At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Bas Rutten, Karate Combat, and Breathing: Fighting’s Next Edge Revealed
- Joe Rogan and Bas Rutten catch up on life after leaving California, settling into Texas, and the cultural difference in gun-friendly states, before diving deep into modern martial arts promotions like Karate Combat and bare-knuckle boxing.
- They analyze striking evolutions—low kicks, calf kicks, ax kicks, clotheslines—while revisiting classic MMA history, from BJ Penn and Fedor to Chuck Liddell and early UFC days with minimal rules and safety standards.
- Bas explains how point-karate strikers are successfully transitioning to full-contact Karate Combat, highlighting its unique pit, rules, and fan-governed crypto-token model that shares upside with both viewers and fighters.
- In the final section, Rutten lays out his philosophy on mental approach, training obsession, and especially breathing—detailing diaphragmatic breathing and his O2 Trainer device as a scientifically-backed way to radically improve endurance and even help asthma.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasTexas offers fighters and entertainers a lower-stress, friendlier base than California.
Both Joe and Bas describe Texas as less crowded, more polite, and culturally different—helped in part by widespread gun ownership and looser regulations—which many ex-Californians now prefer.
Karate Combat is successfully turning point-karate athletes into full-contact stars.
With five-second ground-and-pound windows, banked walls, and no cages, point stylists like Rafael Aghayev, Ross Levine, and others are adapting their blitzing and timing into high-KO, TV-friendly fights.
Karate Combat’s fan-token model could be a future template for fight promotions.
Their $KARATE token lets fans essentially ‘bet’ without losing principal, earn more when their fighter wins, and send 10% of those winnings directly to fighters—while also influencing matchmaking and potential rule changes.
High-level striking still evolves—new tools like calf kicks, ax kicks, and even “clotheslines” are underused weapons.
They note how calf kicks changed MMA, how fighters like Andy Hug and Alfie Davis weaponize ax kicks, and Bas argues a properly thrown forearm clothesline is a devastating, legal shot that almost no one uses.
Mental framing and obsession are as critical as physical talent for elite fighters.
Bas explains how he rewired his response to fatigue (“I love getting tired”), meticulously fixed weaknesses like submissions with 2–3 daily sessions, and learned to fight only for himself—not family, not fans—to remove performance pressure.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesDo what you don’t like. That’s usually the thing you’re bad at.
— Bas Rutten
We thought the tough guys were boxers and kickboxers. That’s not true.
— Bas Rutten
If bad people have guns, I want to have them too. It’s very simple.
— Bas Rutten
Fighting was peaceful for me. My ADD brain finally had only one thing to focus on.
— Bas Rutten
Most coaches don’t train breathing at all. You’re an idiot if you ignore that.
— Bas Rutten
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