Posts by Robin Palmer3

feraltinker19 said:So, my question is—does anyone happen to know where I can pick up some of those knee protectors in a city like Chicago? Something just like the one in this photo...

Those padded ones aren't actually meant for wrestling. You could just head to any local pharmacy and pick up some high-quality knee braces there.

Elon Musk, is there any club in the States that actually practices Sanda?

rustyangler02
Everyone at the local gym in the suburbs is a total beginner—so if he’s fine with that, he might as well join the crew, since everyone is basically starting from scratch anyway. Plus, it’s less than a ten-minute walk from his place over by the park to the club—definitely a nice little perk.

Anthony Parker3 said:Anyone here from the Bay Area?

Yeah—what’s on your mind?😉

shadowcyclist87 said:This is absolutely perfect for school—really top-tier stuff. 👍

A lot of the big hitters from my club who snagged medals at the recent National Championships just got official word from the US Olympic Committee and the Department of Education—they’ve been granted the right to reschedule exams by coordinating directly with their professors (which, naturally, they took full advantage of)—and so on.

Dana Barnes2 said:We were thinking at the UFC Crows.

Within the MMA club over in the Kaiser District, there’s also an American club where guys train in legitimate disciplines—think amateur Pankration or grappling. So—aside from me recommending a gym with a far superior coaching staff—I’m suggesting a place that actually holds official sports club status with all the attendant rights and responsibilities. For instance, any members wanting to compete (or even those who don't) have to clear medical exams at a sports clinic—a full checkup including an EKG runs about $6.75—plus kids and students can rack up plenty of school benefits through sanctioned competitions via these recognized clubs. It just makes sense.

Dana Barnes2 said:He hasn't signed up yet because he's still waiting on his gear, so that's why I'm asking.

My advice? Just have him sign up at the MMA club in the North Side district over by Kaiser. It’s mostly beginners there—perfect for starting out—and they work with this great young coaching duo who actually have real MMA experience. One of them is even a national grappling champion (you know, the submission stuff—leverage and chokes).

Dana Barnes2 said:Where can I pick up some MMA gear in Chicago for my son?
And what kind of budget should I set aside for it?

Which gym did he actually sign up for?

Jason Campbell70 said:Tonight was an absolute train wreck.

The challenger spent more than eleven full rounds just running circles around the ring.

And then—out of nowhere—some fluke shot that I’d call a pure lucky punch.

Boxing is garbage. At least, the version we're being served right now.

+1
Total waste of time. Unwatchable.

Given the influx of calls lately—and honestly, because I’m tired of answering the exact same questions over and over—I need to lay out the basics regarding our junior and beginner training sessions. For this group, we run Monday through Friday, starting at 8:30 PM. As for gear, you’ll need hand wraps, boxing gloves, and a mouthguard to get started. We're located over in the Dubrava area, specifically at 1 Vile Velebita St.—the gym is in the basement of the building right behind the Kaufland in Student City.
A lot of people ask if they can just drop by to watch first... and yeah, of course you can. Come take a look, no strings attached.

Douglas Garcia8 said:Hey there..

I was hoping I could ask you a few things about the club..

A friend and I are interested in joining—he’s 15 and I’m 16—so I guess I was wondering if we might be a bit too old for the beginner stuff or something...
Which days do you guys hold training sessions...
And what does the membership fee look like? (I think I saw something about it $77 online somewhere)
Also, would it be alright if we just dropped by to watch a practice first?

Just come down and take a look. There are plenty of kids your age here. Training for your age group is every weekday—starting at 8:30 PM—from Monday to Friday. Membership is currently $83.

quietcyclist35 said:Hey, what’s up everyone... does anyone happen to know if there are any decent MMA gyms on the East Coast? I’m looking to get back into training, but I haven't quite figured out where to start. Any specific spots you guys would recommend?

Douglas Garcia8 said:So, I’ve been thinking—I am looking for a Muay Thai club or maybe just some sort of martial arts gym around the Dubrava area of Chicago or somewhere nearby. I guess I'm just trying to find the right vibe for training.
I finally got a response regarding the training sessions—TRENK—and honestly, I was originally planning to head down there—but it turns out the schedule just doesn't work for me at all, considering I’ve got school in the afternoons...
I was thinking—and I'm just throwing this out there—that if it were at all possible, I’d really prefer to have the training sessions around 8:30 PM. I guess it might work better for my schedule, though I'm certainly open to hearing what everyone else thinks about it.

Just so I'm clear—I think I’d actually prefer to join the recreational group instead.

Swing by UFK Ban over in the Dubrava district—we’re located at 1 Vile Velebita in Student City. We run MMA, grappling, and Thai boxing sessions. For the juniors and beginners, we hit the mats at 8:30 PM.

feralviper72 said:Robin Palmer3, what's your take on these Kung Fu fighters now?😁
I was actually surprised to see they hold competitions in this style—it was a pleasant surprise, honestly.

I've known about these "kung fu" fighters for years—I even had an offer once to open my own Sanda club. As for how much this Kung Fu (Sanda, Sanshou) actually resembles traditional martial arts... well, if you ask me, it's basically just UFC without the ground game.👍

Glad you brought this up in this thread. It’s actually the exact same thing we deal with at my gym. If you take that kind of fighting style and add ground work, you basically have UFC right there.
That guy Kaoklai is an absolute phenom in the ring—a hell of a boxer—but he still lost his bout against the Sanda fighter because he kept getting tossed around the ring with ease, and in Sanda, those takedowns are everything.

