I went to a "fight club" yesterday in San Francisco and got to fight a couple of guys for the first time ever. I have never been in  a real fight before so it was an interesting experience. I have trained with the lion's den but that was only a couple of months and I never did any striking. This was a couple of years ago to so my skills are not up to par. This fight club was pretty cool, just a converted storage room with mats and a ring. There were about 8 guys who showed up and all of em wanted to fight me. I was like the smallest guy there to. I wasn't talking shit or nothing either.

I was the first one to fight and won the first two fights, then the third guy mopped the floor with me. One thing I noticed was that when I got hit, it didn't hurt at all. I thought that punches would hurt like hell, but I didn't feel them at all while I was in the ring. I really feel them today though. Fighting for real is so much different then sparring. It was hard to try submissions while some gorilla was trying to pummel my head into the mats, but it was fun anyway. I know there are a bunch of guys here that do MMA, but how many of you have ever stepped into the ring or have done full contact? What was your experience like? I figure for my first time, 2 and 1 ain't so bad, especially since I am a heavy weight lard ass. All one hundred thirty five pounds of me. I think I'll do it again next week. I have to avenge my loss.

Another thing I noticed was that after the fight, I went over to my friends place and played a couple games of chess. Usually, I kick his ass, but after getting hit in the head a dozen times, I got slaughtered in chess. I'm talking like less than half a dozen moves on both games. Fighting isn't good for the brain, but oh well. Who wants to live forever anyway?

Yes, you got hit in the head, and by your own admission, you succombed to a chess match afterwards. Does this tell you ANYTHING??

Keep doing this, and you will suffer irreversible BRAIN DAMAGE!!

But you don't have to listen to me, do you?

Yea, but drinking a few beers does the same thing. After having a couple of drinks, I can't play chess worth crap. By the way, I redeemed myself today and avenged my defeats in chess. I can definately see that there would be long term effects that would seriously hamper cognition. I just wanted to see how my fighting skills stood up to the next guys. I feel good about doing it and I will probably do it again. Maybe one a month or so.




edited to clarify that I avenged my CHESS defeats NOT my MMA defeat.

I am not dissing you or anything, but you never got into one fist fight ever?? Did you go to a yuppie highschool or something. How old are you?


Like I said, I am not flaming you. I am just wondering because the older I get and the more people I talk to from other areas I am learning that where I grew up was a very violent area compared to other mostly white Middle and HighSchools in the country

One of my friends did this.  Totally f-ed up his thinking, his hearing, and his personality.  Had to start taking medications.  It may seem like fun but it will fuck you up, especially if you are a small target that everyone is gunning for.  You may not think you want to live forever but you will live longer than you think right now.  Don't make that living later in life a pain in the ass cause you can't think or hear.

BTW, I thought you weren't supposed to talk about fight club?

Did full contact to submission fighting many times.

It's hard on your body but you will learn not to get hit in the head real quick.  

M4_Aiming_at_U, I'm 26. Never got into a fight because I never had a reason to fight. I guess I got into one fight over a girl once in highschool, but that wasn't really a fight because I landed a combo and on his way down all of my friends jumped in (I didn't ask them to). I could have fought a lot more people on multiple occasions, but why bother when you can beat them mentally. If you can break the spirit, the body is useless. I am pretty gifted in diplomatic areas. I am also pretty good at getting my way while making people think they won an argument (which is why I did well in sales).

Anyhow, I did set ground rules for the fights, we had gloves, no elbows, knees, head butting and open palm to the head only. It was more a NHB fight rather than a "fight club" even though it was called a fight club.


Ratters, lol

This ain't the movie, we had gloves, some guys had shoes, and one new guy didn't fight. So essentially we broke all the rules of fight club.


Seriously though, I know several fighters personally and they are all fine (for now at least). They do this kind of crap several times a week and are fine (for now). I'm not saying that I'll do this for very long, I'm to pretty to let myself get messed up. Plus I do realize that there are long-term effects to multiple impacts to the head. However, I engage in a lot of risky behavior. I know a lot of people here do as well. For example, people here shoot without hearing protection and eye protection. I think these people are out of their minds. I am also willing to be that there are people here who drive without safety belts. I don't go anywhere without buckling up. Once in a while I have been known to engage in unprotected sex. Granted, I wake up and tell myself that "I'll never do that again", and I may do the same thing for this fighting thing, but I think I have minimized risks and maximized the results that I am looking for.

