Are martial arts useful?

[Lyiat]

I have a few friends who practice martial arts and they claim they can use it in real situations at which point I explain the fatal flaw with martial arts, it has no natural defense against the tackle. Yes if you became buff you could stop it but in reality how many moves are there that are intended on stopping a large man from running into you knocking you on the ground and preceding to punch you in the face repeatedly.

There are many things you can do in this situation... But, mind you, Martial Arts is not just "Karate", it is all physical combat styles -including- the tackle. You can side-step and chop, you can use something called "dropping out" in which you spread you legs and jump back a bit, bringing your arms down to force down on his shoulders (MMA technique) so that your locked together, and there are many trip techniques one could preform (I have had extensive practice with this situation in a studio). The tackle is considered to be a very effective, rudimentary martial arts technique for -really- big guys to use on smaller foes; this does not mean, however, it is impossible to stop or evade.

has anyone that has practiced martial arts actually applied it to real life situations? i have been studying ninjutsu for a number of years now and not once have i had to test my skills in a real life situation...

I have only had to defend myself once, and that was when one of my "friends" believed that the girl he was attracted to was attracted to me. Keep in mind that I already had a loving girlfriend at this time and had absolutely no interest in the woman he liked. He threw a shit-fit and started swinging at me, to which I simply introduced him to the floor and then pinned his arm behind his back.

Martial Arts is a last ditch-effort tool. You use it to get yourself out of a dangerous situation, that is all. You do not use it to harm people or for petty squabbles. If someone comes at you with a knife, however, you'll know just how to keep yourself from becoming a bloody mess.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

After having been assaulted a few times in school, my studies of a few different flavors did come in handy on a self defense level, but mostly, I think of it as a form of self discipline more than anything else.

Oh, and as to the being tackled, from the front a well timed muai thai knee to a lowered head can put anyone to sleep, or if you can be quick about it, an escrima neck lock if they get inside. From the sides, if you can't just spin and step out with a simple curb kick, you probably have to go to a more bjj style. and from behind, I'd probably say something allotting to the rubber guard style bjj for the flexibility would help.

 

[black lincon]

why do you assume I'm coming at them from the front?

You said 'punching you in the face', which would imply that you're facing him.

Though if you're taken down from behind, the best 'art' would be Amateur Wrestling. Or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which focuses more on grappling than most other arts.

In all fairness I have no idea how Brazilian Jiu Jitsu works and I don't consider wrestling a martial art, although if you did my school wouldn't be the place to tackle random wrestlers, I might end up tackling the state champ in his weight class.

However I'd like to change my scenario, I tackle them from behind and slam their head on the ground, I'd like to see a karate move that stops that.

 

[black lincon]

I have a few friends who practice martial arts and they claim they can use it in real situations at which point I explain the fatal flaw with martial arts, it has no natural defense against the tackle. Yes if you became buff you could stop it but in reality how many moves are there that are intended on stopping a large man from running into you knocking you on the ground and preceding to punch you in the face repeatedly.

There are many things you can do in this situation... But, mind you, Martial Arts is not just "Karate", it is all physical combat styles -including- the tackle. You can side-step and chop, you can use something called "dropping out" in which you spread you legs and jump back a bit, bringing your arms down to force down on his shoulders (MMA technique) so that your locked together, and there are many trip techniques one could preform (I have had extensive practice with this situation in a studio). The tackle is considered to be a very effective, rudimentary martial arts technique for -really- big guys to use on smaller foes; this does not mean, however, it is impossible to stop or evade.

I've switched to a sneak attack, fighting fair doesn't get you anywhere.

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

Martial arts is practiced now more of a means to get in shape than as a real precaution for the day that some unarmed guy might decide to attack you.

This is off topic, but I could swear that your avatar is from a Tool video.

 

[super_smash_jesus]

It applies to real life if you use the martial arts to try to get into UFC and become stinking rich.

