This particular video is a little old but it had me thinking about the martial arts, television and greed. It’s clear to me that Joe Rogan never actually went toe to toe with a real kung fu martial artist.
He talks a lot of smack, but at the end of the day he is just a loud mouth promoter trying to make a buck. I am not sure what happened in the 90’s that caused so much mis information in the martial arts community.
Once the UFC started it was like war was declared against traditional martial artist. The martial artist that participated in the original events had no idea what they where getting into. And to be honest it was their fault for not preparing themselves for the type of competition they where going to face.
Back then, Brazilian jujitsu was dominating. For the record, I would appreciate it if someone could tell me the difference between Brailian Jujitsu vs regular Jujitsu?
The question came up back than and it comes back today from time to time.
Why are you training?
Is it to step into the octagon? Competing in your local circuit? Or are you training to defend yourself when harm comes your way?
The folks in the MMA camp, grumble that traditional martial artist say that groin shots, eye pokes, small join manipulations etc are their way of copping out. Because the mentality is if your martial art can’t stand up to the ring, then it is inferior.
Does anyone else see the obvious flaw in that way of thinking?
First off => The majority of the human population isn’t taking martial arts to compete against someone who is training 5 hours a day, everyday, with the only purpose of destroying their opponent in the ring…..
What we have happening in present day is that the MMA culture is dominating the air ways, because MMA is big business. In many ways it reminds me of the WWF. While the fighting is much more real than the staged wrestling. It has the same spirit of “Pro Wrestling”.
A bunch of muscle head tuff guys who think that by talking trash and physically beating the crap out of someone else proves their manhood.
In today’s day and age we like to say that we are an advanced civilization. That we have overcome the barbaric ways of the past. When I watch the UFC or other similar events. I get a feeling like we are re – living the days of the gladiators in Rome.
The idea the people get pleasure from watching other people get hurt is rather barbaric don’t you think? Muhammad Ali and others like him paid a huge price for a lifetime of sport fighting.
As we move forward into the future it would be nice to see all the worlds martial arts come together united in creating better humans. I believe there is no absolute right way to train. I believe that the man makes the martial arts and not the other way around.
Every single martial art on the planet has their pro’s and con’s. It’s up to the practionior to decide what is good for them. What works for them. In this way I agree with Bruce Lee’s statement. Use what works and disregard what doesn’t.
In a lot of ways he was echoing Wing Chun’s philosophy. In fact many of Bruce Lee’s quotes are only echoing thoughts from the past.
I happen to like kung fu, because after training in karate I felt that my body mechanics lacked fluidity. And I wanted to flow like water 🙂
But I still got value out of my karate training. I still learned how to hold a guard and kick effectively.
…Again, there are those who will say (ya but, kicking, punching and holding a guard won’t help you if your in a clinch)
Suggesting that because I don’t train in “real martial arts” I won’t be able to handle someone who wants to clinch, take down and grapple. While others will say you need to do kick boxing etc….
All of those remarks are assuming that while I live on planet earth I am going to come across fighters that are out for blood and because there are certain martial art styles that favor ring fighting, if I am not training in those styles I am going to get my ass handed to me by every practitioner out there that does practice those styles.
I have personally had experiences with just about every martial art style out there. I have played many people from many styles. Ultimately it always comes down to skill level.
I have the utmost respect for every single martial art that is in existence and I learn from all of them.
The problem that I have is that your everyday average martial art enthusiast has no idea what they are talking about. It’s usually those people who bark the loudest. Or from their own personal experience they beat someone up from a different style and automatically assume it was because their opponents style was inferior.
Well that’s my rant for the day! I’d love to hear your opinions…
Related articles
Leave a Reply