kicks, takedowns, punches whole 9 yards

[@Xiy114]

Checkout kenpo 5.0

[@MikeThaKnight]

Like Icy Mike said, “be great at one thing, and good enough at everything else to funnel someone into that one thing”

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Absolutely..well said.

[@farkinarkin5099]

I always get funneled into becoming a tea cup... That Icy Mike is a wise man.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Checked him out and I like his energy honestly.

[@OliverOils]

​@@BuildingPhysiques"Improve yourself instead of trying to prove yourself" -Icy Mike on bad sparring partners that one stuck with me

[@RobertoTheGreat5]

Sparring for me, is the most important aspect of martial arts. You need it to truly improve.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I agree man, it’s the ultimate skills test.

[@RobertoTheGreat5]

@@BuildingPhysiques 🫡

[@The-Contractor]

The vast majority of TMAs haven't been authentically "traditional" for at least a century. Repeated, short bouts of unscripted, non-compliant, hard contact sparring, about 2/3 real world speed was once the norm. Return to it. We now have quality protective gear.

[@B..B.]

Except that protective gear does not protect the less skilled, it will turn it more dangerous... Sparring is needed. But the protection gear is more a problem than a solution

[@Justobserving3684]

Our group uses a non-stationary pushhands range as a base for our sparring it lets us learn clinch, kungfu range, and long distance fighting in a non controlled sparring environment while keeping the traditional skills and training the concepts to a functional level. A few of us do boxing and Muay Thai as well as BJJ or some form of wrestling but the group trains in a bunch of types of kungfu using traditional methods and we all have a Chen or Yang Taichi base paired with wing chun. This lets us develop our Kungfu and Taichi against MMA styles since we have kickboxers and wrestlers to spar against. Sparring Partners can isolate Boxing or Muay Thai for focused sparring against that system. This is the best way to get your Taichi or Kungfu good against other systems. And we don't use pads either. We usually go up to Medium intensity but we also get randos coming up to test our skills since we train in a public park. People just need to spar more. The forms are Qigong. When done right they are the core element of your physical conditioning for the athleticism you need to pull off the techniques. The internal conditioning methods are the best ones I've come across but from what I have seen this knowledge is missing or has been forgotten in a lot of kungfu schools.

[@YatsuraHeadOn]

@@B..B. How wearing a helmet /knee.elbow pad / make you more dangerous ?

[@lainhikaru5657]

Does these new gears prevent knockouts? I have been knocked out sometimes before and I'm afraid if I get more I won't have a good brain health.

[@B..B.]

@@YatsuraHeadOn the pads will prevent cut to your skin, they will protect the surface of your body, but the percussion is the problem, specially in the head, all that gear will let people put more power into every strike, those powerful strikes in the head will not damage your skin but will do extra damage to your brain and after a couple of years you will start to get the problem of cumulative CTE

[@notablemind]

I've been boxing for 15 years and are sparring partners for people who compete. I started learning Wing Chun recently and have taken a few useful things from it: - when fighting on inside, I will sometimes trap people's hands and use sticky hands to maneuver my fists to gain center line and punch to sternum or belly, which then gives my uppercuts as well. - sometimes I punch through the high gaurd by not turning my fist (thumb facing up so the punch is thinner) which catches the opponent off guard, and sets up my other punches. When I watch roberto Duran fight on the inside, the way he wrestles for the inside position is very wing chun-like. Of course it's not 100% true wing chun, but I draw a lot of inspiration from it. And if course I can't use it all the time. Need a good boxing foundation first

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Love this!! I have also heard of this before. "Wing Chun's" usage even in boxing bouts to a degree right, its subtle though. Great point!

[@dennit1221]

Traditional martial arts aren’t dying. Teaching traditional martial in a useless way is dying. And for my taste it can’t die fast enough.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I agree! Many TMA teachers aren't pouring into the student like they should. But also, many students today don't have the discipline to learn either.

[@hollow7137]

Totally agree, like if you don't actually test your skills and improve in sparring and actual fight situations, you basically training for nothing cause you will be pushed under pressure

[@salvadorromero9712]

Armchair Violence has several videos proposing the distinction between "process oriented" and "result oriented" teaching. I think it's more or less very insightful and helpful and carves things up much better. It certainly does seem like the language contrasting "traditional" and "modern" martial arts is an unhelpful and confusing one. Many of the martial arts that fit the "traditional" stereotypies and complaints are some of the newest. And as mentioned in several comments here many martial arts were actually far more "result oriented" in older days and came to fit the stereotypical descriptions of "traditional" more and more as times became more recent. Finally, nothing is older than wrestling and wrestling is the single most useful discipline in MMA!

[@NYKgjl10]

Sparring is necessary for self-development, but in a control environment under a supervision of a veteran teacher, but more importantly, take what is useful for you. Make what works for YOU is super vital.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Yes indeed! An experienced teacher is undoubtedly necessary.

[@owenlightbourne8785]

The word Traditional, involves the act of following or conforming...in reality everything evolves. A punch is a punch, a kick is a kick and no art owns any technique, it's a trained body moving in space.

[@rojcewiczj]

I lived in China for about two years to train full-time with various teachers. The main issue is the lost of understanding the traditional "meta". Sparring always frames itself arrow a certain meta, the game within the the game of what you are trying to achieve. If you're applying a kickboxing meta, then you'll be trying to get in shots, If its jiu-jistu you'll be trying to get the submission, in judo the throw, in MMA its usually a mix of the kickboxing and the jiu-jistu meta where you switch between getting strikes in and wrestling for submission. So sparring is only good to train a certain meta, or fighting mentality. The issue is that very few people today can teach you a traditional meta or fighting mentality. Wing Chun for instance can not be applied with a kickboxing meta or jiu-jitsu meta, so if you learn Wing Chun moves but don't learn the meta where those moves are useful then you wont know what your doing in a fight. Karate for instance is usually actually kickboxing, because the Japanese took the Karate movements from Okinawa but not the Karate meta, they learned the fight meta from the French kickboxing, so the Japanese Karate meta is actually like a bareknuckle Savate meta. Martial arts like Karate and Silat that have their origin in the larger Chinese martial arts culture and originally operate according the the fighting meta of southern Chinese schools (wing chun, white crane, bak mei etc.). The fighting method is based on achieving position and contact before expressing power at short range. This is typical for Chinese martial arts. The meta or mentality is like this: "I want to get a point of balance close to you before hitting you with my whole body force. In order to get close safely, I will use initial attacks, smothering, grasps and deflections in order to get my balance in a place that undermines my attackers balance, then I will strike with my whole body force." Its hard to put into words, but hopefully the point comes across that there is a certain mentality with Chinese origin martial arts and traditional martial arts in general that you have to learn and develop through diverse methods of training if you want to apply the historical arts. Thank you.

[@charlesburger7973]

I come from an MMA family, but prefer traditional arts. MMA is NOT inherently superior, but their realistic way of training IS.

[@thebladedwind993]

I came face to face with this same concern. I'm predominantly a wing chun practitioner. But, having sparred with other martial artists from different backgrounds traditional and modern I felt I was lacking in my ability to possibly fight. So, from there, I learned a little boxing, muay thai, and bjj. Nothing to make me stand out perse'. It wasn't until I started working at a bar that I realized the validity of learning everything I did. Having a bar fight here and there or escorting a guy out because he's getting handsy with the shot girl and his buddies try swarming you in the parking lot can teach a lot about fighting. I've been fortunate enough to have always come out on top with minimum damage. Through my personal training, I've found boxing, muay thai, wrestling, and bjj in wing chun. Not just in technique but, in concept. There are so many similarities. I'm now hyper-focused on improving my wing chun skill. This kind of in-depth study will carry over to Boxing and Muay thai and then finally to BJJ or possibly Judo with the sole focus of being capable of defending myself.

