Do you study/train in any type of mrtial arts?.

Lifting weights doesn't help much. We've had some weight lifters come to our trainings, they're big, heavy and slow. You could just dance around them and strike 5 times before they even understood, what's happening.
Besides there's a difference between knowing how to lift a weight and how to do a lightning fast kick or a hit that can not be grabbed or stopped.

Any way, think, what you wish, it matters not to me.
 
I'm sure Bruce Lee would have defeated someone of the same build and speed (and probably someone even stronger and faster to an extent) who had not learned any martial art.
 
EmptyForceOfChi said:
Do you study or take part in any forms of martial arts?,or did you used to train and have quit?.


peace.
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I did taekwondo for one year, but that was already many years ago, in the last
year of my high-school.

In addition to that, when I started my elementary school (age 5), I follow
pencak silat for few years. Every weekend, we had to wake up at 6 and
did long-march few kilometers to a nearby mountain (my home was in the
foot of a mountain) without shoes/sandals, then we started practicing.
 
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Avatar said:
We've had some weight lifters come to our trainings, they're big, heavy and slow.

Besides there's a difference between knowing how to lift a weight and how to do a lightning fast kick or a hit that can not be grabbed or stopped.
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Theres no such thing as a lightning fast kick or a hit that cannot be stopped.

That sounds like the silly lines one reads in popular martial arts magazines.

Weight lifters are NOT slow...:p

If they were they would not be able to lift weights!
 
Just talking from my experience. Clumsy and slow compared to martial artists.
 
Too much muscle mass can slow you down...that's why the best boxers are ripped, but not huge.
 
MacGyver1968 said:
Too much muscle mass can slow you down...that's why the best boxers are ripped, but not huge.
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Strengthening muscle shortens it, which creates inflexibility.

This is why boxers and sprinters do stretching as well as weight lifting, but its generally only a problem around the hip joint.

Reaction time is another speed factor and is primarily determined by IQ.

This was one of the first things discovered by intelligence researchers like Sir Francis Galton more than century ago.

If you happen to be stupid, martial arts class wont make you quick.

A person's overall sense of ethics can also slow you down. In martial arts class there is an ethical standard of practicing without causing harm, so you get into the habit of using restraint...a definite liability in a real encounter.
 
One thing you do learn is "muscle memory".

It's alot like playing the piano. I've been playing the song "Moonlight Sonata" for 20 something years. I don't even have to think about it when I'm playing...it's like my fingers just magically know which keys to press. I can even carry on a conversation and never look at my hands, and still play it perfectly.

Martial arts, teaches your body what it should do in a fight, "muscle memory". It doesn't give you super powers or make you any faster than you body could be on its own. Just after years of training, you develop a "muscle memory" that allows you to know what to do without having to think about it...leaving your brain open to think about more important things..like "How do I get out of this alive?" :)
 
Couldn't have put it better, MacGyver, muscle memory is very important.
There are (or were) some schools who practice two hits for five years and nothing more.
 
MacGyver1968 said:
One thing you do learn is "muscle memory".

It's alot like playing the piano. I've been playing the song "Moonlight Sonata" for 20 something years. I don't even have to think about it when I'm playing...it's like my fingers just magically know which keys to press. I can even carry on a conversation and never look at my hands, and still play it perfectly.
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You'll notice however that a organized karate sport competition looks nothing like a real fight.

So what are you really memorizing besides unrealistic situations and movements.

Even Bruce Lee recognized that traditional exercises have more to do with dancing than real fighting. He adopted a more natural western boxing posture for his own art.
 
There is a difference between a sports variation of a martial art and a combat variation - they are two completely different things and serve different purposes.

Nobody in their right mind would use a punch that puts a rib through opponents heart or lungs during a sports competition. And nobody in their right mind would use a fancy high kick in a combat situation.

You don't see combat moves during a sports competition exactly because it's a sports competition and not a combat situation.
And bad for people who study sports thinking they train for combat.
 
The art that I studied was a combination of several arts. It is only about 50 years old and designed specifically for modern "street" fighting. It's called "ka-ju-ken-bo" (i dont know how its spelled, that phonetical) its a combination of karate, jujitsu, aquito, and kempo boxing.

As you said, Carcano, Katas performed for competitions are more like a dance, and are meant to show grace, and beauty. They aren't what you would use if a drunk at a bar tried to take a swing at you.

Our art even had "drunk buddy" katas that were designed to use to subdue someone without hurting them using grabs and submission holds... In case your buddy or your girlfriend has a "mean drunk" episode, and gets violent...and you don't want to injure them.

Our instructor taught us that unlike the movies, the winner of a fight in public in this modern culture, doesn't get the girl, he gets to go to jail for assault. So learning when not to fight was just as important as when to fight.
 
MacGyver1968 said:
Our instructor taught us that unlike the movies, the winner of a fight in public in this modern culture, doesn't get the girl, he gets to go to jail for assault. So learning when not to fight was just as important as when to fight.
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Certainly an excellent point there.

I saw a demonstration once by a 9th dan Japanese Aikido master, who said something extraordinary.

"If you ONLY want to defend yourself and nothing else...go buy a gun. Even I cant stop a bullet."
 
True. I train because of the great feeling it gives and aids in my hiking expeditions.
When I see potential trouble I try to avoid it - choose a different path, hide or run.
It's very dangerous to fight for real, because the human body is so fragile. One strike is enough to kill or cripple, and I don't like taking such risks.
 
Our instructor taught us that unlike the movies, the winner of a fight in public in this modern culture, doesn't get the girl, he gets to go to jail for assault. So learning when not to fight was just as important as when to fight.
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Talking of which, how far is it legal to fight back when someone grabs your ass or something?

My instinct is to just get his little finger and wrench for all I'm worth, but I usually manage to suppress that and use my voice instead...but you can't always do that, for example in a loud area like in a nightclub..
 
If thats too cumbersome...try a quick elbow to the teeth.

Perfect if the molesting party is behind you...assessing your assets. :bugeye:
 
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