Did you complain about XMA

[bustr]

If not then get over to Discovery.com and do so.


For reference here's I sent them:

Real martial arts have names like JowGa, Kyokushinkaikan and Brazilian jujutsu to name a few. None of these were mentioned on your program.

A while back you did a couple of martial art specials. I really enjoyed the segment of the program (the name of which I can't recall)you did with Wade Chroninger and the "Kung Fu Warrior" special with Cung Le. Those guys were real martial artists. I was hoping that XMA would be balanced out with something similar.

Xtreme MA wasn't extreme in any sense. Yeah the guys were gifted athletes but so was Mary Lou Retton. Mary doesn't pretend to be doing anything but gymnastics though. The forms competitions were a mix of a screaming contest with glorified ballet.

Concerning the bald guy. No real martial artist who has drawn or lost blood in a dojo or match or streetfight will claim to get fired up at the sight of blood and certainly wouldn't brag about shanking someone. The bald guy's statement indicates that he's a wannabe who's never had the displeasure of so much as a bloody nose.

When the human heart rate gets above 120 bpm as it does in a violent encounter fine and complex motor skills disappear. Thus the complicated moves demonstrated by these guys would be useless in a real fight.

Matt's kickboxing training will do him more good than 100 years of dojo ballet. I give him credit for having the good sense to train in it. However it's a waste of talent to compete in point karate tournaments. BTW if I had been judging he would have won his fight. He did win but the victory was GIVEN to his opponent.

Here are some clips of real martial artists competing.

http://emptyflower.stanford.edu/johnwang1.html

http://members.tripod.com/shaolinwushu/movies.htm

Look at this clip to see what happens when a point fighter meets a real fighter:

http://www.muaythai.fi/assets/videot/mastercup.mpg


Please next time you do a martial arts special consult some real martia artists. XMA was neither extreme nor martial arts. It was fight choreography done by oversized egos.

[SevenStar]

Once again, it wasn't a documentary about MA in general...it was a documentary about XMA. Mentioning MMA, thai boxing, kali or anything else would've been beyond the scope of the documentary, unless one of the guys on team XMA was filming it.

However, the bald guy was quite a putz...

[jun_erh]

who cares what people think

[wushu chik]

Originally posted by bustr
Concerning the bald guy. No real martial artist who has drawn or lost blood in a dojo or match or streetfight will claim to get fired up at the sight of blood and certainly wouldn't brag about shanking someone. The bald guy's statement indicates that he's a wannabe who's never had the displeasure of so much as a bloody nose.

You would be referring to Arnold Chon. I had a few issues with this part as well, mainly because my boys were watching the program and it ****ed me off that someone would be so stupid to say that.

I have a feeling there was more to this show than what was "put on".

Arnold Chon on IMDB.com (http://us.imdb.com/name/nm1002633/)

[CaptinPickAxe]

My mother told me that If I didn't have anything nice to say...post it on a forum for fake martial arts...

[CaptinPickAxe]

Hey, fix the link of the point fighter vs. real fighter. I need a good laugh.

[mantis108]

XMA scares the hell out of me. :D

Just look at the legions of fans out there. It's Mcdojo central. I think it will push their industry business to a great new height if Ms B. Spears were to join the XMA team. Just think about the theme songs to every kata that they made up. Man, it will be DVDs after DVDs. Imagine, a guy or gal swinging 2 nanchus on a sunny beach with a catchy tune from Ms Spears. It's a lot of dough we are talking about.

I couldn't help but think of their "tournaments" like conventions that buy and sell action figure heroes - life size action figures that is. ;) :D "Oh look, there's wonderboy doing that cool move there... " The buying power of the fans are not to be mess with! LOL...

Mantis108

[Knifefighter]

Originally posted by bustr
When the human heart rate gets above 120 bpm as it does in a violent encounter fine and complex motor skills disappear. This is a myth. What you are unable to perform are any learned (fine or gross) movement sequences that have been not been fully integrated into the neuromusclular pathways.

[old jong]

I happen to agree with that last statement.

[SevenStar]

but those are the views as presented by the xma. Nowhere did they claim to represent all martial arts as a whole. IMO, it wasn't misleadining - it was nothing more than a documentary of a tournament karate team.

[Vash]

Don't forget the Drunken Kung Fu.

[Shaolinlueb]

"when i get blood on it, yewah i go nuts!"

hahahah i was like "wtf mate" when i saw the guy tlaking.

[neit]

i did'nt make it past the part with the dao. but, i might go complain anyways. i say we flood the page with our negative feedback.

[LEGEND]

I met Arnold a few times. He's actually a former resident of VA. He's a great form guy...and yes he's been in some street fights. Yes he can fight for real not doing his forms though...just basic kickboxing work. And yes...he'll get killed by a MMA guy simply cause his training is more for hollywood stuff.

[shaolinarab]

Originally posted by EmptyCup
drunken kung fu :rolleyes:

give it such a bad name. and the quiz on that...drunken kung fu has to be based on monkey?! what ever happened to the 8 immortals?

YEAH, and i missed a question b/c i said taekwondo originated from japan (ie japanese karate), and they said i was completely wrong...that it evolved from ancient korean warfare :rolleyes:

[Meat Shake]

Thats what happens when youve got an XMAer trying to demonstrate something that requires fluid movement. Thats what happens when you have someone ignorant to a certain subject trying to explain it.