I have seen threads on MMA a lot here though. I've seen at least a dozen people saying that they practice some sort of MMA. Where are you guys? Why aren't you chiming in? Why haven't you tested your skills in the real world? I realized yesterday that submissions are near worthless when you have someone trying to kick your ass. You have to test your skills in the real world. I spent a lot of time and money on training during college, but all the sales management classes didn't mean dick when I had a real live customer in front of me. All the classes that I took from the Lions Den did help, but all the technique and skill that I developed went flying out the window when the punches started falling.

I am suprised at all the criticism I am getting here. I thank you for the concern and interpret it as concern for my well-being, for which I am grateful. However, I think that a lot of people here who talk about TSHTF and TEOTWAWKI situations can relate in that they will never know what to expect until they are in that situation. All you can do is prepare for the worst and be ready. I am not one of those people who predict doomsday, but I do know that I will not be able to avoid fights forever. So I will continue to get better at fighting. As long as there are no knee/elbow strikes or closed fists to the head, I have minimized the risks and have created a simulation as close to the real thing as possible. I also think that I did a good job of defending myself from head strikes again minimizing risk. Where are all the MMA guys? Where the hell did you all go? Am I the only one stupid/good/crazy enough to go toe-to-toe with another man?

If the SHTF, I wont be fighting with my hands. If I do, its only to reach my weapon.

Get in plenty of fights when I was younger.  I wouldn't want to anymore unless it's to defend myself or family member.

MMA or NHb rules!!!
I have been doing it for years.
I am old and fat and slow now but still do it and still am able to hold my own.
I tried to get in the local toughman contest last year but didn't get picked as they only had so many slots to fill and like 4x too many people showed up.
We used to have matches in the saw dust pit out back of the barracks in the military and that was fun.
When I was growing up I got in too many fights ven though I talked my way out of a ton of fights. Almost every fight was me defending someone else or justputting a major ass in his place. And back then I was the little scrawny guy.
Now days I have about a dozen or so guys from a few of my 14 y/o sons friends to 18-35 y/o that I get together with an train and spar with and then there is my little brother who is 6'5" and about 275lbs.
By the way congrats, Takes alot of guts to do MMA and even more to do it in a ring in front of people.

I used to have a terrible temper when I was younger, that and the fact that I'm pretty much a smartass caused just about every weekend to be a fightclub back in the good ole days.

I never went out looking for fights, I was just a fight magnet. I've mellowed out a lot since I got married and had kids, so I haven't been in a fight in years.

I've had some pretty good ones though.

In rural Ohio, during high school, fighting is a recreational activity. There's nothing to do in a cornfield except get drunk, vandalize, screw someone elses girlfriend, and get into a fight.

That list constituted an excellent weekend when I was in school. As we got older, we realized that we could get more mileage out of the getting drunk and screwing by themselves.

As an adult, if I am forced to 'get into a fight', somebody is getting shot and someone is going to jail.

What's MMA?

Hey Sewer_Urchin,

Need I remind you!  

First rule of the Fight Club is [b]DON'T[/b] talk about the FIght Club! [;)]

oh nevermind............

Mixed Martial Arts, also known as NHB, and vale tudo.

Sewer_Urchin its cool to see someone else here that is into MMA so please try to understand where I am coming from and don't take this personally.

You need to stop taking part in so called "fight clubs" because they are nothing but bad news for the sport. As gun owners we get pissed when some dude shoots up his work or whatever and gives the antis fuel for their argument. The same thing goes with MMA, whenever there is a segment on tv about MMA they always show some people filming themselves fighting in their backyard or whatever and that just plays into the "human cockfight" stigma that surrounds MMA.

There are plenty of sanctioned local events in Cali where you are that you can take part in. The quality of competition will likely be better and it will not give the sport a black eye that comes from the underground events. And who knows, you may even win some money.

Ok enough of the criticism, congrats on your first fight.  

Let me reiterate, I had set ground rules for my fights. There were no knee strikes, elbow strikes, or closed fists to the head along with other UFC/Pride type rules. We weren't going in there trying to kill eachother. Most of the guys were pretty skilled at this stuff and had some type of formal training. I don't know why it's called a "fightclub" because it is more like a sparring group. I don't think that this "fightclub" gives the sport a black eye at all. At least not anymore than when those news stories cover a major event. I've been to Gladiators Challenge/King of the Cage/Warriors Challenge events and at every single one, there is some shmuck out there with a camera and microphone refering to it as human cock fighting. Well, here, there was no news camera and there was no idiot in front of that camera trying to make us look like, well, cocks. There is a place called "the Metal Mulisha" in SF that does something similar to the movie fight club, but they seem more like the rag tag bunch that try to maul eachother. They give the sport a black eye when they don't have rules then flaunt it in front of a camera. This was also a free event. Those "organized" places charge like $100 a month. Why bother when I am unemployed and need to save every penny I can? Everyone there was respectful and easy to get along with. Also, the fighters set the rules before the fight and did abide by them. This was as close to a legitimate event as I could see.

As for not talking about fight club again; What is this? Do I have brain damage or are you guys not reading the posts? [stick] We had gloves, some guys had shoes, there were more than 1 fights going at once and I only found out about it after someone told me. All the rules of fight club were broken except for "2 guys to a fight". Since all the rules had been broken, this is nothing like the movie fightclub.

After thinking about it, I don't think I'll be doing this again for a while. It has been two days and my back is still killing me. I took a lot of shots to the back while I was in the guard and I am still pretty sore. I may do it again in a month or so, but gutting hit hurts more the day after and the day after that. We will have to see about tomorrow and guage the pain then.

I find it very hard to believe you are allowed to legally drink beer.
I also think this story is just that ,a story, you set "rules" for your fiights?

And yes I speak from experiance, I had many street fights/bar figthts and 60 in the ring as an amateur, it hurts the next day but not while you are fighting because of the concentration and the adrenaline flowing.

jrzy, I'm going to have to ask you to clarify what you mean by your first two sentences. Are you saying I'm making this up? Are you questioning my cognition and ability to think. Are you suggesting that beer should not be consumed? What are you Saying?


As for not being able to believet that I can legally drink beer, I have no idea what you are trying to get across.

As far a rules to a fight, I wasn't trying to get messed up or mess anyone up. Why would I want to do that? I don't have anything against these guys. They never did nothing to me so why should I want to do permament damage to anyone? Rules are necessary to keep people from getting seriously injured so they can fight again.

When hit in the head enough the arachnoid membrane  that keeps the dura matter from bashing into the sides of your skull can be torn..causing your brain ...to basically bash into the sides of your skull...
Bruised brains end up with dead spots...
In the old days fighters were said to be punch drunk...slurred speech...poor memory..great with a mop and bucket though..
[url]http://www.chiro.org/ACAPress//mono-12.htm[/url]
read this while you still can...

(X golden gloves @ 1972)

Seen Muhammad Ali in a public appearance lately?  How many fights a year did he have?  And they had rules and gloves and people making sure they didn't get hurt.

Are you knuckin futs?  You only get issued one brain you oughta kinda take care of it.  Bruising it repeatedly on a monthly basis doesn't do it much good.

The [i]really[/i]  tough guys stay home.

Hey, I have never been in a "real fight" ethir. When I was younger I was much smaller than everyone else, they beat the crap out of me. All of a sudden I was 6'6" and about 270. No one trys to fight me anymore. Don't know what I would do if I was forced to fight someone. Other than fight "dirty" of course, if there is such a thing.  

Remember that one Simpsons episode where homer discovers that he has a crayon lodged in his brain? He stuck a crayon up his nose when he was a kid and became dumb as a door nail. After getting the crayon removed, he became smart. When he became smart, his friends didn't like him anymore and turned on him. He didn't think certain things were funny and could spot things that were rediculous while others were dumbfounded.

