The reason you keep getting hurt

Q&A with the Coach
Ramsey Dewey is a retired pro fighter, combat sports coach, referee, and fight commentator… and occasional musician based in Shanghai, China.
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Thanks to my channel sponsor:
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This video features original music by Ramsey Dewey
Follow me on Instagram at: / ramseydewey
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I fought professionally in Mixed Martial arts, Sanda, Muay Thai, K1 and American kickboxing from 2004-2011 when I was forced to retire due to a broken skull and being blinded in one eye. I hold a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Black belts in multiple traditional martial arts, including Taekwondo and kyokushin karate. I also train in catch wrestling, sambo, taijiquan, judo, and boxing.
I currently coach at the Animal MMA gym, the Extreme Fight Lab, and the Mordor Fight Club, all in Shanghai, China.

[@jezkeeley]

A lot of people don't realise they have a degree of hyper mobility on their joints and just accept "oh I get injured and my joints suck". Invest in prehab/rehab, train range of motion, stability, whole body posture. If done right it's also strength training. Just a thought for some people 🤙

[@BBP081]

As a paramedic, most dislocations I see seem to come from fall and bracing from falls. I have not kept statistics but it common enough that it is my default assumption when I see an arm or shoulder injury

[@blackpsalmmusic9180]

exactly what happened to my shoulder recently, shoulder basically came to where my pec is, constant rehab got me back in the gym relatively pain free after 45 days or so

[@MzuMzu-nx1em]

When i don't breathe, my body becomes faster .....

[@dudemanbroofmanliness8787]

Unintentional bracing probably

[@benjaminhorowitz9927]

Are you speck from Baki?

[@MzuMzu-nx1em]

@benjaminhorowitz9927 No, with anime, I am stuck into 80s 90s with some remake or rebbot . Just thinking about my kickboxing sparring , and all the kick in the face that land when someone try to get into Close combat, ignoring kicks and punches

[@user-rd9vt7ct5o]

Helo sir I'm Vince your driver here in bohol..how are you

[@RamseyDewey]

Hey Vince! Good to hear from you again! I'm doing well. I'm back in Shanghai now. It's good to be home, but we had a great time in your country! How are you doing?

[@chrisswanson2378]

You are talking from experience as the thoughts come to you here. Your authenticity comes through in spades.

[@mieralunarlunishion]

Hey coach I just wanted to share some appreciation. Your mantra 'don't focus on what you can't do, but on what you can do' has helped me a lot. I'm in a though situation, not gonna whine about it, but focussing on what I can do, little as that may be, has both helped me be more at peace, and practically. So, thank you for being an inspiration!

[@garrettzanin940]

Damn, I'm early. Just wanted to say your videos are really cool, man. I been getting into JJ, Muay Thai, and a little bit of wrestling and I'm finding this world fascinating!

[@RamseyDewey]

Cool!

[@richwun1057]

Nice and to the point, and to add to that as my Sifu would say, not try, you play you be okay.

[@Larz1000000]

Ramsey, the guy that wants privates, I think going to the gym to make his body stronger and more resilient would be a way better idea. Also, either he needs to find another gym to train at or he needs to slow things down to 50%. My BJJ skill got way better when I did that. Can't rate it enough.

[@LianExfeind]

Thought so, too. More hypertrophy training, more stretching and way easier sparring to learn how safe it is or can be. Not so complicated.

[@benjaminhorowitz9927]

Lets ask the real question Ramsey: How do I overcome the Spear of Farting?

[@Goldnaka]

Hey Ramsey, I'm a boxing novice (been at it for about 5 months now) and I seem to be developing it pretty well. Due to my personal weekly schedule and the gym's own schedule, I only spar on friday nights. While I'm making good progress when it comes to taking a hit to the face and not flinching, at times I just can't bring myself to hit people in the face. I'm a big guy (6'6) with really long reach, towering almost everyone in training, but whenever I spar, I almost always go for body shots fearing I'll hurt my sparring partners if I go for their heads. How can I stop worrying about this and just have a good and constructive sparring session? Thanks in advance coach! I'm always learning new stuff from you! Much love, God bless you 🙌🏻

[@blackpsalmmusic9180]

