Dog Brothers Public Forum

Thanks for the reply...

I don't think I know who that Stephen R. is ... I haven't come across anyone crosstraining in stickwork / FMA but then again as I said there's a lot of people out there doing BJJ at the moment and it's certainly possible.

I thought fencing helmets alright but wasn't sure if they were overkill initially - sounds like they'd be a good investment either way.

I actually made it down to Molesworth st. to train with you guys one night but to be honest the timing doesn't suit and I'll hold my hands up and admit I didn't have the patience for the drills (I know, I know...).

Hello all-

I wasn't sure whether this would be better in the DBMA instructor list threads, but then I thought those might be being preserved for admin/Guro Crafty's posts only.

My question is -

Are there any Dog Brothers Martial Arts training groups or instructors operating in Las Vegas?

Incidentally I headed down to a Warriors Escrima class that runs in dublin on thursday and met bambi/oisin. The coach, john, was good enough to spend a lot of time showing me some of the basics. Schedule clashes a bit with my BJJ but I would like to head down again.

Didnt get a chance to watch the footwork dvd yet...

I recently received the 'Power' and 'Footwork' DVDs from the original Dog Brothers Martial Arts series.

As the nearest Dog Brothers affiliates are in Scotland and England, this seemed the easiest way to get a taste of what DBMA involves for the moment, especially as I'd heard that these volumes were geared towards solo training. Unlike a lot of people here, I have no background in the FMA, the only frame of reference I have for this stickfighting material is the MMA gym I train in and a few different ASP and baton certifications I've done.

Yesterday I watched the 'Power' DVD and then dug out my heavy rattan stick and tried to mimic Top Dog's approach to power generation and the angles he was using.

A few observations-

- Sometimes it seems like the harder you are trying to hit the harder the stick is to hang onto. I have done ASP certification courses and observed the same phenomenon with people losing their baton during pressure-testing- it's usually the people giving it their all as opposed to the ones taking it easier.

- I think experience of Muay Thai helped with getting the hip in to generate power in my strikes, but the overall structure in terms of stance and the way you use the off-hand is different enough that it felt tricky. I'm used to having my strong side back, and to a degree I didn't know what to do with my offhand beyond getting used to occassionally sending it out as if to check someone trying to crash in. Obviously in a stickfight it would be vulnerable to getting smashed if it's floating around too much.

I hammered on some car tires for a while and also tried out an exercise I glimpsed from the DVD where Top Dog threw a tire and then roof blocked and closed the distance striking to it, to pick it up and repeat. Excellent drill.

While I appreciate that there's only so much you can really achieve on your own, and that's why I've been eyeing up flights to various DB affiliates' training, I'm satisfied that the 'Power' DVD has been a good introduction to the general topic of real-contact stickfighting, and I've got some things to think about and work on.

It's interesting because I am not against kids competing in MMA as much as I am against them competing in Muay Thai or Boxing.  I think MMA has the potential to be much safer as it is with adults fighting than stand-up only ring sports.

Hey all-

Like Ryan, I think I'd be more worried about kids boxing than doing MMA. I didn't get a chance to watch the original video but I did a search on YouTube for more and alot of the videos I found of similar stuff involved a limited amount of effective striking and was much more clinch and takedown orientated.

Here in Ireland there is a successful 'MMA league' for people who want to try MMA but not jump into pro-rules. For these bouts no headshots are allowed, and this format has been quite succesful. The kids matches here I have seen at shows have used this rule format, although the kids participating were all in their mid teens, and in skill terms they were already seasoned grapplers. Maybe this would be a good compromise and avoid some of the visceral reaction people who are outside of the sports might have to this kind of thing.

The issue of what consititutes exploitation of kids who are willing to fight at adult shows is a trickier issue that I don't feel qualified to answer. It would seem to be part of a broader debate about at what age kids would be allowed to test themselves in tough sports, it would have implications for other pursuits not just MMA.

Hi all-

First post, but I've been lurking for a while.

This is a bit of a random first question, but I was wondering whether the karambit is part of the curriculum in DBMA?