@@ohcaptainmycaptain3478 If Ramsey weren't so criminally undersubscribed, we could have spun that out like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Well, next year.
You're forgetting the most important element of martial arts: a shaved head. Especially for judo and air bending, so you can feel the air of your enemies attacks
I'm sad that I never got to get good at the art of SQUISH. I was always the heavy guy in class when we did TKD and though I lost a lot of weight when we transitioned to BJJ I was still bigger guy. My teachers were smaller and they scolded and lectured me to be lighter on my opponents and not smash them and use my technique instead. One day we had a guest instructor who was high level black belt in Judo and brown belt in BJJ. He was an enormous man to me all of us, maybe 6'6, no clue how much he weighed, and I got a chance to roll with him. He allowed me to mount and try my moves and positions, but then he told me to stop. He asked "why are you so light?" I told him because my teachers told me to be. He said, "That's bs. You don't tell the light, fast guy to slow down do you?That's their advantage. Don't let them take away your advantages. I'll show you." He took side mount and I couldn't breathe. While I was struggling to get air he was setting me up for submissions, it was like rolling against two people. He told me to use what I have, and to not play the game where they have all the weapons while I throw away my own. Unfortunately, I left the school soon after for various reasons, so I never got learn what I was capable of. One day...
Those were bad BJJ teachers. I mean to be fair some people might not want to roll with you, that's kind of reasonable depending on what they want out of BJJ but in a fair sized club you should be able to find at least a couple of people willing to roll with you properly.
When you over rely on your strengths, it’s hard to get better at what you’re weak at and once your one strength isn’t enough, you’ll have your weaknesses exploited. But while you need to withhold your strengths in order to overcome your weaknesses, you must also learn how to take advantage of your strengths as much as you can. This can apply to most things in life.
All valid answers, and I had the same problem, and when I would go all out I would look like a bully. Take SOME days for Yourself and get used to odd looks, You gotta work too.
I'd say developing a good base strength helps with improving athletic performance. Many martial artists may discredit it, but strength translates so well into so many sports as well as combat sports.
Depending on what you want out of your training you might prioritise speed/technique/whatever and maybe you aren't into the cardio side or the lifting. Maybe you don't want to be a well rounded martial artist, or ever actually fight anyone, maybe you just enjoy doing what you are doing. However no reasonable person will say strength isn't a big advantage in martial arts.
@@jmgonzales7701 You’ve misunderstood. The ancients ENGAGED in that athleticism. They even had training manuals. Traditional martial artists TODAY lack athleticism, and that’s why MMA has been so valuable.
Whoa, wait a minute. You mean to tell me that physical fighting require physical fitness? That can't be right. Sensei said that if I master his super special style, I will be able to use my opponents strength against him.
your sensei was correct. look at some of steven seagal's demonstrations. he doesn't look like he's in all that great of shape, but the bodies sure fly.
I'd been reffing football [soccer] for years before I started combat sports - in fact it was a few incidents with angry fans on the trip to the car from the field that made me realize i needed to learn some defence. Running 40 miles a weekend gave me the athleticism to train more and harder and better than the other students that started at the same time as me. Even when I had just started I could spend 4 hours straight in the gym drilling and sparring and wouldn't get too tired, while the other fresh students were gassing out half an hour into it. Athleticism is an awesome tool, and more fitness will never be a bad thing.
I chased a guy for seven literal blocks and he was 20 years younger than me and I hawked him down. He was breathing as if he were going to die, I just told him to sit and cuffed him. He gave some nonsense about being a black belt, but Coach Ramsey is 100% correct on this. I did ask “Why you tired young man!” At 55 I still train hard everyday and Coach Ramsey is right!!
Great video and so true. I stopped MMA/Wrestling for several years and took up gymnastics instead (with a little sprinting and weightlifting). Could not believe the difference a few years later stepping back on to the mat! I can't express how effective gymnastics is for developing your athleticism and the insane transfer it has to fighting. It should be a staple of any fighters training.
GSP actually stressed the importance of gymnastics - i think he said if all athletes did different sports, gymnastics would dominate most or sum. either that or he said gymnasts are the best fighters. Either way, the man himself George agrees.
