Why people care

[Wu-Xing]

people around here seem to bring up that more people are learning MMA;so beware, or "how would you deal with this style/that style".the answer to it all is that i dont care.sure, it is good to have a knowledge of other styles , but in the real world when you walking down the street, or in a bar with your girl and you get into a fight for whatever reason, you dont know if the guy trains,you dont know what he trains, its your @ss or his.
There seems to be far to much talking about fighting going on.also most of it seems like cr@p.the reason i say this is because i do and have done in the past, fight. yeah really, not with a keyboard,in real life, and when it comes down to it in real life you dont have a master plan , you dont think,you just do.i have in the past done some things that seemed pretty weird, to others and to myself.i dont think i am the only one,im sure many of you people on here have also done it.the fact is about these things;if someone asks you what you just did or how you did it.you really dont know.it isnt planned .it just happens ,it just works.in my case,i dont even know how or what the hell i have done,they just seemed to work.
so why bother talking about this or that? why not spend your time talking about your training techniques, your styles, things special to you and your systems, because talking about fighting and what you should do is bull.when it really happens to you ,you just react and do ,most of the time ,you dont even know what it is you have done ,thats how fast the real world is.at least it is from my experience.

anyone agree,disagree? comments are welcome be they good or bad.

[Shadow Dragon]

Wu-Xing.

I agree with you.

I have been in fights and seen many fights by both MA trained and untrained people, and most of those looked very similar.
Fast, brutal and over before most people even realised that an altercation had happened.

I simply do my training as recommended by my Sifu and that is all that I worry about.

No worries if my punch is fast enough, powerful enough, my training is realistic or not, etc.

If you train well, your MA & Body will take care of itself, no need to worry and get all tense.

Peace

[scotty1]

All it is is thinking about your training.

Surely you agree its a good thing to actually think about what you're training?

[Shadow Dragon]

Scotty1.

Not sure if your reply was to me or to Wu-Xing.

In case it was to me here is my answer.
I train to be good in my style and to reach the highest goal that I can attain in that style.
Thinking too much about other styles, "what if ..." secenarios and so on is distracting for me from my training and, imho, counter productive.

Besides that I got full confidence in my Sifu and the style that he teaches and that how we train is sufficient for most encounters.

As one of my Instructors once said:
"There will always come somebody along that will be faster, tougher, stronger & younger than you, you can only be at your peak for so long."

Peace

[scotty1]

"I train to be good in my style and to reach the highest goal that I can attain in that style."

Fair enough.

"Thinking too much about other styles, "what if ..." secenarios and so on is distracting for me from my training and, imho, counter productive. "

That is fine if the above goal is your only one. But if your goal is to be able to defend yourself against other styles and in a multitude of different scenarios then you are going to fall short if you don't think about them. Otherwise you're going in blind.

"Besides that I got full confidence in my Sifu and the style that he teaches and that how we train is sufficient for most encounters. "

Where does this confidence come from? Are you accepting "what Sifu says" because "Sifu says it"?

"As one of my Instructors once said:
"There will always come somebody along that will be faster, tougher, stronger & younger than you, you can only be at your peak for so long." "

Very true, but that doens't mean that you can't think about the possibilities outside of your box. By not thinking about other styles, different scenarios etc you are not aware of what may happen, and if you are not aware you cannot prepare.

Hoping that your style has all the answers to all the questions.

What if it doesn't, and the first time you realise that is when you are faced with a difficult question in a deserted car park?

[Shadow Dragon]

Scotty1.

I fully understand what you are saying and I don't disagree with you.

Might I add that I have used my style successfully in encounters and that is where my confidence in my Style and my Sifu comes from.

But you are right that fighting is not my primary reason for studying MA.
As for self defense, for me that is something VERY different from fighting apps.

And I don't think that anybody nor any amount of styles will ever have all the answers.
You simply got to make do with the skills you got available at that time.

Peace.

[scotty1]

"I have used my style successfully in encounters and that is where my confidence in my Style and my Sifu comes from. "

That is totally fair enough.

I agree with what you're saying in your last post.

