What’s up with pro fighters saying “I don’t spar anymore”?

Have you heard fighters say they don’t spar? What does that actually mean?
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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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My videos feature 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 the Extreme Fight Lab, and the Mordor Fight Club, in Shanghai, China.

[@RamseyDewey]

Got questions for the next Q&A? Leave them in the comments section of my videos.

[@PaMuShin]

Question> Do you know Spider-Pig - The Simpsons? Can we imagine you in the ring like spider fighter, spider fighter ... from my experience i have no doubt that you were capable of this after seeing your Ken and Ryu video.

[@jswets5007]

Question: What would Vince McMahon name your microphone?

[@soonahero]

Why are you making videos on KZbin if you’re firewalled

[@RamseyDewey]

@@soonahero VPN’s exist

[@RamseyDewey]

@@jswets5007 Micro “The Mangler” Phone

[@ajshiro3957]

You said 18 years on KZbin. Then I realized that KZbin is almost 20.

[@RamseyDewey]

Yep. It used to be video dating site, did you know that?

[@PaMuShin]

>>Steve Chen, it was designed as a way for people to upload videos of themselves talking about the partner of their dreams.

[@PaMuShin]

@@RamseyDewey The illusion thing is actually the reason why they are hyped although they do not talk to them. They can idolize people and hunt after a dream, the carrot always hanging in front of their nose. Maybe that is the reason why such people are called idols in japan.

[@PaMuShin]

@@RamseyDewey Strange thing that i never see any women in the commentaries on yours or jeff chans page that make compliments about your tights or want to date you. Maybe you should make more videos where you show us how rich you are. Lets start with your sword collection.

[@skipinkoreaable]

​@@PaMuShinHis wife's comments are set to private.

[@KARATEbyJesse]

Thanks for sharing your opinion on my video! :)

[@RamseyDewey]

Thanks for taking my opinion so well Jesse! Nothing but respect my friend.

[@slee2695]

What a classy response to a classless remark

[@itpugil]

​@@slee2695nothing classless about trying to objectively share an opinion. And no offense was taken, constructive criticism, however, was.

[@slee2695]

@@itpugil from a guy who wasnt even an accomplished fighter

[@itpugil]

@@slee2695 accomplished or not, he has the right to have an opinion since he is also an expert, he has more experience than even both of us. You're probably worked up because he's criticizing Jesse, Ramsey is an MMA coach and has his own gym and fighters, so that has to account for something. It doesn't matter if he didn't achieve something world class, because Jesse isn't world class either.

[@artyombychkov2134]

2:16 I’m sure professional spiders also don’t spar.

[@RamseyDewey]

I want to know me how much a professional spider gets paid.

[@meidicht6453]

​@@RamseyDewey Never, they get eaten by humans, on average 8 of them. Every year.

[@artyombychkov2134]

@@RamseyDewey 300 flies a month

[@Malt454]

@@RamseyDewey - The money's not the point; professional spiders are just spiders because they have to be, that's what makes them professional.

[@martialgeeks]

I'm a professional spider 🙋‍♂️...I guess, I have more spiders as pets than I have friends...does that count? Ps. Spidermam comics too haha

[@jasonhoyt8232]

I'm 50. I remember when .Meldric Taylor was on the rise in about 1990. At the time, some people were criticizing Philly gyms for "gym wars." The criticism was that boxers were "leaving their best fights in the gym."

[@BobSaint]

That's practically the whole story of Dutch kickboxing.

[@Devil-by5lt]

In my gym, we only do some some level of sparring. But the rest is gym fights. So for me, I feel like I’m not learning much from constantly fighting.

[@treadstoned9915]

You might have to talk to your partner or talk to the coach and if that doesn't work I would say find a new gym. You don't really need to have gym wars unless maybe you are preparing for a fight or you and your partner agree beforehand.

[@Malt454]

You're learning that fights are something to be avoided, if possible; it's just not a popular lesson in places that sell gym fights.

[@jacksonlikesbagels6237]

does not sound like the best gym lol

[@gordiandres]

Brother no lie you should really think about the gym you’re at for your own well being

[@stanparker9556]

You need to leave that gym. I'm 38, had a good run as an amateur. I left my best fights in the gym also. Now dealing with the consequences.

[@rfbite]

"Do your best but accept the chaos" is a message I need for life

[@blockmasterscott]

Oh man, I’m 57 years old with hip arthritis. My sparring days are over, but I still “get out there and train”. I should have stayed 30, having birthdays was a bone headed move. 😂😂😂

[@kennethjohnston9736]

I'm 51 and still training. I was not the most active person in my 20's and early 30's so I don't have the "mileage" on my body like a lot of people do. But yeah, having birthdays was a mistake!😂

[@Xzontyr]

Wow, way to go guys. Yup, I dont care how old I am, or what condition. If I'm 80 and loose an arm, I'm still gonna be jabbing at a pad like I'm kamcha.