Maria Morgan2 said:Larry Hall67, I see what you do for a living. So, I figured I’d share a few things with you. First off, I noticed you were looking into that SHAN kung fu club and Master Veljko Matokovic. Man, Veljko passed away back in '99—it was such a tragedy. I really hope he's resting easy now. I’ve heard some whispers from folks that the club hasn't actually been around for quite a while, so if anyone out there has any actual updates on what happened to the place, please, let me know. I’d really appreciate it.
Regarding Wing Chun and Tai Chi, I mean, they’re both pretty beautiful martial arts, just like any other discipline, I guess.
Wing Chun is definitely one of those hard styles, right? It's all about that explosive energy and raw speed... and you have to work both sides of your body equally. It isn't like, say, boxing, where everything is skewed. I'm a righty through and through, and I stay that way regardless of who I'm facing. Wing Chun fighters are probably the closest thing you'll get to wrestlers because everything happens at such close range. You end up using basically every part of your body in a fight. There are only three main forms, and honestly, I think learning how to execute them perfectly—especially the first one—is absolutely massive. Then you’ve got the "sticky hands" drills, which are used to sharpen the techniques from all three forms, and then the wooden dummy training, which does the same thing. They also have two weapon forms involving butterfly swords and a long staff. One thing though, there aren't really "sports competitions" for this. I mean, if they tried to make it a sport, they’d probably have to strip away half the techniques just to make it work, and people have tried that before, but it never really sticks.

Now, Tai Chi falls into the soft style category, sort of like a martial art mixed with therapy. Since the forms are trained for combat, they can double as therapeutic movements too, I suppose. In most clubs, you’ll mostly practice the first three forms, depending on how experienced the instructor is, and sometimes the Tai Chi sword form too. Back in the day, Tai Chi had tons of different forms, so a dedicated practitioner would basically have to spend their whole life training to learn them all.
Kung fu styles generally split into two camps: hard and soft. The hard styles mostly come from Northern China, while the soft ones hail from the South. Personally, I think Wing Chun and Tai Chi complement each other perfectly. Most masters of one usually have a really solid grasp on the other, too. I could probably go on forever about this, but those are just the basics, I guess. If you want to know anything else, just ask.

And seriously, don't listen to all that nonsense people spout to trash-talk any specific style. Every single discipline is worth learning, really. How effective or practical it ends up being just depends on how deeply we understand it, how hard we train, and—obviously—how good the person teaching us actually is.
Anyway, cheers, and welcome to the world of martial arts fanatics.

I’m with you on that—though if I may add—everyone should dabble in other combat sports and disciplines at some point; it’s a real eye-opener. That’s actually why I’m into MMA—it introduced me to a massive range of skills I knew absolutely nothing about before. In my previous post, I suggested that the Wing Chun crowd should definitely try sparring with practitioners from other styles, and I’ll reiterate that recommendation here. No offense intended.

Maria Morgan2 said:Jamie Fowler2, what exactly are you peddling over there? Maybe some candy corn and peanuts—if that’s even your speed. 😁 Based on those few words you just dropped—I think I’ve figured you out. You probably trained under that specific GRGE guy. Besides, you clearly have zero respect for any skill you haven't personally mastered or practiced yourself. And last thing—you obviously LOVE bureks. I have one question for you: Did you maybe take a hit to the face from someone who actually trains Wing Chun or Tai Chi? 😁
I’m looking for an answer here—and please, let’s keep this civil—but I’m expecting one.

Question for you—has anyone ever actually taken a beating from someone training Wing Chun here in the States?🤷
I see plenty of enthusiasts for this art—but honestly, all these Wing Chun devotees really ought to test themselves in a sparring session against someone from a different striking discipline. It’s about seeing a completely different tactical mindset in action. As it stands, it feels like Wing Chun only offers solutions within its own narrow framework. Go ahead—try finding an answer to an attack by stepping into the ring with a boxer, a kickboxer, or better yet, a Muay Thai fighter.
I’m already seeing posts from Wing Chun trainees who can't even spar with anyone else—mostly because they rely on those reckless eye gouges and groin strikes—so please, let's try to keep the responses a bit more intelligent.🙄
I’m asking the Wing Chun crowd to weigh in on this—it’s been way too long since we had a real debate like this.😁
p.s.
I’d like to ask placidbison20 to move this over to the Wing Chun thread—honestly, it belongs there.

Larry Hayes said:I honestly can't recall right now, but I was browsing online and it seemed to suggest you need some prior experience before you can even start training. I guess it might have been written in German, American, or English... I'm not entirely sure.

That’s definitely not the case here in New York—I can't think of a single gym in the city that enforces rules like that. You probably stumbled onto some niche MMA club in Miami or something.

hiddensailor14 said:
Robin Palmer3Do you offer extra sessions focused on personal philosophy, spirituality, and deep mindset work specifically for advanced students—or is that stuff just baked into the standard training for everyone?😬

I’m an agnostic—not exactly someone burdened by religious dogma—so I don't deal much with that stuff. My circle consists of people who practice all sorts of different beliefs; honestly, it wouldn't be fair to bog them down with anything other than MMA and everything else that comes with the sport.
p.s.
It’s an interesting observation—I’ve noticed that my most effective fighters are always those who aren't religious—whether they're agnostic or full-on atheists.😁

hiddensailor14 said:What’s your take on the guy, Robin Palmer3? Is he actually sane—or just some deep-seated philosopher who needs a pass for his nonsense?😁

Look, I'm not saying anything about that guy—honestly—but he certainly provides some interesting premises for discussion on this forum.😉😁.

Let’s wake this forum up—here’s a topic we’ve circled back to plenty of times, but it never gets old. Read through this piece, and if anyone feels like diving in, feel free to drop a quick summary so we can actually get a discussion going.
http://subversivethinking.blogspot.c...wrestling.html