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YD, in the red chest guard, joined the LMA Learning Lab seven months ago after hearing about it on the Southpaw podcast network. At the time, he was taking a cardio kickboxing class for fitness but was curious about LMA's alternative approach to learning. Given the distance, he initially trained just once a month, thinking that would be the extent of his involvement.
Initially, YD had a lot of questions and some skepticism about our approach. We didn't hit pads, drill, or use top-down instruction or memorization. However, rather than judging his experience against what he thought a martial arts class should be, he started to focus on how much he was actually improving. That once-a-month commitment soon turned into twice a month, and now it's three to four times a month, with an hour's drive each way. He now rarely asks questions other than about the game rules; he knows it's self-directed. The person with the answers about how he ought to move isn't me, but himself.
For YD, martial arts was simply a fun way to exercise, and competing was never on his radar. He associated competition with "serious" training, not something born out of joy and play. But a week before a local competition, AF and MY decided to sign up without any special preparation. YD came to support them, bringing his gear to help with their warm-up.
While checking the brackets to see when AF and MY would be up, YD noticed only one person in the heavyweight division, while his own division—the one below—was completely empty. Spontaneously, he wondered if the promoters would let him sign up on the spot, even though the event had already started. To his surprise, they said yes.
As much as AF and MY didn't have preparation, YD really had no preparation. None of us went to the event expecting YD to compete, let alone in a higher weight division. However, the LMA Learning Lab's training is organized around unpredictability. We don't drill or hit pads because those activities are predictable. Our training thrives on unpredictability, keeping it fresh and engaging. Since we view movement practices as games, our goal as movers is to adapt to any new game or condition. That's the theory, and YD was about to put it into practice.
YD's opponent turned out to be MB, someone I know from the Southpaw community. MB has been training in Thai-boxing for a while, has competed in a Thai-boxing smoker before, and had recently returned from a training trip and vacation to Thailand. MB isn't part of the Learning Lab, and we've never trained with him. He has a commercial gym he really vibes with and was competing to represent his gym. This is how YD, an LMAist, ended up in a match with MB, someone from the Southpaw community. For both, this was going to be a brand-new experience.
Given MB's experience, we knew this would be a valuable learning opportunity for YD and the rest of us. None of us are experts; we all started with zero boxing, kickboxing, or Thai-boxing skills and developed organically through the LMA Approach. For us, competition is a chance to play with and observe other movers outside of the Learning Lab, adding another layer of unpredictability. Our movements may seem new and unusual to those from commercial gyms, too.
Before the bout, we had friendly chats with MB and his team, but once the match began, they were all business. We learned a lot and grew from this experience. Props to MB and his team.
Since YD had no preparation, no competition experience, and wasn't sure how he would feel over the course of three rounds, our focus was on having fun, managing energy, seizing openings, and denying opportunities to the opponent. Simple. The good thing about none of us being experts is that we can only keep things simple. We don't know enough to overcomplicate it. Simple is also easy to learn, retain, and execute.
At the Learning Lab, YD, unfortunately, doesn't have training partners his size. Everyone is three or more divisions lighter than him. When we catch his kicks, he can easily retrieve his leg. When we grab him, he can easily push us off. MB put YD in situations we couldn't replicate, which was a huge benefit. Part of YD's motivation to compete was likely to gain experience against opponents his size or larger—conditions we, as his training partners, simply can't reproduce. For YD, competition is a better growth opportunity than for those of us who have partners our size or bigger or smaller.
The Learning Lab emphasizes emotional and physical safeguarding that won't be found in competition. When we notice the startle response (fight-or-flight) or shock, we back off to avoid initiating trauma. In competition, opponents aim to ignite and exploit the startle response. They're not necessarily looking to traumatize you, but they're not opposed to it either. However, thanks to our extensive self-regulation training, we don't need to traumatize each other to be prepared for intensity. Nonetheless, it is still tiring.
One difference we've noticed between how we corner and how other teams do is that we usually prompt our practitioners to "slow down," "breathe," or "touch-touch," meaning reduce the intensity. Other teams often demand the opposite. This makes sense, as LMA and commercial gyms have opposing theories and philosophies. We slow things down to heighten executive function and reduce trauma, while other teams increase pressure, aggression, and intensity to overwhelm their opponents' executive functions and place them in survival mode. It's American football plus crude exposure therapy vs. LMA's wu-wei, self-direction, Taoism, and care. They're creating "fighters," we're fostering movers.
During the breaks, I asked YD what he saw. He noticed some ways MB was moving his arms. I told him to work with that information. You don't need to guess—your opponent is the answer sheet. I'm not the expert on MB; YD knows more than I do because he's the one out there. I'm only here to support and encourage YD to trust himself. I reminded YD to breathe, have fun, and shake MB's hand, and thank his corner when it was over. Since none of us are the authority in LMA, it doesn't matter if we can hear our corners or not; LMAists are self-directed. Even a radical training martial arts is still different from an LMAist—different approaches, conditions, and outcomes.
The bout was fun to watch, and both YD and MB put on a great showing and effort, with even a bit of swagger from MB—something we could also learn. After all, a part of Thai-boxing is swagger.
Did I mention YD signed up for another competition two weeks after this one? Rather than our gentle approach to training scaring us from competition, LMAists are enjoying themselves. AF described it as "thrilling."
Everything about the normative commercial way of training isn't wrong; there just happens to be an alternative for those seeking one. If you want the American football version for everything, there are plenty of options.
To access the Liberation Martial Arts curriculum and contribute to the sustainability of this project, consider upgrading your membership. Find other ways to support me here. – Sam
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(I write daily about martial arts and other topics from a liberatory perspective. If you like my work, upgrade your subscription. You can also support me on Patreon or make a one-time donation on Ko-fi. Find Southpaw at its website. Get the swag on Spring. Also check out Liberation Martial Arts Online.)
Radical Play: Embracing Unpredictability