[@christophermatthew7635]

This is true.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

You know I was just talking to my good friend (who is well skilled in wing chun) about this. You can find trace elements of those arts you listed in wing chun. When you look at the history tho and its development I can see why it would be so. Wing chun is slept on at times.

[@thebladedwind993]

@@BuildingPhysiques I completely agree!

[@equilibriomartialmind777]

Unfortunately wing chun isn't really that deep, i found masters develop rooting power from other arts and secretly incorporate it into wing chun. Some schools dont let you touch the dummy up to 6 years, and there is no clear conditioning of hands, forearms, shins etc... it is really a hybrid system, i found some techniques work amazing even with 16oz gloves on, but none of it matters unless you know the boxing stance, difference between southpaw & orthodox, ever been punched or had punches thrown at you, know what real force is etc... I had 3 different sifu's from 3 different lineages, and still use techniques especially chum kiu and biu jee, but the sparring and proper understanding of boxing (i.e footwork, slips, mentality) etc... is greatly lacking. But you are right good perspective

[@CyberFighter-hu7xo]

Simping ain’t easy

[@jacobguerin2866]

If by traditional martial arts you’re referring to Kung Fu, Wing Chun, Ninjutsu, Aikido, Silat, and other more obscure styles then yes they are in a state of dying if not already dead. And if anyone denies so then they are in a state of denial. In fact it is the growing MMA industry that is causing many to revive and blow the dust off these old fighting styles that we wouldn’t have heard of if it weren’t by way of a video game like Street Fighter. However Karate and Taekwondo are alive and well. Those two have been thriving for a long time and are very important to kickboxing fundamentals. Karate and TKD are even contributing to the fight game and if your martial art cannot do that or be permissible as practical self defense at the least then your martial art will die.

[@davidfields5627]

Great video! I think it’s the style as taught to and envisioned by the instructor. I’m a second degree blackbelt in ITF TDK, and my school did lots of sparring, and even had sparring with takedowns on some nights. My instructor was good and saw some of the limitations of TKD and addressed them, even in a limited way. After years of training in different MMA gyms, I’ve learned a lot and have been able to adapt to the styles while also keeping the ability to do some TKD play.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

That is awesome! It boils down to the instructor and above all the student. We can't blame "TMA." Taekwondo is super effective!

[@JT-md7ke]

I agree with sparring the same people. You need variety to really test your abilities.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Variety of styles is importantly 🫡

[@andrams6010]

the issue is that apparently combining styles used to be considered "disrespectful" to the different schools not so long ago. have you seen the manga "kenichi"? the MC combines Jujitsu with Muay Thai with Kenpo with Karate, BUT the thing is that he is a rare fighter. ALL of his masters practice only ONE martial art.And that story was written between the late 90s and the early 2010s. Even now MMA is not such a big thing in Japan, Thailand or China. The many different schools refuse to combine their styles

[@Pie-qs4yg]

I would add is practicing a Martial art purely about self defense, no. Many people study for physical and mental stimulation as well as spiritual. There is also a great social benefit in studying something with people of shared interest. Many people study traditional martial arts weapons knowing they mostly likely will never use one for self defense. But I am grateful for the historical value of them keeping this knowledge. Studying any martial art will increase your odds in defending your self vs not studying at all. Even the most trained MMA fighter can still be vulnerable on the street it’s all about odds. And if you’re purely concerned about self defense just carry a gun or knife.

[@zayydabualsoud9447]

thank you for talking about this discussion, and also not just respecting other martial arts majors, but talking about its problems and saying the solutions to revive it, because there are many martial artists who just don't respect other martial arts majors not saying everyone, it's just about respecting different opinions

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I appreciate it brother. That means a lot. I never want to disrespect or come off as being disrespectful. I love martial arts as a whole. Another thing is yes, I wanted to offer possible solutions. So I did carefully think this video out 😅. I dislike when ppl complain and not offer a solution lol. So I appreciate you listening 🙏🏽

[@zayydabualsoud9447]

@@BuildingPhysiques all the love and support❤

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Thank you 🙏🏽

[@lucasnevescardoso3297]

Even using only Aikido or Wing Chun moves, Robert Whittaker or Max Holloway could destroy almost everyone, including your average Joe. Regardless of form, the elements of fighting (footwork, head movement, feints, hand speed, body awareness) are still top-notch. However, competitive arts developer these skills absurdly better because of sparring and competition pool.

[@wolfheartdarnell324]

Question: what is some advice you would give to someone going from a weapons based combat sport (kendo, fencing, silat-stick-fighting) to an unarmed combat sport. I know I'm not going to be able to carry a bokken or a shinai around with me so I don't want to be disadvantaged if push came to shove.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Good question man, So I always say this weapons are extensions of our arms/ hands etc. So you have a good base down you just need proper training with using your hands to develop it even further. I would say, practice your strikes like you would a weapon. Keep your long range, when at close range pretend to use your hands like you would a shorter weapon. Hope that makes sense.

[@rixd8226]

Muay Thai, boxing and wrestling is a traditional martial 🤔

[@madjidchouarbi3921]

Completely agree with you. BJJ as well is basicaly Kodokan Judo with a special focus on Ne Wasa ( ground fighting ).

[@EliteBlackSash]

Muay Thai is not the traditional MA. Muay Boran is the traditional MA. Boxing no longer follows the traditional rules - which allowed grappling. Judo is a break from traditional Jujutsu, and BJJ is a break from that. Wrestling might be the only popular sport that is still traditional… Catch Wrestling, Mongolian Wrestling, Indian Wrestling, etc.

[@madjidchouarbi3921]

@@EliteBlackSash All those arts are old enough to be called traditionals. their roots are in antic arts but despite their modern expressions are sport oriented, they still have a traditional spirit you can find in some old fashion training schools. BBJ is old enough to be part of Brazilian martial tradition, just like capoeria...

[@BlackMartialArtsSociety]

Fax

[@LunaticStruggler]

Traditional martial arts were meant to fatally injure, incapacitate or kill the opponent which is why it doesn't generally work as well under modern rules. But taking specific aspects of traditional martial arts and combining it with modern fighting styles that's the way to keep those martial arts alive

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Most def!!

[@TheMightyTengu]

I practice HEMA Historical European Martial Arts & I noticed a decade back traditional martial arts of the orient is the foundation for fighting with weapons, now it appears they forgot the final part adding the weapons.

[@nyhyl]

​@@TheMightyTengu They didn't forget it, it's outdated. Either you aren't allowed to carry certain weapons or you just wouldn't carry a weapon and therefore need to know hand-to-hand combat. Many arts were also designed for military situations, the goal of killing or at least for defence against military-like attacks like with swords. Nobody wants to slice up an opponent or needs to train against sword attacks anymore. The only useful weapon training today would be against knives or with batons.

[@TheMightyTengu]

@@nyhyl By that logic fighting with hands is outdated too. Umm nobody needs to know how to defend against swords anymore? Last week Chinese sailors attacked Filipino coast guard with swords... Guess that hand to hand stuff didn't help... I think it's important to preserve all martial arts & not just the unarmed ones I'm really sad to see those forms no longer practiced that's what I mean by forgotten.

[@TheMightyTengu]

@@nyhyl The Chinese used swords last week on the Filipino Coast guard to not escalate international tensions and using firearms could've started a war. The Filipino coast guard used hand to hand to defend themselves & got really hurt, they should've progressed their training to incorporate the traditional arms too imo.

