Flashy Techniques

Aerobics/Cardiovascular exercise? Weight loss aid? Chance to check out hot women flipping around and working up a sweat aka Martial Arts version of Zumba?
 
And for me, that means any kick higher than the stomach.
For me also , without a bit of a warm up. I train with guys though, who could comfortably kick the head in tight jeans and no warm up in the blink of an eye, so I suppose the term 'easy motion barrier' may vary from person to person.
 
For me also , without a bit of a warm up. I train with guys though, who could comfortably kick the head in tight jeans and no warm up in the blink of an eye, so I suppose the term 'easy motion barrier' may vary from person to person.
Yes it does; however, if the move requires a hip adjustment, its flashy.
Sean
 
I suppose it depends on how you define 'flashy'. I would consider a spinning hook kick as flashy and there have been countless knockouts with that kick in k1, kickboxing, full contact karate/tkd and Ive even seen a few in muay thai. If you're talking about 540 kicks and the like, then I have to agree, Ive never seen those sorts of techs used in competition.
I like the terms, useful, un-useful, and useless. While the people you describe can make un-useful moves seem usefull, they are still better off, over all, sticking to useful motion.
Sean
 
Define "hip adjustment" please...
Umm... So if you are doing a round house kick to the head, your knee cocks high, and you shift your hip to complete the kick. I understand that that is how its done, but that little repositioning of the hip to get the height needed requires a re-positioning to get back to a state of neutrality. All of this consumes time.
Sean
 
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Umm... So if you are doing a round house kick to the head, your knee cocks high, and you shift your hip to complete the kick. I understand that that is how its done, but that little repositioning of the to get the height needed require a re-positioning to get back to a state of neutrality. All of this consumes time.
Sean


Oh ok... gotcha. Wasn't exactly sure what you meant there.

I tend to not kick above my waist anyways & pretty much only straight on, no hip rotations. Hip sinking, sure, but not rotating.
 

:hmm: OK but if you do a traditional form or fight traditionally but dress like this

Men_s_sequin_suit1287745487_235.jpg


Or what about this

apparel-karate-uniforms-specialty-c-xma-xr1-performance-techno-pants.jpg


Is it still flashy :D
 
To me both of those images are the same.

On the subject of the XMA and their flashy pointless movements, I wonder why someone who wants to do that kind of movement doesn't stick with dance or gymnastics. Acrobatic skills are awesome and I wish I had the ability to flip around in the air like that, but jumping around screaming, and punching at nothing does not make a martial artist.

I would say that there is a place for such athleticism in the realm of ukemi and overall fitness, but the fact that their focus is on such things is what makes me grind my teeth.
 
On the subject of the XMA and their flashy pointless movements, I wonder why someone who wants to do that kind of movement doesn't stick with dance or gymnastics. Acrobatic skills are awesome and I wish I had the ability to flip around in the air like that, but jumping around screaming, and punching at nothing does not make a martial artist.

I would say that there is a place for such athleticism in the realm of ukemi and overall fitness, but the fact that their focus is on such things is what makes me grind my teeth.

Couldn't agree more, but we can't stop the advancement of 'sport', can we?
 
"flashy" impractical movements and flips and crap that are not designed and intended to add to survivability in a combat situation.

the so called XMA is often full of such things. also some of the stupid spins and use of little carbon fiber bo's and such in competition. If the form, and or technique is not something that will and does work in combat where survival is at stake, provably flash and should be avoided.
 
Oh right, I forgot about the super-light weapons for demo purposes. How very impractical to practice with a bo that will shatter into splinters the moment it makes contact with anything!
 
In contact competitions I agree, but in forms/kata competitions flashy "X-TREAM!!!" martial arts techniques are used to impress the audience and judges who don't care about practicality.

Whoa... Extreme. So that's what the "X" in "XMA" stands for. I thought it was for "Exhibition" since that's all it's good for. Man, I have to get over to my Eskrima instructor's place and fill him in. In addition to his regular classes (which is all that I can handle), he runs a fight club called "Extreme Eskrima". Like me he thought "Extreme" meant pushing the limit, even "dangerous". Those guys go full contact. Eskrima, grappling, boxing, Muay Thai. I better let him know that his label might bring in some XMA types. Yeah, it would be funny to watch their reaction... but really, who needs the grief! LOL
 
That's an excellent point. extreme should refer to pushing the boundaries a bit, but all the XMA does is push the boundaries of my tolerance for nonsense.
 
Flash isn't in iaido at all. Draw, cut and kill. These guys who spin a sword would be killed in a heartbeat.
example
 
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Ken, from your perspective why do you think some flashy wannabes focus on using kata for demonstrations when they clearly have no interested in using it as it was intended?

I'm sure they put a lot of hard work into what they do and it probably does take a good degree of focus to do what they do.

But I don't have to like it.:boing1:
 
Swords are cool and for the 99.9% of the public who never get a chance to handle them, acrobatics with swords is even cooler. Flash sells. In “real life” it gets you killed. People who use firearms don’t do trick shooting during a gunfight, why would a swordsmen?
 
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