Why does martial arts attracts so many nerds? In particular karate and kung fu?

[Flying Crane]

Quick google search says he is a 'world-renowned' RBSD guy

Oh my. “World renowned” is it?

How is this possible when I’ve only ever seen his name mentioned in the very very limited-interest genre of martial arts discussion forums? I mean, if the fellow is “world renowned” then wouldnt I see him interviewed on CNN and MSNBC and FAUX NEWS from time to time? Wouldn’t the common folk on the street be discussing his ideas and philosophies wherever such people congregate? Wouldn’t he be the topic of debate by master debaters in cafes across Europe? Shouldn’t the world stock markets rise and fall at his mere utterances?

Something smells fishy in Denmark...

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

BS Dog - Have you really read this over and over? ...Because I found that although Mac made a few good points early on, after that the blog became repetitive and really boring, to the point where I had to struggle to skim read to the end! ...But then I am probably a little ADHD, and even if I'm not, I get impatient when reading stuff that annoys me. And, along with the pertinent info and opinions expressed, there was a lot to be annoyed with here!

Discalimer: I'm a bit of of what Mac Young calls a "geek" myself. Not in a good, tech-y way like the term is used today, either.

...No, I was small, introverted, read a lot, and was sometimes bullied a bit in Jr. high. I was what, in Jungian psychology, was called a thinking introvert. I talked a lot, but inappropriately, and many of my interests were, frankly, escapist. Like Mac's dated definition of a "geek", I lacked social skills, and maybe did spend a bit too much time enjoying fantasy lit. in a period long before things like the internet and "Comicon" etc. allowed nerdy types to form their own social groups, and enjoy harmless interests with others.

But that wasn't my whole life. I also wrestled (bottom weight-class, of course), did some ski racing and rock climbing ( both of which were still a bit "odd" in the late '60s), and I went beyond what Mac Young terms "cement airplanes" to earn both a pilot and a sailplane license by the age of 18, ...and when flying got too expensive (my dad sold his interest in the Cessna), I built and flew hang gliders in the early 70's (when that was definitely "odd"). Then came the martial arts after "Enter the Dragon". Pretty much another harmless fantasy-based hobby at the beginning.

So back to that long-winded Mac Young article. A lot of the nerdy types Mac dismissively writes of as "geeks" are simply introverts with off-beat interests. And Guess what?You don't have to be a extroverted conformist to be a person of value and merit. Mac's arrogant and derogatory attitude towards all these "misfit toys" among us may sell well with his target audience of a certain stripe of LEOs, security professionals, and wannabes, but as a somewhat nerdy guy, with a lot of nerdy friends (who are very fine people btw) ...the overall tenor of this article left me cold. And that's a shame, because he does have a few good points.

The main, and only point that I care to agree with here is that there is a sub-culture that glorifies violence in a dangerous and utterly unrealistic way, and that this culture is encouraged and fed by both the entertainment market (movies and video-games) and by the entrepreneurial sales of useless, crappy "self-defense" weapons and courses, and stupid Youtube clips. (Hey Doug Maracaida! ...not a fan.)

As an long time FMA instructor, I completely concur with Mac that a knife is a a great tool, but a very poor choice for self defense. And something like that "wasp" knife he describes is worse than useless, it is dangerous to the person owning it as well as to others. It might have one functional purpose: assassination. So if you work for Vladimir Putin and you intend to eliminate someone on orders from the KGB, it might have a place in your arsenal ...next to the plutonium pellet shooting umbrella. Otherwise, it's a sure ticket to your own murder trial!

BTW here's second disclaimer: I actually am in possession of something stupid like that. A couple of years back, my crazy, gun collecting brother, who is a former athlete, former high school student body president, ivy educated, and now retired corporate exec. (ie. anything but a geek/nerd) gave me a ballistic knife as a present. This crudely finished device works like a stiletto, so that when a lever is pressed it shoots out a blade so forcefully that it will fly across the room and inbed itself deeply into a board 6 feet away. As a tool it is useless. As a work of the knife-maker's craft, it fails, for although strongly made, it is as crude and esthetically hideous as if made by orcs.

About it's the only function that I can discern, besides impressing your 12 year old nerdy nephew, would be to press it up against some intended victim in a crowd, press the button and quickly escape ...if you want to effect an assassination. And since old Vladimir P. hasn't offered me any jobs lately, the thing sits taking up space in the back of my sock drawer, safely disassembled, it's greasy parts wrapped in plastic.

Well, what else can I do with it? As a gift, I don't feel right throwing it away, ...and I' sure not going to give it to my nephew ...or to Goodwill. So for now I'm stuck with it, right? Pardon the pun. Anyway, the fact that such things are sold, does give some credence to Mac's point. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to live in a place that was so heavily regulated by law, that you couldn't buy your choice of knife or martial arts weapon, so long as you use them responsibly. So what say y'all???



IDK ...maybe this is another pot shot at non-competitive martial arts, as compared to Muay Thai, MMA and so on? Maybe such arts do appeal to more folks who are not physically cut out to be fighters, but It seems Mac doesn't have much regard for the non-alpha, non competitive types that avoid pressure testing. So are these guys are "geeks" or nerds? Social misfits? Seems like painting with a broad brush to me.

Thanks to this, I went and read the article. I have no words to respond to any of it.

 

[Balrog]

One article Marc MacYoung has written that I always read over and over is this.

Violence Geeks

I like Marc MacYoung and tend to agree with him on most things. He came close on this topic.

