Martial arts shouldn't take years to learn.

[jobo]

Yeah, but those are typically the fights you can walk away from. I've never had a situation where an un-fit, un-coordinated, non-fighter challenged me and I wasn't able to avoid any sort of physical confrontation. Actual predators tend to be a bit tougher on average.

well a few points, one the benefits of ma are that you can choose to avoid confrontation or not, you can usually make them back down, BUT these people are quote likely to throw a punch at you, at which point the confrontation has,started and therefore can't be avoided AND I'm not sure what you mean by predators in this context, people who are trying to rob you are a different cat that those who have spontainiously decided to harm you

 

[webmaster786]

life is not a war, so not everyone teaches us how to fight

 

[Elbowgrease]

I think, Master is a pursuit, not a destination.
It is always ongoing. And it can take a lot of time, and that's really pretty reasonable. You just can't rush some things. A person might learn how to do something in an hour. Doesn't mean they can do it well. That takes time. Takes more time to ingrain it, and more time to understand what's happening and even more time to really understand why to do the thing in the first place.
I've been training in Tai Chi Chuan almost ten years now, it's only over the last year or so that things seem to have really changed. Little changes throughout that time, but changes that currently seem significant only recently.
Patience is something that's really important, and pretty intense. And it doesn't come fast.
Maybe the old timers did things PAINFULLY slow to drive off the impatient hot heads.
And something my Sifu used to say,
I'm not here to teach you how to fight. You want to fight, go get a bat. It's a lot faster and easier. Then you can go to pelican Bay and fight every single day. I'm here to teach you how to move.

 

[Swagmaster2993]

This whole "years to master" philosphy is pretty unique to East Asian martial arts--and even then there are exceptions, like muay thai, where a guy can become an excellent fighter in a relatively short amount of time.

When I see a kickboxer or a krav maga guy who's spent a measely year in training hold his own against a karateka who's spent two decades on kata and kibadachi stance or whatever, I feel bad for the karateka. I get it that some people want the "authentic" tradition (or what they think is authentic tradition), but it seems like a waste of time to me.

Comments?

PS

I have some years of experience in Shotokan, so I'm not speaking from a place of ignorance. I feel that life is so much more than "mastering fighting" or becoming the mythical "master martial artist."

It took me 5 years to get my black belt. many years of sweating over a mat, not just filled with my own sweat, but others before me. some students don't stay for more than 2 lessons, some I have trained with for life. 5 years of training and or experience, take your pick, against some guy who his been there for 3 months or whatever, who is wiser in the art? Who has spent years getting that kata just right?

in the end, if you want something bad enough, you will spend any amount of time to get it.

 

[Paul_D]

I'm not sure that's true?, but of course we have no data at all to go on.

What makes you say that? The Crime Statistics of England and Wales are ridiculously detailed, showing us the sex, age range, and number of attackers for all recorded violent crime where the victim was able to give that information.

 

[jobo]

What makes you say that? The Crime Statistics of England and Wales are ridiculously detailed, showing us the sex, age range, and number of attackers for all recorded violent crime where the victim was able to give that information.

i have no idea what post i was refering to and I'm not wading through 25 pages to find it

 

[jobo]

What makes you say that? The Crime Statistics of England and Wales are ridiculously detailed, showing us the sex, age range, and number of attackers for all recorded violent crime where the victim was able to give that information.

found it, i said we have no data as to how skilled the various people were in fights, if your saying the crime stats have this info, then post it