Participating in MMA requires that you invest in decent MMA gloves before you can think of anything else. Irrespective of how good an athlete you are in this sport, if you don't have the right gear, your performance will suffer.

Perhaps MMA gloves should be treated as one of the fundamental things you should have before stepping into any ring out there. And since we're using the word ''must'' here, there's a strong possibility that these things will enhance your athletic performance.

First though, choosing the correct weight and material is essential to getting a good pair of MMA gloves that fit correctly without slowing your performance down.

Image: Pixabay

So, what is the right kind of material you should look for in any MMA glove out there?

Leather gloves

They are certainly the best and most expensive for that matter. But the reward is well worth it since they fit snugly and also last longer.

Also, the kind of material you choose depends on which purpose you're using the pair of gloves for. If you want MMA gloves purely for fitness purposes, you won't need to put so much emphasis on the material. But if you want a pair of gloves exclusively for training purposes, you will definitely go for leather instead.

Artificial leather

Starters who haven't developed their MMA skills would be fine going with artificial leather gloves. This also applies to kids who might want to participate in MMA.

However, the problem with artificial leather is that it will quickly wear out as the athlete develops speed, stamina and power.

If you're on a budget, I'd recommend these ones. But if you're willing to spend a few more bucks for the right kind of gloves, just buy leather instead.

Style of MMA gloves you're choosing

For students who participate in MMA sparring, it is better to go with simple gloves that don't require cumbersome work when putting on.

Some fight gloves are designed with a lace mechanism to tie on the hand. This normally gives the athlete a snug fit onto their hands.

Typical gloves will have some sort of padding on the knuckles with a closing mechanism. You could also go for gloves built with Velcro enclosures too.

The benefit of Velcro enclosures is that you can tie them up or remove them without the help of another person. In fact, if you're just an average MMA fighter, you could go with gloves designed with Velcro enclosures since they are a good fit for regular training.

Weight of gloves

Gloves come in weights that vary between 6oz to 20oz. Professional MMA matches will use 10oz gloves. But as for you,  12, 14 to 16 ounce will serve your training purposes well. On the other hand, if you're concerned with more protection, you could choose to buy 20 ounce gloves instead.

However, there's a secret you need to learn when it comes to using MMA gloves. If you're preparing to participate in a 10 ounce gloves MMA fight, you might find sparring with heavier gloves quite useful since it will significantly increase your speed when it comes to fighting with lighter ones.

Here's a breakdown of all the weight specifics to look into:

16oz ---- for professional MMA fighters
14oz------ Ideal for sparring
120z------ good for starters
10oz------- starter size for both men and women, can also be used in competitions
8oz------Ideal for women and teenagers
6oz----- Ideal for kids between 7 and 5 years

Color

Color is a matter of personal preference, sponsor or club requirements. Therefore, I would advice that you pick a color that keeps you happy.

Safety of an MMA glove

Modern gloves come with a safety feature known as thumb lock. This feature is useful because it prevents accidental eye gouges or thumb injuries that might happen during a match.

Also, make sure you find a suitable MMA head gear for your sparring sessions. These too are available in different materials and colors to suit your preference.

The terms civilian defense and self defense are often used interchangeably to mean the same thing when they mean totally different things. It is until recently that I begun understanding the meaning of civilian defense in relation to self defense.

It's clear that Civilian defense is used to distinguish martial arts from what military people do.  Yet again, it is used to distinguish what we do from martial arts as a sport. In fact, the dynamics of military and sport fighting is quite different from those of civilian defense. 

Image Source: Pixabay

The real world scenario

People often use the words ''real fight''. You will hear them talk about how so and so engaged in a real fight with another guy outside a pub.

But whenever they use this term, they often refer to a situation where two guys throw punches at each other inside a pub or bar after a disagreement over a girlfriend or whatever else they're fighting for. They are never talking about a struggle that could have potentially led to death -- such as one that typically happens in a war-tone country like Somalia's Mogadishu, Baghdad and so on.

To put it in a better perspective, I'd refer to what Thomas Hobbes once said. He talked about man being reduced to ''the state of nature'', and by using that phrase, he was talking about the kind of physical resistance that makes man brutish, nasty and care-free when they live in a place where life is short!

And you don't need to visit Somalia or any other country with some form of unrest to witness what am talking about here. Look at the appalling stats of crime rates in your town right now. You realize that crimes which have led to loss of lives are often committed with some form of brutality.  There is no empathy anywhere!

But this might lead you to asking me one question: Does this apply to where I live too?

The answer is yes, it applies, but in a subtle way. The society now appears very comfortable watching extreme violence in the media. You can see it in movies and computer games.

In fact, with certain events like MMA now allowing ''ground and pound'' form of fights to the extent of seeing it as light entertainment, we can confidently conclude that we've slowly began accepting the way of violence into the society.

So, what exactly is civilian defense in relation to self defense or military defense?

Martial arts such as Karate seemed to have developed at the same time other Chinese martial arts were developing. These arts were closely tied to some philosophical or religious trends of the ancient time.

If you look at some societies around the world, you realize that they have never had a structured form of community self defense training despite the need to equip persons with those skills even when they live in the most peaceful places on earth.

As a matter of historical fact, I can say that the act of ''grappling and striking'' was taken into civilian defense systems back in the 18th century.  This happened in the far east where such practices originated.

So what I can say is that the primary deference between civilian defense and military combat lies in the root intent.

A military guy in a war zone will hit back with an intent to neutralize an enemy even if it means putting an end to the life of that enemy.