[@andreaslack8379]

Well done continuing to train. I am about to turn 60 and didn't touch any martial art till I as 55 and that was self defense with no sparring. I started boxing and kickboxing when I was 58 specifically to get some sparring. I guess because I didn't do younger I didn't have built up wear and tear, but the age certainly has its limits. I do love sparring but keep it light, hits to the body aren't much concern but definitely at my age don't want hard hits to my head.

[@jasonhoyt8232]

I'm 50. I still spar once per week. It's usually 30%. There are a couple old dudes my age, though, that I do go hard with.

[@scottsullivanmma]

I've always thought that the main reason CTE occurs in combat sportdls is the sparring not the fighting. 3 fights a year isn't a lot. But when you're also fighting in the gym 2-5 days a week you're taking dings you don't even think are going tk cause the problems

[@RamseyDewey]

Most likely.

[@dasloyal]

5:55 Darth Ramsey mode activated 😄

[@martialgeeks]

The runnaway microphone disagress with you on sparring...must be a fan of Master Wong

[@mattirealm]

Ramsey, I LOVE the fact you read all your comments! Most creators just don't and that stinks. I might not always agree with you on some topics, but I think it is awesome that you interact and hear people out. And now I will "get out there and train!"

[@MrImm0]

I love those long videos... Your long rants are quite enlightening. I really enjoy your tangents as well.

[@kevinjung6130]

People will seek out any excuse not to train and continue to live in a bubble. Great vid!

[@cloudmaster182]

??? You're saying this in reference to some of the highest level individuals in combat sports today..doesn't really make sense lmao

[@minhducnguyen9276]

​@@cloudmaster182 But "Pros do that all the time" is also not a good excuse since they are on the different levels that allow them to work with different methods.

[@californiacombativesclub202]

Are you going to vote for Universal healthcare when injuries and had concussions add up? This ain’t it

[@raccoonmyroom6861]

I always love your talks about managing our expectations around our fighting performance. Its a valuable message!

[@mattlawyer3245]

I remember watching Jesse’s video and thinking, “You keep using that word… I do not think it means what your think it means…”

[@7771Java]

you get that feeling with every second video from Jesse

[@ccamarena21]

Yeah, I saw it and thought: “ok, I’ll bite, clickbate worked”

[@jamestaylor5995]

We should all go post on his video and say, "They're not sparring? Inconceivable!"

[@khalidbinwaleed5072]

I’ve always been a fan as you never BS. Plus are proud of you’re faith

[@ajshiro3957]

We just do light sparring. It'll be at maybe 60 percent, still trying to land shots, but we're not trying to lay each other flat on the floor. That's for competition. Save the real damage for fights. You need your body for those fights. Why damage it?

[@rcangelanddemon2450]

Makes sense I know for certain places like where I am we sometimes go hard to the body for conditioning but not to the head of course

[@IvanBarsch]

Thanks for the video coach! I wanted to hear your take on this. Howdy from the desert.

[@nickolasdesouza3610]

1:16 I appreciate that about you man. I checked into outpatient for my drinking, besides being hospitalized at only 26, you were a major influence to me. I was wondering if we could chat sometime, biggest fan this is stan

[@OverproofMMA]

I like your long form content for backround listening at work. I've found a lot of value especially from the longer content on your religion / philosophy channel.

[@martialartnerd1396]

very good talk Ramsey

[@xiaoliu4617]

intentionally missing that wheel kick to Nick's head in the intro is impressive. you were in range to land your heel, but slowed down and went over his head.

[@RamseyDewey]

I’m never going to knock out or injure my training parters. Ever.

[@brysonntoth367]

Thank you Ramsey this helps a lot I’m gonna have my first middleweight amateur bout and I’ve been watching you all up until this point it’s in July and I’m probably still not ready but everything you have said has been great insight for my training I have a full time job so it will be tough for me but I train every day except Sunday I play volleyball for active recovery so just thanks again for your wise words

[@GeorgeOu]

I think there's utility in saying I don't spar because there are just too many meatheads with egos who have to "win" in sparring. So if you call everything including technical sparring a drill, then there's no ego in letting yourself "lose" because it's part of the script to lose half the time to give your partner a chance to work. As soon as you say the word spar, it's like waving red cloth in front of a bull and everything just escalates into a gym war. And suddenly you're fighting without pay.

[@assanari]

Coach is back with his voice, the unique one, and seems to be healthy! Welcome back

[@Xzontyr]

