Re: Everybody hates TCMA
Originally posted by PT-Kali
First, it’s all the MMA guys, then it’s BJJ, and now from reading some earlier posts it’s San Shou.
Yep, that’s everyone. :rolleyes:
I can understand the “My Art is Best” philosophy (after all I picked it so it’s the best art to train in) :rolleyes:
That’s one of the most tired arguments I’ve ever seen. I’ve studied styles based on logistical reasons (location and cost), reputation of a teacher, because I had friends there, or just because I’d seen a style and thought it was cool. I’ve never studied a style thinking it was The Best.
These types of cycles happen, in the '40s it was jujutsu, in the '50s it was judo, in the '60s it was karate, in the '70s it was kung fu, in the '80s it was ninjutsu, '90s BJJ, etc.
There are usually two levels to these “trends.” There’s the bandwagon and then there’s the real thing. I’m sure in the 70s, lots of people jumped on the kung fu bandwagon. And when the wheels fell off the wagon in the 80s, those people wandered away. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t sincere and hard working kung fu people who got their start as a result of kung fu’s popularity in the 70s.
In the early 90s, it was all about the southeast asian martial arts. Muay thai, bando, silat, eskrima, kali, etc. The martial arts magazines were covered with articles about Dr. Muang Gyi, Rudy Ter Linden, Chai Sirisute…
Does that mean your pekita tersia kali was just a fad?
MMA is a fad, a trend if you will. And if you think San Shou will be the end-all-be-all, it won’t (to me it looks like a souped-up '70s style kickboxing).
You’re missing the point. In the same way the bandwaggoners miss the point. The point is not to leap on BJJ or sanshou as the next ‘superstyle.’ Think about the reasoning process underlying the interest in those styles. People want to see as small a gap between theory and practice as possible. BJJ and sanshou are actually applied (for all to see) in accord with their principles and theory. Because their principles and theory are put to the test. That’s what people are advocating. The gathering of empirical feedback rather than a reliance on theory.
And I think you’ll find that most MMA types (the good ones anyway) will give TMA plenty of respect if they think that said TMA practitioner is also submitting his practice to the same sort of scrutiny (as many do).:rolleyes: