Martial Artists Hate Strong People ( With Zack Telander) 

My judo sensei always says, “Doing martial arts without strength is like driving a car without an engine.”

Martial arts techniques are just power multipliers. If you don’t have a lot of power, you’re not multiplying much.

I definitely used to think strength doesn't matter - until I fought a strong person 😅 Strength training is a HUGE part of self defence training

Instead of sticking on to the lie that martial art alone will help you beat up bigger guys and you don't need strength training, why don't people think about amplifying their own techniques with strength training to make it work even better on most opponent

Strength and size matters! Otherwise there wouldn’t be weight classes in combat sports.

I am 5'8 and 255lbs and was an amateur strongman in addition to growing up on my grandmother's farm so I used to plow through people in wrestling and jujitsu until I met this 6'7 275 lb Russian farmer who was a former strongman as well and was able to go toe to toe with me in a fight. I was never so out of breath as when fighting another farm boy. Moral of the story being stronger and heavier does not make a fighter inherently unskilled it just allows for techniques to be applied with less percentage of resistance to overcome.

Whats better than being able to perfectly execute an armbar? Being able to perfectly execute an armbar and being 200lbs of muscle 💪

"Technique is nothing more than an efficient application of strength and power..." this is very well put!

Streng and volume by itself is already a form of self defense, no one wants to fight a bigger dude

Couldn't agree more with this video. I'm 121kg at 183cm and have regularly tapped out people who are way better than me on a technical level, just by bulldozing through their technique. It has been eye-opening for me when I moved a few years ago and had to find a new gym, where two of the teachers are more or less my size AND have better technique. Also, before Covid started we got a new guy to the gym who is a former American Footballer & Strongman @204cm/165kg, even though he is only starting out with martial arts, it was a hell of a workout to spar with him. Definitely hope he keeps showing up once this shit is over.

One of the more funny memes I’ve seen is that Derrick Lewis “just stands up” when he’s being out grappled on the ground. While to act like he doesn’t have a clue how to grapple is ridiculous, his strength is such a huge factor that it looks like he just does it with no technique.

I think the problem is that most martial artist have a wrong idea of what strenght is.. they see this druged up bodybuilders and fake natty instagram people showing their muscles and they think nahh i dont need that. But getting really strong on things like squats, deadlifts, powercleans, push presses, aka the big exersizes that uses your body as one unit, can make you a mutch better fighter and you are missing out a lot if you do not get strong. Maybe not if you only compete against your own weight class, but for yourself getting a more strong and fuctional body, you cannot skip on strenght and power.

Once upon a time I was actually against lifting weights for martial arts thinking it would make me slower. Throughout the years I've learned that not only will it make you stronger but the right kind of weight training can help your speed. So these days I advocate weight training in martial arts.

I played football and threw shot put all throughout my schooling. When, I went was in college, I was 6’4 250 lbs and benched over 500 lbs.. I was very interested in martial arts, but everywhere I went, and I went everywhere I could find, they were like, why are you here dude? I felt very out of place. Virtually nothing they did worked on me anyway even when I wasn’t resisting much. Then, I went to a Judo club. The head instructor was like, this is awesome. You will be a monster. I loved it. Unfortunately, I had to move. There were no Judo clubs anywhere. I had to go back to a traditional TKD/Hapkido place again. I tried a Kung Fu place, an Aikido, place. Once again, why are you here man? “No one is going to bother you. You are a hulk’ I said, I am just looking for a new sport that I can train in for the rest of my life and enjoy. You can’t play football and throw shot put when you grow older. I had boxed as a child, so I thought about that, but there were no boxing clubs anywhere. No wrestling for adults either. I went to a kickboxing/MMA club. They were like, dude you will be awesome. So, I have stuck with it ever since. I still practice 4 times a week, I have throwing dummies to practice my throws, lift weights, and have a small kickboxing club. I have come to the conclusion that most traditional martial arts and I, are incompatible.

