Are martial arts useful?

[RagnorakTres]

On the slide thing: this is really my subject 'cause I've seen this done. A guy comes up to you with a semi-auto. If you can jack the slide back and twist it up and sideways, it's possible to tear the slide right off the gun. I don't know if this keeps the gun from firing, but it seemed to surprise the guy with the gun and the guy who now had the slide palmed it and broke the guys nose. THIS WAS NOT A MOVIE. I was walking around in downtown Chicago with my Aunt and I happened to glance down an alleyway. I kinda paused when I saw the gun, which I shouldn't have done, and actually saw the guy do this, clearly, from 10 feet away.

 

[51gunner]

I took and taught Tae-Kwon-Do for years. Even if you never have to fight anyone, it still pays off in fitness & discipline. God knows the discipline there helped get me through those ugly teen years, and it did wonders for me when I joined the Army.

 

[blankedboy]

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 pretty much like why I do Taekwondo. I'm blue belt, and know several effective wristlocks that I've been able to use before, and a 6th form guy who tried to beat me up last Tuesday was faced off by me with a high punch. It didn't seem to hurt him much, but it got hi away from me. The other half of my TKD is fitness. In fact, ive got a 1 1/2 hour session in half an hour.

 

[Logan Westbrook]

Title changed so that it makes a little more sense.

 

[Chibz]

True, but what's the point in practicing for years upon years if any random person can bring you to end with one shot?

 

[mooncalf]

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...

(note: im looking for stories, it wasn't meant as a whinge.)

Krav Maga puts great emphasis on practical applications, though it's not strictly speaking a martial art. I've heard of those practitioners training on asphalt, in cars and crowds and moving buses.

 

[newguy77]

I've always thought that knife+suprise=win. You can pull a knife pretty fast and hit something pretty well in less than a second, and if they're not disciplined, they'll be suprised and easily subdued (the knocking out or grapling variety).

 

[Matronadena]

It really really depends on what your taking, why your taking, and who training... most teach the sport variant...which is pretty much useless in a real situation outside of tournament use and sparring, namely because your minds not conditioned to actually apply it to a real situation, where the person coming up against you is NOT going to be using the same style ..

Though that is not to say that there are not time in which training can take over and let you see openings and opportunities you may have missed without training.. but as a general rule of thumb there is nothing consistently sited to lean one way or another...it really comes down to so many variables.

 

[Hangman's Prize]

Martial Arts are great cuz when you need it it's there. No need to prep or anything. Just put up your dikes and let'em fly. Nowadays... fistacuffs and brawling make little sense in my opinion. Guns are easy enough to get in real life and concealling weapons isn't all that hard. Martial Arts are great in a remotely fair fight... but in a game of fist, knife, gun/bullet (rock, paper, scissors) GUN/BULLET wins just about everytime.

 

[Delicious]

"Hey guys, let's go learn something for the sake of not using it!"

 

[Booze Zombie]

Martial arts help build confidence and train the body... plus, it's something to do.

By the way, if you want to dodge a tackle or stop a tackle, you don't even need any training.
See, you can dodge it or if you can't do that, you can pick up a heavy object and use it to catch the force of impact and potentially injure your attacker or, just smash their head in with the object before they can strike you.

 

[Iwamori]

Martial arts wouldn't win a real fight. Martial arts aren't really trained like they used to be, you're probably just getting the "Martial Arts for Dummies" kind of training.

In a real serious fight, people will always fight dirty, weapons, biting, etc.

 

[rabidrabbit]

I've been doing Krav Maga (Israeli Self Defense) and MMA for about 3 years and before that I did Muay Thai for about 4 years, and in the couple fights I've been in they've definitely helped me out. For instance in Muay Thai I did a lot of kicks and elbows so when I got into this fight at a friends party I through an elbow cut the dude wide open above his eye and then kicked him in the ham string and he fell to the ground.
And Krav Maga helped me out twice before; once when a dude was trying to stab me with a pencil, I blocked his arm when it was coming toward me then grabbed his hand and broke his wrist, and then the second time was when a dude who was way bigger then me got me on the ground and started choking me, I plucked the his hands off my throat then locked one of his legs in between mine, bucked up, and rolled him over at that point I just punched the guy in the crotch a few time and stood up, kicked him in the head and, then I ran off because I didn't know if he had any friends around or not.

But before those I did Karate and Tae Kwon Do, but I've never used anything from those classes, it was way to structured to be any use.

 

[Avatar Roku]

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.

True. Krav Maga, for example, is largely held up as one of the, if not the, most efficient form of martial arts, and it teaches you what to do when you're unarmed and your opponent is armed with a gun, or with a knife, etc, or when the tables are turned in your favor.

 

[rabidrabbit]

Martial arts wouldn't win a real fight. Martial arts aren't really trained like they used to be, you're probably just getting the "Martial Arts for Dummies" kind of training.

In a real serious fight, people will always fight dirty, weapons, biting, etc.

(sorry about double posting but I didn't see this before I posted)

There are a lot of martial arts that train against weapons, knifes, eye gouging, all that kind of stuff.

Krav Maga, Sambo, and Kali are just the ones I know about. The trick is finding a good school that teaches them because unlike becoming a doctor there's nothing stopping someone from buying a black belt saying they know what they're teaching and bullshitting ignorant people out of their money.

Although the reasons you said is totally why Karate and Tea Kwan Do suck... it's too spiritual without any substance.

 

[Paksenarrion]

If you've practiced martial arts before, you do better Keanu Reeves impressions.

"I know kung fu."

Try it.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I've been in a fair amount of fights. I'll say this, If you plan to fight, you should find a discipline, not necessarily a martial art, but a style that suits you. It would usually come down to who has more experience in real fights and who is stronger. a black belt who's never been in a real fight would probably get his ass handed to him by anyone who grew up on the streets.

 

[Iwamori]

Martial arts wouldn't win a real fight. Martial arts aren't really trained like they used to be, you're probably just getting the "Martial Arts for Dummies" kind of training.

In a real serious fight, people will always fight dirty, weapons, biting, etc.

(sorry about double posting but I didn't see this before I posted)

There are a lot of martial arts that train against weapons, knifes, eye goudging, all that kind of stuff.

Krav Maga, Sambo, and Kali are just the ones I know about. The trick is finding a good school that teaches them because unlike becoming a doctor there's nothing stopping someone from buying a black belt saying they know what they're teaching and bullshitting ignorant people out of their money.

Although the reasons you said is totally why Karate and Tea Kwan Do sucks... it's spiritual without any substance.

Yeah, if you legitimately wanted self defense training you would probably look into something the military would use (aka not martial arts).

 

[rabidrabbit]

Martial arts wouldn't win a real fight. Martial arts aren't really trained like they used to be, you're probably just getting the "Martial Arts for Dummies" kind of training.

In a real serious fight, people will always fight dirty, weapons, biting, etc.

(sorry about double posting but I didn't see this before I posted)

There are a lot of martial arts that train against weapons, knifes, eye goudging, all that kind of stuff.

Krav Maga, Sambo, and Kali are just the ones I know about. The trick is finding a good school that teaches them because unlike becoming a doctor there's nothing stopping someone from buying a black belt saying they know what they're teaching and bullshitting ignorant people out of their money.

Although the reasons you said is totally why Karate and Tea Kwan Do sucks... it's spiritual without any substance.

Yeah, if you legitimately wanted self defense training you would probably look into something the military would use (aka not martial arts).

Yeah I guess they're not too artsy, but they're martial... Muay Thai is a martial art though and it was really good.