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Old August 11th, 2008 #85
Art Cast
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jett Rink View Post
I have watched no less than 3 kids who's parents sent them to kung fu classes get their asses beat by non-Whites in school fights.

All the kung fu taught by Bruce Lee himself won't win against an experienced street fighter, fighting dirty.

I stand behind my statement that Martial Arts are a waste of money, and likely to give you a false sense of security and get you killed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RebelWithACause View Post
Please re-read what I said.

1) Kids being sent to a cookie-cutter 'kung fu/karate/tae kwon do' 'school' don't count. You might as well have found that black belt in the bottom of a box of Cracker Jacks

2) Bruce Lee saw the problems inherent in static fighting systems (various Kung Fu flavors, etc), and this is why he developed his own martial art that was essentially the forerunner of the MMA you see today. He borrowed 'what worked' from many fighting systems. Modern MMA is an evolution of this idea.

3) You are both very right and very wrong. Taking classes from a generic hop-socky school is a waste of money and the false sense of security will get your ass kicked or worse....but if you take time to do some research and invest in a large amount of quality training from a quality instructor, you will get more than your money's worth.

A quality instructor will stress the fact that on any given day, anyone has the possibility of beating anyone else.

The fact of the matter is that most of the 'static' and traditional styles of martial art generall only 'work' in situations where you're taking on another person versed in the same art and in a referee'd tournament.

Again, research plays a key role in determining what will work for you.

To dismiss 'martial arts' as a whole to be completely useless and a waste of time is a dangerously incorrect assessment.
I have personally witnessed,on more than one occasion,experienced streetfighters get their asses handed to them by competent boxers.I also know a few people versed in tae kwon do who can do okay when called upon.It's worth pointing out that some of the nastier streetfighters I know (actually knew)were avid devotee's of the martial arts(mostly boxing).