To be honest, I think that strength training and general fitness is much more important than martial arts. As much as I love MA, combat sports and even fighting, the overall benefit of those things is kinda limited. On the other side, being strong and fit will help you in pretty much every aspect of life.

As a 6ft6 110KG dude who loves strength training I couldn't agree more, just being bigger and stronger than the other guy makes it SO much easier to apply and resist techniques

Ramsay - "Neil Melanson wrote the book on triangle chokes" Me Internally - " Oh wow, that's high expression of praise. Guess he's really go-" *Ramsay literally shows the book Neil wrote on triangle chokes called Mastering Triangle Chokes* 😂😂 that really made me laugh haha. The dry delivery of the shout out as well.

I was in a martial arts class once - Judo. I was the strongest in the class, as a white belt. The teacher said technique is all that matters. After I learned a few moves, I beat everyone in the class until I got to the blue belt. He kicked my ass thoroughly. But he was alot stronger than me too.

The problem is winning fights is not necessarily about strength, yet isn't at the same time. If someone is really that much stronger than you, you should not engage in ANY kind of grappling engagements willingly. If they are stronger your goal in that fight is to keep them from utilizing that to their advantage as best as you can. Fast arm and leg strikes to key parts of the body are what you want to focus on. Let's say I'm in that situation. I'd aim for the knee cap with a roundhouse kick or a similar move. Why? Because its a weak point that could completely neutralize that opponent or put him in a weaker position since now with a hurt leg that size difference may no longer be an advantage for him. Combat isn't just about raw strength or knowing techniques. It's about mixing the two with strategic planning and quick thinking.

We need a modern karate kid where Johnny is super strong and athletic, Danny learns a marital art, but the fight at the end of the movie is gritty and tough. It’s not a clean win for Danny, because it’s made obvious that johnny is stronger and tougher. Then at the end they both come away with a message. Danny needs to lift, and Johnny needs to train for the sequel.

My perspective on this changed when I started rolling with really strong people with less experience who were giving me a really hard time. I also learned about the Great Gama and the fact that a lot of old school grapplers were also strongmen. Those experiences showed me the value of technique specific strength training.

Never understood why people can’t accept size and strength matter. There not the only factor of course but so much goes into fighting, technique , experience, mindset, skill and the size of the person there fighting. Like no legit fighter goes into a fight with a much bigger stronger person the same way they would against someone half their size. They adjust because size is a factor .

Being a strong guy and knowing martial arts are the best combo.

I loooove when a bigger stronger "less technical" opponent destroys his "more technical" competition and the purists lose it. Size and strength are massively important for any sport, especially a literal fist fight

Strength definitely makes a difference. Hence the reason there are weight categories in martial arts and boxing competitions.

There was a man in history called Ivan Poddubny. A living legend proving that brutal strength really supplements technique

I have not had the chance to train in martial arts yet, but when I saw a video from Ramsey describing how one technique for a choke could be overpowered if he was around 30% stronger than his opponent (and then clarified that a different technique would be better for opponents that much stronger), that’s when I understood the importance of strength. It’s also why I value his lessons. They’re nuanced, descriptive and honest.

Ah yes, kettlebell motivation. I had an instructor who told us not to lift weights or practice stretching. Because strength training would block our Qi and stretching would build up ‘scar tissue’ (it doesn’t. Please lift and stretch). Funny thing is he was a former champion power lifter and could pull off all kinds of crazy stretches. And when he fought he wouldn’t use the soft internal techniques he tried to teach his students. No, he would drag people in close using his superhuman squishing power - always barreling down the middle. Years later I got to train with the teacher of this aforementioned instructor. Skinny old Korean man who could actually use internal striking power and flawless grappling coupled with perfect evasive footwork. One of the first things he said to me in his broken English was “need lift weights. 50 reps! 50 reps!”

During my first year of high school, I remember my ability to fight went through the roof after just one season of cross country. Suddenly I could kick harder, more often, and I never got tired.