[@StardustMonkey]

Great video that is very fair. In my opinion as someone who has practiced Chinese martial arts for 30 years. The very old styles are of martial arts are heavily influenced by warfare systems that prioritize weapons. The larger stances and type of movement of most kung fu systems are superior to MMA in every way of its warfare with spears and swords. Because that type of warfare is no longer existent the current day practice is also lacking clarity in how to apply and those same practioners would do poorly in warfare anyway… But the value and the tools to hone are not totally lost. Many of the practices are also not good for sparring. For example I was taught many application drills for Taiji techniques in grappling… in those drills you are standing grappling and you train yourself to setup up arm bars and breaks to the elbow with quick violent torso twisting. The others majority of the remaining drills are elbows to the throat and face during grappling. These type of techniques are not legal in most grappling systems for a reason… if you spar more seriously it’s very hard to control the pressure and no hurt people. this kind of strategy is the basis for a very large part of the curriculum. That is not fun and relaxing and does make money teaching it to grandma who’s doctor said why don’t you take up tai chi to prevent falling

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Great points!! Especially about the Taiji techniques.

[@Lilmrnobody0919]

Here’s my thing, I practice multiple martial arts: Shotokan karate cause that’s what started my martial arts journey and I’m a purple belt plus I do it for fun and to stay in shape, I do use some techniques in mma but it’s mainly recreational, I also practice commando Krav Maga, Japanese Jiu Jitsu, kickboxing with a Muay Thai esque so sparring with elbows and knees, and than me and my friend often free form wrestle and he teaches me judo and wrestling grips and takedowns, so very well rounded martial arts, but still do the traditional for fun and use some techniques but I do realize that I can’t do like a 540 flip kick in a real fight and most of the time if a confrontation happens I end up taking off, cause even tho I am constantly drilling Krav Maga and kickboxing I never know how things are gonna go down you know? But sparring is one of the most fun things I have ever discovered, I really like your take on sparring too. Forgot to mention I am 6 foot 2 and used to weigh about 145 pounds and now thanks to martial arts and peanut butter and protein shakes and calisthenics I now weigh 165-170 pounds, so not humungous but definitely more muscular and confident, not to mention more focused and happy, and I started this whole journey because of you, watching your videos at home inspired me to try martial arts about a year and a half ago, that’s why I started Shotokan karate so thank you so much for changing my life and I love your content I am constantly showing people your videos and recommending your techniques and drills in the dojo thank you and oss 🥋 P.S completely forgot to mention I just started taking kobudo classes last week so that should be so much fun, I have plumbing as a job too pay for all of this too, so busy but extremely fun life lol

[@Ezchkn]

MMA without high intensity physical conditioning is not what people think that really is. Once we said that, yes MMA will more and more have the upper hand on Traditionnal martials art. MMA isn't a martials art by it self, it's just a mix of everything which means everything and nothing at the same time which directly point out the fighter and not the style.

[@coolloser85]

All martial arts should be MMA. They are always evolving and adding the newest moves to better your chances makes sense. At what point does a martial arts stop development? I don't get the argument

[@laisphinto6372]

Not really Traditional Martial Arts already has much of what MMA maybe modern Traditional Martial Arts Just forgot the old ways. You cannot reinvent the wheel in thousands of years of Martial Arts , you Always Fight a human with your human Body there are only so many techniques you can do

[@andrebaxter4023]

Good video. I agree that sparring is necessary. Fortunately, I was blessed with good friends that own their own karate dojo and end each class with sparring rounds. We’ve done harder sparring, but eventually found that light sparring is more useful for learning. Hard sparring is to develop that initial mental toughness. Light sparring helps improvement and there’s a very minimal chance of injury. Injuries just waste time that could be used on more training. I also do Iaido(katana based kata). It’s fun, but there’s no sparring. So to counter that, I took up HEMA(German fencing in the club that I’m at)and plan to fuse what I’ve learned from Iaido with my HEMA training in sparring. It’s going to be fun. 🤩

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Nice!! I really want to get into Laido, I love the aesthenics of it. How long have you trained that? Also that Hema sounds interesting.

[@andrebaxter4023]

@@BuildingPhysiques ,it’s definitely fun. I’ve doing Iaido for about a year now now. I can tell from your videos that you’d be able to pick Iaido up pretty nicely.

[@NPC_exe]

This is why I'm stepping away from Traditional martial arts. I'm not a traitor, I'm moving from a system that has failed me. I've been doing Taekwondo for seven years and due to circumstances, I had to move countries and had to join a new gym that was no where near as good as my old gym/Dojo. Too many young black belts, took "If their having fun, it's fine" a bit too literally.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

A lot of young black belts. Just passing black belts around like its Christmas lol. Don't give up on the traditional martial arts tho. Good schools still exist.

[@goncalocorreia1448]

I agree with everything you said, excellent video and very well explained 👊👏

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I appreciate it 🙏🏽

[@rellllzzz2473]

Great video you made fair points. Sparring for fighting is about the best you can get sparring and then competitions is the best training for self defense everything else helps us to hone or maintain our sparring or fighting skills but you can't maintain what you've never done so we need sparring

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I completely agree bro! Sparring is indeed the best training tool for success.

[@SavageEntertainmentYEAH]

Ngl I’ve used bajiquan technique called stomp where the force of your body stomps down and forces them back with your elbow strike/push. Just needed to set it up with a few kick boxing strikes to land traditional moves. Also helps if you a lil bit more skilled than an opponent in terms of timing and spacing

[@awakeningtovacuity8372]

I do tai chi. I do not consider myself a martial artist. What is your opinion of exercise systems based on martial arts?

[@ajlucky0076]

If you are doing it for exercise that's perfectly fine but just know that it won't actually help you in a real fight

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I personally like a system like Tai Chi for the relaxation aspect it creates for the practitioner. That helps a lot with mental aptitude, clarity and focus. That of course translates into fighting. But understand Tai Chi (the moves itself) won't help as much in a fight.

[@paulpeterson1040]

I love your attitude of respect. Ad an older traditional martial artist I think you have many great points and came across respectful. I agree that in the end it's the individual

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I appreciate that.

[@sirethanthegreat4069]

I do Kajukenbo. It was a system designed in 1947 for street self defense. The idea was to test techniques and if they worked, we kept them. If they didn’t work, we cut it off. Kajukenbo is a eclectic and traditional system. The techniques were changed overtime to fit the time period. We also keep our traditional forms and techniques. I will admit half of the forms wouldn’t work. Some techniques may work. I’ve used them before. The idea isn’t to use them step by step in a fight though. The idea is to get a concept of how to use certain techniques and certain times.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Ahh nice! Haven't heard of that art. What country did it originate in?

[@sirethanthegreat4069]

@@BuildingPhysiques it originated in the United States, in Hawaii State

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Oh shoot, nice

[@sirethanthegreat4069]

@@BuildingPhysiques hell yeah 🔥you should look up some videos of that. By the way, the founder of Tony Ramos Kajukenbo, the art I do, he met with Bruce Lee and implemented some techniques into our art.

[@ajaniwinston8117]

My first time seeing your content. But I respect you because I see the instrument in the background. How’s your capoeira game?

[@BuildingPhysiques]

😂😂saw this and had to immediately respond. Very few ppl recognize that instrument 👊🏽. My capoeira game is decent actually. But I haven’t played in a roda in awhile due to me moving from my state and group. I train on my own right now. What about you?

[@megatonhammer4723]

Glad to know another Capoeirista! Can I ask if Capoeira has helped you in any way?

[@BuildingPhysiques]

For me it has helped tremendously with body mechanics and learning to strike from whatever position you are in. In the roda every "defensive move" can be an "offensive move.' That is what I love most about it. You build so much body awareness, fluidity and more. I also love the meia lua de compasso because pf its power right, but above all how it essential protects your head because you are so low.

