What's the lowest bar to entry combat sport I can hop in and spar as a complete beginner? I want to have a taste for it without having to go through months of work.

some bjj gyms will let you spar at the end of your first lesson.

>>226966 (OP)
Sounds like you want boxing, Muay Thai, or Dutch Kickboxing

>>226966 (OP)
have you never been out at night for drinks? You can get into a fight in any bar, the lower class the better.
Just wear a Tesla t-shirt and maga hat and walk around any place that serves alcohol

>>226966 (OP)
I'd guess boxing. It has probably the shortest timeline between "completely clueless" and "decently competent", so it follows that you'd be able to start sparring pretty soon
>>226968
Keyword "some". A competent coach would probably strongly discourage that

>>227258
They've let me do it at all the tryout classes I went to. They'd just put me with some black belt I'm incapable of hurting and who knows how to moderate his own output.

>>227373
Yeah, that's fair. The main concern would be that complete newcomers 1) don't really know what to even do in sparring and 2) tend to spaz out. Letting a more experienced practitioner play-spar you for a bit avoids both

>>227558
Worried about my moves, Sensei? I always knew you were a fraud.

>>227558
in high trust societies we dont really fear letting newbies spar. maybe its different in litigation happy third world countries like the united states

>>226966 (OP)
Battle games and full-contact LARPs will often have you sparring on the first day.

Games like Dagorhir, Darkon, and Belegarth have grappling (no submissions, no throws--think high school wrestling) and use padded weapons with no armor so you can just show up, borrow a sword, get a quick rundown of the rules, and go out and try it. Amtgard doesn't have grappling and they tend to hit each other with a slightly lighter hit calibration (but still not comically light taps like in games like NERO) but the skill level at some parks can be very high.

SCA has no grappling and you have to wear armor (different localities will have different loaner gear situations so you may need to make arrangements before showing up to spar) but you get to smash 1.25" diameter sticks into people's heads hard enough to dent their steel helmets.

Any of the buhurt type games tend to require more and more expensive equipment since the armor has to protect against relatively heavy steel weapons, but if you can get the gear (bought or borrowed) you can start sparring right away there, too.

>>226966 (OP)
Just kickboxing would be perfect or you could try boxing

>>228103
Tell me about the top right quadrant

>>228499
Darkon is Dagorhir combat (as described in the previous post) with a roleplaying and magic system on top (magic system isn't over powered or cumbersome, adds some fun flavor to the game without making martial skill irrelevant). It's pretty fun and they had very competent fighters when I was down there last (roughly ten years ago). It's a regional LARP in the Baltimore/DC area where they fight over hexes on a map. They have field battles, campout events, tournaments, and weekly martial practices (fighting only, no LARP or magic, on either Tuesday or Thursday evenings).

Dargarth is Seattle's version of Darkon. I've never played it and I regret not trying it when I was staying in the region.

SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) is a big medieval recreation organization with lots of activities but what this chart is referencing is their heavy weapons fighting as described in the previous post. They also have their own historical fencing system that's a little different from HEMA but spiritually similar. Fighting aside, someone in the SCA is doing pretty much any activity that would have been done in medieval times. There are social events and somewhat of a roleplay social structure but you can ignore most of that if you're just want to hit people with sticks; that said, the main regional political office is held by whoever wins the stick fighting tournament so if you want the highest accolades you do need to LARP a little. It's widely available across the United States and there are a handful of international chapters.

EMP (Empire of Medieval Pursuits) is an offshoot of the SCA. I've never played it but by my understanding it's SCA with grappling, unarmed striking, and fewer restrictions on target areas.

>>228507
Very cool. Thanks.

>>228103
>less roleplay
>paintball/airsoft

>>232099
Speedball and milsim have very different roleplay levels so I'm guessing Anon was thinking more of the former. Where would you put paintball as a whole?

>>232102
>paintball as a whole
*paintball/airsoft as a whole

>>226966 (OP)
>the lowest bar to entry combat sport
behold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hyShhQz0V4

>>226966 (OP)
>owest bar to entry combat sport
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDHj0Mo8Epg

>>236408
I saw "matador" and thought at first that you were suggesting that OP be the bull in a bull fight, since bulls are generally held to lower standards than humans.

>>236409
this is real in the dirt fighting. The loser got up and wanted to fight again and was punished for his stupdity. Anyone can fight, getting into a fight is easy, but your oppenent may not have any mercy on you and no one may step in to save you. I just found this channel, will watch all vids before it gets banned.

>>236410
>will watch all vids before it gets banned
There are several methods by which you could archive the YouTube channel if you're worried about that.