You don’t get out of most real world fights unscathed - Signed, real world.

Its not about being able to beat everyone in the world or living forever. Just being able do your best.

100% man. Weight classes are there for a reason.

"Lifting is the most important thing for being good at Jiujitsu , the second most important is being good at Jiujitsu." - Keenan Cornelius Btw your kettlebell video is great. Gyms are again being fully closed here to curb down the corona rate and gotta again do with what I've at home - a 16kg kettlebell, a few resistance bands and a pull up bar.

I think a lot of that is because a lot of the martial arts community is made up dudes that were bullied as kids. They learned martial arts so they could beat up the big dudes who always messed with them and embracing strength training kinda breaks the spell so to say. It kinda means accepting the fact that the bigger dude will probably still kick your ass and for a lot of these guys that's a tough pill to swallow. Let's be honest here as well unless you're insane (guilty) working out kinda sucks. For most people working out is just that, work. Marital arts is their hobby it's fun lifting a heavy barbell over your head isn't.

I did boxing and judo, and I've always found it strange how some martial artists are basically against strength training. I've been lifting since high school, and its basically improved every facet of my martial arts training by leaps and bounds. Great video explaining things! Insta subbed!

Francis alone shows you why being big and strong helps you in martial arts he isnt even the most skilled of heavyweights but he is the scariest

The appeal of focusing on skills for self defense is that they're relatively fast and easy to improve. Improving strength takes far more time, exertion, and persistence. Even after months of training you might not see much improvement in strength. Learning new techniques can improve your fighting ability almost immediately. But this advantage is also its biggest disadvantage, because your opponents can learn effective techniques just as fast and easy as you can. So you can't count on having a skill advantage.

I remember these types of comments on hafthor vs mcgregor scenario when you said something like its Connor that needs the training "run little gingerbread man run". People basicly saying Connor knows bjj he would choke him out, and all that. To me its same type myths that 50 kilo female if she just knows bjj will beat 100+ kilo strong man.

Bruce Lee was among the very first people who realized the importance of strength training. He regularly Incorporated typical strength building lifts and workouts in his training. After all, if you don't have the strength, your punched and kicks are useless, no matter how perfect your technique is.

This. I have always had other martial artists be super rude just because I'm stronger than most

Both Stipe vs Ngannou fights show why strength matters. Ngannou wasn’t at Stipe’s level technically in the first fight and lost. By the second fight, he had closed the gap enough to land that knockout punch. Everyone knows Ngannou throws bombs but once he developed the right approach, his strength helped end the fight.

Put on over 10 pounds of muscle over quarantine and hardly anyone rolls with me now.

Through the years training i've come across many husband and wife run gyms/dojo's and the best are always were the husband is this military/ex military/intervention swat member dude build like a freakin MBT that can plow through a reinforced concrete wall while the wife comes in Hobbit size. And when the husband is doing his gung-ho speech about self-defense and combat potential of his chosen art, the wife is vigorously nodding from behind his 2cityblock wide back going: "And it really works!!!" And it always brings a smile to my face. Like how Rocky vs Draco is a movie about a fight between an American and Russian Athlete, Draco vs Adrian would be a movie about a Russian assaulting an American-Italian woman.

Oh yeah, as a guy that's always been complimented on how fast, strong and overall athletic he is, I've always had to deal with the eye rolling of anti-muscle, anti-strength, "technique-aholics". Always quick to lecture me on how strength means "nothing" and the common spiel. It's like dude, I have nothing but respect for martial arts and learning proper technique/fundamentals, but to try to down on strong or athletic guys so hard only makes you look insecure and self-limiting. Which is ironic because a true martial artist would be open to doing things that enhances their abilities. This includes getting stronger.

I think most martial artists are 'sold' the idea that their martial art can teach a smaller person to defeat a larger person. They cling to this idea so much that often they don't realize that *every* martial art boasts this same advantage.

