Martial Arts? It's BS.

[Bob Hubbard]

 

[Sukerkin]

Good episode - well pretty much all their ******** episodes are good. Admittedly it hits hardest at one of my pet hates, which is MA training run as a business but it still sticks pins almost everywhere .

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I was surprised Dillman wasn't featured, but National Geographic already nailed him.

 

[WC_lun]

I honestly don't mind schools run as a bussiness. What I mind is when they say they are teaching something they are not, for instance those that teach students utter crap and tell them it is self-defense training. In that case it is fraud, and like any bussiness committing fraud, they should be shut down. Just a peeve of mine and yes, I know there would be no way of really implementing such a thing.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Well, I admit I only watched a couple minutes of the 2nd video. I'm sorry, I can't take any more. I've disliked Penn Jillette for years. I don't think he's funny, I don't think he's smart, and his snotty attitude pisses me off. I like it when it was the Penn & Teller magic show. He's good at that. Nothing else.

What I did not like from what little I saw was the one-sided approach and out-of-context sound bites. Hmmm, at my dojo, belts cost $10. So I guess I'm being 'ripped off' because I've paid a grand total of $40 in three years for promotions. Whoo, somebody call a cop. And my $50 a month dues, clearly I'm being had. And the fact that the owner nor the black belts who teach draw a salary but do it out of their love for Isshin-Ryu; wow, clearly they're being brainwashed. I sometimes bring in bottled water or cleaning towels for the dojo out of my own pocket; what a scam!

Penn Jillette can kiss my pucker.

 

[Josh Oakley]

Well, I admit I only watched a couple minutes of the 2nd video. I'm sorry, I can't take any more. I've disliked Penn Jillette for years. I don't think he's funny, I don't think he's smart, and his snotty attitude pisses me off. I like it when it was the Penn & Teller magic show. He's good at that. Nothing else.

What I did not like from what little I saw was the one-sided approach and out-of-context sound bites. Hmmm, at my dojo, belts cost $10. So I guess I'm being 'ripped off' because I've paid a grand total of $40 in three years for promotions. Whoo, somebody call a cop. And my $50 a month dues, clearly I'm being had. And the fact that the owner nor the black belts who teach draw a salary but do it out of their love for Isshin-Ryu; wow, clearly they're being brainwashed. I sometimes bring in bottled water or cleaning towels for the dojo out of my own pocket; what a scam!

Penn Jillette can kiss my pucker.

Like you said, you only watched a couple minutes of the first video. Watch it in the entirety, and you might find yourself agreeing with a number of points they make, though probably not all.

 

[Cyriacus]

If I made a Video saying that Wing Chun had Low Kicks, and made it slightly funny, would someone make a Forum Thread about it?

All Sarcasm aside, I cant really say it was worth My Time. Not because of all the Lines about MA; Ill rip on MA any day for a Giggle. I just didnt find it Funny. Its probably just not My kind of Humor.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Like you said, you only watched a couple minutes of the first video. Watch it in the entirety, and you might find yourself agreeing with a number of points they make, though probably not all.

I'm not watching one more second of that drivel. I started the 2nd video at random and watched Jillette do voice-over taking apart everything that was said by an apparently-earnest Isshin-Ryu instructor. Everything the instructor was saying was correct; it jibes with my understanding as well. And Jillette took the sound bites he wanted and left the rest, so the entire thing was out-of-context. That's crap, and I won't have it. Penn Jillette can introduce it straight up his jaxie.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

So Bill. The woman making the chicken sounds in there's a legit representative of the Chinese arts?


Here's my take on it all.
The chicken ladies a bit wacky. And I believe in chi.
The Karate guy knows a lot of parlor tricks. I want to see him withstand a tip strike from a 2x3, not one waaaaaay back where there's no power and the whipping action causes the board to stress fracture.
I don't want to run into Marc in a dark alley.



I think their whole point is, there's a lot of BS out there, and uneducated folks fall for it. Some folks pull weird stuff out of their 'jaxie' and make a living selling it to clueless folks. Some of it's legit.