@@fps_spicy core and upper body strength and power as well as great flexibility gains which had a large knock on effect to take down defence. A lot of the transferrable strength gains come from the large amount of pulling strength such as rope climbs, ring work, iron cross pulls etc.Then maybe less obvious, but the strength and mobility within joints themselves, particularly around the shoulder joint.
I never used to give athleticism much of a thought. Used to believe the training I got in my MMA and Dutch Kickboxing gyms would suffice for my general athleticism. Then this Corona thing happened and I could no longer got to my gyms. So, after a short while of being defeatist I decided to make myself better. I took a lot of your advice on here about athleticism and built myself a program that includes a lot of progressive athletic training to make me a better athlete. I've lost a lot of weight from it, I've also built up my own body, gotten faster, stronger and bettered my agility and balance. Everything about me as improved. While my technique work has taken a bit of a back seat, when going back to sparring and doing bag work I noticed my shots were faster, sharper and stronger. My ability to hit and move had improved. My stamina had also improved. So when the gyms proper start to open back up in a few weeks. I'll enter there a better athlete. I'll also carry on with my Athletic training along side my MMA and Kickboxing training after now realising how important it is to me as a fighter. Thank you for this Ramsey as it was watching your videos that guided me on to the path.
@@edoardobrocca7985 I'm not this guy, but if you go on reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness the "recommended routine" is a solid plan for people new to strength training!
@@edoardobrocca7985 a good way to start is learning how to lift weights. After that, you can implement explosive movements (plyometrics) into your workout
Bodybuilding is great for self-defense as most people will not want to mess with someone bigger. Being street smart and aware of your surroundings is even better. Working hard at your job, earning a good wage and moving to a safer neighborhood is better still. Going to therapy and untangling your emotional issues so you don't take someone else's anger and threats personally is probably best.
Moving to a safer neighbourhood not necessarily. only a small fraction of violence happens in residential areas. Most violence happens downtown where a lot of people mix together especially where bars and nightclubs are at and especially on friday and saturday night. To keep away from anything that remotely resembles a party or something of that nature keeps you safer than moving to a different neighbourhood. Seldom someone beats up their neighbour or kills someone in the street where he lives. Its important for kids in what kind of neighbourhood they grow up though, as an adult it doesnt matter in what kind of neighbourhood you live
@@babaed5760 Good points. All my violent interactions came before the age of 16 and I've had none since then. I always thought being a massive wall of human flesh was the most important part .I never looked at how I don't drink (alcohol allergy) and don't go clubbing was a factor that's just as important.
eh I like the threshold of entry for the NBA being so tough to reach. Makes the little ones that do make it all the more impressive, true super athletes
There was a really big dude who was trying out my Capoeira class to lose weight and he was getting really good at it. I don't know how much weight he lost but he could really move way better than you'd expect!
@Hater Sensei Grand Master Chosen One that is the "fit" / active fat people. They have always been around. But have a look at the unfit fat ones (x legs, no tabaccobag butt, hunched shoulders), they can't move faster than a snail.
Wrestle for a few years then join a jiujitsu class. There you will learn why athleticism matters, and in the meantime, you will understand why the squish is such a deadly weapon in your arsenal
I quit active boxing and became a coach because I discovered i had sickle cell anemia. I could train for a fight but because I had oxygen problems from the sickle cell anemia i would be exhausted the day of the fight. Then I noticed that I didn't get tired like other boxers. I was having syncope and near syncope episodes. I was getting tired. I was blacking out. I knew that I would never reach contender with sickle cell anemia. But I. Loved boxing. So I switched to coaching.
not true. Athleticism isn't being lean. The dude is an absolute freak, tall as hell, freakishly long arms and fast as hell for a man his size. Athleticism is not appearance but function.
Person: "I am preparing for the end of civilization, I've got guns, food and water to defeat any intruders to my home." Me: "Have you tried defeating the block you live on by running around it?"