Ironically in TKD and other arts and schools they sometimes emphasise the need to become better, physically. Whereas other less decried arts do not necessarily. At my school the instructor says to be a black belt you need to answer the question. "Am I physically better than when I started?"

First time going to BJJ I was mopping the floor with white and blue belts because I had done judo as a kid and and an insane amount of strength training (12 years) of heavy compound movements. I also played cricket professionally so I did a lot of plyo's and anti rotational core work. Watched a few youtube videos on how to do shrimping, kimoras, arm bars and triangles and went to my first session. Everytime someone got into mount I was just able to stand up or casually toss people off me and peeps looked at me like WTF. I thought I was doing shit wrong but everyone I was rolling with was like you're built like a brick shithouse and you've got some basic techniques down. You've already shot past most people by default.

Strength training is a must for longevity....

Great post. It is amazing how many people cite Bruce Lee (myself included) but neglect he spent years trying to become bigger. He wrote and said that strength and conditioning was integral to martial arts training.

When I started going to MMA class there were these two dudes that went there for some time and weighted like 10kg less. Anyways on my first day with no experience what so ever we did wrestling and they were just flying around the mat. The thing is when you're used to deadlifting 3x their bodyweight you don't even have to try you just grab, toss, grab, twist and wait for tap.

I think after reading / watching Dragonball, we know the importance of a fit, fast and strong body

Why wouldn't you try to get stronger AND more technical? Traditional martial arts in the west created this myth that you must choose one. That's not true. You must improve in everything!

Seen adesanya vs błachowicz? the weight difference was not so different and adesanya is an elite striker still lost due to higher weight class

I would compare being a good fighter to being a good British longbowman; it doesn't matter how good you can aim with some jungle tribe hunting bow if you're not strong enough to pull the string back on the longbow you will be no good as a longbowman

Contact sports are still prohibited for adults over here because of the virus, and most 'normal' gyms are closed too, but I have found one that's open where they have put barbells and squat racks outside on the parking lot. Your video inspired here inspired me to lift like a madman over there so I can try to Hulk Smash my training partners when the combat sports gyms open up again.

Your opening statement summed it all up Ramsey, this is true guys. Many examples to share about how much of an astonishing difference strength can make when you combine it with martial knowledge! A couple of examples would be 1. Jan Vs Adesanya .. Israel Adesanya is an elite kickboxer and one of the most wonderful strikers in the world but Jan being a well rounded martial artist whos also hella strong turned that fight around like no other! And example 2 is Derick Lewis .. this guy gets up off the ground with such ease it makes his opponents doubt their ground game and Jiu-Jitsu for months! .. yes strength will - god willing - take you to heights you can’t reach with only skills! Edit: an oak tree like strongman who also know how to fight proficiently will be your worst nightmare no matter if you have a 100 degree chrome belt. Remember that!

Daniel Cormier is an inspiration for his ability to demolish way bigger, scarier dudes than him, fighting heavyweight beasts at 5’9.” I know the weight is around the same, but the size and strength differences are still real

My friend said 20 pounds doesn't make a difference, I told him "drop it on you and tell me how you feel afterwards."

You know what else I hate... when people say "if there's a skill disparity the more skilled person will win, but if they're the same skill the bigger person will win". Obviously everyone agrees a big person will beat a small person if they literally have the same exact skill, but what no one talks about is just how much less skilled a big person can be to still defeat the smaller skilled opponent.

I have to say you are the most honest person when it comes to Martial Arts. I get tired of hearing that a 135 pound man can submit a 225 pound man who trains in strength training with just good form.

Martialists should focus on powerlifting style training of heavy sets with long rest intervals coz that increases strength without increasing size and helps in being same category. Nowadays martailartist are more focused on strength than technique

I think the really big issue is WHY it is such a movie trope... It's not that we are trying to divorce strength from technique, it is that we are trying to divorce ourselves from reality. We live (at least here in America) in a society of ideology, and one of those ideologies is that we want to believe there is a way for the average person to overcome extraordinary adversity knowing that the average person is preemptively lazy and conflicted while the adversary is more preemptively aggressive and focused... and that is a pure idealism that is not based within reality at all. The truth is that divorcing anything from any other thing only causes further suffering, because all things work together for the good of each other in their natural state. We are trying way too hard to divorce ourselves from our natural state in order to prove that we are beyond the need for such things... but that will never be true, because war waged against ones self can never be won.

