Martial arts discussion thread

[KalEl]

Those kinds of parlour tricks aren't martial arts and have nothing to do with real martial arts (as has been often discussed on this thread). A neat party trick perhaps, but it's not doing anything to help develop your ability to fight.

You might want to watch this (contains some coarse language)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHwKnXi8J08

bet you like that mark bloke gok :P

[GoktimusPrime]

Fair enough. Just so long as you're not being deceived.

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Yesterday I went to my 2nd Goju Karate lesson. Thoughts:


+ Sensei repeatedly reminded people the importance of keeping the groin defended, and would sometimes deliver a groin attack (stopping a few cm of striking the groin) to show if someone's exposed there.
+ Sensei is very much into perfecting stances and basics, but mindful to also demonstrate the practical reasons as to why they need to be done correctly. e.g. if your guard is incorrect, he will show you where you are exposed. Form with function.
+ Sensei has a very commanding presence; it's very typically Japanese (his Sensei was from Japan and Sensei himself has done some training in Japan). As a result, everyone just shuts up and listens and the class runs quite smoothly and efficiently.


/ The hall's floor wasn't as clean as it was last week. It was quite dirty actually. I guess last week I must've just lucked out. I did ask Sensei if I could wear martial arts shoes, but he said no.


- Sensei seems to have little patience for beginners, and especially kids. He seems to get quite easily frustrated with them. He chips people for making any kind of mistake, regardless of the effort people put in. I can understand chipping into a student who's inattentive or just not trying... but he'll also equally chip into a student who's trying his best, but still isn't perfect (because they're still learners!). I think Sensei would be more effective if he metered out his reprimands more sparingly... cos otherwise it just sounds like nagging, which for a lot of the especially younger students, just goes in one ear and out the other as they become desensitised to it.
- While I mentioned the advantage of the Japanese "shut up and listen" style of teaching before, the disadvantage is that it doesn't foster a culture of critical learning. Nobody asks questions during class, and Sensei doesn't give any opportunities for questions or discussions before or after class. It's like there's an unspoken rule that when your class has finished, you have to get out of the Dojo. There's a senior class that follows for coloured belts... so hopefully if I stay with this school long enough to get graded, I can start attended that class and see if that's more conducive to more critical and deeper-enriched learning. But if this Dojo is emulating the Japanese style of teaching, then there's virtually no critical/academic learning at all, even with black belts. It's more like mindless obedience, which is what I experienced when I trained in Japan (there's a book called "Angry White Pyjamas" which documents well what MA training in Japan is like; which the author sometimes describes as sadistic*).

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*Even if you start bleeding from your wounds they still push you to keep training. I doubt that any school in Australia would ever engage in such questionable practises (for fear of legal litigation if nothing else ).

[Bidoofdude]

Nah. Just learnt it on my own.

[GoktimusPrime]

Nah. Just learnt it on my own.

LOL, that's freaking AWESOME!! *high.fives*
Muahahahahaha, that's so cool! Board breaking -- a technique that requires so many years of hard training, conditioning and skill... that a random 13 year old kid can work it out by himself and do it! YES!!!
Aww man... *wipes.tear.from.eye* that's classic. You win the thread.

[GoktimusPrime]

Gguuhh... a person I know who practises GKR recently seriously injured her back in training. I wasn't there when this happened... so I don't know if the injury occured despite the school having exercised reasonable duty of care, or if it occured through any form of negligence on part of the instructor/school -- I honestly don't know and I'm not making any insinuations on this case... but I really hope that it wasn't a case of negligence. Anyone who's been involved in martial arts long enough knows that, unfortunately, deriliction of duty of care is rampant in many schools - and cases of negligence affects everyone because it drives up insurance premiums, and the cost of insurance is passed onto students.

[Bartrim]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsjRTwfEGPI

Yes I know you probably think this is unrealistic from a traditional point of view Gok but it still looks awesome

[GoktimusPrime]

Hey... at the end of the day, the best technique is the technique that works. As utterly ridiculous looking as that kick is, it clearly took his opponent down in a single move, which evokes the spirit of Karate (one hit one kill)! So kudos to him for pulling it off! I think what makes that video so hilarious is that such an odd move actually worked!

A lot of techniques work by just being strange and confusing opponents with their unorthodox nature. Monkey Style Kung Fu has a lot of similarly weird moves where they attack in an inverted position. Capoeira also has a lot of inverted attacks - something adapted by African-Brazilian slaves who couldn't fight normally because they were cuffed and shackled. But the difference between what this guy did and what other 'inverted fighting' styles do is that Monkey and Capoeira fighters still have some form of stance, even when upside down -- i.e. they stand on their hands. Capoeira practitioners have unbelievably fantastic balancing skills. The guy in that video however drops on his upper back which is a lot more inherently hazardous, and is something you're more likely to get away with in a nice padded-floor tournament fight rather than in a street fight where dropping on concrete or asphalt etc. is more likely to hurt you (let alone if there's some sharp object lying on the ground!). Capoeira is descendant from African martial arts, some of which use a lot of really high-to-low splaying stancework, and so does Monkey Style -- the stuff can look quite "silly" compared to most other martial arts, but can be surprisingly effectual in a fight.

But hey... that fighter clearly understood the environment he was fighting in and exploited it to his advantage. Good for him.

[Bidoofdude]

LOL, that's freaking AWESOME!! *high.fives*
Muahahahahaha, that's so cool! Board breaking -- a technique that requires so many years of hard training, conditioning and skill... that a random 13 year old kid can work it out by himself and do it! YES!!!
Aww man... *wipes.tear.from.eye* that's classic. You win the thread.

I laughed so hard at this.
It's quite simple. Though mainly they're like REALLY thin or medium to thick balsa boards. Wouldn't dream of some REALLY hard wood or bricks.

[Bartrim]

I laughed so hard at this.
It's quite simple. Though mainly they're like REALLY thin or medium to thick balsa boards. Wouldn't dream of some REALLY hard wood or bricks.

Actually like wood it is a matter of hitting a brick in the right spot. It is harder and can hurt an unconditioned hand but it is still doable.

[GoktimusPrime]

I've only ever seen board breaking done with pine (a soft wood). It's always such a clean break too. I'd like to see someone try it with solid oak or ironwood.