Fallacies of Modern Day Martial Arts Culture?

[Fu-Pow]

In your opinion what are the most widely perpetuated fallacies, myths, legends and complete and utter non-sense in the Western martial arts culture of today?

I'll start....

-martial arts trained for sporting matches actually translates directly to street combat

-the Shaolin monks that currently live in the Shaolin temple are actually for-real Shaolin monks

-a one-on-one street fighting encounter should last more than 3 seconds

-90% of fights go to the ground

-a martial artist should never hit first, always wait for the attack

-so called "Internal Martial Arts" are superior to so-called "External Martial Arts."

-Taiji is a useless for health only exercise

-you can be "shocked" with Qi much in the same way an electric eel would shock you.

-Lin Kong Jin, empty or no-touch force.

[Royal Dragon]

Actually, I think there are real Shaolin Monks at Shaolin. It's just that there are a ton of Whu Shu guys in robs there as well.

[Vash]

- Martial Arts trained for sports-type venues can't be effective in non-sporting, non-training environs, even though they approximate violence in said training.

- Martial Arts which utilize sets/forms/kata as the keystone of their training are ineffective in non-sporting, non-training environs, even though attributes trained mainly in said fashion are conducive to effective response(s) to violence.

- Black Belts must register with law enforcement.

- Dry Land Swimming does nothing to improve performance.

- Karate is "linear," "hard."

- Kung Fu is "soft," "flowery."

- Martial Arts is only a kid's sport.

- That women can't/don't do martial arts.

That's the few that come straight to mind.

[Sim Koning]

-nose bone in the brain thing

-Thai Boxers always beat Chinese Boxers

-that the techniques practiced in forms do not work

-all fights go to the ground

-karate or kung fu techniques won’t work against a wrestler

-high kicks never work, even if you can kick faster than most people can react

-weapons training has no self defense value, and learning how to use a sword is a waste of time, even though nearly half of attacks involve a weapons of some kind.

[Jook Lum]

- Billy Blanks is a recognized Master of Tae Bo
- If your art isnt proven by going into the UFC, then
it must not be very good.
- A bought black belt (or its equal in other styles)is
as legit as an earned one. Like the black belt clubs
that guarantee a black belt in a certain amount of time
if you pay xxx.xx amount of money.
-Bruce Lee was the greatest martial artist of all time.
- Adding or changing a few techniques or ideas of a previously
studied style now entitles you to claim yourself the Master of
a new or unique style and rename it to stroke your own ego.

[Jook Lum]

-Also that MMA is a new fighting art.

[DragonzRage]

-You can become a great fighter simply by training in the dojo for many years without ever really fighting. (Sorry, no such thing as a great warrior that's never seen a battle).

-size doesn't matter

-Karate, Kung fu, Ninjitsu, etc are mysterious and deadly martial arts. Boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, and judo are merely sports.

-Shaolin monks and Samurai swordsmen were the deadliest fighters that ever lived (truly deadly men are battle hardened warriors...not monks meditating in a temple or self important aristocrats so bored that they decide to ritualize every aspect of their lives. This brings me to my next fallacy...)

-the whole "Way of the Samurai" myth. (Complete nonsense...samurai of the wartime eras practiced no more or less honor & self sacrifice than the warriors of any other culture. Samurai in peacetime bullied peasants and created a highly romanticized pseudo image of themselves to help them feel better about their pointless existence).

-muay thai boxers kick cement pillars and palm trees

-death touch

-Bruce Lee was the deadliest fighter in the world

-Bruce Lee was just a little Chinese actor who didn't know a **** thing about fighting.

-Bjj is the end all be all of martial arts, as proven by the UFC (Having grappling skills is important, but its not the solution to all life's problems. All arts have something to offer. Ignore any one important aspect of fighting at your own peril.)

[SevenStar]

TMA is too deadly for the ring

training in forms/kata alone with no sparring will not make you any less effective on the stree than the guy who also spars.

internal styles are superior to external ones

"high level" arts and techniques are superior to "low level" varieties

delayed death touch

groin shots are fight enders (they can be, but are not necessarily)

chin na will transfer directly to the ground - even without training these techniques on the ground.

sport arts are inferior to "combat styles"

bruce lee could beat tyson

a person will not be taken to the ground if they don't want to go there

sinking is an effective defense to a double leg

[Chang Style Novice]

- multiple attacker stuff

- qi blast stuff (yes, some people really do think this)

- no touch stuff (yes, some people really do think this)

- a high kick won't compromise your stability

- a flying kick won't compromise your stability

- knowing some party tricks makes you a real tough guy

[Ray Pina]

-- size doesn't matter

-- size matters

-- 90% of fights end up on the ground

-- fights rarely end up on the ground


Pretty much any blanket statement trying to define an unpredictable situation's outcome that relies on the skill of the two involved.

[SPJ]

MA culture may include ethics, why we fight.

Myths and legends may be exaggerated too much often time.

How we fight: methods of techniques

1. Punch and kick (Da and Ti)
2. Grappling (Qin and Na)
3. Tripping to fall (Dei)
4. Throwing (Shuai)

Any technique usually consists of 2 or more from above.

A techique in CMA always has defense and offense both.

When and where: tactics and strategy.

MMA is not a novel thing. All schools of CMA have strategy for indoor/outdoor and mid/short/close range fightings.

Tai Tzu Chang Quan: a summary of a lot of Wushu's at the time.

Praying Mantis was based on 18 Jia's.

Tai Ji Quan has a lot of ideas from different Wushu's in Ming Dynasty.

When you study Wushu, it make you aware of your limits.

Nobody is invincible.

Everything may be defeated.

Why, when, where, how are Ch'an of Wushu.

Wushu is study, study, and study. Gong Fu is practice, practice and practice.

Sparring is where everything starts and ends.

Study and practice are in between or preparatory stages for Sparring.

Bring out the best in you and in your art, you are the best fighter already. And of course, you win and you also lose.

You study why, how, when, where you win or lose. Then you are a better sparrer after each spar.

Fallacy is that you do not know yourself, you do know your limits or limits of your MA. You do not know why, how, when and where to fight.

Then everything is fallacy. or random luck or chance.

[David Jamieson]

- your teacher is the toughest guy alive

- your teacher has a lot of street fighting experience

- your teacher has trained some of the greatest fighters of their time

- martial arts people are tough from the get go!

- people who know martial arts can really fight good!

- 6 hours a week is gonna make you a machine

- your style was createdto defeat all styles created up until 1832

- you can defend against anything

etc etc etc lol...

[Tak]

Originally posted by EvolutionFist
Pretty much any blanket statement trying to define an unpredictable situation's outcome that relies on the skill of the two involved.

My thoughts exactly.

[Shaolinlueb]

Originally posted by Royal Dragon
Actually, I think there are real Shaolin Monks at Shaolin. It's just that there are a ton of Whu Shu guys in robs there as well.

there are a couple monks, very few though. msot of them are the older men who jsut sit and pray all day. most of the people there today are there because of the name and knowing they cna make moeny afterwards.

[unkokusai]

Originally posted by Fu-Pow
In your opinion what are the most widely perpetuated fallacies, myths, legends and complete and utter non-sense in the Western martial arts culture of today?

I'll start....

-martial arts trained for sporting matches actually translates directly to street combat

-a one-on-one street fighting encounter should last more than 3 seconds

-90% of fights go to the ground

.