That's honestly some of the best advice you can give someone thats new at combat sports. I really wish I didn't take as many unnecessary hard hits while sparring back in the day. We were really foolish not to lighten up. Your point about just practicing on a punching bag is good. Shadow boxing should give a person that sort of control. These days we go light in our group. We have to, some guys get dizzy while doing ne waza in the wrong positions now when too much blood gets flowing to their head. We do pretty light take downs aswell and have started doing way more ne waza. We will never start on our butts or knees, but from just any real position, and we are very guilty of doing this alot more as of recent. It's actually really ironic. What iv noticed, and heard from a cousin of mine a province over is that alot of places are finally doing alot more wrestling, which we use to do and thought others should to, but it seems like alot of even pro fighters, aswell as small gyms are giving up on ne waza. I think there's just been too many guys saying "oh just stand up." Amongst other things. You don't get to stand up when I have you in mount or side control. Maybe if I'm on bottom, but if you don't practice ne waza, and just a bit of wrestling, I can almost guarantee that I won't be. Maybe too much pro influence. Yes there's some good wrestlers and boxers, but people need to remember the greats and how they won alot of their hardest fights in dire times. Like Fedor and Randleman, memory eternal. Or even Hughes and Gracie. I actually recently had doubts in grappling for a while when I sparred against a guy that tried to play dirty, and push and grab onto my neck, arm pit, ribs, all that stuff. I was really torn for a bit losing to this guy. However, I found out that he got cleaned up by some grapplers that didn't tolerate his bs. My buddy had a good point, and other grapplers said it well to. There will be a day where this guy will really regret trying to stick his fingers into other guys necks and ribs when they get him in a belly down backmount. Might not be much of a question, but what would your reasoning, and advice be to fighters as to why they shouldn't give up on ne waza?

[@SparhawkPandion-kg6kl]

Great video as always Ramsey. Just wanna say I was at the Mordor Fight gym about a month ago, but they told me you were sick! :( Still trained though, and did some partner work with the guy fighting in the video! Shame I missed you at the gym, but maybe I'll catch you the next time I'm in China! Cheers from Australia!

[@RamseyDewey]

Oh that’s a shame! I was pretty sick for the last several weeks. You might have noticed my absence from KZbin lately because of that. Abu, my student in the video, is a really cool guy to train with. He’s been on a tear lately, winning his last 4 MMA fights.

[@aexndr387]

We love you Ramsey! When are you coming back to the States :D

[@Kenjitsuka]

Sending some more love for the knee, coach!

[@GoodGame-du4ps]

Hi there Ramsey. I just had my first amatuer boxing match yesterday and your advice of expecting sub-optimal performance and embracing the chaos really helped me. Thanks.

[@RamseyDewey]

Very cool!

[@Domzdream]

Ramsey. Hope you’ve been good man. You’re such a good teacher. I hope all’s going good for you in Hong Kong (or China) 👌

[@RamseyDewey]

I live in China, not Hong Kong.

[@MatthewTheSplendid]

I also found that Jesse was circling around the sparring word in that video. By the way that one video you did on the poomse/kata techniques being wrestling techniques was really good. Nowadays whenever I coach hosinsul lessons in TKD I always stress that these are mostly grip fighting/pummeling techniques, not blocks or strikes. Thanks to you I also was able to figure out myself what most of them are used for. Training BJJ also helped to understand them.

[@discofoot6443]

Ramsey, if you were to cast Robby Lawler in an Elder Scrolls movie, what Elder Scrolls race would you cast him as?

[@RamseyDewey]

An Argonian has obviously.

[@discofoot6443]

@@RamseyDewey fighting out of the Black Marsh, Robby "The Ruthless-Scaled" Lawler!!!

[@hermeticinstrumentalist6804]

Always appreciate your perspective. Unfortunate about the mic, now you know how to make it sound like that again if you want though. I wouldn't mind some light sparring, right now I don't have a place to even do that. I know I'd be bad, but, it'd be good to at least start. Been going to the gym more lately, I don't enjoy going alone, but that's not a good excuse. Not one I'll allow myself to use anymore. Forged in chaos.

[@jeddylajos]

Massive like for Remsey for interacting with the viewers, this man for me always had some great insight and an unique and very positive life wisdom. It's one thing to be very knowledgeable about martial arts, but apart from this having this kind of attitude and being humble and honest makes him a true master, anybody is able to look up to him, to be an image figure and that is a very rare thing.

[@brownjenkin8422]

Coach, what advice would you give to someone looking to become a professional spider?

[@RamseyDewey]

Grow a few more legs and start working on your web spinning immediately!

[@StanleyPinchak]

Start the transition by developing an open guard game focusing on sleeve control and putting your feet on your partners biceps.

[@andrebaxter4023]

I liked Jesse’s message of the video about light, technical sparring being superior, within context. I thought that it was weird when some fighters said that they don’t spar. You clarified it nicely that they meant hard sparring.

[@foxredt2]

Sparring is the best part of training for me. Fighting (light) with a good partner is one of the best things ever. What constitutes a good partner for me is fight chemistry.

[@mrsenkur613]

Ramsey could you do a breakdown on how to land more leg kicks?

[@metalinside]

Man, you just ruined the high some Aikido master had. "YES! I KNEW THAT THE KEY TO MARTIAL GREATNESS WAS NOT FIGHTING FOR REAL!"

[@nomad155]

Coach became Megatron! Thanks for the lesson

[@johannesheinrich9240]

the shirt is hilarious :D

[@RamseyDewey]

Get your own at Xmartial.com (use my code RAMSEY10 for 10% off)

[@hkoelmeyer1]

I 'spar' this way nowadays light and playful. It's a bit hard with someone new who doesn't understand control, distance etc.

