hardheadjarhead
Senior Master
MichiganTKD in bold:
I think the "my art is better than your art" and "traditional martial arts are useless" attitude has directly paralleled the rise of UFC, Pride, and K-1.
The "my art is better than your art" attitude is perennial, a part of human nature, and will never disappear. It manifests itself in your own attitude towards MMA, Wallace, Norris and point fighters, though you've attempted to veil it by essentially saying, "if it works for them, fine." MMA'ers and progressive stylists also adopt this pose. It is, at best, condescendingly generous.
These guys make it a point to pick and choose techniques from many different styles, not realizing how superficial the end result is.
Or perhaps, not caring whether it is superficial or not. Their attitude, if anything, is western. Yours is an eastern mindset, more specifically limited to those formalized arts from Korea and Japan and exclusive of those arts from southeast Asia and much of China.
While I personally prefer traditional Tae Kwon Do because it works for me, it seems to be the aforementioned students who have carried disrespect for other styles to new heights. But then, they are following in the steps of their spiritual godfather, Bruce Lee.
An amazing contradiction once again, as you have shown nothing but disrespect for Lee and other progressive martial arts in your posts throughout this forum. It is as if you're saying, "Each to his own...but THOSE guys, cheez..."
Marginal in bold:
Not saying there aren't reasonable MMA'ers, but there tend to be very vocal, obnoxious people in MMA circles that are more than happy to lay down what they perceive as "the cold truth".
Their attitude is little different than MichiganTKD's. They're polar opposites insofar as personal philosophy, but carry the same level of disrespect. However; the MMA'ers and progressives don't fall into a category of hypocrisy. They don't pretend to politeness and then show little of it. They don't give undue veneration to respect only to dance around the issue so as to look down on other methods.
But I can readily see why they hold little regard for traditionalists. The latter, for years, have held the public's attention as being the ultimate in unarmed self defense. Suddenly their cherished status is gone, and they're left with touting their method as being morally and ethically superior...a "way" that cultivates character. However beneficial that might be (and I'd defend it is, within a measure of reason), the arts have lost much of their mystique. There are no TKD people entering the Octagon. Nobody yet has made a pressure point technique work in any MMA ring. Ninjas have yet to be seen in a K-1 or "Rage in the Cage" match...but then, we all know how good they are at not being seen.
That no traditional art has survived for very long in an MMA setting is revealing on many levels. Most arts today have no testing ground other than the sparring ring. Rules are adopted to prevent injury to contestants and to keep the art within certain parameters of performance. MMA, while it has adopted quite a few rules since the days of the first UFC (remember the "There are NO rules" tag line?) still has one thing going for it---it fights at all empty hand ranges. It does throws and takedowns. It does submissions. It hits and kicks. No other formal art has ever approached this level of complete competitiveness or been this popular.
But the trash talk, while keeping these details in mind, is born of competitiveness itself. Traditionalists and MMA'ers and Progressives are all vying for a market share--not for dollar shares--but for validation.
Regards,
Steve
I think the "my art is better than your art" and "traditional martial arts are useless" attitude has directly paralleled the rise of UFC, Pride, and K-1.
The "my art is better than your art" attitude is perennial, a part of human nature, and will never disappear. It manifests itself in your own attitude towards MMA, Wallace, Norris and point fighters, though you've attempted to veil it by essentially saying, "if it works for them, fine." MMA'ers and progressive stylists also adopt this pose. It is, at best, condescendingly generous.
These guys make it a point to pick and choose techniques from many different styles, not realizing how superficial the end result is.
Or perhaps, not caring whether it is superficial or not. Their attitude, if anything, is western. Yours is an eastern mindset, more specifically limited to those formalized arts from Korea and Japan and exclusive of those arts from southeast Asia and much of China.
While I personally prefer traditional Tae Kwon Do because it works for me, it seems to be the aforementioned students who have carried disrespect for other styles to new heights. But then, they are following in the steps of their spiritual godfather, Bruce Lee.
An amazing contradiction once again, as you have shown nothing but disrespect for Lee and other progressive martial arts in your posts throughout this forum. It is as if you're saying, "Each to his own...but THOSE guys, cheez..."
Marginal in bold:
Not saying there aren't reasonable MMA'ers, but there tend to be very vocal, obnoxious people in MMA circles that are more than happy to lay down what they perceive as "the cold truth".
Their attitude is little different than MichiganTKD's. They're polar opposites insofar as personal philosophy, but carry the same level of disrespect. However; the MMA'ers and progressives don't fall into a category of hypocrisy. They don't pretend to politeness and then show little of it. They don't give undue veneration to respect only to dance around the issue so as to look down on other methods.
But I can readily see why they hold little regard for traditionalists. The latter, for years, have held the public's attention as being the ultimate in unarmed self defense. Suddenly their cherished status is gone, and they're left with touting their method as being morally and ethically superior...a "way" that cultivates character. However beneficial that might be (and I'd defend it is, within a measure of reason), the arts have lost much of their mystique. There are no TKD people entering the Octagon. Nobody yet has made a pressure point technique work in any MMA ring. Ninjas have yet to be seen in a K-1 or "Rage in the Cage" match...but then, we all know how good they are at not being seen.
That no traditional art has survived for very long in an MMA setting is revealing on many levels. Most arts today have no testing ground other than the sparring ring. Rules are adopted to prevent injury to contestants and to keep the art within certain parameters of performance. MMA, while it has adopted quite a few rules since the days of the first UFC (remember the "There are NO rules" tag line?) still has one thing going for it---it fights at all empty hand ranges. It does throws and takedowns. It does submissions. It hits and kicks. No other formal art has ever approached this level of complete competitiveness or been this popular.
But the trash talk, while keeping these details in mind, is born of competitiveness itself. Traditionalists and MMA'ers and Progressives are all vying for a market share--not for dollar shares--but for validation.
Regards,
Steve
