Football vs. Martial Arts

[Silent Giant]

I used to be a football player and a martial artist and in a fight, I would have to go with the football player initially in an all out street fight. If the martial artist was a grappler it might go a different way.

[Mr. Heel Hook]

Originally posted by falcon3624
The big strong guy is going to become the victim of years of skill and hard work learning how to fight and he will loose.

Falcon, this is the best thing I have ever seen anyone post on this subject. You have made me proud.

[Sonic Fist]

There exists the possibility that this is the silliest thread topic ever. Mr. Heel Hook showed it to me a week ago and I'm amazed that it is still going.

Football players are likely to have good physical endurance and cardio. It is also likely that they will have a strong competitive will and perhaps an enhanced pain threshold. That being said, what martial artist worth his salt does not have those advantages and then some?

The bottom line is that martial arts are for fighting and football is a game. You only have to look at the top competitors from each area to prove the point. Ask a top MMA fighter to cover Randy Moss on a post, or pass block Simeon Rice on third and long. Not gonna happen. Now ask those guys to get into the ring. How do you think it would go?

At the entry level, sure, maybe a high school football player has an edge over the kid who took karate for a few years so he wouldn't be picked on.

Next Thread: "Basketball Players Vs. Basket Weavers" who weaves a meaner basket!

[falcon3624]

I think a better question would have been can strength overcome a good MMA. There are alot of people out there with the idea that if you are really strong that you can beat down anyone. I know a guy like this that was a amateur bodybuilder and we have sparred many times and was never able to beat me with strength.

[Sonic Fist]

Strength is an advantage for sure, but with enough training it is easy to overcome. On my feet, I have no fear of guys with substantial size advantages. On the ground I don't yet have the training or skills to consistently overcome someone being stronger than I am.

So it's relative, but at a certain skill level strength becomes less of a factor.

[falcon3624]

I agree totally but there are always going to be people that say strength beats all.

[Sonic Fist]

People read to many comic books. The losses Bob Sapp has taken should disprove that argument. Just how strong are they talking? Stronger than Bob Sapp!?

It seems to me that once synched up in a key lock, all men are equally screwed.

[MuayThaiFighter]

I have to laugh at this message board it is a joke.

How can anyone compare a fighter to a football player?,that's like comparing apples and oranges,ya they are both fruits but taste completely different.

A martial artist is a trained fighter,a football player is trained to play football.

Many martial arts are huge,just as many are thin,however most football players are huge men.

Besides that size doesn't mean a thing in most fights there may be the exception..

For example: You have two guys a small guy with many years of martial arts experience,excellent technique,power,speed and has ability to read his opponents every move ahead of time,then you get a huge guy with no fighting experience,no skill,no power and no speed obviously the small guy will win.

However if you have two guys one small with many years of martial arts experience and a huge guy with equal amount of knowledge,speed,power,adurance and obviously the big guy will win.

In many fights small guys have an advantage over a huge guy for these factors:

He is lighter on his feet
Usually quicker and can use it to his advantage.


Reasons why a big guy may win is because some people are intimated by size.For this same reason huge,strong guys make good bouncers.Intimidation plays as a main factor.

There are people out there who can land a punch very well,are able to hit with power,speed,are in great shape,and have excellent technique but however wouldn't be able to take a hit and therefore would drop to the ground within a matter of a few seconds.Some people have a glass type jaw making them fall to the ground when hit in the jaw regardless of size and strength.

A true martial artist knows that in order to win a fight one must have:

Great technique
Power
Speed
Have great cardio(to avoid getting tired during a fight)
Have the ability to read one's movements ahead of time.

Also to win a fight you must have the proper mind set,you can't expect to win a fight if you are scared and about to freeze.Fear is man's worst enemy and will make you lose.

Believe it or not some huge,strong,bodybuilder type guys couldn't land a punch if they tried,totally out of shape,lack in speed and power and technique and wouldn't be able to take a hit.

Most big guys rely specifically on strength,which often will tire them out quickly.

It is true some big guys are natural born fighters with no martial arts experience however same goes with small guys.Who wins depends on who can get the first punch in,tougher,and in the right mind set and better shape.

These are just a few things to consider.

Okay now you may get a huge guy that corners a smaller guy,well close up he might win due to his size but from distance,I would have to disagree.

Even better if you are a small guy and you get a huge guy sitting on top of you,he has all his weight and strength coming down on you from up top and could knock you out with 1 or more punches,however if you know how to grapple very well and are tough enough to take hits to mouth and head then you may just be able to reverse the position and be on top of him and take him out.

A football player is big,strong,muscular,great shape and fast but his fitness is taught to use it all to his advantage in playing the game not to fight.It is one thing to throw a football and another to fight.

Football players aren't taught to fight with fists and kicks.They are used to getting hit by a football or jumped on top of by several other big guys,but there is a difference between being jumped on,being hit with a football and being hit with fists.