[@tzaeru]

I think you had some video with Seth about if MMA is its own martial art (or style) some 5 years ago. How do you feel about that nowadays? I've had.. lengthy (way lengthier than I should on a work day) arguments of it online. Personally I feel like there's been convergence in MMA and we're seeing more fighters specifically having started martial arts with MMA. And things as they are taught and done in MMA have gotten a bit different from any other sport, e.g. the average MMA stance as it is seen today is not the same as the typical boxing stance or muay thai stance. I think most people I've talked with would say that MMA is rather a combination of different martial arts, that it's e.g. a sport or a ruleset and combines different martial arts together. Feels like that approach also leads to conclusions like that to be good at MMA, you should train separately in BJJ, in kickboxing, in wrestling, and only then combine them in MMA classes; to me, that feels inverted, and if I was coaching an athlete, I'd rather suggest they do mostly MMA, and if they want, then sprinkle in training in other sports. In short, I guess the questions are: Do you fee MMA can be called its own martial art or style? How do you feel about cross-training in other combat sports under their context? Is it generally worth it to invest heavily to e.g. muay thai specific training for an MMA athlete?

[@PaMuShin]

If you have some skill in story telling then longer videos are fine, some people even like to watch longer videos under this condition. You are mostly fine to listen too. But i personally seldom watch videos longer than 30 minutes or if longer split them and watch them 30 minute unit by 30 minute unit

[@mjerelb8659]

Totally agree, but with that said. Though there are a lot of geek, traditional martial artist who don’t actually want to spar, and use any excuse not to spar. There are many of us from traditional martial arts that do hard sparring, in fact, my school probably did way too much, and we had to utilize the traditional concept of use more light sparring to preserve your well-being Thanks for your videos

[@Danetto]

every time i get into a real fight, i always surprise myself thinking those 13 year olds arent as tough as they look, it surely pays off to be a 100kg hunk right now ;)

[@extra2042]

A video should be as long as necessary to convey ones point. It should not be artificially increased/decreased in length, otherwise it will appear unnatural in rhythm.

[@deivytrajan]

How do you think movies work? Just use basic editing / script

[@Goval400]

As always, great video coach. Speaking of sparring i wanted to share something here. I Just had the worst training session ever with a pro fighter. We drilled and then light sparred for 3 5 minutes boxing rounds. The problem was his attitude the entire time, every time he kicked and hurt his foot he bitched and said I was doing something wrong but when i asked him what i was doing wrong he didnt say explain. Im a dedicated hobbyist so i had little to no ego, i always listen to my partners and try to be as fair and good partner as possible, matching energy and all that but this dude just kept bitching and making me feel stupid the entire time, then in the sparring rounds he kept going a little too hard on me with smaller MMA gloves. I have had grueling wrestling classes more enjoyable than that one on one with that dude. At the end “I said good training bro” and left, my question(s): i wonder what would you have done? have you had encountered people like this? What did you do?

[@makenjikarate]

I feel like the Jessie video title was very much click bait. But I do agree with the idea of not hard sparring but lots of technical light sparring. At my club we're not professionals nor do we train for the ring specifically so for us to take hard hits to the head on a regular basis is not worth the long term injury. We find that we can do light sparring every session, sometimes situational sparring from different positions and sometimes we put some grapples and throws into it and honestly it's been so much fun. In case you do read this Ramsey, I do hope your leg rehab is going okay, take care mate.

[@Seaweedsz]

Hey Ramsey, last week I was doing some hanging excercise and I ended up falling on the back of my head. I feel better now but I can still “feel” the hit. Like, I can think and work just fine, but I would probably get knocked out more easily that before the hit. Has something like that ever happened to you while training? Do you have any advice for it? For a bit more context, I have been training boxing since october (have had 48 classes so far), though on the last ones I talked to my instructor about it is just training drills that involved and I don’t spar very often to avoid making the hit worse.

[@FreebyrdFayelanx]

Ramsey, is Beach Wrestling a martial art/effective? Or should I teach myself Judo with my grappling dummy? There is, no close Wrestling or Judo school (jerk choked me unconscious even though I tapped); and I liked BJJ - but got sick of reading on the instructors IG how BJJ is the greatest art, aggressive nature of the guys. I come from a very long TKD background and want to cross-train.

[@mmaforwoman6383]

In UFC PI manual we can find 5 levels of sparring. Even on the 5th, the toughest level, high -kicks are with limited contact etc.

[@RamseyDewey]

They have a sparring manual at the performance institute? Interesting. Every time I go there to spar with the fighters, the coaches usually just say more intensity to the body, light contact to the head.

[@ThunderFlameAttack]

Anderson Silva was a proffessional spider.

[@RamseyDewey]

Perhaps he was.

[@teeprice7499]

People are going to do stuff wrong if its their first or hundred and first fight. Why? Because they get hit and the way a lot of people train doesnt prepare them for that. Keep up the good work Coach

[@adamkadir3803]

Im only 30. Competing in MMA in Australia. I don't spar much anymore. When I spar its with objectives in mind. Its more "you're doing rounds with this group of people, your objective is practicing the set up for this position/technique." its a drill, with a resisting/unpredictable opponent. You're not sparring for the sake of pretending you're in a pro match. No brain damage. No random opponents. No gym wars. You're paired with specific people, and you've got a specific objective.