 

[Lyiat]

I have a few friends who practice martial arts and they claim they can use it in real situations at which point I explain the fatal flaw with martial arts, it has no natural defense against the tackle. Yes if you became buff you could stop it but in reality how many moves are there that are intended on stopping a large man from running into you knocking you on the ground and preceding to punch you in the face repeatedly.

There are many things you can do in this situation... But, mind you, Martial Arts is not just "Karate", it is all physical combat styles -including- the tackle. You can side-step and chop, you can use something called "dropping out" in which you spread you legs and jump back a bit, bringing your arms down to force down on his shoulders (MMA technique) so that your locked together, and there are many trip techniques one could preform (I have had extensive practice with this situation in a studio). The tackle is considered to be a very effective, rudimentary martial arts technique for -really- big guys to use on smaller foes; this does not mean, however, it is impossible to stop or evade.

I've switched to a sneak attack, fighting fair doesn't get you anywhere.

This is true, which is why if someone was charging at me I'd likely run or throw something heavy at them. Only resort to fighting if you -must-. Sneak attacking, however, is never something your going to need to do in an every day situation unless you know someone is planning on killing you and you are hiding from them.

 

[RadioActiveChimp]

I have a few friends who practice martial arts and they claim they can use it in real situations at which point I explain the fatal flaw with martial arts, it has no natural defense against the tackle. Yes if you became buff you could stop it but in reality how many moves are there that are intended on stopping a large man from running into you knocking you on the ground and preceding to punch you in the face repeatedly.

1st off, your friends are either at a poor school or they haven't been in their dojo for very long. 2nd, you have absolutly no idea what your talking about. your putting all martial arts in the same pot.
i've been taking Issin-ryu Karate for 5 years and i'm a 1st degree black belt. at 18 years old, 6' 1", and a lean 170 lb, i can stop a man twice my size from tackling me. and if i were tackled i know a fair bit about ground fighting.
your idea of what martial arts and self defence are realy about is completely wrong. you should never have a pre determined technique to use for a given situation. you practice many different techniques so if you're attacked you can react without thinking, and adapt to what's happening every second. i bring this up because it's the view of most people.
to answer your question by the way, my personal favorite technique for taking down someone who is rushing you with their head down trying to tackle you is; to step back into a deep stance, palm strike to top of thier head or back of thier neck, grab both sides of the head, knee them in the face. this would also work with a side step.
and to answer the question of the thread, no i've never used my in the real world. i have met people who have though.

 

[Citrus]

Martial arts is practiced now more of a means to get in shape than as a real precaution for the day that some unarmed guy might decide to attack you.

Most martial arts will teach you what to do if said fellow is armed as well.

There isn't a move invented that makes it smart to try to move in on a man with a gun ten feet away.

If you mean more along the lines of knives, then yeah, martial arts can help. But I can be very sure that few people would risk it. Martial arts doesn't teach you to be courageous and it doesn't teach you to handle yourself in real-life situations, nor does it imbue in its adherents any real ability to react quick and agile on the spot. If he had been attacked enough times in your life, then I could see a martial artist utilizing their training in an effective manner to defend themselves, but most people would be too shocked and scared to react. The whole "dangerous person to mug" thing is really only applicable to people with life experience, not "they'll do this, so you do this" experience.

Martial arts is practiced now more of a means to get in shape than as a real precaution for the day that some unarmed guy might decide to attack you.

This is off topic, but I could swear that your avatar is from a Tool video.

It's from the album In Absentia, by Porcupine Tree.

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

Martial arts is practiced now more of a means to get in shape than as a real precaution for the day that some unarmed guy might decide to attack you.

This is off topic, but I could swear that your avatar is from a Tool video.

It's from the album In Absentia, by Porcupine Tree.

Thank you for clearing that up... [small]I could have sworn....[/small]

 

[black lincon]

I have a few friends who practice martial arts and they claim they can use it in real situations at which point I explain the fatal flaw with martial arts, it has no natural defense against the tackle. Yes if you became buff you could stop it but in reality how many moves are there that are intended on stopping a large man from running into you knocking you on the ground and preceding to punch you in the face repeatedly.

