Aliveness Gym Aberdeen

We incorporate movement, timing, and appropriate progressive resistance from a training partner in all aspects of our training. This means that individuals discover how to make skills work........themselves.  Practice becomes a real process of self-discovery.

All training is progressive and strictly performance based, this allows the athlete with little experience to build a solid foundation of conditioning and skill at their own pace and at the same time enables those with natural aptitude to excel.

Anyone can train this way, regardless of age or current level of fitness.

And, most importantly, the training is enjoyable. 

After all, if it weren't fun, the members wouldn't be coming back week after week.

The skills are directly applicable to street self-defence situations.  We emphasize awareness of the immediate environment, conflict recognition and de-escalation.

Fighting, as it should be, is a last resort.

Our members know that their skills are functional as they make them work against resistance, every practice.  They can focus on the more important aspects of training: enjoyment and personal growth. 

Oh, and did we mention that we also have fun!

Embracing Change

As an affiliate of the world-renown Straight Blast Gym and SBG Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Association, our training philosophy is based on the principle of Aliveness. As opposed to most martial arts curriculums, which spend a lot of time practicing pre-determined series of movements, an alive curriculum always involves adapting to the unrehearsed movement and timing of live training partners.

With this approach, our students learn to embrace the dynamic, ever-changing nature of reality by constantly interacting with and adapting to the unknown. It is only through this kind of training that fun and function truly meet.

Watch the video clip of Straight Blast Gym International President and Machado BJJ Black Belt, Matt Thornton talking about:

• Aliveness
  
• SBG's 'i' method
• Dead patterns
• Adaptability
• The delivery systems
• The 4 qualities of a good fighter
• and more!
  

At Aliveness Gym, what is good for developing self-defence skills is also good for developing "real world" fitness. Because our approach involves constant, adaptive movement of the whole body (rather than static positions or robotic exercises), it is an excellent means of getting in shape and reducing stress.

And unlike many of the popular/fad workouts promoted in the media today, alive martial arts are never boring. Training for performance by its very nature requires your direct attention, interaction, and involvement in what you're doing.  As much as it's about developing new skills, it is also about being in the moment. That's natural stress relief at its best!

Although many self-defence programs claim to offer practical, realistic approaches to training, a closer look at their methods often reveals that they are clinging to outdated  theories about what works against resisting opponents.

The truth is that no matter how impressive techniques or drills might look in a demonstration, they often have nothing to do with developing real ability. For example, imagine a tennis player who could demonstrate a perfect backhand swing in the air but never hit a real ball; or, imagine if a football or rugby player practiced playing by only passing the ball or rehearsing free-kicks without anyone ever actually tackling them. These player's may look very impressive and be great in these scenarios, but if they have never actually played tennis, or an actual game of football or rugby, how well will they be able to perform in a real match?

Instead of simply theorizing about what should work in a spontaneous, uncooperative environment, we need to experience this for ourselves in everyday training. As always, we train in a safe, non-intimidating manner so that you can challenge yourself while still progressing at your own pace.

Basically when you end up doing "aliveness" using

• Striking - you end up with boxing/kickboxing/Thai Boxing
• Clinch - you end up with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu/Judo (gi)/greco roman (no gi).
  
• Ground grappling - you end up with  Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (gi and no gi).

What you don't get if you're training that way is an attacker who is "playing dumb" - in any alive training drill, both people have an objective they are trying to achieve (although you might vary the relative levels of resistance, so initially one person might not be trying very hard).

Of course, some people might say this is not very realistic, because a real attacker won't know what you're doing, but consider this - which would you be more confident with: a technique that you've only ever tried on someone playing dumb, or a technique you can pull off against someone who knows what you are doing and is trying to stop you?

Common Martial Arts Myths