[@ajaniwinston8117]

@@BuildingPhysiques yes indeed. I started with karate, but moved to capoeira Angola 25 years ago. Never stopped. It’s like having super powers, that the other styles can’t understand. I recently moved too, so I’m starting a new group and studying Balintawak on the side.

[@conradsutton1456]

This is crazy. I was just speaking to other parents about how we need to get new sparring gear for our kids (Karate). They do light sparring and it helps to a point. But watching my son and their daughter both tend to go harder and have to throw "air" strikes because they don't want to hurt each other. This comes s from their own mouths.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Yea I believe a mix of both light and hard sparring goes a long way. Test your skill set application and physical/mental conditioning.

[@Justobserving3684]

It's because they don't teach control properly at a lot of schools. The sensitivity drills in Taichi can be translated to boxing and other systems like Karate. Karate has something similar but it's not taught as much as it should be. If learned properly you should be able to punch people with good form and control how much force is injected into their body as well as how deep it goes into the body. They gotta teach it to the kids. It's requires sensitivity drills which are basically for hand fighting. The way they teach kids Karate is focused on point sparring so they only get taught to shoot in fast to get the hit. Either this makes their strikes too weak or too Strong. No in between. Force should be something that is controlled to a high degree and flexible in the hands of a skilled practitioner.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Completely agree. I did almost 3 years of Wing Chun and I loved doing the chi sao (sticky hands) for building up sensitivity. I miss doing wing chun so much.

[@nikolamarkovic6427]

I was training karate some 7-8 years and i got to a point where i could not improve because of the dynamic of my group. When i did some research i found out that we are doing only what the karate federation is telling us to do and not improve our skills, which disappointed me.

[@PLSCORPION227]

This federation is ruining karate🤦

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Ouch that's rough man...

[@henning14]

That sucks to hear. Maybe it’s time to switch environment. I started 7/8 years ago with K1 and little bit later also Muay Thai at a local sport club. It was more a popular sport environment. The coach is skilled but isn’t interested into competitive fighting anymore after many years. Most people over there train to have fun and do sports. After 4 years I stopped going this group and focus on training at the second gym which I discovered after 1 years of practice. Complete different environment. Many people go to this gym to get ready to fight. Great place for competitive sport. In the beginning I was hard but I put in work and these days I could handle the pressure.

[@Minotsu]

I have been practicing kung fu for 15+ years. We have fighting drills and medium contact sparring which includes sweeps and throws. I have tried multiple martial arts and only stopped searching when I found a teacher that taught true application, and was open about what was modified for showmanship versus what you would use in a fight. He was also open and fine with me testing and modifying moves to make them more effective in a fight. It really has a lot to do with your teacher's awareness of the original martial application of moves, and sparring. I also think that sparring other people outside of your class is important, as you are not likely to fight someone who uses your style. You need to be aware of how other people will react to you, and see how other people fight.

[@DenshaOtoko2]

The person or the system or style? Some are better than others. But removing sparring and competing and competing and strength and conditioning disarms fighting systems.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

At the end of the day it’s the person to a large degree. Something I already mentioned.

[@JacksMotolife]

Every martial art has it's place. Remember it's the art of martial. Overcoming control of your mind, body and spirit. Sports also have their place and are an expression of martial art. The difference between arts are extreme. The beauty is there are so many to try and enjoy. Sports are by their definition a game to obtain the most points or goals to win. To be the best in that sport is to be the best at getting the most goals or points. I studied, yoga, karate, wing chun, traditional Jujitsu, British boxing, Chinese kickboxing, Thai kickboxing and MMA. Notice I said studied as I embraced the challenge of learning and pushing my body to the limits, physically and mentally. Learning the histories, philosophies and religion behind each art. I competed in these arts and loved the various points focused within each. I say go train, enjoy and love your training. Every art has something to offer. The perception, I think, is now skewed due to sports and money. Look at the crossover sports competitions, it highlights how each competitor has totally dedicated their body to the shape required for that sports point system. A football player playing rugby looks ludicrous, same as a Thai kick boxer in Jujitsu or a traditional art Vs a sport.

[@LawDescendant]

As a Sifu in Yang style Tai Chi Chuan and Northern Seven Star Praying Mantis I love traditional Chinese Gong Fu. However I was never so blind as to think there was an ultimate style or I could gain all I wanted from one system. I have done American boxing, Muay Thai, Hap Ki Do, Chui Kwon Do, a bit of Tae Kwon Do, Wing Tsun, Gracie style BJJ and several others I dabbled in or had training partners who were more advanced in those and other styles and we exchanged knowledge. Btw for anyone going "how have you been in so many arts?" I am almost 36 and have been training since I was 5 you learn a lot in 30 years especially when you come across some lions who are deep in their arts as well. I say that to say this the idea of MMA is not bad Muay Thai is a great striking art and not bad at all at standing type grappling, mix it with some wrestling and BJJ and you will be badder than most. However I have seen my Grandmasters in their time absolutely dismantle any guy of any style and size like nothing. That always helped me to believe in the style( this being my Mantis and TaiJi Sifu's) and my ability to become like them but we didnt stray from hard sparring or conditioning and we also did Chi Sou and Chui Sou (pushing hands and sticky hands, much safer drills for Ting Jin or listening and sensitivity training). So what did I do? I took it on the road and on the street I challenged other heads of schools and had street fights and thank God my Sifus trained me well because I never lost. There are many ways to martial prowess but like my man said find a good accredited school and a Sifu/Sensei/Kru/Sebo Nhim and train hard or no matter the style you will suck. Shout out to my Mantis Sifu Carl Albright if you wanna see some sick Mantis he's him look him up and like he said "if it doesn't work on the streets of Brooklyn I ain't doin it"

[@juanvazquez4989]

I earned my hapkido understanding at the Jim Gillian rec center in LA. My instructor, Master Jeffery would do 4 on one sparring. 5 students would circle, one name would be called and if that's not you're name you attack. Mc dojos that Carter to egos are destroying the spirit of amazing stiles.

[@MyZ001]

Wait, so you're saying Hapkido is a legit TMA? TBF, like in the video, a lot of TMAs are legit and it's the training approach that's the problem.

[@jonbeck6889]

I agree with everything you said but two things. You said "add your own flavor" but also "you don't want to be a jack of all trades but *master of none", which is a contradiction. A new student should suspend any urge to add their own style, but instead master the basic style of their art. Only when they completely understand the fundamentals and principles behind their art should they begin developing their own "game".

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I thought it was implicitly understood that you should “add your own flavor” once you get your basic foundation. Hence why I said, “don’t be super texted book.” At least in the video, it was directed as such. My apologies for the misunderstanding then. Having a strong foundation is of course key.

[@jonbeck6889]

There's a reason when you join the military the first thing they do on day 1 is shave your head and take away your personality. It's because you can't pour into a cup that's already full. People are super duper preoccupied with themselves and their own brand. If you tell them it's OK to "do it your way" or "come up with your own style" they will focus 100% on that and that only. You never ever ever even mention to a new Martial artist "come up with your own way of doing it". Don't even "imply" it. You say that to someone like a Purple or brown belt. Say anything like that to a white belt and they will start taking short cuts and discarding fundamentals.

[@rzrage1964]

Can you do a video on the styles and drills of MMA

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Hey brother what do you mean by the styles though?

[@rzrage1964]

@@BuildingPhysiques Like the diff techniques of MMA like Kicking, Jiu-Jitsu, Flips, etc. I’m a beginner of learning MMA that’s why I asked😂

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I can do some punches, kicks, elbows etc. However, it would hard to do Jiu-Jitsu stuff because I would like to have a partner and its been awhile since I trained that. I gotta get a refresher myself lol

[@rzrage1964]

@@BuildingPhysiques Gotchu! That’s good ok cool!

