I think the CMAs have a particular problem with this, for reasons already discussed very perceptively above: these arts come with a lot of baggage from their own history, with fact and fantasy blended...
My feeling is—and again, I'm quite happy to be shown to be way wrong, if I am—that the CMAs play quite a different kind of role in Chinese culture than the karate-based arts and the FMAs do in their respective cultures. But that's a big, big topic...
This is bringing back memories of a thread I started a while back over on the sister site, KenpoTalk.
I had posted a link to my capoeira school's website, where some videoclips were listed, from demonstrations the school had done. Some nice capoeira games were profiled there, and it gives an interesting, but brief, taste of the art.
My subject for the thread was, Capoeira vs. Kenpo. I did not wish to suggest or promote one art as better than the other. Instead, I was interested in stimulating some discussion on the two arts, to look at the strengths and weaknesses of each, and the vastly different approach to combat and training that each art takes. Not many of the kenpo guys over there were experienced with capoeira, so I was sort of the lone defender of the art, while the kenpo guys looked at its perceived weaknesses. There was also a general acknowledgement of capoeiras strengths as well, in it's unusual approach and tricky and surprising techniques.
At any rate, I remember one poster indicated that he felt capoeira was just a fancy dance, with little fighting potential.
My gut reaction was to contradict him and educate him and explain how wrong he was. But then I realized, probably the old capoeira masters of 100 or 150 years ago would be absolutely DELIGHTED to know that an outsider had this perception of the art.
Perhaps Capoeira and the Chinese arts share a similar role as a greater cultural vessel than simply a fighting art. I dunno, just thinking...
I think it is a modern perception that we need our art to be respected by outsiders. This is a reflection of the modern reality that few of us ever need to actually defend our lives with our skills. If we did need to on any kind of regular occasion, if we were living 150 years ago when our own safety was much more in our own hands, when we didn't have organized law enforcement to protect society, I bet none of us would be talking as freely about our art as we are today. That would be a secret held very tight and close, and the more false information we could leak out about how "lousy" our art was, the better.
So the more I think about this, the more my response to some blowhard who says "oh, you do that kung fu crap? well I do XYZ and it's WAY BETTER than your kung fu!", or "I bet I could kick your ***, 'cause I do XYZ!", I am more likely to say "Ah, I am sure your are correct, that is some very powerful stuff you do!" and leave it at that.
edit: I remember reading about a famous capoeirista from the 1800s, or something, some guy who was almost a folk hero. I think when he was threatened or backed into a corner, he would literally collapse into a blubbering heap, pouring out rivers of crocodile tears. He would convince his adversary of how weak and vulnerable he was, and they would drop their guard. Then he would whip out the straight razor and end it right there. Trickery, trickery, trickery...when your life is on the line, everything goes, and deception is the rule of the day...