[Kristoffer]

Didn't read the whole thread as I couldn't care less about xma. But I just wanted to say that those are some great videos you linked. Props

[Kymus]

Originally posted by EmptyCup
I got perfect on the test cuz on the question where human wasn't a choice I did choose monkey.

As for "historical" questions, karate meaning china hands, katas being recent creations, TKD's false historical past, kickboxing from muay thai....you never know... ;)

it's always been my understanding that Kara te means empty hand, and that To Te means china/chinese hand. I forget the whole story as to how/why it changed from To Te to Kara Te

just my 2 cents.

[Vash]

Originally posted by Kymus


it's always been my understanding that Kara te means empty hand, and that To Te means china/chinese hand. I forget the whole story as to how/why it changed from To Te to Kara Te

just my 2 cents.

The form meaning "empty hand" was really popularized by Gitchen Funakoshi in one of his karate manuals (I'll edit the name in later).

The character which reads "tou" as in toudi can also be read as "kara." However, the character used by Funakoshi was not "Tang" (referencing the dynasty which was most popular with the Uchinadi) but instead meant "empty." This character (and pronunciation, depending on the character) had been used previous to Funakoshi, though.

[Subitai]

I had allot of complaints but

I didn't like that there was no intension to close the gap on eachother. Flailing away at eachother doesn't need to be any particular style.

But what did it in for me the most was...

When Chat said he had never actually been in a fight.

...........Cya

To me, he stuck his neck out and got it chopped off.

"O"

[apoweyn]

Didn't see it. But I'm with Sevenstar on this one.

And since when have TV documentaries been full of disclaimers like "this doesn't represent all arts, by the way"?

I've seen countless martial arts documentaries in which one expert or another espouses that Shaolin was the origin of martial arts. Historical doubts aside, that doesn't represent exponents of kali, silat, kalaripayitt, and various other arts. Never mind arts like savate and capoeira. But the guy doesn't offer that disclaimer.

Why? Because he's forwarding a point of view. And any educated viewer knows it's a point of view. You may agree. You may strongly disagree. But there you have it.

XMA, sport karate, creative breaking competitions, etc. No use for them myself (except perhaps to train my eye-rolling exercises). But I don't wish they didn't exist. And I'm certainly not going to complain that they shouldn't be aired.

If we're in favour of the free expression of ideas, we have to deal with the fact that people's ideas are going to differ. XMA is an idea. Don't like their message? Espouse a different idea. Simple.


Stuart B.

[apoweyn]

Oh, and raise your hand if you didn't get into martial arts based on 'the show.' If you weren't lured by depictions of martial arts supermen taking on all comers. If you didn't buy into the theatrics first.

I know I did.

Then I got in, I was presented with alternate views, and I changed my mind.


Stuart B.

[apoweyn]

EmptyCup,

Absolutely right. Without seeing it, I have to concede that I don't know, first hand, what you know.

But seriously, this is starting to sound really overwrought. What more to it is there than it being a 'bad' presentation of martial arts?

So it's flashy. So there isn't much substance to it. So the people involved try to sell it as being 'the next evolution.'

That's salesmanship. So what? Salesmanship isn't new. What makes this so heinous?


Stuart B.

[SevenStar]

that's the same sentiment I've expressed on various threads about it. It's basically a big commercial for team XMA, and hence presents their views. Nothing more.

[Okami]

Looking at XMA on a purely superficial level, it was a great program.

It had good looking people doing exciting things. It had special effects and a little science to make it "real" It was bright and shiny and people will buy it at a yard sale.

This is the way most 8 to 14 year olds will view this show.

They are the market for martial arts, and whether we like it or not, they are our future.

Looking deeper at XMA we see the flaws. Any of us with even a little experience training in martial arts of any style can pick out problems with the show. The traditionalists hate the forms competition they promote. The fighters hate point sparing.

I am going to go out on a limb and try to find some positive things that can come from or were presented in this program. It will not be easy, because like most of you I spent most of the show throwing pillows at the TV and cursing until my dog even left the room.

The show did not show any active prejudice against any style of martial arts. It may have passively by leaving details out, but it attacked none. It also showed different styles in simulated combat. The sword combat comes to mind. This was a great idea. I would have done it differently myself, but I was not the producer of this program. It also made martial arts exciting for different kinds of people. It showed the forms for those inclined to perform for the crowd. It showed breaking for the tough guys who want to show off. It showed sparring for the competetors out there. It may have done these things in a way that I don't necessarily agree with, but at least it did them.

People begin studying martial arts for lots of different reasons. Some because they saw a cool show and wanted to try it. People who stay with martial arts do it for the same reason: They like it.

Anything that gets kids up off their arses and our from in front of a computer screen can't be all bad.

[bustr]

Wushu Chik made a good point in her response (below). What kind of message does it send to kids when some assclown wannabe tough guy who's never dished out or taken punishment claims that the site of blood makes him go "WAAAAHHH" while trying to look like Bruce Lee?

Re: Did you complain about XMA

quote:
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Originally posted by bustr
Concerning the bald guy. No real martial artist who has drawn or lost blood in a dojo or match or streetfight will claim to get fired up at the sight of blood and certainly wouldn't brag about shanking someone. The bald guy's statement indicates that he's a wannabe who's never had the displeasure of so much as a bloody nose.
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You would be referring to Arnold Chon. I had a few issues with this part as well, mainly because my boys were watching the program and it ****ed me off that someone would be so stupid to say that.

I have a feeling there was more to this show than what was "put on".