Shin-Toshi Karate, your thoughts?

[JR 137]

Sir,
The late great BRUCE LEE did the same. The results speaks for themselves.

Not trying to start an argument in any way, but the “Bruce Lee combined arts” line of thinking gets old. Sure he did, and sure he did a great job of it. In fact, every art started as things taken from various sources and combined into a system.

But a simple, logical fact in that line of thinking remains: Bruce Lee wasn’t an ordinary guy. He wasn’t the norm. He deeply understood why he was pulling what he pulled from each art and how it fit together. That’s no easy task. When people say “Bruce Lee did it, so so can I,” my simple reply is “when you’ve got the skill and knowledge level of Bruce Lee, then I’ll take that argument seriously.” It reminds me of a delusional soccer player I used to treat. He tore his ACL and was told the entire process would take 9-12 months of rehab before he was back 100%. Before surgery, he told me “Jerry Rice was playing 3 weeks after he tore his.” My reply was “when you’re 1/10th the athlete Jerry Rice is, we’ll talk. Until we cross that imaginary bridge, it’ll take you 9-12 months.” He found a surgeon to repair his ACL and clear him months after surgery. He re-tore it 2 weeks after being cleared. He was no Jerry Rice. And Jerry Rice played without surgery, then ended up getting it a few weeks later because he had so many problems.

Moral of the story is just because an ultra-elite guy pulled from several different systems doesn’t mean everyone else can not should.

 

[Rey316]

The "white belt" is your rank on MartialTalk. It has nothing to do with martial skill, and everything to do with the number of posts you've made here. It's entirely meaningless, except to those of us who seem to have no life, and manage to reach the dizzying heights of MartialTalk Senior Grandmaster. Then all must bow before us. (Unfortunately, "all" doesn't seem to know that bit of etiquette. How rude.)

LOL. I thank you Sir for all that you have done to inform and educate the public and also us martial arts instructors. God bless.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

5th Group U. S. Army.

Interesting.

 

[Rey316]

Interesting.

 

[Rey316]

Yes, and it was foolish for him to do, too.

Why foolish? He proved that by mixing martial arts styles offered the most survival chances. In war and in the streets you don't get second chances. Survival of the fittest.

 

[Rey316]

Not trying to start an argument in any way, but the “Bruce Lee combined arts” line of thinking gets old. Sure he did, and sure he did a great job of it. In fact, every art started as things taken from various sources and combined into a system.

But a simple, logical fact in that line of thinking remains: Bruce Lee wasn’t an ordinary guy. He wasn’t the norm. He deeply understood why he was pulling what he pulled from each art and how it fit together. That’s no easy task. When people say “Bruce Lee did it, so so can I,” my simple reply is “when you’ve got the skill and knowledge level of Bruce Lee, then I’ll take that argument seriously.” It reminds me of a delusional soccer player I used to treat. He tore his ACL and was told the entire process would take 9-12 months of rehab before he was back 100%. Before surgery, he told me “Jerry Rice was playing 3 weeks after he tore his.” My reply was “when you’re 1/10th the athlete Jerry Rice is, we’ll talk. Until we cross that imaginary bridge, it’ll take you 9-12 months.” He found a surgeon to repair his ACL and clear him months after surgery. He re-tore it 2 weeks after being cleared. He was no Jerry Rice. And Jerry Rice played without surgery, then ended up getting it a few weeks later because he had so many problems.

Moral of the story is just because an ultra-elite guy pulled from several different systems doesn’t mean everyone else can not should.

You made a good point however l never claimed to be like Bruce Lee. Just pointed out the fact that after several years of training with elite soldiers you learn what works and what doesn't. No matter the styles. Common sense would tell you if you're ready to get back into training or fighting. Some of us don't seem to have that lol.

 

[Rey316]

Gosh, maybe I am a cynic today but even that suggested ACTKenpo club's link made me wince, photos are never good to go by I guess but the first one on the home page of the guy throwing a punch with his eyes closed didn't exactly inspire confidence, none of the higher ranks seemed confident with or comfortable in their punches/strikes in the photos. It may still be a good no-nonsense club though and worth checking out, I may be totally wrong...

The other clubs I checked out online in your area seemed to be quite kid orientated or had "black belt assurance" accolades which always gives off a strong conveyor belt / McDojo whiff. If there is no one on the base you can train with then just head down and check them all out I guess, see if you can spend a couple (at least one) free sessions at each one to get a feel for what seems right for you.

I agree with that if you are punching with your eyes close then you are doing it wrong no matter the style. I have been to many martial arts schools and see that a lot. So it's not the styles but the person. I am sure you did a punch the wrong way at one time or another. I have too but that doesn't mean that the school is bad just that l did it wrong at that time. We learn from our mistakes. Life is to short to bash on other schools. Are we not brothers and sisters in martial arts?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Why foolish? He proved that by mixing martial arts styles offered the most survival chances. In war and in the streets you don't get second chances. Survival of the fittest.

He proved that his mix worked well. I'm not sure where you get enough data to claim "most survival chances".
"Best art" claims are unnecessary and useless hyperbole in every case I've ever seen. They usually lead to some folks getting an overblown sense of confidence in what they do, which is counter to the goal of developing people who can fight/defend themselves.