[@kwanitaheie2968]

Ramsey what's your opinion on professional spiders?

[@aphidbowler7027]

'the neighborhood of make believe is a fun place to visit but you don't want to live there.' i think of this line a lot. it's a very good line.

[@andymax1]

I’m not sure on the sparring thing, a lot depends on your attributes and how you use them, if you rely on speed and reactions and don’t get hit much, sparring may be a good thing. If your a slugger and you tanking hits to hurt your opponent then maybe drilling would be a better approach as CTE is a thing.

[@BaptistMarine]

I've seen people shattered because of gym fights, and they just quit because a gym bully beats the tar out of a newbie! At the higher competitive levels, it is true you don't have to hard spar anymore, or at least very little.

[@Bongdog420]

Hey coach, i do bjj at a gym and boxing at home, so i wonder if in an actual fight would the stress test from bjj help me remember my boxing practice? Or should i just go to a boxing gym and actually train.

[@RamseyDewey]

I hate the phrase “stress testing” but I love this question. Obviously boxing prepares you for boxing more than BJJ prepares you for boxing, HOWEVER, the question is how much does the combat stress from grappling cross over to striking? Honestly I don’t know, but I’d love to set up an experiment to empirically discover the answer.

[@badart3204]

I’m no professional but personally I found my bjj experience led to me performing better while being pressured in boxing. Obviously the skills were not there but the ability to bite down on a mouth guard and swing were

[@Neyreyan]

Classic case of " i fixed the mic". I also have 2 questions. Why is it so hard to get into mma? I went to a gym and the trainer had me and a new guy train like the rest of the guys. The drills were the same for everyone, it seems trainers just want to get to the sparring part after a long "warm up". The second question is: can you recommand someone who actually has some videos on how to get started mma at home, seems silly but i gave up on the idea of just going to a place to train mma.

[@stuartpaul9211]

in judo you can't escape a gym fight. can do multiple damage with a bad landing as well as getting punched as they through you (yes, a common cheat as long as they still hold the gi they can elbow, for arm and punch you in the direction your going).

[@minhducnguyen9276]

In Max Holloway case he said he had enough of hard sparring that now he mostly does light sparring.

[@namepending155]

I think a lot of the people that say they don’t read the comments are also big enough to pay somebody else to read their comments, filter and address them. Then they are just doing the phrasing so it’s in their words.

[@namepending155]

And don’t take the “big enough” as a ding. I am just saying I don’t think it’s always a big moral victory like they pose it to be. IMO anyone not already famous and having 100k+ subscribers has a well thought out and maintained channel.

[@henritoivari4310]

I only do greco-roman wrestling after a 20 year brake and a stroke but apparently I train like pros. Easy on the gym, technical sparring and I try to have as much matches this year as I can. I sucked in every match so far but I knew it already. Somehow my coach didn't know it.

[@jamestaylor5995]

We occasionally put on gloves and train with striking as part of our BJJ training. But my Professor says, "Never go with 100% contact, unless you're getting paid."

[@theoutsiderjess4869]

They want to make it seem like they arent taking their opponent seriously

[@Emperor_x8]

personally I see this as a signal of how much hearts sparring integrated in MMA

[@johnnyguitar6639]

Hey MR ramsey . If someone is right handed, but left footed dominant. You think there are any martial arts that are better for that "handicap" than oher?

[@deltacharlieecho4732]

I wish people would just start using the language my gym uses to distinguish between hard and soft sparring. We call soft sparring “timing” and the power is dialed down to roughly 10%. Lots of guys, even experienced guys, use this as a way to beat up on new people but I can’t say that I care all that much. I’ve only ever done hard sparring in boxing and I have very little interest in actually sparring in Muay Thai for at least a year. Both ways of sparring train combat but one is actually a positive learning experience that encourages form and technique correction while hard sparring is a negative learning experience that reinforces the consequences of poor form.

[@13buthead]

I think they still spar everyday, just extremely lightly.

[@13buthead]

oh, That's what the video said as well.

[@RamseyDewey]

That is what was discussed.

[@bernarddato3221]

I see you continue sparring with your microphone 😏 🫸🤛

[@digital_mindmeld]

First time i truelly got punched in the face outside beeing bullied at school was in my first "fight". Lost that one so bad, at that time i never wanted to set foot in another gym again. However i am happy there was someone to cut the fight short. As in a lot of gyms,... those situations tend to be kept going way to long here in the Netherlands. One set of eyes over multiple hard sparring sessions,... not my cup of tea.

[@ashtraydekay6624]

Omg, the mic !!!!! Lol nope I made it worse, somehow you went underwater

[@Maddie-ps1jy]

The mic wanted to spar 🤭

[@ashtraydekay6624]

Professional spiders!

[@Domzdream]

So I take being hit in the face really seriously. Because when an accident happens, you should use that to your advantage and see what you’re made of. How you’re going to handle the shock value. I lost a front tooth delivered by my girlfriend’s sister while sparring. I kept fighting until the teacher ended it 10 mins later. I needed to learn from this. Fortunately my fellow black belt practitioner just started a dental technician business, so I was in the chair the very next day getting a replacement 🤣🤦🏽 Lucky me….I guess.

