Wait a sec....no ninja's in the parking lot! (resheaths Katana). Hella good points, Robert.
Here's my critique...
I like what SBG says about "aliveness," however, sometimes I get the feeling that it is presented as if they invented the concept. To me it seems obvious..."aliveness" exists in any martial art that works. Now, does that mean you you shouldn't work on technique, body mechanics, sensitivity, and other sorts of attributes and things, without someone getting slammed in the head in the process? There are reasons for Kata, drills, and movements not releated to "NHB," and those reasons can be illustrated when you view someone like Ching Men Ching vs. Muhammad Ali, and how articulate they are/were in their old age.
Point is, "aliveness" is not a new concept, and exists in any valid art, IMHO. But, this brings me to my next point...not all people are juiced up on roids, raged up, and athletic NHB fighters. However...some of these NHB a-holes would/have their asses handed to them by someone who is not interested in "fighting," but rather just interested in self defense. My point is, NHB, boxing, kickboxing, grappling (all stuff I've done and do, btw) takes athleticism. Not everyone has that. A 55 year old with bad knees has no business in the ring...but that doesn't mean he can't learn to defend himself profeciently. The groovy thing about martial arts (and this is coming from someone who has done the sport martial arts thing, and who could be considered a better then average athlete), is that it doesn't have to rely on sheer athletic ability. So...there are reasons for working on certian things that SBG might consider "dead," and those may be bettering your attributes and abilities so that you won't have to rely on the fact that you can bench 400, and that you get hit in the head alot for your self defense.
Which brings me to ANOTHER point. Sport martial arts, no matter how elequent you try to argue around it, is NOT reality self-defense. In reality, your goal is to survive and defend yourself, or complete a mission if your an operator. REALITY is not standing in front of someone in a cage, trading blows until you hug, then rolling around for 20 minutes working a submission (meanwhile all the real fun stuff like gouging, fishhooking, small joint locks, knives, guns, and allowing your buddies to jump in and kick the crap out of your opponent, etc, are not allowed). We call that a very tough SPORT. Now, some of these atheltes are tough SOB's, and I am sure can handle themselves in a reality situation better then many "martial artists" out there, but that's not the point. Sport based martial arts are ONE way of getting to proficiency in self defense. THere are other ways. In the arts that I study and teach, we train and spar as if we can be gouged, purred, hooked at any time. We train as if a weapon, wierd terrain, or multiple opponents can be introduced into the fight at any time. We train with the mindest that anything can happened. And you know what...this STILL isn't reality. "Training" is "training" and Competition is competition; none are the same as defending your life. I tell my guys to get in the ring, and in fact, get in the ring with them. However, to mistaken training or competition for REALITY is a mistake that could cost you greatly, in my opinion. Now, I am sure some clown will get on here and argue, "bu..bu..but sport training IS closest to reality then any "traditional" martial art." Well...I say not nessicarily.
Final point is on geeks and nerds in martial arts. Sorry, but it doesn't matter whether you train traditional, tactical, or sport, there are geeks. Maybe the geek factor might have different characteristics in each, but it is all the same to me. I can't tell you how many guys with shaved heads and goatees sporting a T-shirt with something clever on it like "snap or tap" on it that I have talked to who try to get in retarded conversations with me about how their grappling is nothing but the s**t, when I don't even consider myself a grappler, and I know that some of my students would give them a run for it playinng by his rules. How many nerds have gotten thrown out of martial talk because they just couldn't help themselves from going into the kenpo or TKD section just to tell them that they all suck because they haven't had their nose broken as many times as their kickboxing coach. Not to mention, I can't tell you how many fights I have seen or heard about where the grappler or boxer has their asses handed to them because they treated it like a boxing or wrestling match. I knew a guy who had gotten into a fight, and had executed a wonderful double leg takedown, only to have to have his knee stitched up later from the cement, and that was after he had his head stitched up from his opponents buddies that he didn't see while he was on the ground with his eyes buried into his opponent. I could tell similar stories involving "traditional" or "reality bases" martial artists. My point is that there are nerds in every spectrum of the martial arts. And, there are people who have their asses handed to them in every spectrum as well. Just because you train "alive," you group is not exempt from this.
Anyways...I like the way THornton explains "aliveness," and I like a lot of things about it. However, it is not knew to me, really, and above are some of my critiques.
Yours,
Bald Bull
