What do you think of Jake Mace?

[pdg]

I think I made it obvious that I'm interested neither in his diet nor in his hairstyle. I asked you to judge him as a martial artist.

Actually, you didn't make that clear at all.

You titled the thread "What do you think of Jake Mace" and went on to say:

He's a highly controversial kung fu teacher that has posted several youtube videos.

Which really in no way appears to be a clear question of "judge his martial arts". It's more like clarifying which Jake Mace you're talking about.

It's like if I say "what do you think of John?"

And someone asks "which John?"

So I say "you know, John in accounts"


Nothing in that conversation implies that I want to know what they think of his accounting prowess.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

There's 3 new sheriff's in town though.....

Yeah, and @Buka won't put up with that kind of silliness! (Unless he's involved, of course.)

 

[Gerry Seymour]

If that's a concern of yours, read through this post MartialTalk.com Forum Rules and Procedures

Ultimately, be civil with people, don't try to incite things among posters, watch out with advertising, avoid politics, and no challenge matches. There's more to it obviously, but that's the basics and you can read the rest at your leisure.

Oh, and no religious discussion.

 

[Martial D]

He's a highly controversial kung fu teacher that has posted several youtube videos.

Ehh.. there really isn't any controversy. He's really good at spinning a staff..and gardening.

 

[pdg]

Ehh.. there really isn't any controversy. He's really good at spinning a staff..and gardening.

That reminds me actually, I wanted to watch more of his staff spinning vids.

I have no clue whether it's any good or practical and I care not a jot - it just looks fun and that's all I'm concerned with.

 

[Martial D]

That reminds me actually, I wanted to watch more of his staff spinning vids.

I have no clue whether it's any good or practical and I care not a jot - it just looks fun and that's all I'm concerned with.

Well I guess it could be useful. Mount some angled fins on the ends and you could generate electricity.

 

[amateur]

Actually, you didn't make that clear at all.

Umm... hello? I post on a MARTIAL ARTS forum and ask what you think about a MARTIAL ARTS teacher. I think this makes it obvious what I want to know.

 

[pdg]

Umm... hello? I post on a MARTIAL ARTS forum and ask what you think about a MARTIAL ARTS teacher. I think this makes it obvious what I want to know.

No, it doesn't.

I still have no clue what you actually want to know, because you really haven't asked any other question apart from "what do you think of Jake Mace?"

Umm... Hello? I told you what I think.

Care to ask a more specific question?

 

[amateur]

No, it doesn't.

I still have no clue what you actually want to know, because you really haven't asked any other question apart from "what do you think of Jake Mace?"

Umm... Hello? I told you what I think.

Care to ask a more specific question?

Well, a mod said 'no bashing/fraud exposing'. I don't know whether it counts as bashing and I never implied that Jake is a fraud (even if he's not that knowledgeable a teacher, this doesn't mean he's a fraud). On youtube, there are commenters who portray him as a god as well as ones who think he lacks technique/knowledge, so I'm confused. I want to know whether you think it's worth trying to learn something from his videos.

 

[Headhunter]

Umm... hello? I post on a MARTIAL ARTS forum and ask what you think about a MARTIAL ARTS teacher. I think this makes it obvious what I want to know.

Buddy relax would ya

 

[lklawson]

Umm... hello? I post on a MARTIAL ARTS forum and ask what you think about a MARTIAL ARTS teacher. I think this makes it obvious what I want to know.

Don't get your panties in a knot.

You weren't really all that clear in what you are asking. Just "what do you think?" No questions about anything specific.

 

[pdg]

I want to know whether you think it's worth trying to learn something from his videos

I've learned some stuff from his videos...

A few things I've learned a slightly better way to do something.

A few things I've discovered how not to do something.

The key thing to remember is that you cannot learn solely from any video - they can be a fantastic supplemental aid to learning but you either need feedback or a knowledge base in place to assess the content yourself.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Umm... hello? I post on a MARTIAL ARTS forum and ask what you think about a MARTIAL ARTS teacher. I think this makes it obvious what I want to know.

We discuss a lot more than martial arts on here. Thread swerve is almost the norm.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Well, a mod said 'no bashing/fraud exposing'. I don't know whether it counts as bashing and I never implied that Jake is a fraud (even if he's not that knowledgeable a teacher, this doesn't mean he's a fraud). On youtube, there are commenters who portray him as a god as well as ones who think he lacks technique/knowledge, so I'm confused. I want to know whether you think it's worth trying to learn something from his videos.

I think part of that answer depends what you want to learn for. If you want to have some fun with a staff, he's got some video instruction that will help you do some fun spins and such. I have doubts that his staff work would be helpful for fighting, but I'm no staff expert, myself, so I'd leave that judgment to folks with more knowledge than me.

My understanding is that some of what he says about Wing Chun isn't accurate to the principles of Wing Chun, as most practitioners understand it. That doesn't necessarily make it bad to do (though I've seen a few things I consider just bad ideas). It doesn't even really necessarily make him wrong about them being WC, since there are some branches of WC that are different from the mainstream...so, maybe what he teaches should simply be considered non-mainstream WC. But I also don't know much about WC, so...

My final assessment is pretty close to what some folks said initially. He has some interesting videos, is pretty charismatic and dynamic, is in great shape, and has some fitness stuff that seems reasonable. I can find some useful stuff in his martial arts videos. How much I discard could be due to him teaching badly, or me just not grasping much of what he does because it's pretty foreign to what I do.