[@3halfshadows]

Hey Ramsey, I can't find the original comment because youtube sucks so I'll just post it here. I made a point that Judo always had the "do" in the name and you were saying it was called jujutsu first and pointed to an interview you did with some Japanese guy saying all the martial arts changed their names from jutsu to do basically for financial reasons/subsidies from the government. I checked some sources and they all say that what Kano taught at his school, that eventually turned into the kodokan, was called Judo from the outset. Kano jujutsu is what other people called it but Kano insisted it was Judo. That's what the sources I checked say. Interestingly, I learned there was a subset of one of the jujutsu that Kano learned that had Judo in the name so apparently the use of that term was not completely novel.

[@Komodokhan148]

Sparring is essential if you want to be any good at fighting. But a seasoned and experienced pro fighter doesn't need to hard spar anymore so they just stick to light technical sparring. But if your an aspiring or up and coming fighter than hard sparring should be very limited.

[@tjbjjtkd]

My Karate instructor said 26 years ago, "keep it playful!" Sparring in the gym, there are no winners or losers. We are to learn. Most of the time, we listened, but it didn't take long before we started sparring hard again.😂

[@DaniloCatania-vm7nb]

One of my friends just had a smoker mma fight, I feel less bad now for telling him that it wont go exactly how it pictured it in his mind, he wanted to be ready for any scenario and was hoping to get a flash knockout, I told him that it ll be messy, chaotic and being his first fight, the anticipation will sap his energy away, I walked in in my first one feeling dead tired, I felt like an asshole, like I was shooting his enthusiasm down but reality hits harder than any of us can

[@TheWillToFight]

I had my first Gym challenge the other day I made a KZbin video about it. I’ll be interested in your thoughts. Do you think I done the right thing

[@RamseyDewey]

I took a look at it. Sure man, the guy wanted to grapple, you grappled with him, you didn’t bully him or injure him. The video had a positive message. You didn’t post it for egotistical reasons. You educated your audience about jiu-jitsu- and hopefully that guy comes back to learn more because of it.

[@TheWillToFight]

@@RamseyDewey 🙏 thank you for your reply. I know you have a lot to get through

[@jc5754]

Hello Ramsey, I am judo practitioner and I do not claim to know how to fight, but I'm curious, with your experience in combat, what's the point of katas and forms if the movements are not applicable in combat, for example a tai chi master can be Chinese wrestling champion but doesn't use tai chi movement, he uses Chinese wrestling.

[@RamseyDewey]

Taiji is wrestling. That’s a common misunderstanding. I have made quite a few videos on the subject. Kata/taolu/poomse, (or whatever you call your forms) are usually practiced by people who never, ever use the techniques being taught by those forms. For example, about 80% of the movements from all karate and taekwondo forms are grappling, pummeling, handfighting, breaking grips, clearing ties, and framing (ie: wrestling techniques) meanwhile 100% of karate and taekwondo competitions are kicking and punching. It’s the right information embraced and taken out of context by the wrong audience.

[@PaMuShin]

You are talking about Zhang Weili?

[@PaMuShin]

Ramsey again, the definition of wrestling is the sport or activity of grappling with an opponent and trying to throw or hold them down on the ground, typically according to a code of rules. Against ramseys opinion there are no throws or pins in Taiji, there is just unbalancing the opponent with the aim to attack the center of gravity of opponents cause they are helpless at that time.

[@PaMuShin]

The western system of wrestling was made with the intent of finishing people in a group effort. watch movies about the spartans and romans, they had their formation and worked together. One guy pins you on the ground the other guy kills you. Asian Martial arts are more indiviual oriented, like you attack the weakest spots of people and after beeing incapacitated they are helpless to defend against the finisher.

[@PaMuShin]

It is even featured a little in the Dragon Blade movie with jackie chan where Chinese practice with Romans

[@yuriysemenikhin302]

Added a link to this video on my little talk about sparing in Aikido 👍 kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHnFkGSKYsmXd68

[@RipleyEll]

Nothing is worse than sparring someone who is waiting to try and sleep you when your not expecting a hard spar. I got to point where I didnt want to spar unless it was a full contact spar, but at that point its not even sparring. Now I would just rather not at all being 44 years old.

[@bunklypeppz]

It really is important to have good training partners. Relying on your opponent taking it easy so you can try to land a hard shot is a real dirtbag move. It can be safer to just have a real fight than to be treating it like light sparring and wind up going against someone who will allow themselves to take a light punch just to swing hard and try to land before you can get you hand back to cover up or dodge. That's also why I don't like the idea of going 50% or 30% etc, because the reality is that people can't calibrate their intensity with even a remote degree of accuracy, so when you pretend to designate a specific "percentage" as many people claim to, it just because a game of gradually hitting harder and harder and pretending that your attempt to hurt your sparring partner was just you throwing with "30% power" because you think you can hit harder if you really tried. There's really only two types of sparring-- trying to hurt your opponent or not trying to hurt them, and trying to do something in between is usually foolish in the long run.

