Flashy Martial Arts suck and here's why

[Feuer Frei!]

There's a lot of people out in the big beautiful world defending flashy traditional martial arts that emphasize the high kick, rote fighting sequences or point sparring as training methods.
In real fights, after being brainwashed by Jean Claude vanDamme movies and likeminded garbage, they'll get their asses handed to them.
Fake crap like this:


Makes it all look great but, it's scripted.

If the ground is the least bit wet or slippery, doing these kicks will just slam you right into the ground. If you're too slow (and feet are always slower than hands), your opponent will grab your leg and slam you.
Deliberately going to the ground can leave you vulnerable to a head stomp or injury if the area is rocky or uneven.
Specific defenses look good when you know exactly what's coming at you, but can you memorize a different one for every possible attack known to man and recall them quick enough?
Fortunately there's an alternative:
Weight lifting, point shooting and basic combatives. Fighting methods that are simple to learn and can make you ready in about three months instead of the years it takes to master traditional martial arts.
Weight lifting:
Contrary to what martial artists say, strength and endurance matters no matter how skilled you are. Every MMA fighter worth his salt knows to lift weights, do his push ups and sprint intervals.
You can gain strength by using quickly learned, simple exercises.
For strength and power, use multi-joint movements, heavy weight and multiple sets of low repetitions after warming up thoroughly with lighter weights.
Squats, deadlifts, presses, weighted dips and pull ups will work every muscle group thoroughly.



Good endurance and speed can be gained by doing high intensity interval training with calisthenics, sprinting and hitting a bag on days when you're not strength training.

Point shooting:
Not a total replacement for sighted shooting. Point shooting makes it possible to engage and shoot close range targets accurately under high adrenal stress, from any position and on the move.



Old school military combatives:
The natural alternative is something simple that relies on flexible counter-attacks, being able to meet a thousand types of threat when you only know ten moves, if not just one.
You don't need a hundred highly athletic moves that you'll only half know after ten years of training. You only need a few simple, easily learned, well practiced attacks.
With old school combatives you will learn: Edge of hand strikes, heel of hand smashes, knees to the groin, low kicks to the legs, strangles, eye gouges, very few grappling techniques.







.... or, you could just give up your worthless social life and practice flying spinning kicks that just don't work and become a Super Hero at sucky anime conventions!

[Growler]

There is a time and place, and purpose for any form of self defense.

Stating that one form sucks and another is better discounts the realities with which some people live.

For instance, some folks live in countries where private owning or carrying of a firearm is restricted or prohibited. Or maybe you've been convicted of a felony in the US. There goes your point-shooting lessons, for instance.

One will never suffer for learning a martial art. It is an option, and no one wants to go into a situation where they need to defend themselves without as many options open as possible.

[Betonov]

Interesting post. How's your take on old school boxing ?? I plan to start training, purely recreational but still learning some self defence while at it

[Feuer Frei!]

Originally Posted by Betonov

Interesting post. How's your take on old school boxing ?? I plan to start training, purely recreational but still learning some self defence while at it

Tbh i haven't boxed for a looong long time now.
Still hit the bag every now and then in the garage.
Was actually trained by a really good trainer back in the day, 3 days a week, with routines o/s of that.
I took it seriously, had ambitions to go amateur, then review.
But, other commitments in life changed all that.
I say go for it, you meet some great people and keeps you fit too.
But, depends on what you want to train for too.

[Jimbuna]

Martial Arts always remind me of the funnier side when carried out by those who really shouldn't be

http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?ne...%3DVpBREJkK9sI

[frau kaleun]

Not all "traditional" martial arts emphasize flashy high kicks or going to the ground as a primary method of defense.

The one I study has kicks but in 500+ techniques/variations I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of kicks that go above groin or gut level. If they're aimed at the ribs or above, it's almost always after the opponent is bent over (assuming he reacts as expected to the previous strike - never a given!) or on the ground himself.

High kicks look great in the air without an adversary or with a training partner who is allowing you to execute them for practice, and in a controlled environment where the footing is relatively stable and sure. But "out there"? Fuhgeddaboudit. Too much risk of losing your footing or balance or finding out that your opponent is quick enough to get a shot in at your exposed groin area.

As far as ground fighting we are taught what to do should we end up down there - because a good percentage of fights do end up that way - but the emphasis is on keeping one's own feet or getting back on them pronto if at all possible. If anybody goes down it oughta be the other guy.

Probably the most important thing to remember no matter what style of self defense you favor is the old familiar bit of combat wisdom: no plan of action ever survives first contact with the enemy. The key is not so much in knowing choreographed techniques - no matter how many or few, complicated or simple - but in having put enough options into your muscle memory through training to be able to react appropriately to whatever comes at you.

[Jimbuna]

As a British Police Officer I was trained in Aikido but always found that on a 'one on one' confrontation a good smack to the nose or chin 'when warranted' was always most effective

[Armistead]

Originally Posted by Betonov

Interesting post. How's your take on old school boxing ?? I plan to start training, purely recreational but still learning some self defence while at it

Many cities have local clubs. I'm too old now but boxed in our city club during my teens and 20's and still go a few times a month to help train youth. Many are city ran, so check. Course some are more inner city to keep teens off the street. We have several nice ones here and several clubs that fight each other.

In the late 70's and early 80's many of the pro fake wrestlers trained at our club here in NC, Ric Flair, Steamboat, Andersons, Paul Jones...Mainly to use our rings and script their routines.
It was almost funny. City finally stopped it, kept messing our ring ropes up.

Boxing and wrestling are the two best places to start to learn basics. Both are more endurance. We never lifted weights in training, cept light weights many reps. More muscles means more oxygen required to feed them, muscle bound men seldom can get past a few rounds. I did several city tough men contest back then, I never feared big muscled men. Back then no weight class, you just got in and went at it..I'll never forget the "Cowboy" lil dude trained at our club, 6'tall, prolly weighed 160lbs and he could hit like a horse. He was a golden gloves and a bassarse, but liked trouble...

I don't regret it, but I still have a bad nerve twitch over my left eye from boxing and once had my sternum hit so hard it detached almost every rib. So bad it had no bounce back if you pushed it...at 47 now I can still feel some pain if I exert and breath hard. Both my wrist ache and several fingers arthritis from untold numbers of small stress fractures. I certainly wish I didn't have this unneeded pain now.

As to the OP, yea movies are funny, but you'll see plenty high kicks in certain forms. As a sport each score different so to say it never happens depends on the sport and what's allowed.