[@Xiy114]

Very Good And Truthful Video!! Keep it up.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I appreciate it 🙏🏽

[@tonybennett3]

Excellent work! New subscriber! IMHO MMA is forcing Traditional Martial Arts to Evolve. Many of these systems are fragmentary at best. Or designed for specific circumstances. I'm a weapons guy, reading Musashi's Book of 5 Rings made me think differently. about combat

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Mannn that book is a phenomenal read. I love it! Learned so much about myself and just the science of martial arts in general.

[@verbena208]

A martial art, traditional or otherwise, must never be stagnant. it must be always growing , always evolving and always improving as new styles and new methods arise. Most traditional martial artists are so obsessed with their own style that they do not see the weaknesses in the new ones. MMA, for example, at least those variants that combine Muay Thai with some sort of grappling art are vulnerable and often telegraph when they are about to strike or grapple by the movement of their feet, as Muay Thai is done on the toes while grappling requires firm placement of the feet to generate force. These are the types of things practitioners of traditional arts need to think about when training. You can't just learn the moves and be a good fighter. You have to learn to read your opponent.

[@dissonantgrooves]

i learned many traditional martial arts growing up, tae kwon do, karate, kenpo, with the prospect of street fights being a possibility, and i regularly sparred with others and trained like this in the video, before the advent of mma, the fighters mindset is more important than the school they study, but not all are truly practical and little more than flashy like wing chun. not a fan of arts where your legs are very stationary. i think a lot of discipline of traditional martial arts was lost with the coming of mma. and i prefer to fight standing up than on the floor. being used to sparring ppl in only your school can be said of BJJ or other mma types as well, a grappler that only fights other grapplers wont know what to do against someone who fights standing up. in any martial art you study, discipline comes first: dont use it unless you absolutely have to and only to defend yourself and those that cannot defend theirselves. that being said, i mostly sparred with a streetfight in mind being why i was learning the art.

[@change9929]

Fighting is about impact.Theory is good.But has to be properly translated.Fighting is also intellectual.Many people misunderstand that fighting is different from standard education.But study is involved everywhere.One needs to develop an edge over ones sparring partner,in speed,strength,power,etc.Only then can one really apply the art,and win. MMA fighters already have a solid base in taking a beating. So the opponent has to be really super in order to land a blow and win.

[@tk9406]

Just curious what’s the criteria that makes a martial art “Traditional”?

[@BuildingPhysiques]

IMHO, it’s customs, cultured thought, skill sets etc that haven’t been passed down through generations (100-1000’s) of years. Hope that clears it up 😀

[@laisphinto6372]

So Basically ever Martial Arts including MMA , MMA doesnt Come Out of nowhere. You wont find any new crazy technique WE have beaten the crap Out of each Other for thousands of years so WE have every single method done how to Beat the crap Out of a human learned and discovered

[@robertcunningham6592]

Just found your channel. Liked the vid and just subscribed !

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Appreciate you 👊🏽

[@iNightTiger]

You said something really important in the video. "Back in the day martial arts masters used to test their system and skills" thats the key right here. Its not the technique or the style. Remember that these TMA are War arts and back in the days they were constantly tested because if your art didn't work, it meant death or serious injuries. Now that context is over since fire arms are here but there are other ways to improve your skills and its by fighting in a sport context. For exemple Kung-fu has Sanda and back in the 20th century there were full contact barehanded kung fu tournaments. Regarding open hand combat, its how you train it and apply it in sparring or real combat. The problem actually with traditional martial arts is most of their practitionners only practice forms and they are lost in the fantasy of martial arts movies. Even worse some of them are lost in the "kung-fu/karate isn't for fighting bro, its a way of life". While this is partially true, these are still MARTIAL arts. You have to know how to fight or at least defend yourself if you practice them. In MMA you can see countless techniques that are seen in TMA aswell as practionners of TMA being efficient in the cage. ( Wonderboy, Machida, Kevin Holland etc... ) I have been practicing traditional kung-fu for 10+ years and in my school we apply the techniques under pressure. We spar, I spar outside classes and now i began sparring at a MMA gym. All of this to improve my kung-fu. Depending of my opponent i have to adjust my technique, adapt to him. Thats what my Sifu always taught me. If someone goes to a boxing gym and never spars ( although it is rare ) he wont be able to fight using boxing although it is seen as a "practical martial art/combat sport" Same goes for every art.

[@Reflectionmaterial]

Exactly. Martial arts never won fights. People won fights and developed systems of weapon moves, strikes, kicks and grappling moves and named those martial arts. If you failed you died. Than firearms replaced melee combat and martial arts became either a way of life, a combat sport or forms and kata without any testing in real life combat. So as a result combat sport practicioners outperform the people who never test themselves and use watered down martial arts. MMA is also nothing new. It basically is unarmed dueling with moves that were all present in traditional martial arts.

[@iNightTiger]

@@Reflectionmaterial Exactly ! I agree with you

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Exactly bro!! I really like the fact that your school applies technique under pressure. That’s key! It’s like when say they can shoot in like okay. But can you shoot a target when under pressure. It’s critical to emulate real life scenarios. Good points!

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Precisely, ppl won the fights. Can’t blame solely the system of practice. Yes to mma being nothing new. It’s been around for years.

[@Reflectionmaterial]

@@BuildingPhysiques a group of people who do not compete or spar could study all Jon Jones's fights and isolate the moves he does and practice those without resistance for years (spinning elbow, oblique kicks, eye pokes...... takedowns, the americana against Belfort etc etc). But at the end they would probably still lose against people doing actual sparring and competing. Does not mean Jon's style does not work lol. Just means they never developed themselves to make it work. What I described is basically what happened with a lot of martial arts lol.

[@asrimuhammad7951]

I am prefer traditional martial arts. I am from Malaysia🇲🇾. The birthplace of martial art called silat. I am growing up. Training Silat, taekwondo, muay thai, wing chun, karate, judo, kendo, escrima, kali, arnis.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Nice!

[@kenirawadi4689]

Malaysia is not the birthplace of silat. Indonesia is the birthplace of silat. Just see the history of kingdoms in Indonesia and Malaysia. Which kingdones came first. Which kingdoms originated from which kingdoms.

[@EganCraft]

Variety is the most important thing. You gotta be willing to lose in tons of different ways to learn to avoid those situations and make the best choices

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Most definitely!

[@gurkeyboystark]

I want to comment on sparring but first thing I want to address is on the beat in the background you put the “perfect” from Street Fighter so I love that. I think the thing we forget about is if you decide to do a Martial Art it’s an Art meaning it’s your expression meaning how you train your way is your own and it’s molded over years and years of experience. There are so many ways to train Thai Style Dutch Style MMA style Boxing Style. Go hard go light. Some people go hard with shin pads and then you shadow spar without them and place kicks makes a world of difference. Also how you spar isn’t how you fight and a lot of emotional intelligence comes into aspect. I’ve known plenty of fighters who have skill that I don’t view as martial artists and this isn’t coming from a judgmental perspective it’s just how I feel. Nate Diaz vs George St Pierre two different fighters with different philosophies and I like both 😂.They don’t bow or practice this way off the ring. I think calling yourself a Martial Artist means you practice not only on the training ground since this is an only a construct you know it’s a way of life. With that said I love you mentioning do whats best for you sometimes we develop too many weapons and foundation is key. Thats still part of the journey. We get fixated on turning our hooks over and then get hit by a kung fu back fist in Muay Thai and our brain doesn’t register. Effective doesn’t always look pretty. I also think your build,personality, and age also influence the type of martial artist and fighter you will be. I’ll end my tangent with Khabib’s quote “Win or lose I know who I am”. I think this is what we strive for no matter what the result is.

