That's assuming guy 3 ever won a fight. If he spent all that time getting beaten (perhaps because he went in with really bad ideas of how to fight), then he'll probably be tougher, but he hasn't really learned how to fight. Now, if he manages to learn a bit from every fight, win some and lose some, and get toughened, my money is on him.
I actually don't want any of them renovating my basement, just like I wouldn't put all my stock in any of the guys from skrib's post winning a kickboxing/jujitsu/mma fight.
^^^This! They were not locked into doing just what they had. If they got beat they took what they got beat by and learned it. They researched everything they could, studied it, found out not just what worked but why it worked. And today they still research taking from all forms of grappling.
Which is all too often just a contest of who can throw the most punches.
3 would've had to have started out with good instruction and lots of practice under the supervision of a good instructor, otherwise they would never get to that level where they've been building houses for years.
Well there's also the possibility that 3 has won every fight he's been in because all his fights were easy. Lets say 3 is a large man and all his fights have been against small children, and so he's always won. In that case 3 would lose if he ever went up against somebody his own size.
I'd argue even if he was winning easy fights (outside the extreme of children and such), he's at least dealt with people hitting him, practiced avoiding that, and practiced hitting people who are moving. So if we avoid reductio ad absurdum arguments (children, frail old women, etc.), he's gotten some useful experience. If he has won some, he's probably learned. If he's lost some, he's probably toughened.
I have never studied up on the Gracie family legacy but like most MA people I am familiar with its success. There are so many external things that are to be considered. I can imagine the social environment they live(d) in lent itself to a more real need to be able to defend oneself. In other words, learning how to fight was just part of growing up. Most people are predisposed to being naturally talented at something. In the Gracie's case it was learning to fight through refining/perfecting their training. As I understand it there was considerable training involved, and even more refining by application.
Agree. The greatest engineering successes worldwide were because of centuries of trial and error. The same is true in MA. That is not to say that what has been practices for decades or centuries was not already refined down to the best result. But until something is applied in a given environment, your body vs. my body for example, you cannot be sure how well it works. It has to be put to the test.
That's not true at all. There are plenty of self taught contractors that learned through trial and error.
It does translate in to some of the related skills. I agree it doesn't cover the whole range, and arguable some of the important ones aren't touched at all if there's no sparring.
This is why I brought up the Gracie's. Focus on the other part, we already focused on how much instruction they may have had, from whom and for how long. Now focus on what else they did, after that period of time. They had a group, that trained together and beat the crap out of each other. They went outside their group and got into full contact / full resistance matches of all kinds. They went out and got in fights. They always evaluated what they were training with their results and modified things accordingly.
no generally it's a contest of who can throw the first meaning full punch, as that generally wins
if you can't get good lessons, go for plan b) and buy a squat rack
Yes, although all too often street fights are just people wildly flailing.
Just get a gym membership, no need to spend all that money on an expensive squat rack and bar and weights.
well clearly it depends what you pay for the membership, some are extortion, but weight equipment is quite cheap new, and can be picked up for next to nothing second hand, in some cases actually nothing, as their Mrs has told them she want it out by the weekend, then if you go from the plastic weights filled with sand, they really are cheap, getting it home on the bus can be a challenge
Yes he did although much of it he did on his own but he did get some help. Interesting that you or anyone else haven't asked who it was considering he was also a huge figure in American history.
