Martial arts discussion thread

[GoktimusPrime]

Sorry Gok but I read your posts in this thread and I can't help but think your someone who reads a little bit too much into the theory of things and idolises the 'old masters'.

I have a preference for traditional styles for reasons I've mentioned before.

In reality it is better to practise simple techniques as your fine motor skills rapidly get thrown out the window and all your fancy techniques that have been practised with a compliant partner (most schools are guilty of this as are most demonstrations on youtube and ones shown in this thread) do not work.

I absolutely agree.

The difference between training and a real fight is fear. There is no fear in training because you know you're in a safe environment. And you _will_ be scared in a real fight (unless you're incredibly brave or stupid, and Aristotle did imply that there's little difference between the two ). And studies show that one thing that occurs when you're afraid is that you LOSE your fine motor skills. Hence why learning fine motor skills for self defence is bollocks. However studies also show that gross motor skills are optimised when you're afraid; so it makes more sense to learn techniques that work on gross motor skills instead.

So I'm in complete agreement with you there.

You were reluctant to answer if you had ever been in a real fight earlier, if you have you will know this to be true, hence why a lot of 'martial artists' or 'blackbelts' get snotted in a real fight. They have either never been exposed to real violence before or not trained for it or they are ineffectual as there perfectly practised roundhouse punch or spinning dragon magic kick with no shadow didn't turn into the fight stopper like it did in the dojo/kwoon.

90% of a fight is psychological and I find a lot of competent fighters actually avoid getting into fights rather than experiencing them. I agree that a lot of well trained martial artists _do_ get creamed in real fights. This would be, as you've implied, due to ineffectual training.

A lot of what you type has sound principles as I have read a lot of this before but instead of taking other peoples words as gospel broaden your horizons and expose yourself to other styles and training so you can actually comment on it from experience. You bag out some styles for being 'sport' styles etc but in reality a lot of these guys who train in these styles are better equiped for a real fight than you and your traditional stylist practitioners.

I don't think I ever "bagged" out sport styles. I simply said that I'm skeptical for reasons that I've mentioned before.

But I have repeatedly said time and time again that ultimately the best style is the style that WORKS for you - even if it's a sport style. And I have also said that sometimes a practitioner of a sport style CAN be a better fighter than someone from a more traditional background.

A classic example would be Mohammed Ali and Bruce Lee. Mohammed Ali practised modern boxing, what I consider to be a sport style. Bruce Lee's background was in Kung Fu and he developed Jeet Kune Do, what might be considered to be traditional. But if you put Mohammed Ali and Bruce Lee - in their prime - in a cage fight, I would put my money on Mohammed Ali.

Mohammed Ali was a bloody fantastic fighter who actually understood and executed the concepts of traditional martial arts BETTER than a lot of traditionalists; i.e. "float like a butterfly sting like a bee" = you need to be hard and soft = yin and yang. For all of Bruce Lee's training in traditional styles he was - at best - a mediocre fighter.

So while I have a preference for traditional styles, please don't think that it means that I therefore disregard anyone who practises sport styles.

I've said this before too - the important question is NOT "what style do you do?" but "Can you fight?"

Just wondering how long you have been training for?
Considering you can spar with your arms tied behind your back and with a blindfold you must be impressive,

No, I've never said I was impressive. I just happened to be sparring against a very ineffectual opponent at the time.

But the most important thing is how do you train your techniques? If it is with compliant partners and bouncy bouncy touch sparring (think NAS tournaments, and taekwondo to generalise) then you are wasting your time. Practising technique with non compliant partners and Pad work/bag work and controlled sparring with contact is essential.......

Absolutely agree. I dislike training with overly compliant partners. Your partner needs to compliant enough to keep your training safe - but not too compliant that they're letting you win or not providing a realistic challenge.

or you could just do Tai Chi instead and tell everyone you are a martial artist lol

That's an unfair generalisation.

First of all, there are many styles of Tai Chi - some are usable in fighting, some aren't. Secondly, even with the fighting styles of Tai Chi - you have competent practitioners and not so competent practitioners.

As someone once said to me, "The individual matters more than the style."