[@jaimeflor4181]

Although not the best style, I went to a Taekwondo school in the 90’s that had heavy sparring sessions. Although I was young, I had also been in a few street fights prior to officially learning martial arts. The experience definitely helped, but yeah, some traditional schools and styles are lacking in those areas. I am really good at deescalation tactics though, so I haven’t had to fight in a long time.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Thanks for sharing! Thats a very crucial skill to have deescalation. It's super important!

[@jaimeflor4181]

@@BuildingPhysiques Definitely! It’s better to not fight at all if possible. I’ve seen some ugly street fights and injuries as a result. As for sparring, when I was active, I used to do it frequently with my neighbor who started lessons at the same time as me.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Nice!! Many ppl like the idea of fighting but also don't understand the repercussions of it and how dangerous it can be. I have a younger brother who is pro boxer and man you just see how dangerous can be. Having fought myself and tasted the floor from a head kick (still won but geeeze) it made me look at fighting differently. I rather deescalate rather than engage because ultimately someone can be seriously hurt or killed. So yea moral of the story fighting can be extremely dangerous lol.

[@jaimeflor4181]

@@BuildingPhysiques Exactly, I’m on the same page with you. My uncle was an amateur boxer and my dad took Judo and wrestling when he was younger, so I’ve always been around martial arts. I did get dropped by a neck kick during my black belt initiation, so I know what that’s like.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Yikes man! I know that was a crazy experience. But hey, thats the nature of martial arts. You move on in levels then SLAM...humility comes haha. Congrats on the black belt tho man!

[@Jesuslovesamericans]

I think the biggest difference is the martials that are for competition vs the ones that are for combat. You don't get points on the street, nor can you call a timeout.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Both styles can be expressed in the street as well tho

[@Jesuslovesamericans]

@@BuildingPhysiques of course, any training is better than none.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Most def 👊🏽

[@codyschuppert4984]

I have loved martial arts ever since I can remember. I have especially been fascinated with the more traditional styles. It’s always so depressing too see how far they have fallen. They have gone from legendary warrior traditions too an utter laughingstock.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I wouldn't say laughing stock. But I can see where you are coming from. TMA still has its place and efficacy. I think some small changes and dedicated students will make it come back even stronger.

[@melekanaka2288]

GOOD COMMENTARY YOUNG BLOOD, I FAVOR COMBAT/SURVIVAL TRAINING NOT SELF DEFENSE, & YOU DON'T WANT TO GET CAUGHT GRAPPLING WITH ONE DUDE WHEN YOU ARE ATTACK BY MULTIPLE ATTACKERS. SPARING ALSO HELPS YOU TO CONTROL YOUR BREATHING & ENERGY ALONG WITH YOUR CONFIDENCE LEVEL SO YOU WON'T PANIC UNDER PRESSURE OR PAIN. CONTINUE TO DO YOUR KATAS/FORMS/DRILLS BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ROOT TO YOUR PSYCHO/PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I appreciate it and man great points! I agree!

[@RobKHere]

One problem today is insurance co. They drastically limit what many of us can and can not do. Another problem is poorly trained teachers and egos. In my Isshinryu school we stick to the old ways that focused on the style being useful and easy and natural to do. Also while fighting is important, in my view people throw students into freestyle way to soon and with few or no tools. It ends up being sloppy kickboxing and that does the student no good.

[@PierreBegin-cl5js]

If you want to strike. Cross train is the best but also the hardest. Do Muay Thai Boxing KickBoxig. Différent arts. Different coaches After that you make up your personnality

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Agreed!

[@lannelbishop3668]

Physical conditioning is more important than sparring. Sparring is simply applying techniques.1. Physical conditioning 2. Martial Technique 3. Sparring sensibly : applying great technical knowledge without harming partner. This is the Kyokushin way.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I have to disagree with it being more important than sparring. But physical conditioning is super important. I do get your point 👊🏽

[@lannelbishop3668]

@@BuildingPhysiques drills and kata can be more of a benefit to a fighter than heavy sparring. Kata and drills teach your body how to move. Sparring teaches you how hit and how not to get hit. .

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Fair enough, but I have experience otherwise. As I have beaten guys just from having good sparring. Drills of course. No Katas…not implying at all they’re useless. But sparring offers a lot especially when combined with physical conditioning.

[@owenlightbourne8785]

​@BuildingPhysiques without physical conditioning, you can not learn proper technique, without proper technique you can not spar correctly. If not you will only be re-enforcing bad habits that a smarter fighter will expose. So in essence conditioning is more important.

[@darthpunk3510]

Physical conditioning is better than knowledge of advanced techniques, and sparring is how u constantly test both. Also sparring can be an excellent form of endurance conditioning.

[@larcm3]

The downfall occurred when martial arts was no longer about actual self defense and more about sports rules (like no kicking under the belt and no punching the head, never grab the leg of your opponent). This is the bs I was taught in TKD

[@ebonysoldier]

There's also a difference between a "martial artist" and a "fighter". When learning most "traditional martial arts" most students come in looking for self defense when TMAs are more for self care and self improvement. On the side of TMA's a lot of what the original styles were created for weren't for sports bout but self defense and took time before a student was proficient enough to defend themselves. The biggest issue I see with modern MMA is that they train for sport fighting. No offense to BJJ (amazing sport and amazing 1v1) but going to the ground when fighting multiple opponents will get you killed and most street fights aren't 1v1. Real fights have no rules. Honestly if you want to be at self improvement study TMAs if you want to be good at 1v1 and sport fights study MMA, boxing and wrestling. If you want to defend yourself study both.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I say this a lot about BJJ fanboys. You don't want the fight to get to the ground especially since now you're at risk for getting stomped by multiple ppl.

[@sententaaisen2286]

Great video. Can you make a training video on t'challa (black panther), natasha romanoff (black widow), killgamore (the cousing of t'challa), spiderman

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Yes down the road that’s my plan. Thanks too 🙏🏽

[@inhometraineroakville1174]

Traditional martial arts is not dying. What we're currently seeing is what all martial arts were always meant to be. In ancient times when people had to actually use their skills for real, they had to constantly train in a realistic way involving pressure testing. Naturally, they also evolved which explains why there are so many styles. Look at Chinese arts. There are hundreds of systems. Many of them are lost to history unfortunately. But somewhere along the road, evolution just stopped. People were no longer allowed to grow and evolve. You were just told "that technique isn't in our system". That's why I left my old school. They were too close minded.

[@ronniechong314]

TMA already loses its authencity when it tried to adopt to the moves of other arts trying to compensate what they are missing or to counter a particular move, they copy and made a version of their own, in way it's similar to MMA that tried to incorporate moves from different arts to a fighters specific needs. Anyway if it works for you it's your martial arts that's how it's like nowadays.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

See your point.

[@johnnymism]

Martial artists need to ( but do not) separate the application of real deadly violence and their system. They are polar opposites, and one requires extremes , the other athleticism using muscle memory. All systems( combat sports too) have major limitations , just be honest about what you want to study and how far you are willing to go when attacked.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Valid point.

[@lusitanus6504]

I think the best is to have a base in combat sports, like one striking sistem and one grappling and later on add on techniques and concepts form traditional martial arts and combatives as complements. You first should learn to fight and take hits and grapple with live resistance and later yes study a martial art if you want, but the classes should still have some sort of sparring or live resistance combat drills where you have to improvise. Some people dont want to get hit when they learn to fight but that is inevitable if you really want to be prepared for a real confrontation.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Yup, I agree. Have that strong base and like a video game character, add your specialty skills and techniques on top of that.