In short, nothing we don't already know here.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch them spank some cheerleaders. :s408:

 

[Josh Oakley]

Now wait a minute. How do you claim it to be drivel if you haven't watched the whole thing? That is a scholarly and intellectually bankrupt method. Were you to actually watch it, you could show how it is drivel. I don't agree that it is, but I have watched the whole thong. I can tell you the partake I take issue with and the parts I think are spot on. You can't. Do we go through life watching only that which we do jot find objectionable? Frankly, Bill, if it were a number of other posters, I might just let it slide, saying nothing. But you are better than that. You are definitely smarter than that. So you know if it is worth posting about, it is worth watching through, so you can post from a standpoint of informed dissent.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Now wait a minute. How do you claim it to be drivel if you haven't watched the whole thing? That is a scholarly and intellectually bankrupt method. Were you to actually watch it, you could show how it is drivel. I don't agree that it is, but I have watched the whole thong. I can tell you the partake I take issue with and the parts I think are spot on. You can't. Do we go through life watching only that which we do jot find objectionable? Frankly, Bill, if it were a number of other posters, I might just let it slide, saying nothing. But you are better than that. You are definitely smarter than that. So you know if it is worth posting about, it is worth watching through, so you can post from a standpoint of informed dissent.

I see Josh skipped ahead to the cheerleaders too.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Now wait a minute. How do you claim it to be drivel if you haven't watched the whole thing? That is a scholarly and intellectually bankrupt method. Were you to actually watch it, you could show how it is drivel. I don't agree that it is, but I have watched the whole thong. I can tell you the partake I take issue with and the parts I think are spot on. You can't. Do we go through life watching only that which we do jot find objectionable? Frankly, Bill, if it were a number of other posters, I might just let it slide, saying nothing. But you are better than that. You are definitely smarter than that. So you know if it is worth posting about, it is worth watching through, so you can post from a standpoint of informed dissent.

Your complaint would be valid if I had no previous experience with Penn Jillette. But this is simply on top of a long set of negative experiences I have had with this smarmy, snarky, a-hole. His intellect is put to the use of making other people look stupid for the amusement of his audience. I have no interest in subjecting myself to the entire thing and I won't do it. When the milk is sour, you do not drink the entire carton to be sure it's all gone off.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I think their whole point is, there's a lot of BS out there, and uneducated folks fall for it. Some folks pull weird stuff out of their 'jaxie' and make a living selling it to clueless folks. Some of it's legit.

The short bit I saw strongly that it was unethical and immoral for an Isshin-Ryu instructor to have his students mop floors or teach without pay; this directly after inferring (but cleverly not libelously stating outright) that such instructors make thousands of dollars from promotions and awarding worthless 'belts' that can be purchase outright for huge sums of money inside of a year. By intertwining the McDojo belt mills that we martial artists know about with video and audio clips from what appears to be a legitimate Isshin-Ryu dojo, the strong impression is given (intentionally) that all martial arts are frauds, that as the title states, martial arts are ********. Well, screw that noise.

 

[oaktree]

I watched the video and though there are some valid points brought up by Marc the animal Macyoung I feel the video is heavily biased.

I think the Karate school was a typical Mcdojo so of course you are going to get B.S.

I think the old lady is typical New-ager so of course you get B.S. However some of those Qigong exercises such as moving up and and down does have a relaxing effect on the muscles. I found the guy who beat on the BOB doll with the knife in its head to be decent but a little agressive.

I don't think it proves Martial arts is B.S. I think it proves the claims that these particular people claim are B.S.

I recall in the first minute of the clip how if someone is holding you at gun point then you should just give them your wallet of course the majority of Martial artist agree! Of course we agree run away as soon as possible but there are chances were the person wants to kill you or rape you then training in Martial arts may give you that chance to survive and I know I rather have a slim chance of survival then no chance at all.

 

[Josh Oakley]

So Bill. The woman making the chicken sounds in there's a legit representative of the Chinese arts?


Here's my take on it all.
The chicken ladies a bit wacky. And I believe in chi.
The Karate guy knows a lot of parlor tricks. I want to see him withstand a tip strike from a 2x3, not one waaaaaay back where there's no power and the whipping action causes the board to stress fracture.
I don't want to run into Marc in a dark alley.