Sometimes, I feel like Homer; If I was dumber, I would have a lot more fun. But again, I don't think that this stuff will affect me all that badly. I have friends who do this for a living and are fine. As far as Muhammed Ali, he has parkisence (sp?) disease. So does Michael J. Fox and Janet Reno. He didn't necessarily get it from getting hit in the head. Just because he fought a few times a year doesn't mean that he wasn't getting hit more than that. He did have to train and spar which gets quite a bit of impact to the head.

Koreans are naturally aggressive.

[b]OK I'll clarify,
Try not to get your panties in a bunch (don't get pissed)
First: I think you are maybe 16 if that.
Hence the reference to you not being able to drink legally.

Second: yes I think your story is fiction.[/b]

Yeah, post a picture ID on this board!

Ahh...Ok

Help me out.  If you were in the guard-position how did you take shots to your back?  I could rationalize taking shots to the back or side if you were in the mount, but the guard??

For all of those people that don't understand the terms of grappling/MMA:

Guard:  this is when you are on your BACK and trying to attack or contain the action of your opponent.

Mount:  this is when you are on top of your opponent, usually between his legs and trying to attack/contain his actions.

So, Sewer_Urchin, if you were in the guard, there isn't any way to take shots to your back.  sorry, I gotta call

[BS2]

-Fujimoto

Wow! Looks like a bunch of people think I'm full of shit! Okay. Whatever. IM me and I'll give a couple emails of guys who I fought. Just to show that there actually is a fight club in SF, check out the link:

[url]http://www.picturetrail.com/fightclubsf[/url]

Pics from monday aren't up yet. I'll talk to Hank and see when my pics will be up and running. You'll see some photos there though from previous events.

clean_cut,
[rolf2] Yea, us koreans are pretty pissed off. But if you really want to see pissed off, check out our fighting dogs! They are called Chin Do's. Those are some mean, angry, vicious dogs.

Pat_fujimoto,

Thats what I thought to, until the punches started falling. Mainly the punches were to my sides and back (Lats, and my back is real sore), but when you are twisting around, trying to get position I got a hit in a lot of places I never thought possible. Again, I never thought I could get hit in the back from that position. However, like all technique that I learned, convention and technique went flying out the window. I looked at some of the pics taken of my fights, and I am embarassed. When I look at things like pride/UFC/KOTC, the technique is so flawless and structured. When in the guard, guys look like they are in full control and defend with almost intuition, like they know where and when the hits are coming. We looked like a couple of frogs rolling around (in my second fight) and are nowhere remotely near the professional level. In the guard/in my guard/mount/side control etc. punches were always falling. Seriously, next time I'm not going to twist around so much. I will probably avoid getting hit so much. Also, I never realized how hard it was to connect a punch while standing. I over estimated my punching ability and underestimated my kicking ability.


jrzy,

I have nothing to prove to you and I don't have anything against you. Peace.

All,

Apparently, this is becoming a flame fest and the response isn't like anything I expected. My goal was to get people to talk about their MMA experience (Read the second paragraph of my initial post). I don't have anything to prove here. I think a lot of you guys are pretty cool guys and I knew that a bunch of you have MMA backgrounds. I want to know about your first fights.

That one thead about "post your weight" showed that the average weight here is well over 200lbs. and a bunch of you guys are over 6ft tall. A really good small fighter will get his ass handed to him by a big average skilled fighter 10 times out of 10. Most of you have a +70 pound advantage on me. I'm not about to start shit with anyone here. A 135# 5'6" guy has no business picking fights with guys that big. Hell, I wouldn't fight anyone who has a 30 pound advantage on me.

I wasn't trying to say I have big cajones or that I kick ass. I was humbled in my third fight remember? There will always be someone out there that is bigger/badder/crazier and I am far from being that man. I went in there to see if my skills can get the job done and to have fun. I did both of those things. Stay safe and have fun.

pat-fujimoto,

this a pic of fighter in the half guard. You can see that the fighter in the half guard can easily be hit in the back. Although not fully in the guard, you can grasp the concept of how you can be hit in the back while in the guard.

[url]http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=1999714&uid=825178[/url]

edited to say that the proper pic will not link. It is in the same gallery. Second pic down on the left.

I was going to make a joke about Koreans and dogs, but it was just too easy, so I'll leave it up to your imaginations. [:D]

(Insert joke here)

S_U,

The picture you linked to looks more like a "side-mount" position.

The guy in the guard position would have to have one of his opponents legs tied up to be considered "half-guard".

At least that is how I understand it.

On a side note....   I CANNOT BELIEVE THE PUSSIES THAT HAVE POSTED ON THIS TOPIC!!

I honestly think alot of people just post to drive their post count up instead of actually contributing to the conversation.

People even posting that S_U was making this up.  That was REAL funny.  

Being a fan of MMA and NHB myself, he came off as someone who knew what he was talking about.  I didnt think he was fabricating the story.

It takes balls to step into the "ring" and put it on the line.  If you have never, then STFU.  Because it does not matter what you say anyway.

Some of the people posting here are evidence of the "femalization" of the male sex....   really tough guys stay at home, heh  

thats funny stuff !!

USMC_LB

What was that first rule about fight club?
I forgot.

Jay

USMC,

Thanks for getting my back. You are correct in your descriptions of the positions. The pic I linked to shows the guy on the bottom with both of his legs wrapped around one of the legs of the guy on top. This is the half guard... A sorry excuse for a half guard, but a half guard none the less. The guy on top has his back fully exposed to punches. Since none of us are pros, we make dumb mistakes like this. Side mount would be when a fighter is on his back and his opponent is perpendicular to his body. Usually with the knees and elbows on opposite sides of the torso. (Hey, I never claimed to be good at explaining things).

As far as people accusing me of not being there, it doesn't bother me. If you flame me, go 100%. I wasn't sure if jrzy was clowning, serious, joking or what so I asked him to clarify so I could respond appropriately. I think you are right in that people are just trying to up their post count. Like this. (:))

Oh shit were scared of you  hahahahahahaha,[b](Not really)[/b]
And I think that more then a few would dispute your claim of "he came off as someone who knew what he was talking about", bullshit! ,he came off like someone who watched to much "octagon"

Whoops!! you are right USMC. I linked to the wrong pic. I'll fix that.

Edited to say the proper pic won't link. look on the same gallery. I think its the second one down on the left.

As for eating dog, I've never eaten dog, but don't see anything wrong with eating any animal whether it is a horse/dog/cat/gorilla/bat whatever. Food is food. By the way, I have been going on and off with the vegetarian thing lately. I like vegetarian food. If only it could get me full. But this is a MMA topic DAMMIT!!

Hey trojan fan!!

Have you noticed any ill long-term effects from fighting? Do you eventually build endurance and tolerance to blows? It's been two days, and I can feel myself starting to heal, but my neck still kind of hurts. One guy tried to get a neck crank. Other than that, I am just sore.

Who was the guy who said they had 60 fights? I looked for your response but couldn't find it. What drove you to fight so much? If you fought 60 times professionally how many times did you have to fight outside the ring? Were you good? I can't imagine fighting 60 times professionally. My hat is off to you. I don't think my body would like me to much after that many. Anyhow, keep up the good work and keep your chin down.  

Okay, i'm chimeing in. Congrats SU on your first NHB fights, however unregulated. I have studied Jiu-Jitsu for 6 years and I love the test of skill involved. Grappling is an artform that makes small guys invulgnerable to larger guys. I'm 6'2" and 255 and I regularly get tapped out by a guy your size. He is so fast and instinctual, that sometimes I just can't counter him. This is what I worry about, the striking. Striking is inherently dangerous and I am glad to see that you want to decrease your fight frequency to once a month. My first NHB fight took place at a night club, in a ring on a specified night, with gloves and a competent referee. The guy I fought was my height and weight and a college wrestler and a strong striker. After looking pretty bad in the first round and having one eye swell up from a sneaky left hook, I decided to quit trying to box the guy and take it to the ground. Well he was thinking the same thing. He took me to the ground and I found myself in a very comfy position, in my gaurd. The guy would lay his weight on me, then before he punched, he would raise up off of me to strike.
The second time he tried that, I threw my right leg over the back of his neck and arm. Well he tried to strike again, and I caught his arm, then crossed my left leg over my right foot. Five or six seconds later, homeboy was dying to breath and he tapped out. My classmates were yelling directions at me the whole time, but I sure as hell didn't hear them.
I'll always remember that fight, because it was so different from the fights I had growing up. Jiu-Jitsu will save your face a great deal of punishment, provided you can get to the ground.

I figured you had just linked the wrong image...  just wanted to make sure.

jrzy, what did I say to come off to you that I was trying to scare anyone ?!  To be scared of me is silly. Im a pretty fun-loving guy, not some tough guy from Jersey...

doesnt matter how many dispute it, they were wrong as you were.

MMA is a great sport and there are many that like to practice their skills with others.  Keep a open mind and try not to critiize so quickly.  

Are you a fan of MMA, jrzy ?

LB

Highstrung,
That is pretty cool that you got to do it in a slightly more organized and sanctioned way with friends cheering for you. Triangle choke is always a good way to get a guy to tap out. I can never do it in sparring because I always forget which leg to cross over. I can do it in practice but only attempted it a couple of times in sparring. I prefer arm bars because guys seem to offer it up all the time when I was sparring. It is strange that you mention that your friends were yelling the entire time but you didn't hear anything. I noticed the same thing. When other people were fighting, there was all kinds of noise, but when I was rolling around, it was almost as if I had gone deaf. I didn't hear a damn thing. Also, for some reason, my jaw locked up after one of my fights, I could hardly get my mouth peice out. Weird.  

Sewer_Urchin,

I stand corrected.  I will retract my BS call out.  However, you need to be a bit more exact when you use certain terms.  

I started my Ju-jitsu training at age 10.  I am 36.  That is 26 years of arm bars, lock-outs, throws, strikes, ground work, etc...  I have trained with Royce & Relson Gracie in the past.

It is called the guard for a reason.  Wiggling around like a fish out of water does nothing but exhaust you.  

I will make the assumption that you are a beginner at grappling/submission fighting?  Here is one bit of friendly advice:

Economy of movement.  

Grappling matches can go on for 15-20-30 mins or more.  Struggling around trying to brute force your way from the guard to the mount will quicken your defeat.  I have probably spent about 1/3 of all my training on my back.  You need to get completely comfortable in that position.

Remember something, grappling in a fight club, although brutal, is not street fighting.  You don't want to roll around on a bar floor or street with broken glass, rocks, etc...  Not to mention the possibility that your opponents buddy might bash you over the head with a 2X4.

A couple of questions for you:

How long have you been training?
What is your age?
Did any of this help?
How long as Fight Club SF been around?
Are there weight classes?


again, I retract the BS statement.

-Pat-fujimoto

My insticts tell me that this IS B.S.
Maybe they're wrong, but that's what they're telling me.

Pat_Fujimoto,

I trained a little bit with the Lion's Den during college. This was before the Loin's Den became the MMA World's whipping post. I only did this for a few months and didn't ever practice striking. It is interesting because my conditioning now is far better than it was back then. Back then I could roll for about 30-40 minutes before getting to exhausted to continue. Monday, when I was taking hits, my longest fight was about 5 minutes and I was totally exhausted. As I said earlier, I've never been in a fight before so I don't have a baseline for comparison, but I think that this does help in that I am more prepared for what I might face. We didn't have weight classes butt there were a few guys my size. The first guy I fought was around 200lbs. and had no fighting experience at all. I didn't want to trade punches with him so we started on our knees. Second fight was with a guy around 140lbs. (my size) and the third was with a guy around 135. If you look in the picture gallery above, you will see a guy with a tatoo of chain links around his neck. That is the guy who kicked my ass. I didn't see any of the other guys in previous galleries. SF fightclub has been around for years. I asked how long its been around, but I forgot how long. At least 10 years I think. As far as street fighting goes, I don't ever want to be in a street fight, ever. I rarely put myself in a position where I would be faced with that type of situation and generally, people don't try to start shit with me. But anyhow, even though it was a structured fight, I think I am better prepared for a real fight than before I went in becuase even though it wasn't "real" it was 10 times more real than anything I've ever tried before.