On the other hand, civilian defense is primarily meant for avoidance as opposed to inflicting harm on your opponent.

Gichin Funakoshi once made a powerful statement when he put it like this -- Karate ni sente nashi. In English, that means there is no first strike in the art of Karate.

As far as my level of skill is concerned, (I train in Shou Shu anyway), I know that most martial arts, if not all of them begin with defensive skills rather than attack skills. I have carefully observed Korean or Japanese martial arts only to realize that all forms put emphasis on defensive skills first before anything else.

In Shou Shu Kung Fu, Yellow belt is the lowest level a student will achieve before climbing up the ladder. But even then, you find that students are mostly taught how to defend themselves as opposed to being the one to attack first.

In military defense however, there are no rules of engagement. Here, anything goes as long as it will inflict maximum harm against the enemy.

In short, there are all dirty tricks you might have had of. There is scratching, biting, gouging, including the use of lethal techniques or weapons.

Therefore, in a warfare atmosphere, relevant Geneva conventions apply and so do his or her own army's rules of engagement. However, rules are very minimal here, plus the intent is different. This is contrary to what happens in a civilian defense scenario where rules of engagement are too restrictive. In other words, your response to a threat has to be rational, appropriate and necessary. If you do otherwise, you will end up facing a judge in court.

In a civil defense situation, you will typically have the skills required to defend yourself. But no one will ever teach you how and to what extent you should use force. Instead, you will do it with reference to the law and society values.

I can say that most human beings are empathetic beings. We don't resort to drastic measures unless we have undergone some brutality in the past. But those individuals are very rare to come across, plus the instinctive empathy to preserve fellow human being is something that can't always be subsumed.

In short, we will be reticent to inflicting harm in the form of gouging eyes, biting or other drastic things. This is almost the same thing to what happens in a snake bite scenario. Most snakes know that venom is precious. It is used to maim a prey so it won't escape, thus it will be presented to the reptile as a meal.

But to use venom extravagantly would mean the reptile suffering extreme hunger and frustration. They wouldn't be able to kill a single prey, hence they have to learn to preserve venom by not wasting it, i.e biting everything they come across, including human beings. 

Bottom line is that self defense equips you with the skills you will need to react when attacked in a life-threatening scenario. But then, until you are attacked, you can never lift a finger on the attacker. Also, even if you're forced to react, your intent will generally be different from that of the military defense.

There are myriads of Qigong exercises to practice for their martial art purposes and health benefits as well. One practice that I have come to learn is the use of candle training to help develop concentration, Jin, Qi and other skills related to martial arts and overall well-being.

Whereas majority of people out there get mesmerized with the idea of putting out a candle flame with a punch, there is absolutely nothing to wonder about here. In fact, with some work, anyone willing to develop this skill will consistently put out candles by stopping their punches an inch or more away from the flame.

The reason why candles are used in Qi exercises is because candles used to be the main source of light in ancient Chinese society. Of course things have changed today, but the place of candle training and the idea itself hasn't changed anyhow.

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The following are examples of candle training (with Qigong exercises among them)

 

1 Concentration training

One aspect that Qigong exercises focus on is building concentration. Building your concentration is something that requires some learning and practice. You have to nourish both your mental and visual focus, and thus the use of candles is essential.

This is done by sitting in a dark room and concentrating on the candle light with a meditating mind -- calm and relaxed.

During this exercise, you should focus on the flame until you can trace how every piece of that flame is behaving. You can do this for at least 30 minutes to be able to build a specific level of concentration -- same thing that happens in Qigong training.

Until you can build this level of concentration, you cannot effectively participate in a fight where your concentration/awareness/sensitivity/accuracy and focus is constantly needed. 

This Qigong exercise will not present itself like a light training at first. But after you've trained consistently for a while, you will be able to reach your goals effortlessly. 

Nevertheless, this is just one face of learning, and the goal is to learn how to watch the candle flame with one focus and mind. Once you have mastered this art, you can move to placing the candle on a swinger specially designed for holding candles.

Now, the difference here is that you will be learning to place your focus on a moving candle instead of a stationary one. This focusing practice will help you develop the key fundamentals of Qigong training.

2 Qi training

In the study of Internal Martial Arts, the candle is used to develop focus of the mind and Qi. When you learn to focus on a higher level, you will develop a stronger Qi. 

Again, this Qigong exercise is very simple. Sit in front of the burning candle and form your hand in the sword secret.

This is done by extending the middle and second finger while touching the ring finger. This kind of formation allows for Qi to flow through your fingers. 

When applied with a candle, you simply put your extended fingers a few inches from the candle flame. This way, you can coordinate your breath and Qi beyond the fingers, and this will somehow make the flame move.

Bio-electricity and Qigong exercises are strongly related (research has showed it). The visible manifestation of Qi are as a result of the effects of bio-electricity in the atmosphere. It is a kind of electricity led through the fingers to create some disturbance in the air, ultimately wind. This wind is responsible for making the flame move.

3 In Jin training

When you want to learn how to develop penetrating and focused power in martial arts, one of the tools you will use is candle light.

You will light up the candle and use it as a target for Jin. For the start, your punches should stop as close to the flame as possible. You have to target that flame with your punches by directing your focus towards it. If there is no focus, you will not put out the flame no matter how hard you struggle.

If you have trained consistently, you can feel free to increase the flame distance. If you can put out the flame within a distance of one foot, then you should know that your punching power is focused and penetrating. In this case, your punching power will penetrate deeper into the internal organs of your attacker.

P.S

I have used the 3 examples above as a point of reference. There's always room to be creative when using candle light in training around those areas.