6'4 tower here, exercise control at the end of your long punches, focus on tapping the heavy bag full speed without moving it, you'll make contact but pull it at the last second. Apply that to sparring. I feel bad about laser beaming people repeatedly so I take the sauce off the long straight shots. If its a harder sparring session i'll punish the body when given the opportunity but still pull the long straights to about 30-40% (if they cant outfight me in the pocket as the shorter guy, fair game as far as i'm concerned). At the end of the day, if your partners are training to actually fight, they should be learning to adapt to reach disadvantage in case they have to face it in the ring, popping them with quick but controlled long shots is all a part of the learning process for them. Going shoulder to shoulder under pressure can become smothering for our body type and they should be working to get there. Just my .02, cheers!

[@mattlawyer3245]

I recently suffered what I believe was a shoulder dislocation, and it occurred in exactly the same way you described yours, though it sounds like mine was less severe than yours. It has been 3-4 weeks, and my shoulder feels mostly normal in most positions, but there are still some positions I can’t move it into without pain that I used to be able to reach normally. On a related note, I dislocated my knee pretty severely as a kid. It took months to “get better”, but it has given me consistent problems over the years, and now about 15 years later it still flares up whenever I do serious physical activity. Somehow I managed to go all those years without anyone ever telling me that I should be doing things regularly to strengthen it, until I saw a video of yours on prehab a few weeks ago. I’ve been trying to learn how to prehab it ever since, and I really hope it works, because I’m sick of dealing with my knee problems…

[@jdiaz4877]

Someone is going to take that breathing out of context! 11:57 LOL

[@Danetto]

stay healthy Ramsey :) but i think its a good idea to have another fight ^^

[@MzuMzu-nx1em]

To fallow a dream sometimes is a way of living, mostly in cases of few opportunities of doing something good or profitable for you and your community, risking to fall into dangerous habits , even the dream of being a cage fighter is good.

[@user-yv8qs2nt2l]

Hello Ramsey. Good video man. Really liking the beanie. Part of me thinks I remember you saying your no longer doing fictional fight scenes and the other part of my mind is telling me I dreamed that. If so could you possibly make an exception to look at and do one more fictional fight breakdown. Rick vs Shane fight scene from the walking dead.

[@MaxxWebster666]

Hey Ramsey, what do your rest days look like? Do you do light training? Yoga? How do manage work/rest cycles? Thank you for your time! 🥋

[@dudes821]

I would seriously suggest getting down to your local gymnastics club and adking them how to condition your shoulders! Theyll give you a comprehensive set of exercises to properly prepare them.

[@impcirca1988]

Nice to see Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu getting a recommendation. Whenever people new to combat sports need video recommendations her channel and this one are always my suggestions 💙

[@nickolasdesouza3610]

9:41 😂😂😂😂😂😂 I love your channel

[@nickolasdesouza3610]

This video came at the perfect time Ramsey ! I injured myself by rolling with my quote homie "on the streets! " To prove juijitsu works on the streets! Now I am injured, please inform master wong he wss wrpng

[@jeffmaesar]

Stupid question (Yes I know, there is not such thing) from a from an armchair combat fan : does combat retirement feels like the 5 steps of grieving ?

[@RamseyDewey]

The crippling injury that lead to my retirement certainly felt that way. Actual retirement from fighting is much different.

[@jasonbentley7759]

What is that cover you used for your ears when diving? I also cannot get water in my ears, & I used to love to swim!

[@ForeShadow20]

Hard sparring can also be your own fault, Muay Thai and MMA related fighting escalate contact like crazy during sparring. Some gyms are worst than others.

[@nomad155]

Ive made sure to take my mobility training more seriously to avoid injury and so far i only get small cuts in training.

[@TaijDevon]

When I was a varsity saber fencer my Dad hired Sandor Kiss. Olympic fencer and three times South American champion. Sandor had me squeezing a tennis ball all day going to classes for my speed. Sounds weird, but your saber moves fastest with your grip. Pull your pinky and ring finger and the saber point goes about 70 degrees. Super fast strike or parry. Then he looked at my classical fencing footwork. Sandor was NO NO NO. You stick and move. It's like dance but don't keep a rhythm. Let them think they know your rhythm but change and attack. His coaching worked. I was like 15 and two the rest of my career.