I'd love for one of those "I've got guns and that means I'm ready for the end of civilization" people to record themselves saying that after walking up two flights of stairs
Maybe I'm not the fastest learner in what goes to physical stuff, but, with 1.5 years of BJJ I get beaten by people coming from the beginner's course who are more athletic than me, even if they are a little shorter and lighter. Since I started from absolute zero - a total slob, nothing physical for around 10 years whatsoever - I'm still pretty weak compared to the lifestyle sports guys, even tho I've improved my strength and fitness by *a lot*. (Big thanks for some of your videos for giving the inspiration to!) Beginner's course worth of rolling experience and a few basic techniques combined with explosive athleticism is easily worth a few years of training. Now the good thing for me is that I'm still improving with my fitness and strength every day, as I am with my technique, so I can see results pretty much every day. Free motivation for at least a year more. ;)
Man you're breaking this down better than I could ever explain its wild some of the "athletes" I've seen playing football I always wondered how those athletic talents would transfer in martial arts if they took it serious...but I've also seen the opposite where some regular lookin guy spends the entire sparring session whooping on the "superior athlete" 🤔 would be cool to see more cross training 💯
Excellent video, coach. Having been both an avid martial artist and weight trainer for years I constantly find myself dumbfounded at how little thought the average martial artist gives to developing their strength and athleticism in conjunction with their martial training. Clearly, more people need to take heed of the mantra "technique is an efficient application of strength".
I don't practice any martial arts but am interested in fitness and watching martial arts, but what draws me to your channel is your voice and presence. You can literally talk about anything and it would be interesting and educational! You should do talks on other varied subjects too!
I have to agree. I had a great boxing session with a basketball player and I had a really lopsided and easy roll with a judo black belt that was out of shape. Furthermore I think people forget that a lot of these sports build similar motor skills and footwork as well. To the point where as a martial artist I have added basketball and soccer to my training curriculum.
Yes this true, in Chinese we have a term 重剑无锋，大巧不工 Focus on your physical abilities and the rest will come naturally. What a man lacks in style he can make it up with sheer violence
Thats why combats sports are my favorite sport because unlike football and basketball and other sports combat sports don't discriminate on the basis of size or particular body shapes
The style depends if your training for self-defence or competition! For fitness, I think kettlebells are a great starting point! I'm in the middle of training with kettlebells 3/4 times a week. I'm trying to improve my fitness for my next attempt to join the British Army, and general fitness for Krav Maga...
Well said Coach. Another great answer to a much asked question. My coach always drilled the mantra into us that "conditioning is king" If you can't do 60 minutes of roadwork, you can't expect to run around a ring or an octagon for 15-25 minutes. Thanks for the vid coach 👍
You can easily feel how important athleticism is when you're already at a good level fighting wise and get sick or injured and are out for a while. Your technique won't regress that much, but your athleticism will and you'll feel how much difference it makes when you get back to training and sparring.
I will say to pick up style it is not a body shape, but athletism of person. Like realy flexible people will have better time with high kick. Not flexible enough? Pick more hand focus style and work on flexibility. Most important thing: have fun otherwise you could have motivation problems to follow coachs get uot and train.
Like Ray Lewis said.. "Grinding is my rest". Another good example is that Under Armor commercial with Tom Brady that shows him constantly doing drills and many other clones of him doing the same. He just keeps saying "Every single day" throughout the whole commercial.
I think this video convinced me to take the weekly core conditional class at my local krav maga center. While its only one class a week, the benefits of only a little of athletic training are very tangible, especially at my age.
Josh Thompson and John McCarthy had a good take on the best physique for fighters recently. Thompson said that the tall, thin type seems to be the best. Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Sean O'Malley, Israel Adesanya, Conor McGregor, Dominic Cruz, Stephen Thompson, Max Holloway, etc. Fighters who can use their length to control the distance, who still can get freakishly strong and who despite that don't carry that much muscle mass and hence don't get tired so quickly.
Hey coach Ramsay! Hope you're doing well and thanks for the great channel! Could you make a video discussing some of your favorite MMA fighters past or present. I'd love to hear your perspective on what makes certain top tier fighters appealing to you whether it be their technical prowess, tenacity, personality, or what have you. Thank you!
Back in the early ufc days you had martial artists competing who weren't really good athletes. Now you have super athletic guys competing who learned how to fight.
