Fighting Sports and Martial Arts

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I recently started Boxing (about 5 months ago). Classes are twice a week; most weeks I go both days, some weeks not at all if I get too busy, but I never feel the pressure to drop out completely if I miss a few days, because no one else does and the gym mentality seems to be "we all have busy lives; this is important to us, but we all have other obligations, too".

I was a little nervous about trying it because team sports were always a nightmare for me: "Get in there and get the ball!" (executive processing overload!) "Where WERE YOU?!" (Good question. Physically? You were there, you saw me. Mentally? Somewhere near the Degobah system.)

And dance classes were aweful because you basically had to make sure your movements were just like everyone else's, and I even got in trouble during "free dance" because all I wanted to do was spin around in circles until I was so dizzy I fell down.

At any rate, I love boxing. For the most part it's drills, so you spend a lot of time perfecting punches, punching combinations, strength building exercises and so on. I think it helps that my particular instructor also works as a licensed counselor and got into boxing to work out her own anger issues. The emphasis of the class is that even though it's a group setting, it's an individual work-out and everyone works at their own level.

I find the repetition and physical activity to be extremely therapeutic, especially for working out aggression or frustration. I would really like to try Muay Thai, if it's possible wherever I end up for grad school.

Anyone else here into MMA, Karate, Jujitsu, etc? Do you like it better than other types of physical competition or training? Did you try it and hate it?

I have two medals in amateur freestyle wrestling from back in the 1980's. I originally took up wrestling in school because I was quite bad in most "ball" sports.

My favourite element of wrestling was the one-on-one interaction versus the need of group participation. I suspect that is what makes boxing attractive also. I have been a huge fan of boxing as a spectator since my boyhood, as my avatar clearly indicates. I've even helped out with some athletic training in the sport. I have received a couple of invitations to join boxing gyms in recent years but have always been reluctant to try it as a participant due to my wrestling background fearing I would instictively want to "tie up" with my opponent instead of throwing punches. FWIW, I've also done a bit of "lucha libre" entertainment for charity benefits in recent times.

As for taking on something like martial arts, I've always been turned off to "barefoot" sports as I've frequently suffered from severe athlete's foot since my college years. Perhaps I could be coaxed into trying Kung Fu or some style where shoes/slippers are always worn?

^ Baaadassss!

During my late childhood/early teens I used to do Taekwondo, I was one of the best among the kids, but couldn't quite compete with the adults. It was very fun the first few years, but later on the best two trainers got some health problems and couldn't teach anymore, and I was left with the douchy guy who wasn't even all that good.
On top of that I was starting to get addicted to the computer, so eventually I stopped going.

I sometimes think I should do something fighting-related again, but I just don't feel like leaving the house for it, commute and stuff too straining. My mom used to drive me to Taekwondo, but she doesn't have a car anymore.
In principle I still like it though.

I enjoy watching Muay Thai fights on Youtube irregulary.

Rockymtchris: that's bomb! And yeah, the one-on-one thing really seals the deal for me. Cool costume. Lucha Libre is fun; my fiance at one point in his life did a lot of "back yard" wrestling, and we watched the local indy wrestling circuit in our hometown before we moved.

Earthling: That's the thing that sucks, is that every teacher is different. I tried out Shorin Ryu Karate, but it was too much like a dance class, with no sparring of any kind. I kind of felt bad because I actually liked the Dojo a lot. If I had the time (maybe over the summer) I'd like to try Taekwondo; there are a few Taekwondo schools in the area.

Boxing also has a lot of appeal to me because my spine is fused from severe scoliosis, so I can't roll. Judo, Jujitsu and MMA are fun to watch, but my favorite intersection of "fun to watch" and "I want to try it" is definitely Muay Thai.

Thanks guys for your way cool feedback. The masked wrestler you see in the black patent jacket and shoes is my character "Macho Stinko". What you can't see is the furry black and white skunk tail in back that attaches to the trunks.
I also do another lucha libre masked personna called "Power Punk",

in addition to a nonmasked wrestler called "Superbole", here's basically that outfit, only missing the red tights:

These three are all considered "camp" characters, which are designed to provide lighthearted comic relief "sideshows" to fill time during main event segues.
Example:
Sorry to hear about your spinal condition, Pill. I haven't been able to wrestle FULL-length matches of any style since a complicated surgery I went through in 1998.
I still miss v these v days!