As a 3rd deg in Kempo strength training along with muscular endurance teaches you the the best points of leverage to apply your moves and you cannot win if you don't know your own limits and weight training helps you find those limits (also it is the man not the art that wins or loses) Someone will always be stronger or smarted you can only be your own best self.

This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. I have been in so many dozens of fights of fights when I was younger (Yes, I know, Ramsey doesn't consider it a fight when it's two unskilled people brawling in the street but the term works here.), often as the poor nerd facing down the big jock. I won, but only because my opponents had never really thrown a punch before. They tried to like... club with their hands. They couldn't utilize their strength. Where as I have had the misfortune of a lifetime of getting my ass kicked. You CAN beat a strength discrepancy, but only when there is a SERIOUS skill (and will, bullies are cowards) discrepancy. Neglecting strength and trying to rely on pure skill is insane. It's going out of your way to put yourself at a massive disadvantage. Believing your skill (Often dubious for a lot of these overly confident martial artists) will see you through alone is nuts. Shrink the strength difference through a bit of training, then make up the rest with skill. In my very, VERY limited study of martial arts I have never had an instructor who didn't include a lot of physical exercise.

Martial means war. How in the hell are going to even compete without strength. I remember taking an advanced karate class in college and the instructor basically got us in top physical shape. Ability is far superior than technique

I wasn't aware of this. I always liked lifting and martial arts.

I’m 5’6” and when I grappled a 6’6” person at a meat factory I used to work at in 1995, the only thing that helped me hurt him was head butting him in his lip. He was known for bullying others and didn’t expect me to do what I did . Having said that,after we were finished ,my eyes were bloodshot and I felt like I had wrestled a grizzly bear. I avoid conflicts with bigger and stronger people no matter how skilled I am . Especially at 50 years of age. Too old for that garbage.

I’ve always been saying this, before I started Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai, I would run and do calisthenics and because I had that cardio and strength, I may not have been a natural prodigy, but I wouldn’t gas out so quick during training.

For some reason it reminded me of Dragon Ball. Goku and Krillin train for a master of martial arts, and instead of teaching them martial arts, he puts them to workout their muscles for months. Subtle hint that all this crazy techniques don't amount to anything without strength.

Old school Karate and other martial arts includes strength training.

"In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn" -Phil Collins, Son of Man, Tarzan...it might be from some Disney movie, but when it comes to martial arts I live by this sentiment.

My teacher runs his martial arts in half of a steel building, the other half is his wife’s personal training business with a mini gym, they have a furnished shed outside they made into a mini apartment. When I try to mention the benefits of doing more than just martial arts for conditioning and proper nutrition(including sports nutrition because I work at a GNC) to my classmates they scoff at me especially those in the hapkido class, now the BJJ and Muay Thai classmates understand what I’m talking about. But one of the hapkido guys he started training in the gym part of the building and they’ve been giving him nutrition counseling. His performance in hapkido has improved so much.

It's like I keep telling my own students, "watch BAKI on Netflix, I can only take you so far, BAKI will take you the rest of the way".

That 1 dislike was some skinny dude who thinks strong people can't fight 😂. 48mins into this upload

There is a limit to what you can do with skill aswell as with strength, a good fighter should have both! Thank you as always for your wisdom Ramsey!

Traditional martial arts often still peddle the myth that training the technique itself provides all the strength you need. I started specific strength training to protect myself from injuries (had ACL reconstruction and several cracked ribs) and have seen my striking power AND technique improve hugely.