Question for the Coach, Hey Ramsey so Ive been practicing marital arts for most of my life and have ran into a bit of an issue. Ive devoted all this time and energy to this craft and greatly appreciate the resulting progression of my physical and mental health. Unfortunately at this point im 23 and already in a crazy amount of det, so my question is; What can i do to begin to actually make a living off of what ive invested in martial arts, preferably without some form of hurting people for money. Thanks for the content coach, hope you and yours are getting along awesome. stay healthy, M
Yo, man. Look forward to catching your show in Vancouver on the way home at 1AM after washing dishes. Big fan. I'm 38 and nothing of what I've actually experienced (that I can readily recall) would disagree with your opinions so far. You make me feel hopeful about just becoming better, even if it feels like small potatoes, and you make me feel guilty for sitting on the couch ;P.
5:59 "...there is an ideal way to use your specific body structure" like "Use what works, discard what doesn't and add what is essentially YOUR OWN" Evolve, honestly and fight to your individual strengths
Which fighting game do you feel most accurately portrays fighting or alternately the spirit of the complexities of fighting the best? I vote for either the Street Fighter Alpha series or Street Fighter (3) Third Strike. In fact, several of Capcom's midlife fighters have such a fluid understanding of mixed martial arts (by virtue of its animations representing all kinds of martial arts styles--there's characters who engage in believable ground and pound as a special move!)
The best fighting style is not fighting at all. Master that technique and you'll walk away from most fights unscathed and potentially with a new friend. Get out there and train - your mind.
What is the difference between maneuverability, athleticism and flexibility? I have head other coaches say flexibility is far less important than manevourabikity.
Maneuverability should be used all the time in a fight to get good punching / kicking angles / takedowns on our opponent or to avoid their attacks. It the basic ability to execute accurate movement during a fight. Flexibility allows us to perform high kicks and "fancy", isolated body movement more easily. Generally it's very situational though and doesn't come into play that often and most commonly used techniques and strikes do not require high degrees of flexibility. For example, compare high kicks vs. low kicks - one requires high flexibility and generally is difficult to land, while the other requires almost no flexibility and can typically be used consistently. Athleticism is kind of an umbrella term for general strength and endurance, both affecting everything else. A quickly fatigued, weak fighter is less capable of maneuvering and throwing powerful strikes and is in return less resistant to damage. At least that's my take on it. This also explains why flexibility is less important than maneuverability - being able to move around your opponent, exploiting his movement and bypassing his guard, is generally much more useful than being able to swing your leg to his face. =)
Great answer to a slightly unspecific question. A cardio workout 3 times a week + stretching and some strength training is a perfect recipe for life and can't go wrong with whatever it is this person wants/ needs a fighting style for. If it turns out they actually need a gun or self defense against dog attack then the exercise will be a nice bonus
I think the biggest reason for the endurance/athletic/conditioning etc training between Fighting sports and most other sports is the time frame in which each sport generally lasts. To this day, Fighting, though the most physically demanding actions going on during the session, it's also the most short lived in terms of time frame. This is a given due to the nature of Fighting vs other sports. For example: Most of Mike Tyson's fights ended in the first round of a "scheduled " 12 rounds in his prime. That's a grand total of 3 mins or less for that fight. If the fight goes the distance, that's a total of 36 minutes with 60 second breaks in between. Maximum. In MMA it's a 25 minute maximum for the distance. The same principle is that it CAN stop early at any given time due to numerous things: k.o, injury, tapout, disqualification etc the time is never guarenteed. On top of that, anyone can land a lucky shot, have an off night, get caught off guard, get too cocky etc and win or lose due to those variety of factors regardless of the shape you're in. Generally, stamina only plays a factor as time goes on, but with countless times in the past, we've seen one punch etc k.os when both fighters are at their peak condition during the fight stamina wise. Fightings uncertain, unpredictable nature, philosophies, outcomes etc have people that see advantages and disadvantages to all shapes, sizes, skills, etc as well as relying on power etc to end it early since it's a possibility. With all things combined, these athletes overall won't have the same incentive or need to ALL be in tip top shape for what is so uncertain, on top of being in the best shape not guaranteeing Victory either. Always a bonus to be in shape etc but Fightings nature and unpredictability with the sports time limit, rules etc make it not the highest priority even though the stakes are so much higher. On the flip side, sports such as basketball, football etc these athletes WILL play the entirety of the game. Unless someone catastrophic happens, the game will go on to the distance even if one team is losing badly. Basketball has much longer active time than a round of boxing though the stakes are lower. 