Pro…
Handling stress… fighting is a stressful event… real or sport… getting use to the body’s responses to the fear of competition, real or sport, is THE MOST IMPORTANT aspect of competition… the body goes thru it’s fight or flight responses… and YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH THEM… the butterflies… the negative thots… the weak legs… you have to fight all of those, and more, b4 you even step foot near the ring… overcomming those responses time and time again will only make you more prepared for the next time you wanna earl up ya breakfast… you WILL begin to beable to fight thru them in order to access what you have learned… but those responses WILL rear their ugly heads everytime…
A resisting NON-cooperating opponent… after you getout of the bathroom and have a mint to get that taste out ya mouth… you MUST face HIM… who is he… u may or ma not know… but guess what he wants to kick yo’ azz… now thru all the “noise” (heartrate, butterflies, etc.) you MUST access all of your learning and defend against all of HIS coping skills, strategy, techniques, HIS WILL TO LIVE… but the good thing is unlike the streets… u can have a beer with this dude once all is said and done…
A 2nd Chance… you’re at the bar mackin’ some chick… this dude come out of the blue… “That’s my girl b!tch!!!” pushes you to the floor… surprised you stand up… try to anyway… your legs are a lil weak… he’s still running his mouth but you really don’t hear anything that sounds like english… he\ he might be cursing your mother out in some other un-godly language that you didn’t bother learning… but you DO hear your heart… it sounds like its on your forehead its so loud and fast… you can hear the bottom of your lungs… your eyes glaze over… “Fu(k it” you tell yourself " I know Kung Fu"… guess what you said it outloud… POW… lights out… you wake with monocular vision… brace on your neck… and a sexy girl in a nurses uniform bending over you exposing the lusty portions of her cleavage… wet dream??? we wish… dude you got stomped out 2 nights ago.. and suffering from things unpronounceable without years of collecting student loans…
point? Beside my liking to write short crazy stories… in the ring/cage Lei Tai… there is a pretty good chance of you walking out of there with a minimal amount of permanent damage… at the almost most-est… you will get helped out/off… hospital bill will be at a managable amount if needed… and if you run across the sexy nurse… this time your face wont look like the elephant man… and you MAY have a chance at those digits…
I don’t think there is anything wrong with competing.
I also don’t think it’s the only way to get real world skill.
A 2nd Chance… you’re at the bar mackin’ some chick… this dude come out of the blue…
last time I checked most sports fighting gyms don’t really teach situational awareness or how to handle little dilemmas such as the one you made up. What makes you think you would do any better in that situation? oh wait maybe there is room to throw some roundhouse kicks in the crowded bar. sure.
…and you accuse the kung fu guys of being deluded.:rolleyes:
> on some level your training partner is cooperative… if a “KILL” shot is there… he wont go for the kill but rather ‘TAP’ you… hard tap lite tap… whatever… but knocking out your training partner is not a goog thing… KO’ing your opponent is CHEERED…
> stress… again… you know what the PARTNER has in his arsenal… you’ve seen daily… u know his strengths and weaknesses… injuries… u might even know his girlfriend… but an opponent… u know hardly anything about… with a partner you are not as stressed as you are with a stranger… with a partner… most of the time its sh!ts and giggles… with an opponent its d@mn near life or death… with a criminal… it IS life or death…
> improvement… IMO when it comes to partners you only improve as fast as they do… meaning… you only get better after they kick yo’ azz and you have to adjust and get better… if your partner is at your level consistantly… YOUR progress is stagnant… but once they make a leap of progress… you MUST follow suit and continue to get creamed… that could take forever… but once you get stomped out in the ring or alley… you know where your improvements should be made and act accordingly… i’d rather take a loss in the ring personally…
last time I checked most sports fighting gyms don’t really teach situational awareness or how to handle little dilemmas such as the one you made up. What makes you think you would do any better in that situation? oh wait maybe there is room to throw some roundhouse kicks in the crowded bar. sure.
True… and that’s how sport training is incomplete… but based on what I said about stress previously… due to MY( in the universal my ) dealing with and overcomming being scared sh!tless on previous multiple occassions… I recognize and sub due the fight/flight response immediately… know how to think on a nervous brain… and can react with a display of aggression immediatly or react with reason… basically i’ll be able to think clearer(that’s a word right?) than someone who doesn’t deal with being sh!tless…
I also don’t think it’s the only way to get real world skill.
well… what other way to get real world skill that doesn’t involve competition??
