You Suck At Martial Arts

[Jimmythebull]

Like, how useful is a martial artist, anyway. Pretty useless, if you ask me.

some of the traditional ones.

Personally, I think the undue focus in some arts on non-physical skills is what gums up the works.

yeah...

 

[Oily Dragon]

some of the traditional ones.

In my experience a lot of MMA people are pretty useless outside of the gym, too.

Lots of idiots with a "I WANT TO LEARN TO FIGHT" mentality, can't even clean their own rooms.

Even their cars are full of junk, they think training in an MMA gym is going to fix their situation. Sorry, that was just in a movie once. Hehe, Tom Hardy.

 

[Jimmythebull]

In my experience a lot of MMA people are pretty useless outside of the gym, too.

Lots of idiots with a "I WANT TO LEARN TO FIGHT" mentality, can't even clean their own rooms.

Even their cars are full of junk, they think training in an MMA gym is going to fix their situation. Sorry, that was just in a movie once. Hehe, Tom Hardy.

my opinion has always been..you are "Game" or not in a real situation. no teacher, Sifu, Sensei or whatever can give you some balls needed in a real fight. It´s down to you.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

In my experience a lot of MMA people are pretty useless outside of the gym, too.

Lots of idiots with a "I WANT TO LEARN TO FIGHT" mentality, can't even clean their own rooms.

Even their cars are full of junk, they think training in an MMA gym is going to fix their situation. Sorry, that was just in a movie once. Hehe, Tom Hardy.

Nearly every martial artist I know has a job outside MA. You seem to want to evaluate MA skills compared to trade skills, but that's like comparing piano playing to trade skills.

 

[Oily Dragon]

Nearly every martial artist I know has a job outside MA. You seem to want to evaluate MA skills compared to trade skills, but that's like comparing piano playing to trade skills.

As a martial artist and musician, I guess I agree.

But I still think martial arts skills are relatively useless, even compared to being able to read or play music. There's no real practical application for them except in rare circumstances. Most people will never be in a fight in their whole lives, and the few that do can't realistically expect their martial arts training to be a huge factor, especially when guns, police, and other real world violence stuff is factored in.

And when you also factor in the sheer amount of time people invest in martial arts...I mean if you learn to walk tall and have inner peace and all, excellent. But there are diminishing returns, especially in the MMA/full contact sphere. All these black belts that spent all that time ranking up, what exactly did they get for it? Don't know, never had a black belt.

 

[Gyakuto]

You think so? I don't think it's any harder than any other complex skill set.

Yes, that’s why there are so few of us compared with players of, say, football, basketball, badminton, athletics, tiddly-winks…ok…maybe not tiddly-winks. We may think they’re relatively easy because we’re a group of self-selecting good martial artists on a MA discussion board, probably with high ranks!

 

[Gyakuto]

As a martial artist and musician, I guess I agree.

But I still think martial arts skills are relatively useless, even compared to being able to read or play music. There's no real practical application for them except in rare circumstances. Most people will never be in a fight in their whole lives, and the few that do can't realistically expect their martial arts training to be a huge factor, especially when guns, police, and other real world violence stuff is factored in.

And when you also factor in the sheer amount of time people invest in martial arts...I mean if you learn to walk tall and have inner peace and all, excellent. But there are diminishing returns, especially in the MMA/full contact sphere. All these black belts that spent all that time ranking up, what exactly did they get for it? Don't know, never had a black belt.

Martial arts…useless?! How very dare….Yes, I agree It’s a pastime, a bit of fun with a few positive side-effects. We may take it a bit too seriously, because we don’t have girlfriends/boyfriends and lives, but compared with, say experts in tiddly-winks…

When I occasionally meet people who think they’re ‘modern day samurai’, upholders of Bushido, or similar, a brief conversation reveals, more often than not, a somewhat childish personality, obsessed with a fantasy. If it wasn’t martial arts, it’d be Star Wars!

 

[Steve]

Yes, that’s why there are so few of us compared with players of, say, football, basketball, badminton, athletics, tiddly-winks…ok…maybe not tiddly-winks. We may think they’re relatively easy because we’re a group of self-selecting good martial artists on a MA discussion board, probably with high ranks!

