I have a Question - What makes a Technique realistic?

Discussion in 'Karate' started by Mufty, Jul 20, 2005.

  1. tekkengod

    tekkengod the MAP MP

    do you think that is the best set of arts to be using? do you enjoy it? I never dismissed the long staff. I'll take that as a compliment!! :D I think we will be consider such for a while, i think we've reached a high point as we are able to agree upon and combine what is most effective and the result is such a positive one. But you know, 40 or 50 years from now when things have changed, I'm confident MMA will still be around, on a much larger scale, BUT the name of the game might have changed, weapons might be involved, who knows?
     
  2. Rebel Wado

    Rebel Wado Valued Member

    MMAists don't have the reputation of jacks of all trades as far as I know. The only thing I hear about MMA is that it is thought to be limited to sport and thus the techniques are somewhat watered down (lethal and dangerous techniques not trained in the system such as neck breakers, strikes to the eyes, throat, and knees, etc.).

    MMAist tend to be well rounded and back it up with training a lot of hands on against resistance to gain experience.

    The way I look at it, any system is just a starting point to build a foundation, whether MMA driven, karate, Aikido, Hapkido, Kajukenbo, Kenpo, Wing Chun, Kung Fu, Gung Fu, boxing, wrestling, etc.

    When starting in karate, I first learned how to move in a karate like manner, for instance. This is all just to build a foundation, a starting point.

    After a while, people will get better at what they do the most, so an MMAist will find areas that they like more or that need more improvement and specialize some in that area and spend the time working on it. This is not the same as a Jack of All trades who does not have the want to learn more than the basics in any given field. MMAist who want to continue to learn, will specialize in areas to get really good at them.

    The only thing, as I said, is that as long as they are in sport, they will be missing the training in some of the more lethal and dangerous variations of techniques.

    Do you mean combat or battle? Battle has rules of engagement pertaining to warriors that could be over who wins the field (territory or honor). Combat is the act of controlling and the subjugation of your enemy. Battle can be between two armies. Combat can be between a drug addict with a broken bottle and a police officer. Both are related and both can said to be about survival and the dealing with a threat.

    MMA is as effective as any martial art, IMO. One key is to train for the appropriate context of where you need to use your martial arts. For instance, I have said many times that I would take a police officer of say five years on the streets over most black belts of five years experience in a dojo in a real situation. So I value the experience the police officer gains on the streets as well as what they have on the inside of them OVER the training of most black belts in a real situation.

    So I consider context (knowledge and experience in the environment) to be very important. Put an MMA'ist in the job of Police Officer and I say that it is about as good as you can get these days for real situations. But then I say the same about Aikido or karate or Judo or Kenpo or Budo... put that person in the job of a Police Officer or Prison Guard or something like that AND it will be as effective as you can get for that person. In other words, IT DOES NOT MATTER AS MUCH THE MARTIAL ART but you got to train it the way you intend to use it AND with realism AND in the right CONTEXT.
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2005
  3. Mufty

    Mufty New Member

    Thanks for that, It's very sound.

    I agree context training, Take any competent martial artist, and prepare them for the job in hand, through effective training.

    This indicates that the answer to the origional post may be it's the training regime that makes the technique effective. Therefor take any given technique and put it through its paces, give a good test over a period of time. This of course includes combinations and so on.

    When I was younger we had a Dojo in London and we would continuosly work the techniques through with continuious resistance and counter's, This helped us understand the effects and principles. However today with a few more years behind me, I see it all very diffrent, and am able to make almost anything work as and when, but I do encourage our students to work it out for themselves, under a little guidance.

    I think were agreed here?

    Do you work with the knife?
     
  4. Rebel Wado

    Rebel Wado Valued Member

    yes, I think so

    We work mostly with knife and stick, not much else, sometimes hand guns. I've done some live blade training, but most of the time we just use trainers and keep the right awareness and respect for the blade to try to keep it real.

    Actual knife stuff is for black belt levels so I don't like to complicate things with pre-scripted knife techniques until then. I do like to keep trainers around concealed or in the area, when working with students I am known for pulling out a trainer and using that when I'm supposed to be attacking with a punch. I really like to add in a knife when practicing grappling and ground fighting. I feel it helps people learn faster when it comes to application.

    I have a story... I had one student really confused about knife attacks. I kept telling another student to grab the student. When the student moved to face the other, I stabbed him many times with a trainer. I did this to him three times in a row. I kept saying not to drop his guard and finally he caught on and the fourth time I tried to stab him by surprise he protected himself. The student had previously asked what a knife attack on the streets would be like, and so I sort of showed him without telling him what I was doing. He got the point though, after getting the worst of it three times in a row. :D
     
  5. Mufty

    Mufty New Member

    Thanks for that ;)

    I have a similar story. When teaching in London UK I had a student who wanted to use live blades for fun. After a few months I thought he was ok enough so I took him through some live blade drills. This went on and off again for few weeks, then he asked if we could train a bit more freely with the blades. Ok, Any way after cautions and putting in place saftey stretigeies, we worked together, However as he made a little mistake he just caught my thumb knuckle enough to open it to the well you know, He He.

    Any way as he saw the blood drip, he blacked out. I got him back to reality. He said hows your thumb, It's ok I said and showed him the cut, and pulled it back to show him how deep it went, he almost lost his breakfast. Any way he said I only slightly touched you, I said no worries, as it was a good training experiance for him, and never asked to use live blades again. Any way the thumb was just dinked.

    The reality of blood. He He :)
     

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