[@slimmorrison]

Dislocated my shoulder playing rugby in college Ramsey is right

[@MzuMzu-nx1em]

Do you think that years of arms conditioning against wood or stones can allow the arms to block the powerful muay thai high kicks ?

[@RamseyDewey]

Spend a few months holding Muay Thai pads for good kickers and you’ll be far more prepared to block kicks.

[@dtibvgz8441]

It can lead to irreversible damage as well if not conditioning is not done properly. Powerful kicks usually have a lot of energy behind them - taking them head on is one of the worst things you can do. Avoid, redirect fully or partially the force is what you should do - the ability to do that requires good level of skills. High level martial artists can see and decide which hits are 'manageable' and which are to be fully avoided - you can see that in professional fights. You can see how the best Muay Thai fighters are also very agile and dodge the majority of kicks and take only those which they try to counter.

[@andrehernadi5930]

I like to dive as well, and I do it when ever can. Every mask I used took away a good chunk of my peripheral vision. (Once I forgot to defog my mask before diving and had to dive by only being able to see out of the right edge of my mask lens which didn't fog up.) You have spoken about your vision issues, weren't you mostly blind under water? If it's not a too personal question?

[@RamseyDewey]

Yep. It’s very difficult to see through a diving mask.

[@SteveJuszczak]

Like I stated, since I turned 60 , I became the old guy with a cane, or completely ignored

[@BMO_Creative]

Dude! You're an amazing guy man! uh... yeah... that's all i wanted to say! LOL

[@ethienosinsky5186]

Getting injured often also happens to people who are very sedentary and get into combat sports without any athletic background, even worse when they are past their prime, they have negative athleticism and poor kinaesthetic intelligence, they are literally pushing their bodies beyond their limits in training. Good trainers should recognize that and not throw them in sparring or even do the same exercises as the other students

[@MzuMzu-nx1em]

Why the people keep asking me what about my knees when i have calluses on foots ?

[@bobbie4862]

Weak backs and rear deltoids contribute a ton to shoulder injuries. Everybody focuses only on push muscles. Balance is needed in the force. Lol. Also this person's age suprised me also. This seems a bit excessive injuries for someone that was doing this in their 20's.

[@ashtraydekay6624]

Hey coach, how can we submit a question? I have one I think you might be interested in covering.

[@RamseyDewey]

Leave your questions in the comments section right here on KZbin… kind of like what you just did!

[@ashtraydekay6624]

@@RamseyDewey I had a question, that was off topic, but since you're a parent you might give some insight. My kid has been in taekwondo for 2 years, but she is starting to lose interest, how do you think going about keeping them motivated? We do practice at home, and I attend every class... (she's 7 this summer)

[@Sbv-25]

So breath holds are better than cardio for fighting?

[@RamseyDewey]

Compared to what specifically? It’s not a replacement for movement specific adaptation. It’s supplementary.

[@Sbv-25]

@@RamseyDeweyright, of course, coach I mean in comparison to something like jogging or sprinting

[@jonl7855]

@@Sbv-25It’s hard to answer when you frame them one versus the other, but if you breath through your mouth and upper chest normally, I would argue that breathing is more important than fighting because you will always reach a plateau with your fighting cardio can only improve to a certain degree without improving your breathing

[@MzuMzu-nx1em]

When you try to get enpigh close to fight with jujitsu or wrestling against people trained for years to keep distance with heavy punches and kicks , avoiding to be stabbed or blocked, you will be will be injured even if you use hard part of the body as defense . The distance with kicks and punch is primary, the jujitsu wrestling, judo and etch is secondary, outherwise you will be seriously injured .

[@fireeaglefitnessmartialart935]

If you're talking weapons, then sure. But grappling beats striking most of the time. As for injuries in training, perhaps grappling does have higher risk than striking.

[@MzuMzu-nx1em]

@fireeaglefitnessmartialart935 it's a matter of balace , you can go full kamikaze with close combat , injuries could be light , or learning to keep distance fighting kick boxing like , reaching the distance to go full grapling ....

[@jonl7855]

This video is not discussing the injury risk of fighting on da streetz. We’re talking about getting injured in the gym. No stabbing in the gym. Os!