…and you accuse the kung fu guys of being deluded.
just like a KF guy… all theory… no back up :rolleyes:
maybe now that I got personal I can get some convo…
Self defense ability is seldom recognized as a benefit of sporting competition but the ability to use your martial arts skills in a real situation is dependent upon a number of factors. First, one must have the tools, offensive and defensive, to get the job done. This is the importance of offering a complete training program under the guidance of a skilled coach. The rest of the variables are less obvious but no less important.
Self defense ability can be tested by a student’s ability to use techniques upon an opponent who is knowledgeable of the techniques, resisting them and also attempting to launch their own attack. This ability requires not only perfecting the technique but developing your sense of space and range, the ability to see openings, reaction time and personal strategy.
Include into this equation the possibility that the opponent may be using techniques and strategies different than your own.
Furthermore, does one have both the physical and mental condition to engage in a struggle such as this? Does one have the strength, endurance, flexibility? The determination? Will they fall apart under the stress and adrenaline rush, freeze and forget everything they have learned? It has certainly happened in the past to many practitioners.
Remember, if you have not been hit or thrown full power (slamming into the ground) you don’t know how you will react to conditions such as these. This is a reality very few students of the martial arts are forced to deal with in current programs.
A boxer has been punched so many times that he no longer freezes when a blow connects. A wrestler or Judo fighter has been thrown many times and is accustomed to it. These three individuals are also used to exchange, working with an opponent who is both defending and attacking. They are also used to performing under high stress conditions, with large audiences and for extended periods of time. They benefit from experience gained by competition, i.e. sporting adaptations of what were once strictly combat/self-defense methods. Thus, combat sports allow the student to develop the “attributes” of a warrior, including the appropriate mental attitude.
Originally posted by Suntzu why I don’t think “Hard Sparring” fits the bill… on some level your training partner is cooperative… if a “KILL” shot is there… he wont go for the kill but rather ‘TAP’ you…
How is this different than competition?
Eg. I watched Couture vs Rizzo for heavyweight UFC belt last night; good fight. One time C was on his knees and R kicked at him, bouncing C’s hand into C’s face. C immediately pointed at the ref who ran in and kept them apart until C caught his senses. Both fighters also turtled up the last minute of different rounds, knowing they could wait out their opponent’s barrage and start fresh the next round. And in the later rounds, both fighters rested for almost minute-long lengths bellied-down on one another after a sprawl; knowing they could mutually catch their breath like this rather than needing to fight.
No surprises there; doesn’t make it less of a good fight.
But it also doesn’t fit the contrast you’re making above.
Thanks Chris… once again re-read what I said about stress… and than re-read about the Non-cooperative opponant…
now for your example adjusts smug scholarly cap… so you mean to tell me that Rizzo doesn’t have the attributes needed to survive a street confrontation b’cuz he rested at the end of a round in a ring fight??? He rested so now when Joe Drunkazz steps up to him in a pizzing contest… he would crumble under the weight of his own heartrate??? after hours of training in the Gym and testing it out he would have NOOOO idea what techniques he has available and which would work AT THAT MOMENT b’cuz of a rest in a ring fight… all of his training… conditioning went out the window b’cuz of taking advantage of a rule??? interesting…
But it also doesn’t fit the contrast you’re making above.
how so??? B’cuz they decided to rest and continue the fight to knock each other out the next round… and that’s just one example of one sentence of reasoning… it still doesn’t discount the rest that I’ve said… and for every ‘work’ there are many KO"S which if happened on the street would have ended much worse than some drunk wannabe boooing him…
Originally posted by Suntzu so you mean to tell me that Rizzo doesn’t have the attributes needed to survive a street confrontation b’cuz he rested at the end of a round in a ring fight?
No. I’m just saying the contrast you made between competition and hard sparring is incorrect.
well… to nit pick… actually… that’s an argument for prize fighting more than generic competition… an opponent is ALWAYS going to go harder than a training partner… unless ofcourse he sucks…
Furthermore, does one have both the physical and mental condition to engage in a struggle such as this? Does one have the strength, endurance, flexibility?
C’mon, we all know that you don’t have to be in shape to be a deadly martial artist!
But…
For various reasons not everyone can train to compete, so what does one do then?
