I cannot believe some of the garbage I am hearing about Martial Arts. It is OBVIOUS that the people who believe that Martial Arts have no place in the modern military are NOT MARTIAL ARTISTS! The systematic attacks on theory are humorous to say the least. People talk about fixed forms and “kata” as if practicing singular moves equated to a full fighting system. No matter how you look at it each style has its own system and philosophy. Just because you don't understand it, doesn't negate its worth.
First I must say that I have NEVER met a military person, who does not practice some form of martial arts, with a strong bridge. Bone pain is the worst pain experienced by the human body. Through constant conditioning bones can be stimulated to grow. Osteocytes form clusters around bruised and battered bones. They grow back thicker and stronger. This is how experienced martial artists break hard objects such as bricks and wood. Their bones have been conditioned through years of training to withstand pain. Their thicker bones allow them to break harder objects.
Some conditioning creates club like hands and other deformities. Many people in the modern world are TOO WEAK to undergo the diligence required of mastering any martial art. Not to mention the long term health problems that comes from any intense athletic activity. For example running is good for people, but the CDC has found that long distance runners have many joint problems later on in life. When you are literally fighting for your life you have to push your limits in the near term, but at the long term health cost. For example Thai martial artists have the shortest careers because of their intense conditioning of their elbows, knees and calves.
REAL MARTIAL ARTISTS don’t only use pads. Pads are ok to use for training part time to preserve joints. However at some point in time they must commit to actual physical contact. The body must be bruised and conditioned over a long period of time. The Kill Bill image of using pure will and blood is bullshit. You can permanently injure yourself that way. Building of the bridge should be slow and steady.
Each set of exercises is only a small link that completes a full chain or system of fighting. Think of Martial Arts as a system and philosophy of fighting. Not just a collection of deadly moves each dependent upon another pretext. But a fluid and flexible system that is used to incapacitate an opponent with the most efficiency. Basically, the ability to concentrate mass and force in the right manner is what it is all about.
Most important is to economize your movements. The system allows a smaller person with more skill to defeat a larger person with less skill. This can only occur through efficiency. Using the least amount of movements and applying the right amount of leverage at the right time. It is the best way to offset a larger and more powerful opponent. Optimally the opponent’s energy can be used against them, but more important is the ability to root your power and extend leverage from the ground and through your legs.
This brings up other theories on ground fighting such has become popular by MMA fighting. Basically ground fighting has its place for individual duels. However as even the Israeli military teaches, you need to stay off the ground in combat. If you get taken to the ground you are more likely to be killed by another combatant. If you are in a situation where there is one opponent this is a rare exception. However as a soldier you need to concentrate on the likely scenario of facing multiple opponents. If you engage multiple opponents, STAY ON YOUR FEET and leave the ground to the "kids" on the corner.
Now practicing Martial Arts does not supersede firearms training in the modern world! But it is a valuable complement to any training course. In fact there is no military on earth that does not have some form of hand to hand combat training. Do you think you will always have a loaded weapon? Sometimes you are going to run out of ammo. If you have a nice empty M1 Garand then you can beat the crap out of any enemy. If you have an M-16 then you had better pray that barrel is not too hot to grab and swing.
I can understand the pessimism of many people based upon the massive amounts of sports created from Martial Arts. Just like marksmanship is indeed a skill not mastered by the masses. True Martial Artists are not the majority of marketed masters. But more importantly do they still condition in the OLD SKOOL way. The Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung way of having your parents sign a waiver of liability in case of death. This kind of commitment and level of training is fading away in the modern age.
More importantly I think people believe that just because one practices Martial Arts with clean moves. A real fight will look like a movie Kung Fu duel. This is not true. Most fights are scrappy and not choreographed. That doesn’t negate the fluid training. It is just that real life is not a staged event and fighting is full of spontaneous desperation. Every fighter understands the concept of the lucky punch, bite or kick. This doesn’t negate all the skills learned. It is just that in the real world it is never as pretty as people would like to romanticize.
First I must say that I have NEVER met a military person, who does not practice some form of martial arts, with a strong bridge. Bone pain is the worst pain experienced by the human body. Through constant conditioning bones can be stimulated to grow. Osteocytes form clusters around bruised and battered bones. They grow back thicker and stronger. This is how experienced martial artists break hard objects such as bricks and wood. Their bones have been conditioned through years of training to withstand pain. Their thicker bones allow them to break harder objects.
Some conditioning creates club like hands and other deformities. Many people in the modern world are TOO WEAK to undergo the diligence required of mastering any martial art. Not to mention the long term health problems that comes from any intense athletic activity. For example running is good for people, but the CDC has found that long distance runners have many joint problems later on in life. When you are literally fighting for your life you have to push your limits in the near term, but at the long term health cost. For example Thai martial artists have the shortest careers because of their intense conditioning of their elbows, knees and calves.
REAL MARTIAL ARTISTS don’t only use pads. Pads are ok to use for training part time to preserve joints. However at some point in time they must commit to actual physical contact. The body must be bruised and conditioned over a long period of time. The Kill Bill image of using pure will and blood is bullshit. You can permanently injure yourself that way. Building of the bridge should be slow and steady.
Each set of exercises is only a small link that completes a full chain or system of fighting. Think of Martial Arts as a system and philosophy of fighting. Not just a collection of deadly moves each dependent upon another pretext. But a fluid and flexible system that is used to incapacitate an opponent with the most efficiency. Basically, the ability to concentrate mass and force in the right manner is what it is all about.
Most important is to economize your movements. The system allows a smaller person with more skill to defeat a larger person with less skill. This can only occur through efficiency. Using the least amount of movements and applying the right amount of leverage at the right time. It is the best way to offset a larger and more powerful opponent. Optimally the opponent’s energy can be used against them, but more important is the ability to root your power and extend leverage from the ground and through your legs.
This brings up other theories on ground fighting such has become popular by MMA fighting. Basically ground fighting has its place for individual duels. However as even the Israeli military teaches, you need to stay off the ground in combat. If you get taken to the ground you are more likely to be killed by another combatant. If you are in a situation where there is one opponent this is a rare exception. However as a soldier you need to concentrate on the likely scenario of facing multiple opponents. If you engage multiple opponents, STAY ON YOUR FEET and leave the ground to the "kids" on the corner.
Now practicing Martial Arts does not supersede firearms training in the modern world! But it is a valuable complement to any training course. In fact there is no military on earth that does not have some form of hand to hand combat training. Do you think you will always have a loaded weapon? Sometimes you are going to run out of ammo. If you have a nice empty M1 Garand then you can beat the crap out of any enemy. If you have an M-16 then you had better pray that barrel is not too hot to grab and swing.
I can understand the pessimism of many people based upon the massive amounts of sports created from Martial Arts. Just like marksmanship is indeed a skill not mastered by the masses. True Martial Artists are not the majority of marketed masters. But more importantly do they still condition in the OLD SKOOL way. The Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung way of having your parents sign a waiver of liability in case of death. This kind of commitment and level of training is fading away in the modern age.
More importantly I think people believe that just because one practices Martial Arts with clean moves. A real fight will look like a movie Kung Fu duel. This is not true. Most fights are scrappy and not choreographed. That doesn’t negate the fluid training. It is just that real life is not a staged event and fighting is full of spontaneous desperation. Every fighter understands the concept of the lucky punch, bite or kick. This doesn’t negate all the skills learned. It is just that in the real world it is never as pretty as people would like to romanticize.
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