You haven't really been in a fight, have you g_r?
Of course big guys don't necessarily need martial arts, but that doesn't make martial arts worthless? Quite the contrary. My point is that we all aren't big guys. There's always a bigger guy...
Let's not descend to semantics...
Let descend to mathematics.
g-w et al's equation:
octogon/nhb = 'real' fighting
traditional techniques (eagle claw, iron palm, et al) are not seen in the octogon/nhb
therefore traditional techniques are not seen in 'real' fighting
therefore traditional techniques are 'worthless'
I'm substituting traditional techniques with teenage girls:
octogon/nhb = 'real' fighting
teenage girls are not seen in the octogon/nhb
therefore teenage girls are not seen in 'real' fighting
therefore teenage girls are 'worthless'
Honestly, I respect octogon/NHB fighters, but the perspective that this is all the defines martial arts is so limiting. My personal interest in martial arts is swordsmanship. Swordsmanship has no place in the octogon/NHB so I'm completely out of the equation. If you like NHB, that's awesome, but you're arguing tradition against a swordsman and you're just going to get trolled. That's no way to acheive your PhD. :p