While the premise of this book is humourous, my personal opinion on martial arts is this:
Martial Art can be broken up into two terms. Martial; of or pertaining to [military] combat and Art (In this context); perfection of the technique thereof.
So what in the bloody Hell does that mean? It means that we should strive to perfect the techniques (Art) of combat (Martial), making them as efficient as possible (I.E. Not flashy, but effective). How do we do this? By engaging in combat on a daily basis and surviving to teach our disciples how we managed that feat.
By my definition, can you see why Martial Arts are stagnating out of existance? (By the way, I see my definition as the only definition:
)
I have no problem with abstract combat theories, as long as they are tried and tested in battle. So, if Phil Elmore were a veteran of "street sword" combat and was writing this book to aid future generations of "street sword" combatants, then I would praise him. But this does not seem to be the case. I have a lot of theories of my own, but until they are battle-proven I cannot sell them when there is a chance that would-be young "street sword" combatants (And Anime fans) could perish because of my "bad advice".
The practicality of being able to defend yourself with a sword (Or any other weapon)? Priceless... as long as you carry that weapon with you - always. Despite it being illegal to carry most weapons, that does not seem to deter criminals. Since no one can see a concealed weapon until you "draw" it, it ends up being a matter of morality and control. With the population growth, land reduction (Attributed to a rising sea level), urbanisation, and funding for law enforcement decreasing, whilst corruption therein increasing, the crime rate is bound to go up.
Where I live, in China, firearm trade is virtually non-existant, the result being that Mafia and other criminals carry all variaties of knives (Including half a metre long elongated butcher knives that are, for all intensive purposes, swords). I, myself, carry a 62cm (fully extended) telescoping steel baton (From a "market" for only 60元
. In China, this is a legal weapon to carry (Though I would anyways if it weren't). One must make a habit of carrying. The mobile phone and wallet go in my left pocket and the baton and keys go in the right. Why this choice? To explain that I would have to relate to you my combat theory (Which I am not selling).
Telescopic steel baton + Badaoshu (Battoujutsu) = effective?
While the answer to that "question" remains unanswered, I will continue to carry it and perhaps one day I will find out. In the meantime: TRY IT AND SEE FER YERSELVES!!! I can recall several occasions where my wife and I were walking through parks (in the evening) and I let my hand slide into my pocket (the "ready stance") whilst a group of non-innocent-looking men passed us in narrow alleyways/bridges. Though having martial ability is a plus, you can never under-value martial spirit (Or common sense, but I like to have my evening walks, damnit). I have only had to use what I was taught one time when some Arabians tried to steal my camera in the early evening, but there were countless times during my travels when something almost happened. A cool head and a good "poker face" will fend off most would-be attackers.
In closing... Don't get to caught up in Martial politics and get back to the training hall. Instead of learning from the world wide web and books, why not try the whole wide world? It's far more interesting and after game over there are no re-tries. Enjoy.