I think their whole point is, there's a lot of BS out there, and folks fall for it. Some folks pull weird stuff out of their 'jaxie' and make a living selling it to clueless folks. Some of it's legit.

In short, nothing we don't already know here.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch them spank some cheerleaders. :s408:

First off, does your job regularly involve spanking cheerleaders?

If so.... Are you hiring?

Second, I agree with you. I also want to point out the story where Penn poured his milkshake on his head to avoid a fight. It is one of those concepts we don't talk about enough: stopping a fight before it starts.

Last Wednesday, I was out with my best friend, who is wheelchair bound due to cerebral palsy, and his smoking hot girlfriend who doesn't believe she is, in fact, smoking hot. This guy at the bar caught her attention and started hitting on her. He just would not leave her alone, and you could tell she was getting uncomfortable. I rush over to help extract her, and before I even get there he throws his pool stick to the ground, puffs out his chest like he is prepping to fight. So, coming up with something on the spot, I blurt out, "Dude, what did you say to her?"

I am pretty sure he expected a punch instead of a question. He maintains his aggro posture, and says, "I said she was hot, what of it". (This conversation is being edited, with swear words removed)

As if I expected the answer all along, I say "I knew it! Me and her boyfriend have been telling her that for MONTHS and she just doesn't get it. Thank you!"

I hold out my fist for him to bump it, and he does, in a confused manner. "Dude, you just became my new friend!"

He still is in aggro mode, and says, " forget you, man (again, this is edited). I ain't your darn friend".

Not skipping a beat, I say, "It's all good man, we're cool, we're cool".

I go get our drinks and head back to our table. My best friend is heated and ready to cut the guy, both for hitting on his girl. Seeing as I knew he WOULD cut the guy given the chance, I say, "don't worry, man I got this. Keep watching."

I ran into the guy again and got his name (though I can't remember it now) and every time I pass by him, give him a fist bump or something. Halfway through the night he is singing karaoke with me. At some point I go out to smoke, and he comes out asking if he can talk to the girl, saying he's really not a jerk, apologizing for the way he acted. He even called me sir!

I said it was no problem, just as long as he knows if he laid hands on her, she'd cut him.

At the end of the night he stopped trying to pursue the girl, apologized to my friend and told him he was a lucky man, and took off. No drama, no fighting, no problems.

Could I have taken him? Yeah, I am pretty sure, but why do it? Once you are in their head you have already won the battle. And yes, if pouring a soda on my head would have been necessary I would have done that too.

This is where I can definitely agree with Penn.

He also covers board breaking as a borderline parlor trick. We all know it is. It takes very little training to break 5 boards with spacers. And I think they showed that effectively.

Chicken Laugh Girl, who talks to her organs? Yeah... All I can say is WTF to that.

I am on the fence about how well they covered the two specifically self-defense instructors. But the statiscic they said about 100% of martial artists getting injured is crap. I know plenty of people who had zero injuries from martial arts training. I can't claim I am one of them, but there wee more than enough people who do not get injured.

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[Josh Oakley]

I see Josh skipped ahead to the cheerleaders too.

Well, yeah!

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[poollshark]

I agree, you HAVE to watch it to have an opinion. Mine is, they had an agenda when they started filming the episode and they kept to that agenda, misleading as it may be.

 

[Josh Oakley]

Your complaint would be valid if I had no previous experience with Penn Jillette. But this is simply on top of a long set of negative experiences I have had with this smarmy, snarky, a-hole. His intellect is put to the use of making other people look stupid for the amusement of his audience. I have no interest in subjecting myself to the entire thing and I won't do it. When the milk is sour, you do not drink the entire carton to be sure it's all gone off.

Impossible to drink from a milk carton starting from the middle (not without screwing up the carton in the first place anyway).

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[Tez3]

I haven't seen them before and I have to say I find them unwatchable. I don't like their style at all, I like a documentary to have more gravitas and not treat the watchers as stupid.
My daughter the cheerleading coach, blackbelt and MMA fighter thanks you for the comments lol!

 

[Xue Sheng]

Didn’t watch it, not going to, don’t care… I don’t need their validation

But I will say I like Teller better than Penn.... Penn talks to much.