[@MP-db9sw]

Hitman Hearns did very little bag work or pad work. He pretty much just sparred. A LOT.

[@BobSaint]

So, does Sean Strickland spar, as in "light, technical sparing session", or does he do "gym wars"? Because according to everyone - sparring is all he does.

[@aarontowns]

Man I would HATE to spar with a professional spider 😬 🕷️🕷️🕷️

[@sin-pelos-en-la-mente]

You should train harder than you fight, so when you fight you wouldn't be afraid.

[@LupeJustinian]

Aside from the established cross-training benefits of European fencing for developing unarmed combat technique, are there any other weaponized combat sports that have application to unarmed combat sports? I may have worded that weirdly, but basically: what weapons based martial arts could help with hand to hand combat training

[@teeprice7499]

Knife fighting or jo stick might be what you're looking for

[@RamseyDewey]

In a somewhat abstract way, I have found a lot of connections from kenjutsu and taijijian (both sword arts) to hand to hand combat.

[@gilgameshkingofheroes5903]

I believe certain HEMA schools incorporate grappling.

[@teeprice7499]

@@gilgameshkingofheroes5903 Particularly the ones who practice the old Norse techniques

[@teeprice7499]

@@RamseyDewey Mainly for footwork. The same goes for sabre fencing. Some of the newer kenjutsu schools came from certain hand to hand styles

[@Zurenarrh]

Why do MMA fighters fight like they are using completely wrong techniques? I mean they dont throw punches or kicks like their textbook counterparts. Their punches dont look as aesthetic, their kicks dont look as picture perfect kicks as other striking arts, nothing fits in textbook forms of how to throw a punch, or a kick, or anything really. They look sloppy and their bodies are moving all over weird directions. If you fought like that in any striking art, your coach would probably get you to have very basic "how to throw a kick correctly" or "punching 101" classes. So my question is, doing every technique as their textbook counterparts is foolish or what? Even MMA strikers do not look anything like fighters from other striking arts. They just throw completely wrong punches from boxing standpoint, their kicks do not look like picture perfect kicks of something like lets say Taekwondo. Like whats going on really I dont understand that. I know that MMA is its own thing but really is it Mixed Martial Arts? Because I dont really see any techniques are represented there in picture perfect way. They have their own unique and sloppy looking techniques. They may be effective but if you performed those in a lets say belt exam, youd get zero for completely butchering the technique. For example, your sidekicks dont look like taekwondo sidekicks. A taekwondo practicioner would probably say "you are doing the technique wrong" but this is the case for all mma fighters almost. I mean, how does that work? İs MMA, really mixed "martial arts" because it doesnt look like its really taking much from those martial arts. Theyd just tell you "you dont know how to punch" or something like that. Why do the same sidekick look radically different in an MMA fighter and a Taekwondo practicioner? If one of the sidekicks is less effective then which one is it? Should we focus too much on executing the technique PERFECTLY as if we are performing? Or is there room for being sloppy and moving weirdly? Im curious.

[@blockmasterscott]

I always thought of it like an NFL football team practicing the same play over and over again from Monday to Friday and that perfect play looks nothing on Sunday’s game like it did during practice. But because they have it perfected, the team has a solid foundation even though the same play looks sloppy in actual application. It’s the same with free fighting. The technique in actual fighting looks sloppy compared to practice, but that perfect looking technique gives the fighter a solid foundation to rely on.

[@nguyenhongquang6397]

I'm not a expert but I think I can pitch in. Firstly, technique is overrated. It's skills, experience, and fitness that win fights. And being able to consistently connect effective punches and kicks are usually good enough skill-wise. Secondly, whenever there is a threat of takedown and ground fighting, it's usually foolish to fight as if there were only striking. Thirdly, MMA fighters are just not as good at striking as pure strikers is because they don't have time to master everything. A guy who spend 5-8 years doing kickboxing seriously is likely to be much better than a guy who do it for 2-3 years, then wrestling and bjj for another 2-3 years, then another 1-2 years to put them all together.

[@ajshiro3957]

That's a good question. I always wondered that too. I always thought because it's that constant threat of being taken down by a guy, so the kicks or punches thrown are to avoid getting taken down. Since wrestling and other grappling arts are there, maybe that's why. But that still makes no sense, because your still getting your leg caught in martial arts like Karate, TKD, or Muay Thai. Guess they just throw technique out the window due to pressure.

[@mrsenkur613]

Man. I have this question on my mind for a long time, I think in MMA u don't need to be perfect at everything but decently good in everything I mean if you look at someone like Jon Jones, yes he is good at everything but not necessarily perfect at anything, his boxing is lacking especially yet he is considered the goat.

[@Zurenarrh]

I think I found the answer. Itssssssss......Becauseeeeeee.....,,,.. (big dramatic reveal) there are no martial arts in mixed martial arts.

