[SOC]

I have been studying martial arts off and on over the past year, and I have reached one conclusion about it all. It is bullshit.

The point of learning martial arts for me is to learn methods for self-defense. The problem that I have found with Eastern martial arts is that the techniques are so complicated and unnatural that you can’t even remember the shit much less execute it. A criticism of my POV is that I don’t practice enough, but I literally can’t remember the moves in order to practice them. When I do practice them, they are always flawed and incorrect. Yet, I am supposed to remember this bullshit in an attack when my adrenaline is flowing, and I’m scared for my life and execute the moves perfectly. This shit is useless.

For me, a martial art needs to be simple, effective, real world, and without any flourish or bullshit about chi energy or any of that crap. The only martial art I know that fits this bill is krav maga, the martial art used by the Israeli Defense Forces. It is the one I have not studied, but that is going to change. I think it is the only one I should be spending my time on.

From what I know about Krav Maga so far, it is a self defense system for combat survival and streetfighting. The moves are instinctive and geared towards strikes to vulnerable areas like the eyes, throat, and balls. There is no honor in Krav Maga. This is because there is no honor in the street.

Traditional martial arts take years to master, and I respect the discipline and the devotion. But at the end of it, you don’t see any of these guys going into a UFC bout and making a ton of cash from what should be a relatively easy thing for them. For the most part, traditional martial arts doesn’t cut it in the cage, and I suspect that it doesn’t cut it in the street either. Even my instructor adopts very unconventional techniques to overcome these weaknesses.

My frustration reached the breaking point while sparring with one black belt while being castigated by another black belt over my technique. The advice conflicted with other advice I had received. In the end, it becomes more debate over style than actual fighting. This all came as I realized that all my instruction to that point amounted to zilch. In a real fight, I would cut, bite, kick, punch, and gouge with hands or weapons. I would never use any of the moves in my arsenal even if I could remember them.

The most effective method is the one that works. If you can achieve the same end with fewer moves and less effort, this is the way to go. This is what Krav Maga does. This is what the IDF needed in a system because they didn’t have the luxury of allowing their soldiers years to learn and master a martial art. I would be way more dangerous now if I had spent my time learning Krav Maga than wasting it learning more complicated but useless moves. The fact that many other police and military organizations have adopted Krav Maga and similar systems speaks volumes.

Penn and Teller did an episode on martial arts, and I pretty much agreed with most of what they say. Martial arts is mostly bullshit, but I do think there is value in learning some of the techniques for use in self-defense. Simplified, these techniques are effective, and you need something in those encounters where a firearm can’t be used. Krav Maga does this simplifying for you.

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