[@IDRUSKI]

For Q&A: Do you think people have overly high opinions of BJJ and muay thai? In any conversation with any martial arts enthusiasts, at least one around my age, you can bring up boxing, wrestling, etc, but apparently in most people's eyes that means nothing in comparison to: muay thai and/or bjj. My idea is that people just see too many of the countless videos of people slamming their shins with top force into metal poles, trees, or anything like that. And as for BJJ, the fact that it was winning factor in the early UFC events, which I think has made too much of an impression on people. What's your take on this?

[@user-zr1dr7nz8e]

Duct tape and super glue

[@tojiroh]

Busted both my shoulders in Judo exactly the same way as you... Still need to apply some WD40 every now and then. 😜 Protect yourselves, before you wreck yourselves! 🙌🏻 Big ups, Big Ram 😊🙏🏻

[@kanucks9]

Same deal. I'm back at it next week. Except, mine was separated, not dislocated.

[@8301TheJMan]

Coach is correct for the most part, but you do also gotta keep in mind - that if you injure a body-part - then your much more susceptible to re-injure that body part again and again, so in in that way, there's nothing you can really do to overcome this. That's just the way the human body works. When it comes to other pro sports athletes, specifically basketball players, who are the best athletes on the planet and aren't taking the sort of violent abuse that football players or mma fighters take on a daily basis, and yet there are tons of examples of guys being injurie plagued throughout their professional career. This is especially the case for big guys, above all power-forwards and centers in basketball, constantly injure their knees, ankles, and feet. This is due simply to the fact that a dude being 7 feet tall while weighing in at 250 ilbs or something, aren't meant to be leaping in the air and running around the way they do. The human body is simply not equipped to handle people that big doing the sort of physical activity that a basketball player does day in - day out.

[@RamseyDewey]

There are only about 30 guys in the NBA over 7 feet tall. Do you have any data on these guys being the ones accruing the most injuries? 250 lbs is pretty light and slim for a 7 ft tall man. For reference, I’m 6’1” and weight about 220 lbs. Most of the 7’+ NBA roster has a lower BMI than I do.

[@8301TheJMan]

@@RamseyDewey Trust me man, there are a bunch of guys 6'11"-7' who weighed 250, in fact a bunch were even lighter than that. Kevin Garnet was 6'11" and weighed most of his career only 220lbs! And i wasn't specifically saying that these were the exact height and weight of a majority of players. Nor was I implying that there's a cut off where if you are this tall and weigh this much - than therefore this means you'll automatically have leg/foot problems. I was just choosing heights and weights of an average center, (from back when i used to watch the NBA anyways, i i despise the league nowadays - largely to the lack of big post-players like there was a decade ago). I also wasn't saying this automatically is the case either, big guys having leg/foot injuries is just something that happens at a much higher rate than it does for guards and small-forwards.

[@RamseyDewey]

@@8301TheJMan Do you have any actual data on this? Or perhaps all these leg/foot problems basketball players have is due to the sport specific demands of basketball?

[@8301TheJMan]

​@@RamseyDewey Your right about basketball players being susceptible to leg, knee, and foot injuries due to the very nature of playing basketball. But, i think we're getting lost in the weeds a bit, wasn't necessarily arguing that big guys get injured more often, that was a random height and weight, i wasn't making this my thesis statement. I was merely saying that big athletic guys, including guards (who are usually still taller than the average man), are simply more prone to certain types of juries that you wouldn't necessarily see elsewhere. And was using this to bolster my point that that there are tons of dudes becoming prone to injuries and for reasons completely not in their control. And that, though there ways to mitigate the possibility of being injury-prone, there are tons of examples of guys who become injury-prone and couldn't have done a thing about it. Sorry if i didn't make that point more clear, but anyway's man - great video.

[@RamseyDewey]

@@8301TheJMan I'm not trying to argue with you. I'm asking if you have any data on that topic. I'm very interested in this kind of research. But if it's all anecdotal, that's not helpful.