[@federicofekete2419]

I believe what they actually mean is they don't go all out in sparring. Which in hindsight, they do technical light spar like the thais

[@RamseyDewey]

Watch the video

[@tophernolastname2378]

Ramsey, I was wrong & you were right. I have to save my brain during sparring, my head is more sensitive than most people & it feels oof-y for a week after every time I spar, and that's light sparring. The thing about "fighters being built different" is true, but not in the way most people think. Guys like Lawler can literally get punched *lightly* a few times & they can do 100 rocket squats, and their head & knees will be fine, no noticeable change in behavior. They don't need to rest for a 2-3 days cause their joints hurt. I still "believe" in hard sparring (it works for the Dutch in kickboxing), but it's now in the sense that *if I was going to take a pro fight*, to check that off my bucket list, there's no other way I could prepare & win without that experience under pressure. But since taking a pro fight's not on the agenda for another year or two until I get a better job & am confident I could be calm & happy enough to not bail on training for a training camp, light sparring once a month or two, and padwork & grappling until then. Just to throw in a Devil's Advocate: there are some people who have "perfect" debuts. Which to me ranges from the fight being a one-punch KO in the first 15 seconds (everyone wants to be that guy even when they don't have KO power); to the fight lasting less than 2 minutes, they didn't take any damage in victory, their opponent was decent, and they get a clean TKO or submission, despite the entries or counters being sloppy or rough around the edges. Kyoji Horiguchi had a "perfect" debut in a completely different sense. He won the fight with a tough UD & looked sloppy, but it was against an opponent with a 10-2-7 record. Beating somebody with that much pro experience in your pro debut is impressive. These are the best-case scenarios, but that's what you're supposed to strive for, isn't it? Aspire to be the best of the best & to achieve things you at first don't think you can achieve, like all of our heroes did, yet keep your expectations realistic with their foundations in rock, not upon sand?

[@tophernolastname2378]

Conspiracy theory: anyone noticed how people seem to have gotten a lot more headaches over the last 5 years, all around the world? Might just be everyone looking at screens all day, but how much more exactly have people been looking at their screens in the last several years, than they did from 2012-18? Curiouser and curiouser..

[@JohnDoe-sq5nv]

Coach, how much can we learn about fighting from watching animals fight? I have cats and they wrestle all the time, and every time I've looked at them I've been consistently impressed by what just comes natural to them. But I'm also not a wrestler so I might be easily impressed. Well, I do beat them at wrestling but I think that is more because of the size difference.

[@RamseyDewey]

It doesn’t come naturally to them, it’s a learned ability. Cats start practicing wrestling with the other kittens in their litter from birth in order to get to their mother’s milk. It starts as rudimentary pushing. Later they wrestle play. They don’t start out good at it, that comes with time and experience like everything else.

[@JohnDoe-sq5nv]

@@RamseyDewey What's funny is also looking at the difference in fighting depending on if it is play or not. Real cat fighting involves more paw strikes, throws and takedowns whilst the play kind is more positional wrestling. Back when they weren't friends I once saw one of my cats sneak up on the other one, throw her to the ground and give her two proper left hooks to the chest which sounded like someone hitting a mitt. Now they never strike, only wrestle and chase, and they take turns being the aggressor.

[@RamseyDewey]

Remind me to tell you the story about the feral cats that live outside my apartment. I named one of them Red Headed Step Child, because it was adopted as a kitten by another cat… that beats it like a read headed step child… and it’s reddish orange.

[@willtherealrustyschacklefo3812]

They do , it's just that majority of them have a misconception of what "sparring" actually is in the first place and they really don't do much of what they believe sparring is. Which frankly is something they really shouldn't be doing much anyway

[@Paraphen]

For a second I thought this was just gonna go “you really read all the comments?” “Yes! That’s all for today folks, tune in tomorrow”

[@Fabian-zd3ms]

What do you think about spirituality/metaphysics? For example that time is an illusion crrated by the mind and the only thing that exists and will ever exist is the present moment. Or that we are not our ego (mind) but Consciousness. And we are all the same Consciosness, and there exists no matter, only Consciousness and Love.

[@MartialArtUK]

Tai chi has the right idea a balance of hard and soft , as we mature, it's the natural flow of things. Plus getting injured isn't the smart thing to do in the long run.

[@RamseyDewey]

Taijiquan is throwing fools on the ground and breaking their arms. Qigong and Zhan Zhuang is the stuff you’re thinking of.

[@MartialArtUK]

@@RamseyDewey really ? As a long time student of chen taiji I disagree. It is the orginal yin yang style.

[@RamseyDewey]

So you haven’t learned to grapple yet as a long time practitioner of taiji? How?

[@MartialArtUK]

@RamseyDewey of course I have and I don't disagree about the hard style of chen village but the training is not all hard , lots and lots of soft training soft Grappling, learning to silk reel before learning fajing . Chen style is hard and soft together to the point of your video there's not always a need for hard sparring. Infact the better they get the softer they get , but the martial art is very hardcore . I've trained chen style for over 25 years all the forms and weapons Grappling and Striking, and the soft arts of ting jing , breath control , moving meditation. All chen masters practice alot of qi gong too . Check out my chen Library . And also being an old style chen style isn't always practiced with modern protection so not injuring each over in chen style is paramount .