12 minute quarters which equals 4 rounds of boxing. Now, the difference is that it's a team sport, so whistles are blown, free throws, time outs, substitutions etc all happen. Even still, star players usually play damn near the entire game without coming out. That's nearly an hour of very physically demanding activity at a quick pace etc. You MUST be in shape! There's no other way around it. There is no early stopping for something like a knock out. The game will finish. If rules were different in each sport, say in fighting, a tapout had to happen 5 times etc then itd be a much different story. You can't change a knock out haha when you're out you're out, not to mention the safety of someone who has just been rocked would be in serious jeopardy trying to force them to continue fighting strictly for a longer time frame. Not even close to being worth it, but also shows why stamina doesn't play as huge a factor because of how high the percentage is of fights ending early in there already shorter time span than something like basketball. Could you imagine if scoring a shot in basketball was the equivalent to a knock out in Fighting? Haha. First team to score wins......go home. Who's buying those tickets haha not I said the fox. Everything just comes down to the demands of the particular sport. Fighting is the only sport were causing damage, pain, injury, knock outs etc are intentional to the point a person cant continue. A small confined area where two trained fighters are aiming to end each other. It's no way that will go the same time frame for 12, 15 mins at a time. The original Ultimate Fighter had those long rounds where was no holds bar. But things have changed dramatically, and so has the type of training and preparation that goes into each sport. Fighting is much more complex because of so many variables that can help or hinder success. Other sports just have a more solid foundation on expectations ong with being less dangerous, less violent, a team to help, and clear recipes for Victory.
I think weight classes make your argument true, if there wasn’t weight classes, hafthor bjornsson would have the ideal body type for fighting. Imagine basket ball that had height classes.
Yes!!! I went around, 20 years, started with 3 years of tae kwan do, long enough to get a first dan, picked up muay thai and jui jitsu, been studying wing chun to the best of my ability solo, which has affected my style for sure. But I have dedicated the last 2 years to studying strength and conditioning instead and just maintaining fairly basic skills.
when I was a kid there was a tv show called superstars where athletes from different sports competed in a multi events competition to find the fittest, soccer players, rugby players, climbers, runners. Judo players won by a mark...
Yo Ramsey, question If you had to pick 1 striking art and 1 grappling art to specialize in, only what would they be? I’m thinking boxing and Judo because you would e able to faint punches to go for grabs and slams while also maintaining the base required for both
Dominick reyes & Paulo costa took this video to heart. they believed their athletic ability would beat a solid base of fundamental skills & experience.
Awesome video, makes me feel better about spending more time in the weight room than in mma classes. I’d love to see a video on some good stretches for flexibility for combat sport specifically
? Balance it out. Too much weigtz and you get strong but tire faster due to all the muscles you carry. You need to train for fighting, endurance, strength is.just one aspect unfortunately. I was former powerlifter
Gold Animal yeah I know. I’m only young so I’ve plenty of time to improve technically. It’s harder to build an athletic base later on. Appreciate the advice
If you're a big man with big strength then use that with your technique properly. If you're light on your feet and quick use that with your technique properly. But make sure you do your jogs and sprints.
Being big and strong is way better than being a good fighter for a fight. Infinitely better. If you had to pick, I would pick size and strength literally every time. At a point you can out power any possible technique. But luckily you don’t have to pick. Do both
Even more important I think is the ability to take punishment. Which is conditioned in boxing and a few others. Of course a lot of it is innate chin too
How so? Heavyweight boxers we got Ali, Louis, Lewis, Foreman, Sonny Liston, Jack Dempsey and Michael Moore were all fairly big with Dempsey, Johnson and Sonny leaning more to the cruiserweight height.
I think it has to do with statistics. Less than 50% of men are taller than 6ft, and of those very few are taller than say 6'4-6'6. So there are lots More heavyweight fighters that are 5'11-6'2 than there are taller guys, so there is more chance that the talents are that height than taller.