But to answer the question of "Why does martial arts attracts so many nerds?", one simply has to look at what segment gets bullied the most. The nerds. And they don't like it and want to learn how to defend themselves. I wish I had had martial arts training available to me when I was being so viciously bullied in high school. It would have seriously changed my life for the better.

 

[Flying Crane]

Thanks to this, I went and read the article. I have no words to respond to any of it.

I read it too, just to see what the fuss was about. I have two comments:

1). I could have sworn he was describing America’s Gun culture.
2). He needs to watch more porn.

 

[Mitlov]

Just skimmed the linked blog post. Nobody who uses the "beta/alpha" dichotomy in a non-ironic manner has any business making serious comment about culture.

 

[WaterGal]

One article Marc MacYoung has written that I always read over and over is this.

Violence Geeks

Indeed I notice compare to other physically intense hobbies and sports such as football, the martial arts attracts a disproportionate number of nerds as does the RBSD community.

By nerds, I don't mean some random guy who plays Dungeons and Dragons or watches Star Wars but guys big into nerdy stuff such as obsessing over who would win Superman or Batman and knowledge of obscure details of the Star Trek universe alongside often lacking basic social skills. Often also quite obese or really frail and skinny.

What theories do you have?

In addition I notice karate and kung fu attracts the highest proportion of nerds even within the martial artists community? What is it with these two styles that get the level that say Muay Thai doesn't?

Oh, no. Kendo. Kendo attracts the most nerds by far. HEMA probably gives it a run for the money, but I've never had any involvement in that so I'm just guessing there.

 

[Martial D]

Just skimmed the linked blog post. Nobody who uses the "beta/alpha" dichotomy in a non-ironic manner has any business making serious comment about culture.

I finally brought myself to read it.

What a load of self indulgent psychobabble.

 

[Mitlov]

Oh, no. Kendo. Kendo attracts the most nerds by far. HEMA probably gives it a run for the money, but I've never had any involvement in that so I'm just guessing there.

Classical fencing ranks pretty high on that list too. Not that I care one bit whether or not someone is a "nerd."

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Oh, no. Kendo. Kendo attracts the most nerds by far. HEMA probably gives it a run for the money, but I've never had any involvement in that so I'm just guessing there.

Classical fencing ranks pretty high on that list too. Not that I care one bit whether or not someone is a "nerd."

But neither of those would fit Marc's category of 'violence geek'

 

[Mitlov]

But neither of those would fit Marc's category of 'violence geek'

It's directly responsive to the original post though.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

It's directly responsive to the original post though.

Just clarifying since i didnt initially read the article, to make it aware that the geeks he mentioned are not what we think of as geeks.
In general the people that stick with kendo or fencing also arent the nerds that OP was talking about (the parts about obese or frail), since for the most part doing those sports/activites will help with the fitness.

 

[Mitlov]

Just clarifying since i didnt initially read the article, to make it aware that the geeks he mentioned are not what we think of as geeks.
In general the people that stick with kendo or fencing also arent the nerds that OP was talking about (the parts about obese or frail), since for the most part doing those sports/activites will help with the fitness.

Can we just agree that neither the original post nor the linked article said anything useful in its stereotyping people who do X martial art or Y martial art?

 

[Buka]

I tried to read the article Violence Geeks, but I got lost. Maybe it's too crowded a page (McYoungs stuff sometimes is) maybe I'm not awake yet (still stumbling with first coffee) but I couldn't grasp a darn thing on that page. Not thing one.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I tried to read the article Violence Geeks, but I got lost. Maybe it's too crowded a page (McYoungs stuff sometimes is) maybe I'm not awake yet (still stumbling with first coffee) but I couldn't grasp a darn thing on that page. Not thing one.

Listen here nerd....do I have to take my pens out of my pocket protector and spell it out for you...and QUIT taking the tape I use to tape my gasses together with too

 

[Mitlov]

In related news, Jens Pulver is super into World of Warcraft. Not even joking.

Jens Pulver: World of Warcraft maniac

 

[Buka]

Listen here nerd....do I have to take my pens out of my pocket protector and spell it out for you...and QUIT taking the tape I use to tape my gasses together with too

Listen up, semi-nerd, I'll throw one of my astronomy books at you (you'll be safe, they're awkward to throw) and dazzle the bejesus out of you by reciting pi to fifty places.

And, yes, I still do that to impress women who don't even know I exist.

 

[Deleted member 39746]

N.n.n NUUUUUURDS!

 

[Xue Sheng]

Listen up, semi-nerd, I'll throw one of my astronomy books at you (you'll be safe, they're awkward to throw) and dazzle the bejesus out of you by reciting pi to fifty places.

And, yes, I still do that to impress women who don't even know I exist.

That's it...slide rule dual at 0b1000 o'clock

 

[Buka]

That's it...slide rule dual at 0b1000 o'clock

Sure, play the slide rule card, blog boy.

Wear your shirt when we dual, you're going to need it.

And now...some fighting words...

You ancestors probably pluralize abacus as abaci instead of abacuses. Take that.

 

[skribs]

It takes passion to be good at something. Nerds are generally more open to being passionate about something than a non-nerd.

That's not to say you can't be passionate if you're not a nerd...but someone who isn't ashamed to be passionate about Star Trek or practice and learn how to play chess...they're also going to have the type of personality that does well in martial arts.

Another aspect could be that nerds tend to get picked on, so their parents tend to get them into martial arts classes. Or simply that martial arts movies are sort of a nerddom in themselves.