Martial arts discussion thread

[GoktimusPrime]

Can would bring my Zangetsu but i think i could get in the shit with the cops..

That's why I like the idea "defend yourself from thugs without becoming a thug." Legally we are permitted to use reasonable force in self-defence. It's when you use unreasonably excessive force that you may find yourself in trouble with the law.

It's also because of this that I have a personal preference for the internal martial arts, due to their more passively defensive nature.

Here's an example with a person demonstrating traditional Aikido:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aicHsMC6rxM
You'll notice that at no point does the defender actually strike his attackers. There are no punches, kicks, elbows, knees, headbutts, biting etc.; nothing offensive, all defensive. What may appear as strikes to some people are actually pre-emptive blocks. He's not hitting his attackers, but at times he will stick his hand out to obstruct them or to enforce them to fall down - and the only reason why the attackers fall down so hard is because the defender is using his attacker's force against them. The defender is using very little of his own power. The entire essence is about subduing and restraining your attacker, not hitting them.

Tai Chi is another example of a passively defensive martial art. Their push hands exercise is which allows them to practice the principles of redirecting an attacker's force against them.

There are plenty of other passively defensive internal styles and I'd be here forever if I wanted to discuss them all, but I hope that these brief examples give an idea of how the basic concept of passively defensive fighting works.

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Disclaimer: Classification in martial arts, just like classification in many other areas, is highly arbitrary and subjective. In reality all martial arts contain both internal and external elements. It is possible for external martial artists to be passively defensive too (just as it's possible for an internal martial artist to be aggressively offensive). It's really up to how the individual chooses to apply his/her training and techniques.