If you're suggesting that the training model is counter-intuitive on purpose as a sort of filtering out mechanism, I guess I can see it. But I think it's much more likely that it's just misguided training that stems from a lack of more practical, measurable goals.

Said the other way around, where there are practical, well defined, and measurable goals, there is no shortage of participation and expertise. The styles that are the most popular are the ones that have a competitive outlet, and in those styles the path to expertise is very predictable. And in these styles, there is no shortage of martial artists. Boxing, wrestling, TKD, judo, BJJ, MMA... a lot of people train in these arts.

Lastly, the spiritual stuff... the character stuff... that comes from participating in activities that are challenging with a good coach. For example, kids who play football learn to play football. And through that, they learn resilience and work ethic. They also learn, if the coach is worth his/her salt, sportsmanship, respect, and a host of other positive traits. Point is, this isn't unique to Martial Arts. Rather, Martial Arts tends to overemphasize it when the style lacks practical, measurable goals.

 

[Steve]

As a martial artist and musician, I guess I agree.

But I still think martial arts skills are relatively useless, even compared to being able to read or play music. There's no real practical application for them except in rare circumstances. Most people will never be in a fight in their whole lives, and the few that do can't realistically expect their martial arts training to be a huge factor, especially when guns, police, and other real world violence stuff is factored in.

And when you also factor in the sheer amount of time people invest in martial arts...I mean if you learn to walk tall and have inner peace and all, excellent. But there are diminishing returns, especially in the MMA/full contact sphere. All these black belts that spent all that time ranking up, what exactly did they get for it? Don't know, never had a black belt.

Some truth to this.

Martial arts…useless?! How very dare….Yes, I agree It’s a pastime, a bit of fun with a few positive side-effects. We may take it a bit too seriously, because we don’t have girlfriends/boyfriends and lives, but compared with, say experts in tiddly-winks…

When I occasionally meet people who think they’re ‘modern day samurai’, upholders of Bushido, or similar, a brief conversation reveals, more often than not, a somewhat childish personality, obsessed with a fantasy. If it wasn’t martial arts, it’d be Star Wars!

Oof. There was a dude who used to post around here a lot who immediately came to mind. I don't think he would agree with the characterization, but if the robe fits.

 

[Gyakuto]

, but if the robe fits.

 

[Gyakuto]

Lastly, the spiritual stuff... the character stuff... that comes from participating in activities that are challenging with a good coach. For example, kids who play football learn to play football. And through that, they learn resilience and work ethic. They also learn, if the coach is worth his/her salt, sportsmanship, respect, and a host of other positive traits. Point is, this isn't unique to Martial Arts. Rather, Martial Arts tends to overemphasize it when the style lacks practical, measurable goals.

I’m sure I’ve said this before, but some of the most odious, petty, obnoxious, arrogant people I’ve ever met have been high-grade martial artists…and I used to be a magistrate!

 

[Oily Dragon]

Speaking of robes...does anyone else get Facebook spam for fancy, expensive dusters that people claim "make them feel like a Jedi"?

I'm not sure if the AI is pushing these to me because of Star Wars, martial arts, Chan, or something insidious like the fact that I actually like wearing dusters..

 

[Gyakuto]

What’s a duster?

 

[Oily Dragon]

What’s a duster?

Standard cowboy gear.

As Western as whiskey.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

You think so? I don't think it's any harder than any other complex skill set.

Personally, I think the undue focus in some arts on non-physical skills is what gums up the works. There is a natural progression of development in any complex skill set, and when you try to do things out of order it stunts the process.

What non physical skills are you referring to? I’m trying to think of a non physical martial art skill.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

my opinion has always been..you are "Game" or not in a real situation. no teacher, Sifu, Sensei or whatever can give you some balls needed in a real fight. It´s down to you.

So it’s the individual, not the system?

 

[Hanzou]

So it’s the individual, not the system?

Depends on the system. Learn from a reputable boxing coach and gym for example, and you have the potential to be a killer.

 

[Jimmythebull]

So it’s the individual, not the system?

I think so, some people will just never be a Lion

 

[Gyakuto]

Standard cowboy gear.

As Western as whiskey.

Oh I see! A duster in England is a cloth used for removing dust from surfaces in ones house!

 

[Gyakuto]