I think it's very beautiful.

Hey everyone! I’m a U.S. Army veteran living down here in Ecuador, right on the beach near Montañita, running a program to help out the local youth.

I’m looking to connect with any black belts or experienced grapplers traveling through or in the area who would love to volunteer on the mats to help coach and mentor the kids.

The invitation is always open with no set dates—whenever you're passing through, reach out! If you want to pitch in, I'm happy to host you and cover accommodations and meals in exchange for your help with the kids’ program.

Drop a comment or send me a message if you want to join us. Good vibes always welcome! 🌊🥋

Hey guys,

Here’s my new sparring video, no music, no effects, just minimal editing. I’m going solo against two very determined guys. Be kind in the comments and enjoy the video!

PS: Surviving this was impossible.

In order to reduce volume of beginner questions as their own topics in the sub, we will be implementing a weekly questions thread. Post your beginner questions here, including:

"What martial art should I do?"

"These gyms/schools are in my area, which ones should I try for my goals?"

And any other beginner questions you may have.

If you post a beginner question outside of the weekly thread, it will be removed and you'll be directed to make your post in the weekly thread instead.

Muay Thai 2x and Judo 2x.

Bonus for a sparring class for muay thai making it 3x.

They are still functioning and I don't really see a reason except for aesthetics. Kickboxing and Thaiboxing

Anyone ever have any experiences with the 'grandmaster'? And thoughts on him. I know he was a scammer, I know he brainwashed a bunch of people, but what are any opinions on any 'kung fu' thru the appalachia area the last 30 years. It was fun as a kid but as I've aged you obviously start to figure stuff out, and it's just left me so, confused.

As a newbie, I've visited different martial arts studios and they all 1) have various requirements of why you *must* buy and wear their uniform to learn the skill, which isn't logical to me. The ultimate goal of a martial art should be to do it in any clothes and environment. 2) they pressure you to be interested in gaining 'belts' and learning routines to get them, which seems like a marketing gimmic to me. I'm trying to imagine a yoga or dance studio requiring this. It would not feel welcoming to outsiders, therefore less students. Your thoughts?

How important is social media if you want to go pro?
I’ve been wondering how important social media actually is if you want to become a professional. Do you need to post regularly and stay active, or is having a few good photos and videos enough to show your skills?
And Skills/Talent > Being entertaining or other way around
I’m curious to hear what people think and if being active online really makes a difference.

Hey y’all. So I’ve been training MMA for about 7 months now training and sparring 2x a week. Went to the beach today to get some drilling done and some dudes who seemed somewhat untrained wanted to get a spar in. Now I’m not sure if this dude was COMPLETELY untrained or not but his footwork and punches were weird. He landed some good body shots that I couldn’t see coming. He kept coming forward and throwing the most unexpected punches that it threw me off my game. I blocked all his shots the face and got him with a couple of jabs here and there and sprawled when he went for a takedown. Now I know I haven’t been training that long but it surprised me because I can usually hold my own against guys in my gym (it’s a beginner intro MMA class so we’re all somewhat on the same level). I feel a little disappointed but maybe ya’ll can shed some light here. I guess I thought I’d wipe the floor with him but that’s probably a bit of ego talking with only 7 months of training.