[@valentino8629]

I think points you really miss in this in this video are the question of "tradition" in itself and the question of usage and objective of the martial art. Those "traditional" martial arts put the emphasis on keeping the tadition alive through the constant practice of the same customs and habits. That said, I agree that this make those martial arts partialy obsolete for real and contemporary fights. But with this you understand that all martial art don't aim to be "street effective". Some maintain a cultural goal for exemple. Karate-do for exemple is often translated as "the way of the empty hand" as it was thought to be part of a more complete fighting system that included weapons that we call today "kobudo". Karate was meant to defend yourself when you didn't have any weapon on you. But if you had a weapon, you'd use it. This is noticeable in the form that traditional karate adopts : they are really similar to the forms you'd adopt if you used a weapon in your hands . So you understand that modern martial arts answer to a different context : we live in a (relatively) pacified world where (most of the time) weapons are forbidden. In this world, yes, modern boxes are the best for an unarmed fighter against an unarmed opponent. Take medieval japan : people at the time had a real necessity of mastering their techniques because they would go to the battlefield regularly. This logically conduced to different ways of practicing the training but they used to train to combat realistically and the experience of the battlefield was even a stronger challenge for their fighting abilities. Try to use kickbxing against a naginata. However, japan's pacification and modern society made the samurai class die and their arts had to adapt too. This created Aikido and even Judo. So I agree to say that traditional martial arts nowadays are not the most useful in a street fight but that is not what they were made for and anyone who tells you the opposite is either a liar or an idiot. But at the end of the day a punch is a punch (especially in a street fight). Learning karate will still be better than doing nothing. Learning karate and traditional martial arts can be effective means of self-realisation and can bring fullfilment to one's life. I strongly believe this.

[@lsporter88]

Very intelligent and accurate commentary.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Appreciate you 🙏🏽

[@Anime-k6x7o]

Great video. I hate when people disrespect other martial arts. MMA techniques came from traditional martial arts. Fighting also depends on the persons mindset and fighting experience. A street fight is totally different from a tournament fight. And everyone has different pain levels. In a tournament you are matched up to pretty much same fighting skill and weight. In a street fight a woman can defend against a skinny street punk trying to rape her. If she knows the knows some moves and has the right mind set she can get away and protect herself. So I think traditional martial arts is not dying. It's a good starting point for someone who doesn't know anything. And it's great exercise too.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Totally agree! It is not dying by any means. TMA us the father

[@MrEzMs]

The underlying issue is getting people out of the "competition" mindset they bring from the world and into a "developmental" mindeset , ive seen complete novices celebrate because they won a "sparring" session. In the west nobody want to loose face only a few are willing to humble themselves to advance. Hopefully no nepotism

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Mannnnn...yes! One "sparring" session can they think they can take anyone.Sparring is competitive, but its their for developmental practices.

[@treiwilson9445]

As Uncle Steve in the Kuntao Silat martial lifestyle says. You shouldn't train one way and fight another.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

True!

[@patriot1751]

I don’t know that traditional martial arts is dying. I have been training in Hapkido for 14-15 years and have attained 2nd Dan. Hapkido is an excellent system to study. I also train some JuJitsu and a little Arnis. I have trained Northern Shaolin Kung Fu, Kempo and a little JKD. All have their merits. Use what works for you and discard the rest. When it comes to sparring well, you need to test your skills somehow. I’m not a tournament guy as they have rules. I train for defense and on the street there are no rules. Don’t limit yourself, there are great things in all systems as long as you can apply them.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Well said man, I agree!

[@NinjaNuggets21]

Learn several TMA’s and mix the concepts (Essentially MMA). Learn these systems just to disassemble and reassemble to suit your capabilities.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Yup build your own style

[@josephperkins4857]

It's not the forms that's the problem it's not sparring against your own style,it's mainly the fact they don't train against other styles,not against the rules of punching methods of street fighters

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Keyword “train” and I agree. We need to healthy mix of training with other styles. Not on some ego stuff but to simply improve and be better overall.

[@MaximilianoMendes]

They actually battle tested agaisnt different styles man, see how japanese always had that thing of challenging masters of different schools and they actually went to thailand to challenge them. In my opinion, the main issue is traditionalism. People have a real hard time accepting that the skill level in the past is barely nothing compared to today, but oh the legacy of the masters of the past... Kata is a case in point. It is all useless dancing, no matter how much some guys try to fit modern mma moves in it (this bunkai thing going on). Karate (and the likes) should seriously get rid of kata and hikite. Close to where i live there are only, BJJ, muay thai, kickboxing and mma, you can barely find anything different.

[@deltonlomatai2309]

Martial art as was introduced by Bodhidharma to China was not taught to create warriors or fighter. It was introduced to give monk discipline, mental and physical capacity to be able to endure the rigors of Buddhist study. Emphasis on forms or kata were to strengthen mental discipline, mental perfection, health and spirituality; not necessarily to make better fighters. Modern kungfu as popularized in movies is a relative new invention that has an entertainment value coming from Chinese opera or wu shu. In that sense it has it value in story telling and should not be confused in reality. Traditional Kungfu or even Japanese Karate has it value in making a better person. Japanese Karate has become more so emphasis on achieving perfection. Some Kungfu or Karate schools have begun to emphasis martial art in fighting. Some have suffered as far emphasizing martial arts as a sports. MMA has adopted traditional martial arts to be more practical in combat sports.

[@10yrsjointguy]

karate guys can just join a muay thai gym and try learnjng close combat and hard sparring, then they experiment with stuff and now they’re a machine at striking

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I can respect that

[@philo-aletheia]

Most of the "traditional" arts presented today are perhaps several decades old. Maybe a century. Though largely commercialized, "MMA" as a style can be traced back to the ancient Olympics, as much as 2600+ years ago. "MMA" is merely the contemporary version of ancient pankration.

[@Progeneratoryt]

the reason those moves dont work in real scenarios is because they dont they are called dances and we only learn to use them around 2nd dan but most are useless so learning one or two moves as defence puts us in defence or attack instead of having to recognize,choose,move very fast which is good only for practice but traditional martial arts force us to practice useless attacks and defences unless we are high ranks and training for real fights if we happen to come across a smart coach also dont encourage people to get punched its still a dance and sport i think i should first upload some videos of my teachings to try to gather the foundation of martial arts to build up martial arts right?

[@Ghost-pr4fq]

I kind of knew that for example jiu jitsu was used first for samurai if they lost the equipment during the battle, that's their last defense tehnique. I really don't like the modern one, where somebody will just drop on the floor and move his butt towards you. If it was in real life scenario, you can just kick him

[@DenshaOtoko2]

Really they weren't meant for competition? Then why were they're videos about tournaments in the late 20th century?

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Keyword “many” I had mentioned. Are you offended by my statement?

[@cpa314]

Good points but can you really call kyokushin traditional when it wasn't created until the 60s? The same goes for taekwondo, also a very modern creation. I guess what I'm saying is what is considered traditional and what is modern?

[@Shouko-sama]

Kyokushin is drawed me in lately because of the street fight aspect it has using no wraps

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Kyokushin is definitely nice!

[@DouglasGomesBueno-jw9lh]

You can train to be a complete fighter, You can Train to be Specialist in one art, You can train to be a Olympic fighter look Fight World are Big and everyone can have different goals.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Yup I agree

[@TheMisterGuy]

1:44 ...But these days, in the words of Miyamoto Musashi... He was from a country far away from you and died hundreds of years before you were born. You're not talking about "these days", you're talking about always.

[@AutumnKnight0]

My 2 cents has "old school" traditional pratictioner. Traditional martial arts actually lost a focus. In sport you have your goal to show you what works and what not when you try to reach it. We know the consequences... Personally i train the hard (i prefer to say "proper", but is less understood) way: physical training and conditioning, sparring as a way (not as a target) to develop skills + plus the part of self defence, my focus. With this, i know that, even beeing promising, i cannot compete in serious ring fights, but still what is important is knowing your target and how to put yourself into the trials to reach it. Without this, a pratictioner lacks what is needed to get serious

[@BuildingPhysiques]

No doubt and yes, I see your point.