Strength is a cheat code. However, it makes it much harder to learn techniques right because even sloppy execution usually overpowers weaker opponents...

I practice judo and I’m a big man with a big belly (6ft, 350 + Lbs). As I strive to improve my health, my goal is to transform my body into a strongman physique. Not necessarily bodybuilding or cut, etc. I want to be built like the Mountain on “Game of Thrones”.

I trained Judo for 7 yrs in Poland in 1993-2000, strenght traning was part of every training 20-30min out of 90 min. Push ups, pull ups, squats (also with your partner on your back) jumping on boxes.. . When kids were 15 or older we have also weights and kettlebell. My trainer was in 65kg weight division (participant in Olympic game) and he could bench press 140kg. During sport capms we train 3 times per day, 1 technique or sparing, running, strenght training. What we hated was guys on steroids, no cardio, stiff, no dynamic power.

I'm a former professional cellist and an old teacher of mine defined Technique as "the physical ability to fully express yourself musically, without compromise". It was odd to me to think of it that way, that it was simply a way to effectively direct my force, so to speak. That concept in music dramatically improved my fighting.

When you fight weak people, you develop bad habits.

Well, i think this myth that size and strenght doesn’t matter exists in most martial arts communities. The thing is, even with enough scientific and practical evidence, ppl tend to ignore the fact that size end strength DO MATTER in a fight. Now, I’m not saying a guy weighting 70kg can’t beat another one who weighs 90kg, because he may, but the odds are against him and he’ll probably have a hard time trying to do so.

I started practicing BJJ at around 12-13 years old before I ever did strength training at the gym. I did okay, because no one at that age was lifting and everyone was on a pretty equal footing. I had a little natural strength and size to help me along, and I reached the orange-black belt as a junior (4th highest youth belt color) and I considered my progress fairly decent. While I was outperformed in sparring by some, no one could overcome me with brute strength alone. Then I got to around 16-17 years of age and I started sparring with a kid my age who had been lifting actively for around 2 years. This kid was incredibly strong. I still didn't work out besides doing some running, push-ups and pull-ups. My strength just wasn't enough to match him. The guy had a lower rank, but he was actually able to break some of my holds with pure strength alone. He was tough to handle even before he had learned much of the technical aspects of the sport. That's when I finally realized the importance of strength in martial arts. Needless to say, the guy really inspired me to join a gym. He had some crazy numbers, but the only lift of his I can remember was a 230 kg deadlift at 16 years of age. I pulled a difficult 130 kg on my first deadlift attempt and I just couldn't believe how someone could pull a 100 kilos more. I was humbled, but I got hooked on lifting. My coach was a little mad at me at first for coming to a BJJ session sore as f*ck from lifting (so sore I couldn't spar, basically), but my body adapted fast and I became a better martial artist thanks to the gym. Eventually I took a break from martial arts training because I moved and had other stuff going, and when I joined a new gym, I just couldn't get back to it with 100% new people and in a new environment. Lifting metal plates in the gym just felt much more familiar and cosy even in a new environment, and I ended up quitting BJJ and switching to just pure lifting. BJJ still influences my training a lot and I use many of the drills, movements and mobility exercises I learned from there as part of my lifting. Even though I haven't practiced BJJ in a few years now, I think I'm still as capable, or even more so, as a practicioner thanks to the huge strength progress I've had over the years.

I do straight powerlifting when I am exclusively working on BJJ. When I exclusively work on boxing ,then I go into doing Calisthenics and other traditional boxing exercises.

*Taps training partner with perfectly applied pull dominant kimura that and precision application of weight along the power line whilst controlling the head with my legs* “Bro you’re too strong”

We early bois

i've seen so many people try to say that strength doesn't matter. my sensei knows the importance of strength training. he has us do strength training. every... single.... class. strength is super important. he tells me and others that you need to be pretty healthy to really make it far in martial arts. I see why now.

Love this video and respect the humbleness in the presentation!

