True Story Regarding A "Reality Based" SD Course

Exactly! People say, I would have done this and I would have done that, when really they would have gotten hit with a baseball bat.
But, although I've never been attacked, I can guess from previous experience how I may react. I usually see myself running at high speed in a panicky fervour (at least that's what happened when a bunch of dogs attacked me when I was a kid).

Indeed, most of the young people are mindless thugs, the others in the minority are underread dictionary beaters who chuck words around like faster than they can catch them, flying in the face of simple communication! Oh my Gosh, the youth are severely misguided! How about we take it one step back? Do people understand you when you talk? If they don't and it's because you are deliberately using language to make you seem better than them, then you are a) not communicating effectively b)making people ask unnecessary questions and c) being a serious waste of time.
Of course, I could lecture you on why high rhetoric in normal, day to day communication is not cool, but I figure you'll understand when you're older

 

Well, being articulate is also an inveterate habit I have(my mother does it too) but I have been deliberately cultivating it lately. So I guess I'm not that misguided.

 

No, not articulate. Articulate means clear, easily understood/well explained. Throwing infrequent words around is pretentious.

 

HAHAHAHAHA! LOL! Damn true mate..couldn't agree more!

 

We're way off topic now. But for whatever it's worth, I think shotokanwarrior is right on this one. "Idiom" and "slang" are similar. But not identical. And it's the subtle differences in word use that mark expression.

Slang describes a set of words not in common use but in common enough use that a select population will get it. So if I said someone got "sacked" (which I did in class recently), Brits would get it. The population at large where I live (the United States) did not.

An idiom is more personalized than that. It doesn't imply the shared element that slang does. It implies a stylized, individualized mode of expression. In this case, Scarlet Mist's individualized mode of expression (which I dig, by the way).

So Scarlet's use of the word "cat" for example, is both slang and idiomatic. But I think the way shotokanwarrior used "idiom" was accurate, appropriate, and intentional.

Besides, it ain't an insult to be idiomatic. It just looks like "idiotic."


Stuart

 

For the sake of arguement I'm going to disagree in part. While someone might never be involved in a fight I still think fight dynamics (I'll use the term to equate self defense scenario) can be simulated with chilling accuracy. I've seen RBSD systems that do this quite well. Its also rather stressful for everyone involved. But still it can be done and from observed results within a small group it seems like it works quite well. Of course further testing is required before we can be completely sure.

- Matt

 

That's true, and I think stuff like that is a good thing, but at the end of the day, it's not REAL. However stressfull it is it's not the same as the actual possibility that you might be raped or killed. It's like being a first aider, you know all the stuff, you know what to do if this happens or that happens, you've even done some scenarios with fake blood, but when it's your loved one who is lying there in a pool of real blood, or not breathing and the adrenaline kicks in you dont really know how much you're gonna panic.

 

I wouldn't have used the word slang anyway, because I have taken to operating on a principle of doing everything whole-heartedly, or as my sensei says:

'Even if you're scratching your bum, do it big, do it strong, do it with intensity.'

Hey, Scarlet....this is a total non sequitur, but where did you get the name Scarlet Mist? It's my mum who wants to know not me - I mentioned to her I had been conversing over the net with a guy called Scarlet Mist and she's curious as to why you use this monicker. Don't take this badly if it's too personal. My mum also says you can tell her to sod off if you like.

 

E- Rocker, sometimes you are there, and knowing what to do when you are in that situation is vital, don't you agree? Shouldn't martial arts prepare us for real life situations? What are they there for if not for the discipline and knowledge to defend yourself?

 

My personal take is that you should be in danger before you experience martial arts. If you have never trained anything but have violent encounters on a regular basis once you find martial arts you have half of the self defence equation figured out. What do you think?

 

Well, because I tend to show up in one place and then vanish, just like a mist. Scarlet, because when you see Scarlet, you know it's Scarlet. And when Scarlet's in the house, you KNOW Scarlet's in the house!!

 

Agreed. But what concerns me about this type of statement is that it can be used to suggest that training can't get you a long way to an understand of how to preform and where the stresses may be.

I refuse to believe that we can't develop better and better methods to allow us to reasonably project how we will perform. You're right, we can never be completely sure. But if we can even be mostly sure, that's going to help.

- Matt

 

I guess the point I'm trying to make with this is that many people seem to think that just because they have MA training and are great in competitions automatically means that they will be the world's greatest street fighter whilst never having been in a truly dangerous situation in their lives. Yes, training methods can go a long way towards preparing people for that, and it's a good thing, but I also think that people need to be aware of the 'reality factor' which means that even if you do manage to react according to your training it's never gonna be the Jackie Chan scene you think it is! Plus it can also give people an unwarranted arrogance 'I know MA therefore I can deal with any street situation', when it should be 'I know MA so I am better equipped than I would otherwise be and I hope that I would be able to deal with any street situation'.
To be honest, I dont think we're really disagreeing that much with this!

 

I have always been of the oppinion that martial arts teach you how to fight, not self defence.

 

They're one and the same thing.

 

I'd have to disagree with you KE, If I was defending myself against someone I'd be happy to knock them other and then leg it.

If I was fighting them, I'd stomp the crap out of them (then maybe run ).

 

Its definately not the same thing, you could be a great fighter without having a clue about self defence, self defence includes guns, gangs and all sorts of tricks people can try to weaken you before an attack, knowing how to fight will definately not help you in every self defence situation.

 

Well, now that I rarely wear 4 inch heels, I'd probably have a much harder time running in them!

 

Thanks for the explanation Scarlet. It's a cool name...nice powerful image

 

Well the fact that you are alive means that a) you have never had to defend yourself or b) you are one hell of a good fighter

But it's so painfully obvious that I don't understand why you don't get it.
Running away from big man trying to kill you = self defence, but not fighting
Punching big man trying to kill you in the face and knocking him unconscious = self defence and fighting.

Not all self defence is fighting and not all fighting is self defence. They are therefore not the same thing.