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Thread: Things I've learned about fighting/MA over the years

  1. #1
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    Things I've learned about fighting/MA over the years

    1) Real fighting is not cool-looking like it is in the movies. Even if you train cool-looking techniques, fighting still doesn't look like that.

    2) Never underestimate size.

    3) Never underestimate strength. This one and the previous one apply especially to skinny people who have only sparred with other skinny people in their class.

    4) There's a good chance that you won't be able to react faster than your opponent can act. See also #5.

    5) The person who starts the fight is often the person who ends the fight.

    6) Fighting is scary. Your hands might shake. Your knees might shake. You have no control over this. Your fancy techniques requiring fine motor control are useless.

    7) Real ninjas didn't use straight swords. Those were invented by Hollywood
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  2. #2
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    I love to see a good ol fashioned ugly brawl....

    It starts w ith someone talking smack, then the other one counters, usually with a really lame remark, then after some banter sprinkled with expletives, someone makes a move. then its all head bobblin', wide arm swingin' (windmill style) and the occasional awkward kick (like a toddler with no coordination trying to kick a ball) and eventually someone hits the ground, goes fetal while the other gets a few more useless punches or kicks in....

    man....it really isn't pretty is it?
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  3. #3
    8) If you pull off a wicked throw, pose for the cameras.

    9) 60% of the time Nut Shots work all the time.

    10) Being Crazy equals at least 4 years of training.

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    #1 reminds me of something I read a few years ago stating that real violence almost looks comical vs. the stylized violence that we see in movies.

    EO

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    Quote Originally Posted by IronFist View Post
    1) Real fighting is not cool-looking like it is in the movies. Even if you train cool-looking techniques, fighting still doesn't look like that.

    2) Never underestimate size.

    3) Never underestimate strength. This one and the previous one apply especially to skinny people who have only sparred with other skinny people in their class.

    4) There's a good chance that you won't be able to react faster than your opponent can act. See also #5.

    5) The person who starts the fight is often the person who ends the fight.

    6) Fighting is scary. Your hands might shake. Your knees might shake. You have no control over this. Your fancy techniques requiring fine motor control are useless.

    7) Real ninjas didn't use straight swords. Those were invented by Hollywood
    An excellent list dude, I would only add:
    8) Getting hit hurts and unless you get hit and know what it feels like, you are in a world of trouble the first time you get "clocked".
    9) Its not about how many times you hit some one, its about how much damage you can get done with EACH hit.
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    1) Real fighting is not cool-looking like it is in the movies. Even if you train cool-looking techniques, fighting still doesn't look like that.

    I think real fights look pretty d@mn cool.
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  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by sanjuro_ronin View Post
    An excellent list dude, I would only add:
    10) Getting hit hurts and unless you get hit and know what it feels like, you are in a world of trouble the first time you get "clocked".
    11) Its not about how many times you hit some one, its about how much damage you can get done with EACH hit.
    12) You'll never forget the first time you get kicked in the thigh with intensity. <ouch>

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    13) There is always, always, always at least one woman observer (or one real skinny a-hole dude) who starts screaming in the highest pitch voice possible, ad nauseum, incoherently, for usually no reason, when they see a fight.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Olson View Post
    #1 reminds me of something I read a few years ago stating that real violence almost looks comical vs. the stylized violence that we see in movies.

    EO
    This was seriously a big issue for me for the longest time.

    Everyone will reply and be like "lol," but those are probably the same people who think their traditional high block followed by reverse punch will actually defeat an attacker.

    I suspect it's a big issue for many people who first became interested in MA from movies/TV. It's compounded by most TMA schools. "Don't be a sloppy fighter. Use clean technique."

    It gets imprinted in your head that fighting "should look" a certain way. That clean MA technique can overcome the thug. After all, you see it for hours each week on TV and in class and you probably watch kung fu movies at home. And let's not forget that many people want to believe that that is what fighting should look like. That's a hard thing to move past for many people, myself included.