1st off, your friends are either at a poor school or they haven't been in their dojo for very long. 2nd, you have absolutly no idea what your talking about. your putting all martial arts in the same pot.
i've been taking Issin-ryu Karate for 5 years and i'm a 1st degree black belt. at 18 years old, 6' 1", and a lean 170 lb, i can stop a man twice my size from tackling me. and if i were tackled i know a fair bit about ground fighting.
your idea of what martial arts and self defence are realy about is completely wrong. you should never have a pre determined technique to use for a given situation. you practice many different techniques so if you're attacked you can react without thinking, and adapt to what's happening every second. i bring this up because it's the view of most people.
to answer your question by the way, my personal favorite technique for taking down someone who is rushing you with their head down trying to tackle you is; to step back into a deep stance, palm strike to top of thier head or back of thier neck, grab both sides of the head, knee them in the face. this would also work with a side step.
and to answer the question of the thread, no i've never used my in the real world. i have met people who have though.

My god dude, settle down. I know I know very little about marital arts, the last time I took anything resembling a martial arts course was a crappy karate class at a community center. The kid in question is merely scrawny, and I am large. I highly doubt you could ever prove your claim of being able to stop a man twice your size since I don't know of a lot of 12'2" men weighing 340lb, I could be wrong but I don't think they exist. I know enough to say that a simple way to strike downward, I know your large two which gives you a height advantage so you have more leverage, I'm also willing to bet you don't come across many people who are taller than you, guess what their out there, I'm one of them. If I knew you knew karate I probably wouldn't do anything like a frontal assault, I would hit you with a bat. but this is hypothetical, and aside from your overzealous defense of a hobby, I have no reason to hate you, no reason to attack you. however if you want to up the ante, tell me how you would stop a man larger than yourself with a bat, who you don't know is there.

 

[Lyiat]

I have a few friends who practice martial arts and they claim they can use it in real situations at which point I explain the fatal flaw with martial arts, it has no natural defense against the tackle. Yes if you became buff you could stop it but in reality how many moves are there that are intended on stopping a large man from running into you knocking you on the ground and preceding to punch you in the face repeatedly.

1st off, your friends are either at a poor school or they haven't been in their dojo for very long. 2nd, you have absolutly no idea what your talking about. your putting all martial arts in the same pot.
i've been taking Issin-ryu Karate for 5 years and i'm a 1st degree black belt. at 18 years old, 6' 1", and a lean 170 lb, i can stop a man twice my size from tackling me. and if i were tackled i know a fair bit about ground fighting.
your idea of what martial arts and self defence are realy about is completely wrong. you should never have a pre determined technique to use for a given situation. you practice many different techniques so if you're attacked you can react without thinking, and adapt to what's happening every second. i bring this up because it's the view of most people.
to answer your question by the way, my personal favorite technique for taking down someone who is rushing you with their head down trying to tackle you is; to step back into a deep stance, palm strike to top of thier head or back of thier neck, grab both sides of the head, knee them in the face. this would also work with a side step.
and to answer the question of the thread, no i've never used my in the real world. i have met people who have though.

Did you seriously just make an account to yell at someone? That is a little over-the-top, friend.

Your argument contradicts itself because you clearly have a pre-arranged technique that you favor as opposed to most others, which is something that a martial artist must stop from happening at all costs. I have techniques that I think work better for me, but I would never pick certain ones as my favorite. Also, at six one and at one hundred seventy, you have a myriad of other counters that you could use which would play much better to your natural strengths. Study Judo, or Jeet Kun Do. You've obviously never been taught to use your actual size as an asset.

How someone of your stature would block someone is that you would preform a take-down against their tackle, likely either going for the knees or the torso, or you would plant a boot to their face.

Edit: It took you five years to get a black belt? That course must be -really- easy...

 

[Adam Jenson]

Bruce Lee created Jute Keen Do because he felt traditional martial art styles were to strict and were not always helpful in street situations.

I basically just use street smarts and some Keysi Fighting style when I'm in a situation like that. Its not flashy but at least you hurt the guy bad enough to run

 

[Wolfwind]

Ninjutsu? Really? I had heard that there weren't any schools that taught an authentic style of ninjutsu outside of Japan, and that they're not easy to get into. Which style? (I hope it doesn't sound like I'm doing some "calling you out" sort of thing. I'm just genuinely curious).

Either way, as "karate kid" as this may sound, I've personally thought martial arts were first and foremost a way of mastering yourself, which would lead to mastering your opponent. Thus, actually using techniques against people is a last resort, since one of the main aspects of any martial art is dicipline.

The only two martial arts that I've practiced long term were Tae Kwon Do and Judo. I've dabbled in other stuff, but not to any serious extent. Personally, I've only used what I've learned twice in real fights. I won one, but felt bad because I think I used excessive force (lack of dicipline and control), and I lost one because (and I'm not making this up), the guy crumpled up crackers and threw them in my face. Hahaha, what a stupid way to lose a fight, but it did teach me how different and chaotic a real fight is from sparring and training. Some people say it's dirty, what he did, but realistically, I wasn't prepared for it, I was over-confident, and I lost and learned from it. I lost cause I lacked real experience.

All that was years ago though. Personally, I don't like to fight or hurt people (or get hurt ), so I just walk away. What's that saying? "You don't learn martial arts to use them. You learn them so you don't have to use them."

 

[Lyiat]

Ninjutsu? Really? I had heard that there weren't any schools that taught an authentic style of ninjutsu outside of Japan, and that they're not easy to get into. Which style? (I hope it doesn't sound like I'm doing some "calling you out" sort of thing. I'm just genuinely curious).

Ninjustsu is a lost art, actually. There are no "real" schools for ninjutsu anymore, because the last remaining stronghold was burned down and all the lore was burned. A few trinkets, scrolls, and books survived and have resurfaced along in history. Whatever exists now is simply guessing at what was.

Oh, and if there actually ARE ninjutsu schools out there, we know nothing about them. They would be Japan's equivalent of the USA's Black Ops.

 

[Motti]

It depends where you live and how good you are, I guess.

 

[Wolfwind]

All that was years ago though. Personally, I don't like to fight or hurt people (or get hurt ), so I just walk away. What's that saying? "You don't learn martial arts to use them. You learn them so you don't have to use them."

Isn't that the theory behind nuclear weaponry? "We don't have them to use them, we have them so we never have to." =P

Then I do believe we've learned the truth. Martial Arts = Nuclear Power.

 

[Lyiat]

All that was years ago though. Personally, I don't like to fight or hurt people (or get hurt ), so I just walk away. What's that saying? "You don't learn martial arts to use them. You learn them so you don't have to use them."

Isn't that the theory behind nuclear weaponry? "We don't have them to use them, we have them so we never have to." =P

Then I do believe we've learned the truth. Martial Arts = Nuclear Power.

o.o

Gives a whole new meaning to the atomic drop, doesn't it?

Edit: Atomic Drop is a WWE move.

 

[Wolfwind]

All that was years ago though. Personally, I don't like to fight or hurt people (or get hurt ), so I just walk away. What's that saying? "You don't learn martial arts to use them. You learn them so you don't have to use them."

Isn't that the theory behind nuclear weaponry? "We don't have them to use them, we have them so we never have to." =P

Then I do believe we've learned the truth. Martial Arts = Nuclear Power.

o.o

Gives a whole new meaning to the atomic drop, doesn't it?

Edit: Atomic Drop is a WWE move.

It does, and suddenly moves like the hadouken don't seem so far fetched. It's a blast of nuclear energy.

The mystery of ki, solved.