What do you think of Jake Mace?

[CB Jones]

He's clearly very dedicated and a great role model for someone who wants to get fit and healthy (he's in fantastic shape). I consider him more of a fitness guru who loves Martial Arts than a good Martial Arts instructor. My personal opinion of course.

But his application of it in fighting and self defense is questionable

 

[Flying Crane]

I don’t know him, but I’m not impressed by what I’ve seen. He is athletic but that doesn’t automatically translate into good understanding and skills with martial arts.

 

[Midnight-shadow]

But his application of it in fighting and self defense is questionable

Very much so. Like I said before I couldn't care less if his forms and traditional stuff are "authentic" and "proper", but his self-defence videos worry me greatly.

Here's a classic example. Someone comes at you with a knife, and Jake Mace says you should turn your back on them and then back-kick them in the solar plexus. I don't know about you but the last thing I am going to do is turn my back on someone holding a knife in my direction. This is a regular occurrence with Jake's videos, where he choses the flashiest moves possible which more often than not are unnecessary and very risky. His actual advice regarding self-defence in terms of preventing a bad situation and de-escalation are fine, but the physical techniques he employs are going to get someone killed if they try it in real life.

 

[Ironbear24]

Very much so. Like I said before I couldn't care less if his forms and traditional stuff are "authentic" and "proper", but his self-defence videos worry me greatly.

Here's a classic example. Someone comes at you with a knife, and Jake Mace says you should turn your back on them and then back-kick them in the solar plexus. I don't know about you but the last thing I am going to do is turn my back on someone holding a knife in my direction. This is a regular occurrence with Jake's videos, where he choses the flashiest moves possible which more often than not are unnecessary and very risky. His actual advice regarding self-defence in terms of preventing a bad situation and de-escalation are fine, but the physical techniques he employs are going to get someone killed if they try it in real life.

And what if they see it coming and stop moving forward? Sure you can not throw the kick then but you are still then dealing with the guy with a knife, and you now just waisted time and put yourself in a more vulnerable position.

 

[Midnight-shadow]

And what if they see it coming and stop moving forward? Sure you can not throw the kick then but you are still then dealing with the guy with a knife, and you now just waisted time and put yourself in a more vulnerable position.

Well, in the scenario they were talking about, the guy with the knife is up in your face, close enough to just stab you without having to move forwards. So in that scenario, if you turn your back on them they are probably just going to stab you in the back before you can kick them. I honestly can't think of a single scenario where you would willingly turn your back on your opponent in a 1v1 confrontation.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Yeah I mean I wouldn't turn down training with either one of them. They both could benefit me greatly.

I misread this as "They both could benefit from me greatly" and started cracking up.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

If I recall correctly, his training was originally in Shaolin-Do, which is not actually Chinese despite the name. Coming up through that system, he probably doesn't see the difference in body mechanics between what he is doing and actual CMA. (I have known some good martial artists who came out of Shaolin-Do. Despite having a bogus history, it's not any worse than a lot of other arts I've seen.)

I agree that he is in excellent athletic shape and well coordinated. He can probably hold is own in a fight based on those physical attributes. As far as his actual technique, it's not what I would personally recommend.

 

[Ironbear24]

Well, in the scenario they were talking about, the guy with the knife is up in your face, close enough to just stab you without having to move forwards. So in that scenario, if you turn your back on them they are probably just going to stab you in the back before you can kick them. I honestly can't think of a single scenario where you would willingly turn your back on your opponent in a 1v1 confrontation.

Well in that case it's welcome to die. A spinning back kick is not meant to be done up close, ever, unless you see your opponent backing up already which a guy with a knife is going to be doing.

I misread this as "They both could benefit from me greatly" and started cracking up.

Hahaha! Master wong for self defense and Jake mace for a killer workout is what I meant.

 

[MA_Student]

Personally I never bother with watching online videos. I just stick to what I'm taught. The only time I've bothered with looking online is if I'm practicing a new form at home and can't remember the next step so I check the basic angles and movements. Anything else I'll just stick to what I'm getting taught in class as that's what I'm paying for

 

[JR 137]

 

[Midnight-shadow]

Well in that case it's welcome to die. A spinning back kick is not meant to be done up close, ever, unless you see your opponent backing up already which a guy with a knife is going to be doing.



Hahaha! Master wong for self defense and Jake mace for a killer workout is what I meant.

I would go to Jake Mace purely to see where he lives. Seriously from what I've seen of his house and gardens it looks like paradise. We can laugh at his MA techniques all day but you can't deny he's done well for himself and makes full use of what he has around him.

 

[Martial D]

I watch plenty of videos on Jake Mace. He seems he knows what he is doing, and he looks like he is very good at it. There are few people calling him a fraud. Really, all his videos are just a lie?

He is probably the best martial artist to ever live. I heard he was a grandmaster in every known style, and that his punches are so fast they break the sound barrier.

 

[Martial D]

Well, in the scenario they were talking about, the guy with the knife is up in your face, close enough to just stab you without having to move forwards. So in that scenario, if you turn your back on them they are probably just going to stab you in the back before you can kick them. I honestly can't think of a single scenario where you would willingly turn your back on your opponent in a 1v1 confrontation.

I can.

Running away.

 

[MA_Student]

Googled his name and this is the first thing that came up.

18 Chambers: Fading Smoke, Broken Mirrors: An Open Letter To Jack Mace

 

[JowGaWolf]

Not ever heard of him but did look up a few videos.
Based on the portions of two videos I viewed...Beware!!

You must be crazy. Jake Mace knows all the martial arts lol

 

[JowGaWolf]

All I will say, speaking as a CMA guy who has trained a lot of Taijiquan and Xingyiquan and a bit of Bagua too. Jake Mace's Taijiquan, Xingyiquan and Baguazhang are horrible. As to the rest of the "controversy" do not know and not really all that interested in it.

I never knew there was a controversy about him lol. Even after seeing his videos I never looked at it as if he was ripping someone off. Bad martial arts doesn't exactly mean the person is ripping others off. It just means that it's bad martial arts.

 

[CB Jones]

I never knew there was a controversy about him lol. Even after seeing his videos I never looked at it as if he was ripping someone off. Bad martial arts doesn't exactly mean the person is ripping others off. It just means that it's bad martial arts.

To me they are just funny to watch. Especially the response videos to him.

 

[Flying Crane]

Googled his name and this is the first thing that came up.

18 Chambers: Fading Smoke, Broken Mirrors: An Open Letter To Jack Mace

Whoever wrote that needs to learn to let go a bit.

 

[jobo]

Googled his name and this is the first thing that came up.

18 Chambers: Fading Smoke, Broken Mirrors: An Open Letter To Jack Mace

reading that i don't understand why people are so anal about authenticity of moves, it matters nothing if someone made them up half an hour ago, or they are hundreds of years old, they either work or they dont

 

[Danny T]

You must be crazy. Jake Mace knows all the martial arts lol

Lol...I may be crazy but I still had never heard of him prior to today. I don't do much youtubing.
But I did look him up because of this post...first thing came up was Jake Rydberg aka "Jake Mace". So Mace isn't even his name. Didn't encourage me to look for much more however because of the OP's question I looked a short portion of 2 videos. Didn't need to see more. Still can't say I know anything about him and nor am I wanting to.