Lets face it, there are people that will BS you wherever you go. May it be in the corporate world, at work, with your friends, advertising, etc… BS is everywhere, even in martial arts. Now some martial arts are more art than martial but when it comes to practical self defense what really works and what is complete BS? Here is my top 10 list of BS in the martial arts world.
10. Death Touch, Dim Mak, or Poison Hands
1975 Detective Comics ad for Count Dante.
I don’t believe that it is possible to kill or even paralyze a person from just touching them. You need some sort of force to do serious injury to anyone, what more to kill them? Now there are those that teach the use of pressure points but these are merely points of focus that could cause more pain for your opponent and still requires an amount of force applied. You also have deadly target areas to attack that could cause severe damage or death, but these target areas still need some sort of force (example: thrusting a finger all the way in to your opponents eye). I think all this BS stemmed from these techniques and was exaggerated for reasons I would never know. *cough* money & marketing *cough*
9. The Best Martial Art System
I covered this in another post. There is no such thing as the best or the ultimate martial arts system. There are systems of preference (especially for those that have trained in multiple systems) that a practitioner may gravitate towards. I’m so sick of this BS that I won’t even bother talking about it again. Click here to read more about that article.
8. Training in Martial Arts Will Get You in Shape OR You Have to be Physically Fit to Train in Martial Arts
This needs clarification as I think that this deals with a lot of misconception from the public.
Martial Arts is a physical activity and there are systems that are practical for anyone of any age, gender, height, or physical condition to practice. It will help you in getting fit to a certain degree but will not turn you into a supermodel. Conditioning, exercise, and a proper diet side by side with martial arts training will give you better results. Results will vary as people are different. Our bodies react differently from what we intake and the rate of work we do, and we are still limited to our genes. Arnold Schwarzenegger was an excellent body builder, but I doubt (given his build) that he could have come to the build that Manny Pacquiao has. Two different people with different training for two different goals.
Having said that, Martial Arts can make you functionally fit.
7. I learned from Extreme Grand Sifu MasterJohnny McDojo
What is worse than saying “I learned the best system” or “I teach the best system” are how titles like Grand Master, Master, Sifu, etc etc… get tossed around. While there are legitimate Masters and Grand Masters out there, there are just so much McDojo’s out there. They say that a certificate is just a piece of paper and a belt just holds your pants up, whats important is skill. Heck, does it matter who learned what from who? There is nothing wrong with paying respect to your Masters, mentors, coaches, and trainers but what matters is if what was taught to you is effective and can be applied in the real world.
6. Amazing Feats of Strength and Skill a.k.a. “OMG he snapped the wooden board like a pencil! He plowed his fist through them bricks like a hot knife through butter!”
I think I need to refer to a video for this.
Welcome back to reality. Now if your not laughing your ass off you are probably pulling up your jaw from the floor out of disbelief. These are amazing feats (what the hell do they feed these soldiers with??!) but not necessary for practical self defense (or combat for that matter). Its like when a bar tender starts tossing and juggling bottles. Flashy but not necessary.
5. Strength versus Speed
image from giphy.com
You hear this a lot, that the stronger (in terms of bulging mass from weight lifting) a person is the slower he is, that strength and speed are a trade off. This is not true. There are many large bulking hulks out there that move fast. Look at Brock Lesnar, one huge dude that moves fast.
Proper training of muscles is the key here. I believe the misconception here may have come up from a couple of things. One is the cliche line we hear from coaches, trainers, etc… that “A person may be strong but won’t be able to do anything with all that strength if he can’t hit you”. This saying (or line from a movie) was never meant to imply that massive, muscular, strong people are slow. What it emphasizes is that speed is a factor and a fight isn’t determined just by strength, that you have to develop speed and strength. Secondly, the thought that people who work out are tough. Bodybuilders are not martial artists (fighters), martial artists are not body builders. This leads me to the next item.
4. Size and Strength DO NOT Matter
On the contrary to what a lot of people tell you, size and strength does matter. It doesn’t mean the bigger, stronger person is a better fighter but it sure does mean that he most likely has longer reach and a devastating blow. It doesn’t mean you will loose the fight, but it still doesn’t mean that it is not a factor. Also just because a person is BIG (and I mean not muscular but stocky) doesn’t mean he does not have speed or strength to back it up. I have met and trained with people that are stocky and would not come across to the everyday person as functionally fit or skilled in martial arts yet they throw better kicks than a lot of martial artists out there.
3. My Black Belt / Certificate Means I’m a Good Fighter
This I am very sure is not true. Based from my experience, a belt or certificate does not mean you are highly skilled fighter. You can be a highly skilled fighter without a Black Belt. A black belt SHOULD MEAN that you are knowledgeable in the art you have studied, that you have an understanding of techniques and principles. Trophies are a sign that you are a skilled fighter, that you have won many tournaments.
And the Top Two, which tend to go hand in hand are…
2. Training in Martial Arts makes you unbeatable (except to fellow martial artists) in an altercation.
Keanu Reeves as Neo from The Matrix: Reloaded (GIF from giphy.com)
This is probably the biggest LIE ever. Training in martial arts does not make you unbeatable. Altercations may happen at anytime under different circumstances and these situations will more often than not be totally different from your controlled environment during training. A person with ZERO (0) KNOWLEDGE in fighting can still whoop a black belter’s ass. Training in martial arts gives you an edge, an advantage, but it does not mean you are better nor does it guarantee you will win the fight.
1. Martial Arts Fights and Real Fights are the same
Martial Arts fights and real fights (as in violence in the streets) are very different. I just want to point out that when I say martial arts I mean everything from traditional, to modern, to mixed martial arts. The reason is martial art fights are done as competitions with rules and regulations to keep the competitors safe. These rules and regulations also make sure that the fighters are in some way evenly matched (example: in terms of weight division or ranking). These do not exist in the real world. Someone weighing in at 250 lbs standing 6’3 could be the aggressor of a 5’6 , 150 lbs person. Even worse, there could be more than one aggressor, and armed with weapons.
If this is so, why should anyone learn martial arts then? The misconception here is going back to the previous number. Martial Arts is supposed to prepare you for a fight, may it be for competition or in the street. Unfortunately a lot of Martial Arts focus on the Art more than the Martial. There are a lot of Martial Arts clubs/schools/associations out there that teach practical combat for the real world, but you can say good-bye to competition martial arts as that is the last thing on their mind. These classes usually train security personnel and the likes. Aside from that it really just takes common sense and you just have to filter out what is taught to you.
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