How I Would Learn Martial Arts (If I Could Start Over)

Here are 9 martial arts tips for what I would do differently if I could start over starting from beginner tips, moving on to intermediate tips and then to pro tips.

00:00 Intro
00:30 Advice #1
01:11 Advice #2
04:24 Advice #3
06:11 Advice #4
08:04 Advice #5
10:27 Advice #6
12:16 Advice #7
13:40 Advice #8
15:03 Advice #9

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Welcome to the Martial Arts Journey YouTube channel!

My name is Rokas. I'm a Lithuanian guy who trained Aikido for 14 years, 7 of them running a professional Aikido Dojo until eventually I realized that Aikido does not live up to what it promises.

Lead by this realization I decided to make a daring step to close my Aikido Dojo and move to Portland, Oregon for six months to start training MMA at the famous Straight Blast Gym Headquarters under head coach Matt Thornton.

After six months intensive training I had my first amateur MMA fight after which I moved back to Lithuania. During all of this time I am documenting my experience through my YouTube channel called "Martial Arts Journey".

Now I am slowly setting up plans to continue training MMA under quality guidance and getting ready for my next MMA fight as I further document and share my journey and discoveries.

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Check the video "Aikido vs MMA" which started this whole Martial Arts Journey:

If you want to support me and this channel on a regular basis check my Patreon page:

[MartialArtsJourney]

Which advice do you think is the most important?

[desooooooooooooooo]

rokas we love you im sorry but the whoosh air sound is driving me absolutely insane

[semaraugusto]

Agreed 100% on trying multiple gyms. I went to a bjj school which was clearly the biggest in the region. I threw up in 6 out of the 8 sessions I went and never came back after (I work out since 2016, I'm not sedentary, I just was suffering from spending too much energy during the roll and not enough cardio atthe gym). I recently decided to try bjj again on another gym and wow the atmosphere is so much better, people don't get offended/angry if I got into a good position and sometimes even let me for me to be able to train the positions correctly (during practice, not rolling). I like it so much now that I might even compete in the future

[luizgustavovasques]

Quick correction on a great video:

kendo is heavily combat oriented and pretty much not "solo practice" focused, so much that some will argue that it's so much of a competitive sport that it now looks very different from what a sword fight should. It's definitely not a good pick for self defense, and quite heavy on the cultural side, but it's definitely a combat sport.

Iaido, on the other hand, is a kata-centric mostly solo focused MA.

Cheers!

[pentultimatearsehole]

As an ex kickboxer and sky scraper window cleaner I can totally appreciate the train hard rest hard mindset. I only wish that I learned it 20 years ago. Seriously people, you feel it later in life!

[FloydFp]

Great advice! I spent 20 years of my life in the Martial Arts and have come to the same conclusions you did. We both had to learn these lessons the hard way.

[dannyharris]

Quick comment on trying to push through fatigue: sometimes you feel too tired to train. I recommend doing the warmup before deciding. I find that 2/3 of the time, I'm good to go after the warmup. If I'm still tired after the warmup, I sit out or go home. Training fatigued can lead to injuries.

[FreeFlow]

Great video, what I see as complete realistic self defense is much more that punch and kick. I see 8 elements:
1.Situational Awareness
2.Pre Attack indicators
3.Effective self defense tools (flashlight, pepperspray, knife, gun-training)
4.Sprint Interval Endurance
5.Grappling art (judo, BJJ, submission grappling, wrestling)
6.Striking art (Boxing, Kudo, Thaiboxing, etc)
7.Stop the bleed first aid
8.Knowledge of the self defense law and what elements in the law to adjust to
Self defense is more a body guard mindset then a mma mindset, more about de-escalate, escape and evade then fight, confront and win

[parazatico]

I started training in martial arts (Shotokan karate) when I was seventeen years old, over forty years ago. If only I had had access to such excellent advice! To anyone looking to start training (or who feel that their training just isn't working for them), watch this video, and have a good think about what is being said.

[zvoltejinylogin]

Today is exactly 1 year after I started my journey, started on boxing and now I am a Muay Thai practitioner that spars fighters and guys 10 years younger and its so much fun but I am 6ft and 210lbs and I did not loose any weight exercising every day for that year just toned my body into lean mean machine. Knees, Elbows and sweeps Love it.

[SnakeAndTurtleQigong]

Thanks so much!
I took taiji to help me heal from MMA overtraining. I ended up falling in love with the soft practice and gave up fighting for healing.
Happy to have found what works better for me!
👍🏻
Sending support to everyone hunting for the right path for themselves. Keep going! You got this!

[syrearth]

Nr 8 is something the whole world needs to hear, not just martial arts students. It's so easy to feel like you are able to take more stress when you are young, but it's still going to accumulate. I am so happy I've taken care of my body and stayed away from the craziest stuff.

[mdug]

❤ my humility, neck, knees, hips and lumber totally appreciate your advice..I just wish you had been around with this advice in the 80's.
You are doing martial arts a great service.

[boxcar]

I cannot stress enough how dangerous overtraining is. For your body and your mind. If you feel like you need to slow down. Slow down.

[FandabiDozi]

Aikido was my first martial art too. I started training in it just cos there was a teacher along the road from me when I was a kid. After 8 years training in it I also became disillusioned by it when I realised it didnt really work. I've now bee trying Jiu-Jitsu which I'm really enjoying, but I am also coming back to Aikido for its philosophy for peace and finding the flow in everyday life. Something my Aikido teacher always said, but I just didnt understand cos i was too young.
Thank you for sharing your learning journey with us! :)

[EliteBlackSash]

If I had it to do all over again.. Whatever I chose, I would learn grappling in a related setting first as my base. Before Karate, I’d have taken Judo. Before KungFu, I’d have found Shuaijiao, or at least San Da. Before Wing Chun, I’d have found a Muay Thai school with an instructor who is also particularly really good at the Thai Plum and preferably with BJJ in the same building. Before Boxing, I would get into Wrestling. Grappling gives you an entirely different appreciation and understanding for the Traditional Martial Arts / striking arts and grappling arts almost always have really widespread competitive opportunities. Also, I would have kept something on the side that I strictly do for fun. I probably would have went and taken Shaolin Kungfu.. not for fighting, but, because I got the book, “Supple Leopard”. Flexibility, athleticism, and natural strength are so important, especially as you age. Shaolin is like the most fun way of getting some stretching and cardio in, and hitting those full ranges of motion, without getting bored. With good flexibility, strength, joint health, and a strong grappling background… from that point, WHATEVER you decide to do, you are going to naturally elevate it. Even MMA has proven that a Wrestling / Grappling foundation, with strong striking added on, gives them the ability to dominate and dictate the fight with a high percentage of success and the longest list of champions.

[GrinningNimbus]

This video should be called How to pick a martial art and school for beginners or something like that. It should reach more of the people who need it and it's a really good video that I had when I was starting out.

[mildlyfeasible]

For me, tip 8 was by far the most important. I am recovering from a major back surgery because I didn't respect my deadlifts.

[robertkiss]

I can definitely relate to a good few of these - especially the treating your body well because if you don't, you will have to work a whole lot harder when you're older to offset those mistakes. Good tips and advice!

[allengordon]

What I learned the hard way was you cannot rely on the quality of your teachers all the time. You need to get to the stage of learning by yourself as fast as possible.