Dark Day for Dojo Ballerinas

[traynor]

"Xu Xiaodong turned the Chinese martial arts community on its head two weeks ago with his highly controversial fight against Wei Lei, a master of the ancient art of tai chi.
The long-awaited showcase battle was intended to prove whether tai chi could really be a match for the modern, highly aggressive fighting discipline of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)."

...

"But Mr Xu, who has studied traditional martial arts himself, claimed these stories were overblown, and that there was a lot of fraud and hypocrisy in martial arts industry.
He said his aim with the fight was to expose the fakes, and show that the old ways are no match for modern fighting methods."
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-39853374

Most "martial arts" are good, healthy exercise, mild socialization activities, and not much more. Best kept in the tight circle of "true believers" who would not deign to "sully their art" by anything as mundane as defending themselves--or others who need defending. Life is good when one can pretend to be other than what one is, and be "supported" by a gaggle of other pretenders--all of whom agree not to point out the (gaping) holes in each other's stories. Or at least some believe it to be so. I am not one of them.

Reminds me of horse race handicapping. And "religion."

[traynor]

Perhaps I should apologize for my sometimes obscure sense of humor. but this is one of the most amusing stories I have seen since back when William Cheung was challenged by one of Leung Ting's top instructors (from the Wing Chun lineage and "Vingt Tsun" lineage respectively). The description was along the lines of, "They were scrabbling and struggling and cursing on the ground like a couple of schoolboys until separated by their respective parties." Apparently neither of the "martial arts masters" was able to land even one good technique--in the exact situation they presumed to teach others how to deal with.

Probably best that those who study such learn that their "arts" may not be as effective in the real world as they may have been led to believe. As with many other things, it is best to make one's own decisions, and reach one's own conclusions, rather than being "led to believe" whatever some other finds it of value to persuade one to "believe." The "value" of the belief is rarely to the believer.

[FakeNameChanged]

Traynor, I think that's mostly correct, except if you google youtube, there's a Shaolin monk who competes in MMA and does quite well. I've seen him lose a couple of close matches but win many more. And he's competed against more than a few MMA fighters. But he's adapted to that style.

Also watched Bruce Lee's son stay at a Shaolin monastery as a guest and his training was brutal. He struggled to do what some of their young teen boys did effortlessly. I don't know about MMA, but they could certainly defend themselves if needed.

[MONEY]

One of the 1st things that they teach you when you are take Martial Arts training is to (AVOID FIGHTING).

The match in the article was between two professional fighters, not between people taking Martial Arts courses to better their health or for self defense.

When I was a young man I studied self defense and I was extremely strong, (I bench pressed over 400 lbs.)
Those two things + common sense helped me get through 20 years of mostly foot posts in the South Bx., unscathed.

I am not & never was a professional fighter.
In my best days the guy that lost in 20 seconds would most likely finish me off in less than ten.

[buzzy]

i think comparing MMA to traditional martial arts is apples and oranges. I trained in Chinese kenpo for over 20 years. back in the late 80's before MMA became popular my instructor invited one of the Gracies(forget which one) into our gym for a seminar, complete gentleman, one of the nicest people you want to meet. I had just gotten my blackbelt about 6 months earlier.. I was blown away by what I learned. to my instructors credit he incorporated gracie jujitsu into our program.. the reason I say its apples and oranges is in MMa there are rules, in the street their are none.. you cannot hit soft targets, and the guard position has the crem dela crem of targets(thje groin) near the knee(one of the hardest striking weapons).. having said that I would agree a MMA fighter would probably win a majority of the time.. they are absolutely incredible athletes..

Judo Gene Lebell is a pioneer in MMA, and well respected

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=judo+gene+lebell+chuck+norris+roast&qpvt=judo+gene+lebell+chuck+norris+roast&view=detail&mid=E530DDEE3B2BD31F476AE530DDEE3B2BD31F476A&FORM=VRDGAR

he also worked in Hollywood. this is a link to a story involing Steven segall

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=joe+rogan+steven+seagal%ee%80%81+gene+%ee %80%80lebell+youtube&qpvt=joe+rogan+steven+seagal%ee%80%81+gene+%ee%80% 80lebell+youtube&view=detail&mid=5EA189A7F5F6ED7C2FEB5EA189A7F5F6ED7C2FEB&FORM=VRDGAR