Also under their uniforms they wear alot of padding so it is not the same as taking hits that martial artists take with less padding.Not to say football players don't get hurt,infact without a doubt they do,just in a different way.

Football players don't fight back when taken to ground,they just get back up on their feet and run again where as a grappler has to fight his way back up on to his feet.

Like martial arts, football players require cardio,power,technique and speed but unlike martial arts, football also requires alot of muscle mass and strength.

So to say a football player will win against a martial artist due to size is rediculous.Size has nothing to do with it.

[John05]

Originally posted by Mr. Heel Hook


For some reason, this answer makes me sad.

Aside from that, I can't believe this thread is actualy on an MA board and football has even one vote. Go figure, huh?

It shouldn't make you sad. Football is winning because MA's in America are mostly for spoiled ppl who want to learn how to kick ass without having to get hurt (TKD and Karate).
They honestly wont stand a chance against a football player. Martial arts like TKD are like wushu (in chinese that means "Martial arts performance" or something along those lines). They are all bark no bite. Have you seen TKD moves? nothing as efficient and painful as a MuayThai roundhouse.
There's no competition against a big football player. All that muscle.

If you were talking about boxing, wrestling, BJJ, or MuayThai kickboxing (not the crappy americanized version of kickboxing that doesn't involve you getting hit), that would be different.

To be a good fighter you need to experience pain.
You guys underestimate football players. Obviously most of you are biased, this is a MA forum after all. Football players ARE VERY fast for their size. I can't believe how stupid it would be to think they aren't fast. Not to mention that their sport is much like fighting.
Somone on the forum mentioned that this was just about putting a big strong guy against a MArtist. Football players aren't just big and strong. They experience pain and impact (LOTS of it). They are much less likely to experience a concussion from a punch than the average joe martial artist who's not had heavy blows to the head or torso. And in a real fight no matter how good you are you will be hit a few times.

Unless their skill levels were completely imbalanced (brown/black belt vs football player with no experience in fighting) or they were of equal weight (highly unlikely since fighters train type 2 twitch muscles and football players train mostly type 2 strength), the football player would win.

[ryanhall]

So to say a football player will win against a martial artist due to size is rediculous.Size has nothing to do with it.

Unfortunately, you are wrong.

Unless their skill levels were completely imbalanced (brown/black belt vs football player with no experience in fighting) or they were of equal weight (highly unlikely since fighters train type 2 twitch muscles and football players train mostly type 2 strength), the football player would win.

But then again, so are you.

[MuayThaiFighter]

Originally posted by ryanhall

Unfortunately, you are wrong.


But then again, so are you.

Actually I am right,I have been in both enough competitions and real fights to know size means sh!t.

Think about it,look at the Gracies,Royce isn't that big yet he beat up guys twice his size in UFC and won all his first fights.

I am sure you have noticed that most of the UFC guys are huge,some are just as big as football players if not bigger yet Royce Gracie as thin as he was still proved over and over again how effectively he could take them to the ground and tap his opponents out.

[Cain]

hmm, I'm starting to doubt mr muay thais profile.. size DOES mean quite a lot.. it is a reason why many sports have weight divisions.. if two men have 100% similare technique.. same speed.. everything is alike.. and the first is 150lbs 6".. and the other is 250 6"3.. i would put my money on the largest guy.. ofcourse technique is important.. VERY important.. but again, to state that "size means shit" is just ignorant.. so please try to be more.. hmm.. thought trough..

[Half-Asleep]

size matters its just not the only thing that matters
u need speed, strength, technique and endurance in a fight as well as other things those are the main ones that come to mind. Strength/size is only one of the things, its important but its also important to realise its not all that matters.

[MuayThaiFighter]

Originally posted by Cain
hmm, I'm starting to doubt mr muay thais profile.. size DOES mean quite a lot.. it is a reason why many sports have weight divisions.. if two men have 100% similare technique.. same speed.. everything is alike.. and the first is 150lbs 6".. and the other is 250 6"3.. i would put my money on the largest guy.. ofcourse technique is important.. VERY important.. but again, to state that "size means shit" is just ignorant.. so please try to be more.. hmm.. thought trough..

No shit bud!!!!!!!!!! read my post again correctly,although I did mention that size means shit,I did also say that it depends if both men have same or similar technique,knowledge,speed and power.

However you cannot compare a football player to a martial artist,it just makes no freaking sense both different sports.

One is for fighting the other is for throwing a football.

[MuayThaiFighter]

Originally posted by Half-Asleep
size matters its just not the only thing that matters
u need speed, strength, technique and endurance in a fight as well as other things those are the main ones that come to mind. Strength/size is only one of the things, its important but its also important to realise its not all that matters.

So are you implying thin guys will never win competitions or even a real fight against guys bigger then them,if so then you are wrong.

I have won against guys much bigger then me,I have also seen small guys beat the shit out of huge steroid type monkey's that are bouncers in a club.

Tell Royce Gracie that size is important and I bet anything he will laugh,the guy is as thin as can be and still took on huge freaks.