General Chat & Info Board

Are you in St. Louis? I know Huber has a club there that offers everything—MMA, kickboxing, aikido, jiu-jitsu—but honestly, based on what I saw from his kickboxers, I wasn't impressed at all. I wouldn't recommend it.

Justin Adams5 said:Around St. Louis? I know Huber runs this club where they do everything—MMA, kickboxing, aikido, jiu-jitsu—but honestly, looking at his kickboxers, I wasn't impressed at all. Wouldn't recommend him.

I heard the same thing about Huber. He’ll give you some basic training, then hand you off to some amateur who can't even hold a guard, tell you to go beat them up, and then brag about it in the local paper...

I actually heard there's this boxer running sessions out of some makeshift shelter nearby, so I was thinking about checking that out instead...

A buddy called me about Tae Kwon Do, too, but I have no clue what that actually entails or if it’s even useful for anything in a real fight.

Look, I’m not some huge Taekwondo fanatic. Honestly, the kicks in Muay Thai are just much more powerful and do way more damage. You see more of them in Taekwondo, sure, but I don't know how practical they are for actual self-defense—you're constantly swinging your legs high up in the air, and there aren't any low kicks. I’m not saying there aren't great fighters who practice Taekwondo; I know plenty of them, but if we're strictly talking about techniques, Muay Thai is miles ahead. In the kind of Taekwondo you learn in most local gyms, everything is waist-up with the legs; you don't get any hand strikes, knees, elbows, or takedowns.
You pick up a little bit of self-defense, I guess, but it’s nothing special.

I'm not even sure if I'm doing Muay Thai or kickboxing at this point... anyway, thanks for the tips... you training Muay Thai yourself? Maybe I'll just pick up some other martial art on the side too, just for kicks.

jadeseal81 said:I didn't say I do Muay Thai or kickboxing... anyway, thanks for the advice... do you train Muay Thai yourself? Maybe I'll pick up another martial art just for fun along the way.

Yeah, I train Muay Thai. There's a link to my gym in my signature.😉
Tomo used to train at our place before he opened his own studio over in Chicago.

So, this guy named Tom from Chicago came out to Osage to run some training sessions for us. It was pretty brief, but honestly? He’s a solid coach. I actually really dug his style—his drills were spot on. Look, I’m not hating on Tom; he’s actually a good instructor. But man, there was zero individual attention. You’ve got 30, 40 people crowded into one session, so you can imagine how much "personal coaching" we actually got.

jadeseal81 said:Some guy named Tomo from the big city used to come down to our area to run training sessions. It was brief, but he was actually a solid coach. I really dug his style. He’s definitely not a bad trainer—actually quite good—but you don't get much one-on-one time. We'd have 30 or 40 people in the gym at once, so it was pretty crowded.

Look, Tomo from the city is one of the coaches at my club. Honestly, very few people in this part of the country know Muay Thai as well as he does. The guy is a beast.
As for the one-on-one coaching? Well, there are a million of us at the club too. You have to earn your stripes. You have to stand out so people notice you. When I first started, I was always stuck at the back of the gym, and nobody paid me much mind. But they saw I was putting in the work and that I had grit, so they started giving me more attention once I expressed interest in competing. In my opinion, every serious gym operates this way. They want to see who’s persistent and who isn't going to quit—and in Muay Thai, that's everything.

Look, you've got a point there... but honestly, I’m not even gonna bother arguing about it. No matter how much heart you pour into any club, you’re always gonna be fighting an uphill battle against whatever buddy happens to be close with the coach.😠

jadeseal81 said:You're right about that... but I'm not looking to get into an argument. No matter how much heart you put into any club, the guy who's close with the coach is always going to win. 😠

Everyone in the club knows this coach. After being here for a while, you’ll find that if you work with any decent instructor, you're going to get good fast. It’s simple: any competent trainer is going to pour their energy into the squad that actually shows up and puts in the work—the ones with actual potential. That’s the whole point of a serious gym. It's all about proving yourself in competition. If a fighter performs well on the big stage, that's the ultimate proof of how high-quality the training program really is. Sure, you’ll run into those freak talents who stand out just by sheer nature, but long-term? You need a solid crew behind you. You need great coaches, reliable sparring partners, and an atmosphere that pushes you. Without that foundation, you aren't going anywhere.

So, I saw somewhere—can't quite wrap my head around where exactly, honestly—but was there some BJJ club from, I don't know, maybe Phoenix or somewhere down south?? Apparently they were supposed to be hosting some seminars out in Miami or something during August or September? Does anyone actually have the scoop on this?

In Mostar, there's a Gracie Barra gym run by Slaven Planinić—he really ought to drop by this forum sometime.

I don't really have the time to dig through this entire thread right now... so could someone please answer

Is there a boxing gym in the West Side of the city, maybe downtown or somewhere nearby? 😁

And if you happen to have a link for one.. 😁

Thanks 🙂

This thread is all about boxing, so take a look around and get up to speed.

Hey 🙂

I’m 14 years old and I just started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu... I’ve been training actively for about a month now at an American academy called Team Edson Carvalho Arvin Widder.

I really dig the mechanics of the sport; I think it's a complete system—meaning you can actually apply these techniques to real life if you ever need to...

What I’m looking for help with is this: I’m about 5'7" to 5'8" and I’m hunting for a blue gi. Since I live in a small town where there's zero chance of finding one locally, does anyone know how much it would cost me to order one from a major US retailer? Also, which brands should I look into, and what's your overall take on BJJ?

Thanks 🙂

SiB said:look 🙂

I'm 14 years old and I just started BJJ [Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu]... I've been training actively for about a month now at a local club here, Team Edson Carvalho Arvin Widder.

I really dig the grappling principles; I think it’s a complete system, you know? Like, it’s actually practical stuff you could use in a real-life situation...

What I'm trying to figure out is—I'm standing about 5'6" to 5'8"—and I'm hunting for a blue gi. If anyone could help me out, I mean, I live in a small town where there's zero chance of finding one locally, so does anyone know what it would cost me to order one from overseas? Also, what's the price range, and what do you all think about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?

Thanks 🙂

Honestly, I don't think you can find any actual BJJ gis around here. Maybe check Dick's Sporting Goods or something, or just scour the internet. Otherwise, you might have to settle for a Judo gi—those are usually available in most shops.

Can someone please explain the whole BJJ thing to me? Like, what actually happens in there?

jadeseal81 said:Can someone please explain the whole BJJ principle to me? Like, what actually happens in there?

Fine, here’s the "CliffNotes" version:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_jiu-jitsu

Honestly, just get down to the gym and see for yourself.

I know you can't find any BJJ kimonos around here, but I'm actually looking for a blue one for Judo... since there's basically zero chance of us being able to track down a blue one here in the States.😕

jadeseal81 said:Can someone please explain the whole concept of BJJ to me? Like, what actually happens during a match?

http://ultimateclub.forumsplace.com/...u/pages/op.htm

😉

wanderingridge said:here’s a quick rundown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_jiu-jitsu

get your ass to the gym and see for yourself

thx