    If, like Master Killer said:

    I think real fights look pretty d@mn cool.
    you can find beauty in "real fighting" I think that will help you a lot in your journey to become a competent fighter.

    But like I said, for a lot of people, especially those that first became interested in MA because of TV and movies, that can be quite a challenge. They want to be the bad ass ninja or kung fu guy or whatever they saw on TV.

    *puts on flame suit*
    Last edited by IronFist; 02-21-2012 at 11:01 AM.
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    14) Have a plan, and always stick to your plan.
    15) Force a striker to play your grappling game, and force a grappler to play your striking game.
    16) Courage > strength > technique.

  11. #11
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    Everyone got into MA because of the movies because the VAST MAJORITY got interested in MA because of movies they had seen.
    So it is very nature that we have a preconceived notion of what a MA fighting should look like.
    Add to that what one ended up seeing in the typical dojo/kwoon/dojang floor.
    Psalms 144:1
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  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by sanjuro_ronin View Post
    An excellent list dude, I would only add:
    8) Getting hit hurts and unless you get hit and know what it feels like, you are in a world of trouble the first time you get "clocked".
    9) Its not about how many times you hit some one, its about how much damage you can get done with EACH hit.
    Thanks.

    I had one more on the list but I removed it because I didn't want this to become (another) TMA vs. MMA thread, but:

    10) Real opponents don't leave their arms extended after they punch you (and therefore your 10 hit combo won't work in real life)
    "If you like metal you're my friend" -- Manowar

    "I am the cosmic storms, I am the tiny worms" -- Dimmu Borgir

    <BombScare> i beat the internet
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  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by YouKnowWho View Post
    15) Force a striker to play your grappling game, and force a grappler to play your striking game.
    I think that breaks down in real life.

    A good grappler will probably control you enough that you are playing his game.

    A good striker probably won't let you get close enough to grapple with him.

    If the fighters are at similar overall levels then you can do what you suggest, but he is probably trying to do the same, resulting in being back where you started.

    Nevermind the fact that when a fight breaks out you have no idea if the other guy is good at grappling or striking or both or neither.

    Not disagreeing with you, just saying it isn't really that easy in real life. I agree with you conceptually though that you should always try to put yourself in a situation where its your strengths vs your opponents weaknesses.
    "If you like metal you're my friend" -- Manowar

    "I am the cosmic storms, I am the tiny worms" -- Dimmu Borgir

    <BombScare> i beat the internet
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  14. #14
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    I think that regardless how good a striker is, the grappler will always (eventually) get in.
    The best a striker can do is make him PAY for it every time he tries and counter the grappling once the grappler gets in.
    Psalms 144:1
    Praise be my Lord my Rock,
    He trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle !

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by IronFist View Post
    I think that breaks down in real life.
    Everything could break down in real life but you still need to "plan" for your own life because nobody will "plan" it for you. It's better to have a "plan" and still lose than to lose without a plan.

    In street fight, if your opponent punches at you, and you punch back right way just to prove that you know how to punch too. IMO, that's a simple sign of "no plan".

    Quote Originally Posted by sanjuro_ronin View Post
    I think that regardless how good a striker is, the grappler will always (eventually) get in.
    If you use "挂(Gua) - comb the hair" (boxer call it crazy monkey) to move in when your opponent punches at you, you can always achieve your "clinching". A head lock, over hook, under hook, bear hug, waist hold, single leg, or double legs can turn the striking game into your favor grappling game if you are a grapper. All you need is to have the courage to move in when your opponent punches at you.

    IMO, to keep a grappler to be outside of his clinching range, and to move in while a striker punches at you may be the most important training in TCMA. This is the famous Chinese "矛盾 - spear and shield self-contradiction (my spear can penetrate all shileds, and my shield cannot be penetrated by all spears)".
    Last edited by YouKnowWho; 02-21-2012 at 11:51 AM.

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