You Suck At Martial Arts

Gerry Seymour

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Oh, thats stuff their parents should have taught.
. I teach Gung fu to adults interested in training hard. If respect and integrity are things they are striving to learn as adults, then Iā€™m not the right teacher for them.
While those are concepts youā€™d hope adults know, they can still be reinforced at any age. Iā€™m not sure the ā€œtraditional ā€œ (in the US) MA approach is particularly good for that.
 

Oily Dragon

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I had a Starsky cardigan in the 70s! šŸ¤©
One of the best inside jokes from The Big Lebowski.

Ace detective.

1665771731898.png
 

Oily Dragon

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Any vigorous physical activity is exercise. And the working toward goals is an important thing for some folks, regardless of the goal, itself.

You just seem to want to complain in the most general terms, without any real basis for discussion.
Yeah but there are definitely different levels.

That's why you don't "know" kung fu, or "know" boxing; you keep at it. Which, in the belt granting world means something very different than actual progression, and why we live in a world full of black belts that are, to be honest, terrible at martial arts but talk a lot, while legions of sports people actually train in hand to hand combat (and get told off by those same "street rules" black belts).

I'd even argue that the entire BJJ phenomenon is more or less a reaction to this. A bunch of guys that were really, really into Judo and Vale Tudo saw the world filling up with kids imagining they are masters and getting black belts young.

There's keeping it real, and not, and I think we can both agree the vast majority out there do not.
 

Gerry Seymour

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Yeah but there are definitely different levels.

That's why you don't "know" kung fu, or "know" boxing; you keep at it. Which, in the belt granting world means something very different than actual progression, and why we live in a world full of black belts that are, to be honest, terrible at martial arts but talk a lot, while legions of sports people actually train in hand to hand combat (and get told off by those same "street rules" black belts).

I'd even argue that the entire BJJ phenomenon is more or less a reaction to this. A bunch of guys that were really, really into Judo and Vale Tudo saw the world filling up with kids imagining they are masters and getting black belts young.

There's keeping it real, and not, and I think we can both agree the vast majority out there do not.
You are going back to the point about fight effectiveness, which is a different discussion (and something thatā€™s less important to the average student).

And yes, there are of course different levels of exertion. This is true in literally any physical pursuit. There are folks who play soccer without much vigor, and those who do give same level of effort while splitting firewood. You get out what you put in, more or less.
 

Oily Dragon

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You are going back to the point about fight effectiveness, which is a different discussion (and something thatā€™s less important to the average student).

And yes, there are of course different levels of exertion. This is true in literally any physical pursuit. There are folks who play soccer without much vigor, and those who do give same level of effort while splitting firewood. You get out what you put in, more or less.
Hmm...so what is a black belt who can't fight effective at, if you had to sum it up in one word?

I think someone else asked that question earlier in the thread, what's the point then?

Discipline? that I can get into. That's a big part of what I get out of it, anyway. Doesn't require a belt though.
 

Wing Woo Gar

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Hmm...so what is a black belt who can't fight effective at, if you had to sum it up in one word?

I think someone else asked that question earlier in the thread, what's the point then?

Discipline? that I can get into. That's a big part of what I get out of it, anyway. Doesn't require a belt though.
I can mete out discipline with a belt. Iā€™m a connoisseur of belt discipline, as I have sampled the best belts my pop had to offer.
 

Steve

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Yeah but there are definitely different levels.

That's why you don't "know" kung fu, or "know" boxing; you keep at it. Which, in the belt granting world means something very different than actual progression, and why we live in a world full of black belts that are, to be honest, terrible at martial arts but talk a lot, while legions of sports people actually train in hand to hand combat (and get told off by those same "street rules" black belts).

I'd even argue that the entire BJJ phenomenon is more or less a reaction to this. A bunch of guys that were really, really into Judo and Vale Tudo saw the world filling up with kids imagining they are masters and getting black belts young.

There's keeping it real, and not, and I think we can both agree the vast majority out there do not.
Itā€™s been like 30 years. Is BJJ still a phenomenon?
 

Gerry Seymour

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Hmm...so what is a black belt who can't fight effective at, if you had to sum it up in one word?
Thatā€™ll depend on a lot not in evidence in that question. Maybe much, maybe not much. Because itā€™s a person.

Letā€™s remember that BB isnā€™t a ā€œmasteryā€ rank in a lot of organizations, so they arenā€™t expecting so much.
I think someone else asked that question earlier in the thread, what's the point then?

Discipline? that I can get into. That's a big part of what I get out of it, anyway. Doesn't require a belt though.
For a lot of folks, fitness, fun, community, something to work onā€¦
 

KenpoMaster805

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I think some people quit because they lost interest in the arts and they say they lack and they are not doing good in karate thats their problem but instead of saying its your fault your not practicing give them encouragement saying you can do this you got this al you need is practice practice and you will be good at it
 

Oily Dragon

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Itā€™s been like 30 years. Is BJJ still a phenomenon?
I think so, in the literal sense. And I'm talking a lot further back than UFC1. By "bunch of Judo guys", I meant Royce's ancestors. Especially the spiritual ones.

Otherwise BJJ would be dead, like Sanskrit.

Phenomenology.
 

Gyakuto

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Otherwise BJJ would be dead, like Sanskrit.
<gasp> my favourite sloka is best heard in Sanskrit!

śāntākāraį¹ƒ bhujagaśayanaį¹ƒ padmanābhaį¹ƒ sureśaį¹ƒ
viśvādhāraį¹ƒ gaganasadį¹›Å›aį¹ƒ meghavarį¹‡a śubhāį¹…gam .
lakį¹£mÄ«kāntaį¹ƒ kamalanayanaį¹ƒ yogibhirdhyānagamyam
vande viį¹£į¹‡uį¹ƒ bhavabhayaharaį¹ƒ sarvalokaikanātham ..
 

Oily Dragon

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<gasp> my favourite sloka is best heard in Sanskrit!

śāntākāraį¹ƒ bhujagaśayanaį¹ƒ padmanābhaį¹ƒ sureśaį¹ƒ
viśvādhāraį¹ƒ gaganasadį¹›Å›aį¹ƒ meghavarį¹‡a śubhāį¹…gam .
lakį¹£mÄ«kāntaį¹ƒ kamalanayanaį¹ƒ yogibhirdhyānagamyam
vande viį¹£į¹‡uį¹ƒ bhavabhayaharaį¹ƒ sarvalokaikanātham ..
 

Gyakuto

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Iā€˜m not sure it was ever a living language, perhaps only used by clerics for purposes of Hinduism. It is rather beautiful, though. Now you can sing along with the above liberetto

 

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