[@Damin-Danger-Ledford]

The fear of farting IS The spear of sparring. Yes. Control. One of my Muay Thai teachers said to me during training "compose yourself." Cuz I was just going ham, and I was sloppy, stumbling, breathing like a diving ugly uncoordinated beast, and I was trying to move faster than necessary. Faster than I'm able. It stays with me. So these last few months I've been working on mindfulness. I have accumulated numerous injuries cuz I always push to hard. I'm pretty damn good at what I do. But I funny take enough time to rest, or rest properly when I do, and I carry you much tension all the time, everywhere I go. 1 injury led to many concussions, and many other serious injuries including a dislocated shoulder that was put back in the socket during situationals at my 10th Planet. Shaking bj my head at how crazy I've been, taking things way too seriously. Now that I've got that out, this time I've taken to do things differently, I'm already seeing benefits. Sometimes you have to catch up by slowing shit way the fuck down. P.S. The vulgarity helps to relay my point. The frustration, and the amount of tension, even after all these years that enda being part of the foundation simply because I didn't think things were going the way they should. Prices was too slow, all kind of that craziness, etc. Anyway, thanks for reading

[@TearsoftheSun218]

Rigamortize

[@mfawc012]

One should not try and get over the Spear of Farting, it is not conducive to effective training

[@brianrahuba6919]

Ice bath 🛁

[@raymondaloni2309]

Are you daft? Ice bath won't strengthen ligaments and joints doofus.

[@michaelgrossman7515]

Spear of farting ....))

[@natebardwell]

But it does beg the question, how doo I overcome my fear of farting?

[@RamseyDewey]

Have regular bowel movements. If you aren’t, there are 2 main issues: 1. Not moving enough to cause your intestines to move and process food and waste properly 2. Poor diet

[@natebardwell]

@Dewey so It's like landing a solid 4 count...you just gotta commit, and it'll fail without movement. I see, I see. UPDATE: I may have been a bit overzealous, and now need new pants.

[@narasnan5311]

Can u beat Jon Jones in a fight?

[@angstmcrage]

nuh uh

[@user-fp1pc4vm6q]

1 day that i did'nt stecth and now i can't train for a month. god thinks he is funny or smth

[@Danetto]

i dont understand, why is it stupid if u injure somebody in fight training xd isnt that the whole point? maybe u just made up a whole new move, and accidentally hit him...

[@MzuMzu-nx1em]

Does the shouting increase your destructive power?

[@RamseyDewey]

Not really. Exhaling can make you more relaxed and looser, which can potentially allow you to strike more efficiently. But the primary purpose of exhaling, hissing, or shouting with a strike or other movement is to ensure that you breathe in afterward.

[@MzuMzu-nx1em]

@RamseyDewey Thank you for the answer 😊. that is also used to educate the body to exhale using the abs that keep the muscle more ready to cushion attacks .

[@luisangel444]

How do you get away with saying that there is no freedom of religion in china? You have that freedom to say that? Is life liberal enough to speak your mind in a small youtube video as long as you don't step into activism?

[@jonl7855]

Honestly it surprised me too that he hasn’t been censored yet. Maybe he’s just lucky that they’re not paying enough attention to home. I hope that’s the case

[@RamseyDewey]

“Freedom of religious expression”, not “freedom of religion.” That is an important distinction. It is not illegal, wrong, taboo, or frowned upon in China to talk about what the laws are. Any form of proselytizing, distributing religious materials, or otherwise sharing religious information with Chinese nationals in the PRC is illegal. That’s a fact that is openly discussed here. I don’t know why you would think it’s a hush hush subject. Secondly, this is KZbin, not Chinese social media. The policies of the PRC are not the policies of KZbin (you can actually speak more openly in China about many topics that will get you blocked, blacklisted, and demonetized on KZbin)

[@ogarzabello]

"Jesus healed her knee" 🤣 The guy always gets the credit: If it heals it's a miracle of god, if it doesn't then it was god's will. However, Jesus has never been able to heal an amputee 🤣

[@ogarzabello]

@@cunnyfied-sapp9180 CIRCULAR ARGUMENT LOGICAL FALLACY: I believe in god because the Bible says he is real and I believe in the Bible because it is the word of god. A self delusion.

[@RamseyDewey]

Talk about missing the point of the discussion entirely. Missing the forest for the trees, man.

[@tojiroh]

Ramsay did point out wether you believe or didn't, that her faith helped her on her journey. The thing is: use whatever you need to pull you up!

[@raymondaloni2309]

​@@cunnyfied-sapp9180My faith in Jesus helped me grow back my foreskin.