Poll: Martial Arts - Yay or Nay?

[The Salty Vulcan]

I would consider myself an enthusiast, but no not currently. I used to practice Karate, but that was quite some time ago.

 

[Cowabungaa]

"Do not bring a knife to a gunfight" (or your bare fists, for that matter). I did not actually believe I had to explain that I was not talking about defending yourself against firearms. This is reserved for movies and games, where realism has little foothold.

My apologies for forgetting that common sense is not always present in conversation on the internet.

There's always this:
Now of course, you need years of training for that technique to be in your muscle memory and to be quick enough.

 

[Anah'ya]

Your insults do your argument no credit.

Excuse me?

"Do not bring a knife to a gunfight" (or your bare fists, for that matter). I did not actually believe I had to explain that I was not talking about defending yourself against firearms. This is reserved for movies and games, where realism has little foothold.

My apologies for forgetting that common sense is not always present in conversation on the internet.

There's always this:
Now of course, you need years of training for that technique to be in your muscle memory and to be quick enough.

That goes without saying. But I thought we were talking about your average Joe practising for a couple of years; Not the men and women in Service (or with the dedication necessary to achieve that). And even THEN you cannot hope to defend yourself if the assailant remains outside your reach.

Either way, I seem to have offended Miss Eico, so I shall take my leave.

*tips hat*

 

[Cowabungaa]

That goes without saying. But I thought we were talking about your average Joe practising for a couple of years; Not the men and women in Service (or with the dedication necessary to achieve that). And even THEN you cannot hope to defend yourself if the assailant remains outside your reach.

Either way, I seem to have offended Miss Eico, so I shall take my leave.

*tips hat*

Most definitely true, I was just using it for the sake of argument; it is possible, martial arts that are suitable for self-defence are out there and it is possible to master those techniques.

That's a world of difference from the statement "martial arts suck for self-defence" which is a gross generalisation of every martial art out there. For all intens and purposes yeah, your average dojo-goer can do fuck-all against a mugger, but I think it's important to stick to the actual facts as much as possible.

And to answer your question directed to Eico, I think she means your suggestion that she lacks common sense. Reading your previous post seems to suggest that. Not sure if it's true, but heej, just sayin'.

 

[Elanthil01]

The best martial arts technique known to man:

1. Appear to cooperate. Hand over what they want, making sure not to give away the fact that you are secretly armed, and hope they don't pat you down.

2. Assuming they then turn to leave, wait for them to get a good bit away, then go for the gun you are (hopefully) licensed to carry concealed. Shoot them repeatedly.

3. Regardless of whether they appear to be alive or dead, remember that even a dead mans consciousness remains to some limited extent for up to several minutes while the body's electrical system 'winds down'. Take advantage of this by spewing profanities at them while liberally stomping various parts of their body into a fine red mist.

Congratulations...here is your purple-nurple belt.

 

[m72_ar]

Yay,

I'm a brown belt in karate and started doing muay thai and a bit of MMA as well.
Traditional martial arts are good but they require years of practice for you to be any good in a fight.

If you need something fast, Krav Maga is your best choice.
If you're fat/ not very flexible don't even consider Tae Kwon Do do Boxing or Wrestling instead.

It's a matter of preference and your body type really. If you want to go serious about learning how to fight. Learn 1 striking MA (karate, tae kwon do, boxing) and 1 groundwork MA ( jiu jitsu, wrestling, judo)

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

As the title say's, do you practice any kind of martial arts.
If so what kind, for how long and what belt/shirt/headband/tattoo/skin scarification are you?
EDIT: I practice karate from the age of 7-10, ninjitsu from 12-14 and have been doing karate for the last three months (since 17).
Also I did some parkour lessons for a few lessons, so that count's too

I study a system known as Jishukan Jujitsu. It combines elements of modified Jujitsu (joint locks, pressure points and soft targets), Judo (throwing), Karate (kicks and certain methods of punching or other hand strikes), boxing and recently one sensei has been suplimenting our grappling with BJJ. In short, they aim to train us in such a way that we are well rounded, capable martial artists who will unleash our inner mongrel when required.

Me too. P&T are amazingly intelligent and hilarious.

Basically, they proved martial arts to be a terribly ineffective self-defense tool. Not that there is anything wrong with fun. If it makes you happy and isn't hurting anyone, go ahead, right?

Terrible self-defense tool? There's tons of different kinds of martial arts, I doubt they all suck for self-defence. A lot of the famous ones are very flashy, that's true.

But Krav Magna for example is developed by the Israeli army for unarmed combat, Jeet Kune Do takes all the effective stuff from other martial arts for the sole purpose of proper self-defence. There's also the whole discipline and self-awareness thing.

Yes, a terrible self-defense tool.

More people are injured practicing martial arts each year than are injured in robberies and assaults. Running away is ALWAYS the best option. Fighting, regardless of how many years of some sport you have under your belt, is foolish. This, any law enforcement officer will tell you.

And any martial arts instructor who is worth training with will (wear a sturdy hat here champ) tell you the same thing. They will NEVER advocate arguing with a gun. That sort of quasi-superman shit died its deserved death long ago with in respectable martial arts circles.

Also, it bears mentioning that unarmed combat systems for police and military have for many years been derived from martial arts, stripped of what is not usable and the usable stuff trained and drilled until it is reflex action.

TL;DR is this: if faced with a gun, hand your shit over and live to fight another day, but if some unarmed cock-wagon is trying to jack you up, make yourself unappealing by fighting him.

 

[Wintermoot]

used to first Judo around the age of 5 (ended with a orange belt) and later on Aikido around 16 cant remember much techniques (only the standard stance of Aikido and how to hold a Katana with simple slashes) but I can fend myself in a fight

 

[castlewise]

I got up to red belt in TaeKwonDo before all the spin kicks took their toll on my knees. (I'm old.) Now I fence. The two are surprisingly similar.

 

[jamesworkshop]

I do not.

I saw a Penn and Teller: Bullshit! episode on martial arts a while back. Pretty much proved what a bad thing they are. Interesting stuff.

P&T are awesome. They can prove just about anything, those guys.

However, when I was still doing Zen Do Kai, I had never had more fun in my life, plus the confidence boost and the fitness aspects were both incredible. I can't wait to get back into it.

Me too. P&T are amazingly intelligent and hilarious.

Basically, they proved martial arts to be a terribly ineffective self-defense tool. Not that there is anything wrong with fun. If it makes you happy and isn't hurting anyone, go ahead, right?

Martial art literally means skill of war and thus has nothing to do with self defence, although martial is still misapplied anyway as the students are not in the military.
Most exist as combat sports now that they bear no relevance to warfare as it is today

 

[zen5887]

Some things I've learnt over the years that will help in a fight.

How to throw a punch, how to take a punch, how to use energy efficiently and how to stay calm when a dude 15 kgs heavier than you is sitting on your chest throwing his fists in the your face.

None of these are really exclusive to any style, but will probs be the most helpful when shit goes down.

 

[P.Tsunami]

I voted yay, although I'm no longer active. I'm planning on doing something about that.

I've got a few years of Wado-ryu Karate, orange belt. After that, I did three years of Shootfighting (MMA). I've got informal training in Brazilian Ji Jitsu from my time in the armed forces. I'm probably thinking I want to pick up BJJ again, it's a lot of fun.

 

[Fragged_Templar]

Now, when you say martial art, does that include fighting with a shield and broadsword, or a two-hander for that matter?

 

[Grimbold]

I am doing Kung-Fu since two years. It won't help much against Knife-wielding Turks or well-trained boxers but it's keeping me fit. Somewhat.

 

[A.A.K]

mm...different forms of kung fu for as long as i can remember (and am still practicing) - currently a northern dragon style and a southern dragon...but in my travels I've dont some ninjutsu, 2 forms of karate, muay thai and wing chun....and I have a bokken but havent found a good enough teacher.

People have tried mugging me 14 times. 5 people have broken into my home (with me still in it) and I've come out of 3 gang fights relatively fine...So I'm all for martial arts - It is NOT to be fucked with.

 

[PorkChopXpress]

I trained Aikido for a number of years, and I gotta say, it's had its use saving my ass in quite a few scuffles and bar fights I've been in (not instigated by me).

 

[Dogstile]

Tried karate, didn't like it. I prefer fighting my own way anyway, so bleh

 

[BENZOOKA]

I don't, but I would love to.

I'd be in good shape otherwise, but I guess my un-flexibility could be somewhat an issue. I've never been able to quite touch my toes when bending straight forward. I'm still a beast in footbagging and stuff like that, but it's because I compensate my not being flexible with using my whole body better.

 

[Shock and Awe]

No, but I plan to start Krav Maga after I get into college. From what I've seen its one of the few Martial Arts really grounded in reality.