Martial Arts
Hey.I have a theory that there IS NO ULTIMATE ART. I came to this conclusion a little while ago. See i think there are many and varied fighting styles because there are different people in the world. Sounds abstract but read on.
Some styles may find it hard or even impossible to counter to a grapple, or ground based moves. I'm pretty sure youre not going to win/come out easily from an armed (non-ballistic missile eg gun/bow/nunchaku) adversary either. It is simply not worth going and fighting them for. They have range, and the ability to deal exponential amounts more force than the human body, even rigourously trained, can.
Now when talking about hand to hand (including kicking) youre bound to see there must be a theoretical level playing ground. There is.
I guess im trying to say it depends on the artist (for lack of a better term). Some arts may be better suited to certain people, and for that reason you will get a better result. To use an example - Mohammed Ali: he is considered the greatest (with some dispute) boxer that has ever lived. If he were to learn judo, he may not even be good. A low rank student may be easily able to best him, rendering his punches useless due to the close-in grappling style. This is only one, there are many others.
Ultimately, the user needs to find their own personal favourite art. I myself progressed up until 2nd kup in Taekwondo, and am much better for it. I know i cannot beat half the people that would challenge me in the street (should any be that stupid) but compared to someone who doesnt know any art at all, and may only know a few punches an elbow and a knee, i am infinitely better off. I say this because most people do NOT know how to kick. Sure, you can boot a soccer ball but that means jack shit in a fight. Just a waste of a good weapon. On the other hand, i can utilise my leg to kick to head hight (which is realistically all you need) and can kick decently. One only has to look at the size of your leg compared to your arm to see which is more powerful... so i am better off, but it doesnt mean i can beat everyone.
I think though, that everyone (women may not need it, as they fundamentally do not feel a need to resolve conflict using violence, not to say they cant learn it) should know some martial arts. To have the power to be able to protect yourself, or win a schoolyard fight easier is a powerful tool and it is stupid not to have that knowledge. As a physics teacher of mine says "your knowledge is like a toolbox. The more you know, the more you can overcome"
As always, comments are good. Cheers.
posted by Dave @ 5:21 PM
7 Comments:
Well that was the obvious choice. boxers by style are limited to their hands only. Ali might have been bested by a junior judo student, given they could take a hit. As we know, Ali was a man of fairly good intelligence, and logic (maybe ego as well) would have told him not to fight this kid anyway lest he hurt him. Admittedly that wasnt the best example, but the entry was on the fly, and i dont like to lose a train of thought. Point taken.
it does matter what 'counters' something else. you cant counter an armbar with a punch, you havent got much left to do. Indeed though, the other points are great :)
The kick to head referred to the maximum height needed for range etc. just makes sure you have all bases covered. if you notice kickboxers most commonly go for the head and thigh/shin, so it is (imho) necessary to be able to kick that high. good point bout the kick low to survive, makes a lot of sense.
Indeed, no one does win a fight. by getting into it you sink to the other person's level. Historically (i may be wrong here, but ill go with it) i believed it was correct thinking in bushido to be able to win a conflict without violence. I DO know that Sun Tzu also said the same thing to that effect. I have the 'Art of War', and remember seeing that in there.
Cheers for the post Luke :)
Well, I am not that trained, so maybe I should keep my mouth shut and my fingers tight... However... I am obviously older than most of you, so I can only share some drops of wisdom... :-)
Actually, I am a basket ball guy myself. That was my "art". I was strong and smart and fast and kinda good. But I was not THAT good. Or that tall either. And then, while @ university, I discovered suibukan karate and fell in love with it. It lasted only for two years but it was great. And although I used to get myself into fights, when i started doing karate, I learned how to remain calm. The training was the most difficult I have ever done and my body was aching the first few months. But it was one of the strongest experiences of my life.
However, concerning your post, I would say the following:
* The best thing is always to avoid fights, whatever the cost. However strong you may be, there will always be someone stronger. If u think about that, then you won't be giving a piece of your fist to all the weaker opponents.
I have once interviewed Jean Jacques Burnel. He's propably the BAD kid of UK punk, a founding members of The Stranglers, one hell of a bass player and a lovely bloke as well. He's a sensei in karate. He told me that in his last official fight he has lost from a younger athlete who had no DAN's. And I said "how come?" His answer? "He had rage - I hadn't"...
You have to loathe the world in order to smack somebody's face. It's not the same exchanging some punches in the schoolyard and beating the hell out of a guy who wired you up. There are some unwritten rules - but what's the guarantee the other side is goinf to repsect your rules as well?
I don't know if all that makes sense, and I think it's wonderful that a guy your age thinks so deep about martial arts. But, getting stronger and more lethal [in real life, just on Ali's or Tyson's punch is enough to kill you - there are no gloves or referees] must also mean that you get wiser, calmer and self disciplines. There may be a jungle out there, but it's not a war. Not if we don't want it that way...
Then again, I may just be a sissy or something, who knows...
Some great points. I agree on the 'rules' thing. Some of my friends think it may be catty to kick someone in a fight. I think not - if the other person has the will and strength to hurt or maim you, are you going to be worried about being 'catty'? you would probably be damn stupid to get into an altercation with someone this size in the first place but should you be forced, there is no rules.
To look at a historical example - the indians of Central America: they were taken on by a larger more modernised armed force with guns. This changed the grounds, and you could look at the use of ranged weapons as cowardly.
Also, great point about the rage. if someone has the will to do damage to you, even though you may win they probably will be so determined to damage you entering into a fight with them is unwise as you may come out worse than they have. Bruce Lee discussed it in his book "The Way of Jeet Kun Do" (tuttle publishing). worth a read. Cheers for the comments everyone :)
Now that I come to think of it, no there could never be THE ULTIMATE ART. But there are some that are better than the others. To mis-quote George Orwell, they're all equal, but some are bloody more equal than others.
Furthermore, I'd say it's kind of pointless to say that a great boxer would lose a fight against a karate kid or something... It's like comparing Wolverine to Mighty Mouse or Super Goofy to Batman... It's fun, though, so I'm in if you want arguments on that one, hahaha...
Seriously now, I think that the most dangerous thing is when someone deosn't care about the damage he provokes to himself, let alone the others. You want examples? The guys who hijacked the planes that crushed on the twin towers didn't give afuck about their lives... They had decided they would sacrifice themselves so... u could say they couldn't lose. What's there to lose when u know u r already dead?
Other example: people who are on drugs... Never ever don't you get into a fight with a person on cocaine. He doesn't feel pain, forget it... Last but not least, take a minute to remember what the Americans suffered in Yugoslavia [then again, u r too young to know] and what they've been through since landing on Iraq. You can be stronger but when you don't have the right motive... no one can guarantee that you will win. And there comes the fear again...
indeed. well said. shall keep the cocaine thing in mind.
i question wether the hijackers conciously knew what they were doing. to compare it, if you know the movie "ghost in the shell" (its an excellent anime) im thinking of the man who gets brainwashed and then beaten the shit through by the chick. the one who imagines he's got a life and family but hasnt ever had any relatives to speak of - the one who got hacked.
i theorise, and only that, that perhaps the muslim religion has been bent to a different will and the words of the koran distorted from their original meaning. along with that, their religion's after-life scenario is that all who have served allah well go to paradise, hence he may have even thought he was gaining something.
who knows.
i do ben.
well that settles it :)
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