You can only draw on what skills you have at the time of an altercation, but it is your responsibility to make sure those skills are capable. To me as a (for the sake of argument) kickboxer that means being aware of what could happen that is outside the normal realm of what I train for.

I am aware of the possibilities of takedowns, grappling etc. Awareness (and a few BASIC techniques) are as far as I can take my training with regard to those at the moment.

This is because although I train solo during the week the only time I have in class is one lesson a week. So if I trained a decent amount of takedown defense, anti-grappling skills etc, I'd never do any kickboxing!

Which is my main focus at present, I enjoy the health benefits of the sport, and the base fighting skils that are built. I am aware of the shortcomings of kickboxing as a complete fighting system, but I believe that there are benefits in knowing how to lay a combo on someone from a self defense point of view. Somebody trying to act tough in a pub might be dissuaded from taking it any further by the fact that I can punch straight and in combination.
And if they are not, well, my training has prepared me for taking a few and handing a few out. Which I would hope would be enough, because that is all I have got!

So I understand what you mean when you say that "You simply got to make do with the skills you got available at that time."

But I don't think that means burying your head in the sand and not being AWARE, which is what some people seem to advocate.

[dezhen2001]

I think theres a big difference between 'burying your head in the sand' and developing the correct foundation in your system first (understanding principles, developing your body, spatial awarness, distance, footwork, timing etc.) and THEN applying it to whatever. That may take a while...but that's where the fun is! ;)

david

[Shadow Dragon]

Originally posted by scotty1

But I don't think that means burying your head in the sand and not being AWARE, which is what some people seem to advocate.

Never said that I am burrying my Head, I am fully aware of what is out there.

But for me SD means getting ALIVE out of a Death threatening situation, maybe our criterias as to what SD is and what it entails differ.

Peace.

[scotty1]

No, I fully agree with you on the difference between self defense and fighting. We've all read Animal's site here, lol :)

And I wasn't implying that you were burying your head in the sand either. If I'd have meant that, I would've said it.

For the purposes of this discussion I think we can assume that we are already in a position where we must fight.

I think we are in agreement here. But Wu-Xing started off by saying that what you do in a fight is instinctual and your instincts are moulded by your training. True enough.

But then: "how would you deal with this style/that style".the answer to it all is that i dont care"

"so why bother talking about this or that? why not spend your time talking about your training techniques, your styles, things special to you and your systems, because talking about fighting and what you should do is bull"

What is bull is expecting to be in a fight and think "oh, I'll just do this when he does that etc." and on that I'll agree with Wu-Xing.

But where I'll disagree with Wu-Xing is where he says it is a waste of time talking about what you'd do, different styles etc.
All this talking is just bandying ideas around, ideas to make your training more effective etc.

Talking instead of training is bad.

Talking and discussing to improve your training is good.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

its better to talk on the train than pee in the field .... or something.

[red5angel]

I think the what if games is practically useless. what if I had a gun and shot you? See.

But training in your style to be good in your style, and training to be good in a fight should be the same thing. If it is not I suggest you find another school or another style, unless you arent doing it to fight anyway.
I have seen a few fights and some with some pretty good martial artist and I have to say, it makes a big difference if you are training! sure you MIGHT loose, but the point is that you have an edge and hopefully it pays off.

[Wu-Xing]

"But where I'll disagree with Wu-Xing is where he says it is a waste of time talking about what you'd do, different styles etc.
All this talking is just bandying ideas around, ideas to make your training more effective etc"

talking about what you'd do i believe is a waste of time unless your are talking about what you HAVE done in the past.unless you have actually done it,you dont really know what you would do.

"Talking instead of training is bad.

Talking and discussing to improve your training is good"

thats where i agree with you scotty. but honestly,how much real good comes out of the discussions on "How to deal with a muai tai fighter/grappler"etc.?

maybe my first post was a bit aggresive.i apoligise.i was a bit p1ssed when i wrote it but basically i am trying to say; people talk to much about the wrong things.

[dezhen2001]

Wu: how is everything going mate :) no doubt c ya in chat later :D

david

[Wu-Xing]

im doin good mate, real good :)

havent spoken to you in a while but will soon hopefully.
get your @ss in chat :)