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Thread: the arts over the years - what have we learned?

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by uki View Post
    the martial arts has changed my life for the greater good.
    The martial arts has also changed my life for the greater good too.

    Someone wanted to kill me. Now he tried to avoid me for the rest of his life (today he lives in Houston). Last words that he said to me was, "Look at how big and strong you are and how little and weak I'm. You also train MA. How can you take advantage on me?" He finally knows that earth is not a safe place for him to live and he should move to Mars if he can.

    Instead of for me to worry about my life. MA makes my opponent to worry about his life.
    Last edited by YouKnowWho; 03-10-2016 at 10:32 PM.
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  2. #17
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    Self knowledge, being honest with myself.

    I used to base my martial arts on some form of theoretical courage. You go through all these battles in your mind and tell yourself you could use this technique and that technique, but when things really happen, fast and dangerous, it is amazing how much you (me) are willing to settle for a less than perfect outcome.

    There are inhibitions, walls in the mind against doing certain things. It is much easier to kick someone than to punch someone, not physically, but psychologically for example. Most people don't take account of this, of the psychological element to technique -- they assume they can be as aggressive in real life as they are in sparring. Sometimes its true, sometimes not, because the state of your mind is not always constant, the motivations, the things your fighting for are not always constant.

    I've learned in some small way to be more honest about what I can really do. Not what I am physically capable of but what I am psychologically capable of at that moment, in that place.

    When expectation lines up with reality, this is the sign of a master, this and not the measurement of some incidental power.
    問「武」。曰:「克。」未達。曰:「勝己之私之謂克。」

  3. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by uki View Post
    i seem to remember some metaphors about "the best fighter has no need to fight" and "train young what you can still train old".

    but wait...

    because of injuries sustained fighting in attempts to prove your martial art or because your martial arts ability failed to give you confidence to win a fight?
    which you could have done before sustaining injuries that inhibit your ability to fight?
    glad you clarified that because i was under the impression you had to fight in order to be a martial artist. whew. *wipes forehead*
    what is more rewarding - proving yourself a martial artist long enough to become unfit to fight before becoming a true martial artist or simply focusing on being a martial artist altogether?
    very true and i am very happy you have discovered this truth for yourself - being a womanizing spartan warrior only lasts so long.

    ditto.
    Seems like you STILL have a lot to learn son.

    I do find your interpretation of what I wrote interesting. Incorrect but interesting.

    Note that I did NOT say that I no longer fight full contact because of injuries.
    Someone seems to have assumed what they wanted to.
    My health issues are, like some here know, Meniere's disease and because of it I can't, for obvious reasons, spar.
    Last edited by sanjuro_ronin; 03-11-2016 at 06:45 AM.
    Psalms 144:1
    Praise be my Lord my Rock,
    He trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle !

  4. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by uki View Post
    i seem to remember some metaphors about "the best fighter has no need to fight" and "train young what you can still train old".
    That first metaphor doesn't mean that the "best fighter" has never fought/sparred/tested himself. Quite the contrary. It means that by knowing himself through experience and the consequences of real violence, he has confidence and thus no more need to prove himself, or to fight unnecessarily. He has nothing LEFT to prove.

    Your stance on this is similar to someone who interprets the old saying, "Maximum effect with minimum effort" as meaning that hard training is detrimental, so you must train without breaking a sweat. You might be surprised to learn that many people believe just that. Minimum effort does not mean minimum training, but quite the opposite. Because of long, hard training and experience, one becomes able to apply less effort and still have a maximum effect.

    As to your second metaphor, emphasizing the combative aspect doesn't mean that one forgoes all the other aspects of MA, just the direction of one's emphasis. If you want to develop the combative aspect to the fullest potential you can, you MUST do it while young. You cannot start doing it when you're old. There's PLENTY of time as one ages to delve deeper into other aspects of training. One's training necessarily evolves throughout one's life.

  5. #20
    The real reason to do martial arts...








    Is to get the Chicks!



  6. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimbo View Post
    That first metaphor doesn't mean that the "best fighter" has never fought/sparred/tested himself. Quite the contrary. It means that by knowing himself through experience and the consequences of real violence, he has confidence and thus no more need to prove himself, or to fight unnecessarily. He has nothing LEFT to prove.

    Your stance on this is similar to someone who interprets the old saying, "Maximum effect with minimum effort" as meaning that hard training is detrimental, so you must train without breaking a sweat. You might be surprised to learn that many people believe just that. Minimum effort does not mean minimum training, but quite the opposite. Because of long, hard training and experience, one becomes able to apply less effort and still have a maximum effect.

    As to your second metaphor, emphasizing the combative aspect doesn't mean that one forgoes all the other aspects of MA, just the direction of one's emphasis. If you want to develop the combative aspect to the fullest potential you can, you MUST do it while young. You cannot start doing it when you're old. There's PLENTY of time as one ages to delve deeper into other aspects of training. One's training necessarily evolves throughout one's life.
    Jimbo is quite correct.
    I have concerns with those that profess to practise and train in a martial art yet have issues about testing said MA against fellow fighters.
    How does one develop martial skill without actually testing and perfect that skill within the context that it exists, ie: fighting?

    Quite simply, one can't.
    Psalms 144:1
    Praise be my Lord my Rock,
    He trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle !

  7. #22
    define fighting or what constitutes valid testing.

  8. #23
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    my second day back in canada i take tai chi class. meet smug chinese student with big eyebrows who mutter about me to other senior student from corner of mouth, and thin, gaunt balding white dude with haunting empty eyes who tell me to relax then try fajing on me full force.

    i have learn kung fu still pretty gay

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