[@EliteBlackSash]

Undated is probably a better expression than outdated. Because most traditional Martial Arts’ problem is actually that they LOST the tradition behind it. First, bare knuckle fighting was a national sport in Traditional Chinese MA. When you lost a fight, you might have to close your school! The government banned the fights. They also separated sparring from MA in the sport colleges. So that only ppl who do foreign MA actually spar. They killed it on purpose. Second, most of us seriously had no clue what we were doing. I mean that 100% literally. The traditional context has been lost. So that a spinning technique with the hands flying overhead, people think it’s a swing for more power… when it’s just a hip throw or an overhead throw. Even “masters” seriously think KungFu is meant to be like “Chinese Boxing.” No! Kungfu’s roots are Grappling with strikes, and with knives. Take something as simple as the fist to the waist “punch.” Just not understanding that the fist to wait is literally known as, “pulling hand” has people thinking it’s to generate power. Chang Pu (Sumo Wrestling, but, before Sumo) and Jiao Li (Military Wrestling) and Shuaijiao (Traditional Chinese-Mongolian Sport Wrestling) as well as a BUNCH of cultural styles like Shanxi style (No jacket wrestling) or local Belt Wrestling (similar to Korean Ssireum wrestling) this is Traditional CMA. - Wing Chun guys stand upright and try to blast forward. If you meet a guy who is very good at Muay Thai Plum - that is what Wing Chun is supposed to look like, but, with more wrestling. Kind of like Sanda, minus the Tae Kwon Do influence. Ip Man’s senior brother, Yuen Kay San, learned Wing Chun from a Qing Dynasty constable (police chief). The Manchurian’s cultural martial art, just like the Mongolians, is wrestling. The Qing Army had ranked soldiers based on their excellence in Wrestling (“Shan Pu Ying”) - Hung Ga.. Wong Fei Hung fought with the Black Army when they went down to Vietnam to help expel the french. If you notice, all the arts popular in Hong Kong / Guangdong all have 6.5 point pole / luk dim boon gwun. People think it’s a Wing Chun form, and it is not. - Yang Tai Chi. Yang Lu Chan learned some long fisted. Then learned Chen Family Martial Arts, it wasn’t called Tai Chi yet till his student named it that. Yang Lu Chan went and worked for the Manchu. See the above. That means his daily work as a trainer was against soldiers (wrestlers) and nobles (hence why you Push Hands and neutralize, rather than actually throw the person). - An art like Northern Praying Mantis, are literally from cities that are best known for their wrestlers. Gnaow, Laow, Choy these are all grabbing, controlling, and gripfighting. - Ba Gua, people believe the myth that some Taoist was meditating in circles. No! BaGua was linear and zig zag pattern. Cheng Ting Hua had a wrestling sandpit where he trained. So, He had his students walk around the outside of the outer ring, while practicing their palm changes. Chen Tai Chi - Chen Wangting was a SOLDIER. General Qi Ji Guan and Yu Deyao document the soldiers training as Wrestling, Short Strikes, and Weaponry. Forms were not for fighting or shadow boxing, they were strictly a health promotion exercise for soldiers. That’s why you do most forms FAST. If we KZbin videos of Tournaments in Chen Village, it’s all grappling and throws. These are the most influential arts.. and they’re totally lost almost. Even once Sanshou started trying to “update” Traditional Martial Arts in the early 1900s, around the same era Judo was being developed, the govt of China ran joint exercise with Russian grapplers. They also had mixed martial arts matches in the 1920s. Okinawan Karate is White Crane KungFu and Luohan Kungfu as well as Taizu Kungfu, together with traditional Okinawan wrestling. The Bubishi, “The Bible of Karate” has around 36 techniques in it demonstated. Around 28 of them are grappling. Stand up grappling, single leg takedowns, escapes, even Ground fighting similar to the flying scissors or the imanari roll (which comes from Traditional Di Shu groundfighting). So, Karate and KungFu’s problem is the opposite of others. Karate and Kungfu LOST their tradition. While on the opposite end, Judo and Muay Thai lost their self defense techniques because of the popularity of the modern sport. ….I still wouldn’t try to rob Buakaw or Saenchai tho LOOOL

[@BillyTheKidsGhost]

To be honest. You're better off learning Hapkido because you are more likely to land a movie deal... John Wick comes to mind. It also hurts... A LOT ... less than combative sports, of which I have first-hand experience.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Please explain?

[@BillyTheKidsGhost]

@@BuildingPhysiques I used to do I used to do Hapkido but I switched to Jui Jitsu and Judo. I could have been quite happy just doing Hapkido. In Judo and Jiu-jitsu, you're constantly injured in some form or another. If Hapkido did Judo sparring once a month, to test and lay to rest any doubts about efficiency. It would be perfect for the regular guy. My first point was that Hapkido is flashy, and people find it more entertaining to watch a Hapkido demo or a movie like Blade, than watching IBJJF, IJF, or even the UFC. People also find pro wrestling more entertaining than greco-style wrestling also.

[@DenshaOtoko2]

Edging and attributes win fights. You must spar and compete to become a good fighter. But you must innovate to become a great fighter.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Said that. Did you watch the video?

[@ckiddadahairninja4377]

It's like definitely become diverse. But don't throw away your traditional style. I do MMA and I know how to grapple and do BJJ. But my main attack style is karate

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Yea I agree TMA still has its place

[@hkunsam2410]

No only traditional martial arts but also martial arts like Pugilism Victoria boxing,Bartitsu and savate are perceived as ineffective. It's not the martial arts it's the martial arts system the way they teach,the way they practice.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Yup! I agree

[@Xiy114]

I learned kenpo then they wanted us to spar which was totally different. No pressure testing or practicing our techniques.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Wow really?

[@richardgallegos5049]

Is that a capoeira instrument in the background

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Yessir

[@richardgallegos5049]

@@BuildingPhysiques berimbau nice. My wife is a monitora and I’m only a second cord. It’s an awesome martial art.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Amazing! I am on my second cord as well! Love Capoeira. Actually gave my son my Capoeira name "Faísca" haha.

[@richardgallegos5049]

@@BuildingPhysiques awesome name. Mine is sapo and my wife is girasol

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Ahhh nice! Frog or toad right?

[@DouglasGomesBueno-jw9lh]

I train Muay Thai and Judo that are Traditional Martial Arts and still have a lot of students where I train every day.

[@darthchingaso3613]

This is more about bad dojos/teachers not TMA. Many TMA schools do use hard sparring.

[@BuildingPhysiques]

I can dig that.

[@darthchingaso3613]

@@BuildingPhysiques there are lots of bad mma gyms out there too. Personally I find the whole tma vs mma thing to be ridiculous considering mma is just a bunch of tma thrown together. Wrestling is probably the oldest tma of all. Boxing is a tma as much as karate. Must Thai is a modern sport form of a tma. Bjj is a modernization of a tma(Japanese jj). Kick boxing is a mix of karate and boxing (two tmas)…

[@realtruth1448]

Look at muay thai fighters(best strikers) and look at russian wrestlers(best grapplers outside of submissions) they all spar LIGHTLY the majority of the time... very rarely to thai folk & russia bros hard spar, sparring is about repetitions to understand and master your technique, not to “win” not to “pressure test” in reality if you’re a amateur or professional fighter you should only hard spar leading up to a big fight, and even then it should be minimal, light sparring is literally how you become the best

[@BuildingPhysiques]

Majority of the time yes, but hard sparring is necessary as well to add that mental element to your game.

[@SamuelSocceresports]

At least against untrained fighters those old things may still work..but against skilled ones one needs more experience