I used to wrestle in high school. I went to a weird school that was very sports centric and didn't have things like clubs or band because the interest wasn't there. So in an effort to be a part of a group and make friends I went out for the wrestling team. Their was no cuts because there was only ever like 4 people that came out each year. I enjoyed the practices and pushing my self because I was a health and fitness nut at the time and did track and cross country as well. But the actual matches were the worst part for me because I suffered from a lot of depression and self confidence issues back then (yea great combination for a wrestler right) and I never ended up getting that win I wanted so bad. looking back its probably a miracle that I never got hurt or badly injured because I wasn't always mentally or emotionally there. What's done is done but sometimes I wish I wouldn't have spent high school doing sports and instead used my time to develop skills that would have actually been useful to me.

Eh I'm interested in boxing and possibly martial arts but want to work on building a decent physique first before taking classes. Nothing serious/professional, just normal beginner classes and stuff.

I self-teach myself occasionally here and there, just the basics (stance, jab practices, some movements, etc.)

My older cousins absolutely ripped and I'm pretty sure he's just getting into MMA soon, so maybe he could teach me a thing or two.

And yeah, that's very impressive Mr. Rockymtchris

Thanks, Outrider.
Here in the US most boxing schools insist on conditioning pryor to getting into the ring for sparring and so forth. I assume the practise would be similar in Australia where strength training would be required each session before any technique teaching, so a "beginner" class should automatically come with the type of "workout" you would need.

My kids do Hapkido, today they past their belt exams and are now yellow and blue belts, it's perfect for them.

I took some Tae Kwon Do classes as a kid.

Yep. I started with wrestling in HS, then I did some jiujitsu in the army, followed by yawyan kickboxing and now I am doing MMA.

I absolutely love the science of it along with perfecting technique, like you said, the repetition. You will never run out of training and combat theories to read up on.

Also, my favorite part is the unlimited number of combinations. This creates an opportunity for calculation and pattern recognition, so I feel that it is mentally stimulating especially in jiujitsu. I love that it feels like a puzzle.

I also feel that the ultimate truth in society is that the one who makes law can only make law by surviving at all costs and that will always ultimately come down to his ability to rely on violent means. So, I think it is fundamentally a vital skill to have relative to survival, which is necessary in order to better humanity.

I trained in aikido for 15 years, through shodan+. Was a junior sensei at my dojo for a several years before I moved. I don't have any delusions about martial arts training - regardless of the style - being useful in most 'street' situations other than male cock-strutting for dominance, in which the participants have plenty of time to size each other up, but there is something very useful and true about interactions where failure means pain. The dojo is one of the few places where people make sense to me.

I've done a few years of boxing, and a bunch more years of Wing Chun. I am of the opinion that if the focus in PE classes in schools was shifted from BS team sports and onto various brands of martial sports, the floor would rise considerably with regards to discipline and focus, not to mention a steep drop in violence in school.

Did some kind of combat sport,martial art since I was a kid. Mainly due to being bullied when I was much younger. I've coached a little and have had fighters compete in several different sports from amateur to professional..mainly MMA, but also no gi grappling,bjj,submission wrestling,sambo.

My younger brother does karate. I used to do Karate a few years ago, but that's when I started coming down with depression and it shouldn't be rocket science to figure out the depression + anxiety + low self-esteem = issues.

I'm thinking about taking up Karate again, but first I need to sort out my mental difficulties and bring my fitness up a bit, both of which I'm actively working on.

Honestly though, I'm not sure my heart's in martial arts. I might just stick to strength training and take up yoga to balance it out. I'd prefer to have a quadruple barreled incendiary ammo shotgun for fighting.

I once wanted to take up either Judo or Taekwondo (my brother did try the latter for a few years - under the supervision of a legitimate 9th dan, even).

In hindsight it might be good that I didn't. Because of my sensory issues (can't read body language, hyper-sensitivity to touch, hypo-sensitivity to pain) I would probably end up getting myself or someone else severely injured.

Perhaps Aikido would be better for me, given its emphasis on avoiding injuries to both the attacker and the defender?

After all, this Aikido instructor (in an act of Zen enlightenment) demonstrates the most brilliant martial arts technique of all time: