Xtreme Martial Arts

[achilles]

I am not an advocate of kata nor do I believe that the program should have shown people meditating. I think that if they are going to showcase martial arts in a TV program, they should present something that actually looks like fighting rather than batton twirling or interpretive dance. The point fighting was better than nothing, but I found several things about it disturbing. For one, it was referred to as kickboxing. Kickboxing is closer to a reaction against the point fighting movement. Furthermore, people involved in kickboxing generally aren't afraid of getting hit in the face. I also think that the producers tried to present point fighting as real fighting sighting how dangerous it is. I think that is a gross misrepresentation. No sportive event is a completely accurate representation of real fighting, but point karate seems to be one of the furthest from the mark in my oppinion to to the rules and what I call martial fetishism. The programs broad claims are a disservice to other martial arts who do not necessarily place all their emphasis on flash and stage presence.

 

[rmcrobertson]

Of course, when you BMX you are still on a bicycle, and you actually ride it. That would be the difference; the similarity would be that far from "fun," this is all about selling something.

 

[Andrew Green]

XMA is still about throwing punches and kicks, but with a focus on tricks rather then function.

BMX is still about riding a bike, but with a focus on tricks rather then function.

Everything is about selling something. If they put a traditional Master on there to talk about the values of traditional and how things have gone to hell lately it would be about selling something, just a different something.

 

[rmcrobertson]

The martial arts did not appear in societies where everything was about selling something. Furthermore, what "extreme," arts sell is the opposite of self-defense, even as they feed off the idea of self-defense.

Most of the problems that everybody cites in contemporary arts--arrogance and ego, advantage-taking teachers, the invention of more and more worthless new, "styles," petty squabbling and infantile rivalries, lousy and politicized judging at tournaments, the laziness and greed of students, and all the rest, trace back exactly to the pursuit of the Almighty Dollar.

I see no hope at all of stopping this nonsense--but I don't have to like it, and it IS nonsense.

 

[Andrew Green]

What does XMA have to do with Self-defence?

I've not heard any of its practitioners claim it was at all for self-defence.

And haven't Traditional styles benefited from XMA? How many people started traditional styles because of hollywood showmanship? Ninja Turtles anyone?

 

[rmcrobertson]

I didn't.

And--as I mentioned--it's a real question as to whether all the selling has really made anything better. Which martial arts do they do in the Olympics--sport TKD, isn't it? don't show the judo, do they...not profitable enough, is the explanation.

But as for the so-called extreme martial arts--they're on a pay channel, right? and they have sponsors and ads, right? and the people who do this stuff--you figure they have a lot of time for the real thing, and for their schoolwork?

 

[47MartialMan]

This is where I have to ask;

Can it still be called "Xtreme"?

I have a problem with wording that has an over-emphasis on a subject in the manner to "sell" or exploit the subject.

The same goes for UFC, Shaolin Temple (this or that), Cardio Kickboxing, etc.

 

[achilles]

If the xma people didn't overtly say self defense, wouldn't it be implied in the martial art part? I think competition is great, but I find martial art with no practical self defense or combative value absurd. The difference between real martial arts and xma is not analogous to the difference between using a bike for traveling and bmx tricks. Their is a clear difference in purpose between the two. BMX is clearly different than transportation in the public eye, but the public is easily deceived into thinking that xma is real martial art. And I do think that deceived is the right word, because I doubt that the xma crowd would ever go out of their way to explain that what they do is for performance purposes rather than self defense.

Do I think there is anything that can be done about it? No. People have taught all manner of junk as martial arts for centuries, and who is to say that what xma does is any worse than what some traditionalists do. Some traditional martial arts are just as disconnected from reality, so who's to say what is good martial art and what is trash? Are kata really any different from cardio kickboxing apart from the spandex and music? Who's to say, but as a previous post said: I don't have to like it.

 

[47MartialMan]

So I guess the thing to do is educate people of the differences?