I only hate when strong people think they're big enough not to need technique. You get a big guy with great body mechanics, holy hell they're powerful! NGANNOU MUCH?

Too many people have grown up hearing "work smarter not harder" but took that to think that if they're just smart enough they won't ever have to work hard, which is crazy. Some things in life, no matter how optimally they are preformed, are just going to be hard. So maybe we should teach kids to work hard and do it smart.

I'm a reasonably strong casual weight lifter with a bench press of 400 lb and a seated shoulder press of 250lbs.... I'm only 5 foot 6 but wide in the shoulders ..when I'm either in a grapple or sparring with someone I never use my strength because it requires me to stiffen up in certain things especially when I'm doing the Filipino martial arts which isn't a good thing because inhibits movement of the blade and stick.. and I always thought that using strength was not a good thing until my instructor surprisingly told me that I should be able to power out of certain moves which kind of stumped me because I thought it was always counter productive to use strength... But he told me that sometimes when he watched me grapple there were situations he said he knew I could power out of and should have powered out of but didn't.. he said if you have the strength to break a hold then do it but if strength sometimes cannot get you out of a hold then you use technique... I was like wow! Some of the guys who were beating me with pure technique I was suddenly evening out the playing field by powering out of a lot of movements that they applied on me where previously before I thought that was just an indication of my lack of skill but he opened my eyes so My philosophy is now if I can power out of a technique without tiring myself out then why not and Any situation where cannot power out then that's when I use technique...so I think martial arts and strength go hand in hand .

You guys are very insightful into how most unexperienced people usually view muscles & strength versus athleticism & technique, both opposing sides will believe their side will destroy the other completely. I have to believe the deciding factor has to be the speed & reaction of the fighter, nobody can win a fight for being slow.

It’s starting to become more popular now to be both a martial artist and a bodybuilder/powerlifter. Baki helped popularize this for sure, as did Kengan Ashura, JoJo, Fist of the North Star. I’m not trying to just say anime/manga made an army of extremely muscular martial artists, but it certainly destroyed the notion of “Oh, you have to be small to do martial arts.” I’m 5’11 at 165 lbs of muscle, and I used to do powerlifting. Now I do more calisthenics and “prison-type” workout routines, and shadowbox. I used to get into street fights when I grew up in a rough area, and you’d be surprised how much MMA you end up using IRL. Whether consciously or unconsciously, your body will perform moves that may be unconventional in traditional martial arts, but quite practical in reality.

Technique is not the triangle choke, it's the misdirection, tactics, angles and timing disruption to allow you to apply the triangle and end the fight.

It takes many other characteristics of person to truly realize the reason and potential of your art.

Oh man, didn't realize you two collab'd. Zack's a buddy from way back, whereas I'm only now on a martial arts YT deep dive.

Yeah my brother is a jiu jitsu black belt. Hes 135. Im 214. I literally get up and walk with him.

thing is the guys who came in strong already at my jiu jitsu academy, were able to implement technique into rolling earlier on in their progression than people such as myself who started out of shape and unfit. They were able to get into favourable positions quicker and work proper technique right off the bat with other more out of shape white belts at a similar level to themselves and therefore progressed quicker. Those guys have since begun depending on their strength less to get them into favourable situations because their technique has improved, but they can now apply submissions and transitions with sound technique AND strength, and tend to come out on top in a scramble which is something that happens at all levels of technique.

Thank you for the upload Ramsey! You are both on point in this! Peace & Love!

As I asked my first Karate Sensei what is the best self defence training when I was 15. He said: "Strength training." I thought about this often and my first idea was, if you big nobody wants to fight you in the first place... I'm pretty strong myself and I often realize that I can overwhelm technical advanced partners, which is frowned upon quit a lot by my Sensei, who of cause wants me to learn and use technique not strength. I'm an ex Judoka and Karate (Wado Ryu) black belt. I currently train in Hanshi McCarthy "stile" called Koryu Uchinadi. I hope he never finds out that I called it stile.