ralphmcpherson
Senior Master
More and more I hear people talk about how martial arts "arent what they used to be" and how they "give people the false impression they can fight", or "if you tried that on the street you would see why it doesnt work" or "the public perception of a black belt is so wrong, most black belts these days couldnt fight their way out of a wet paper bag" etc. I was talking with someone the other day and they were of the belief that even if you do a very watered down "family friendly" martial art that only trains a couple of hours a week and hands out black belts like they are going out of fashion (basically a mcdojo), you would still be significantly better than the "average guy on the street" because at least they are doing some form of learning how to defend themself and are sparring, kicking, punching etc on a weekly basis unlike 'average joe', plus the fitness and conditioning that goes with doing a martial art. I think to a degree his point had some merrit, if I take myself, for instance, prior to starting martial arts I had been in 2 fights in my life (which were over very quickly, and I was not the victor) and I had probably thrown 4 or 5 punches in my life and I dont think Id ever even attempted a kick. Now after 5+ years of training, I have probably thrown hundreds of thousands of punches and kicks and have been taught to do them technically correct rather than just throwing them wildly and have thrown them against resisting opponents (albeit under a ruleset for sparring). But still I read about how the 'average guy on the street' would easily dispose of most martial artists these days. So, how good is this 'average guy on the street'?, and do you believe somebody training in anything would have an increased chance of success against this average guy soley due to the fact that at least they are doing some form of training, or do you believe (like many others), that their training would only improve their chances on "the street" by a very small degree?