I'm into mixed martial arts
(MMA): no artistic part... pure fighting. MMA is what they do in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, for those of
you who don't know. I'm not a loner, nor was I bullied... I just like kicking ass, what can I say?
After reading through this discussion board for a while, it seems as though there are quite a few
martial artists on this discussion board. I have a theory as to why this is the case. The martial arts are largely
solitary endeavors and tends to attract more men who are either lone wolf types, loners or shy guys who may have
been bullied growing up. Not all of them are like this, but I think quite a few men into the martial arts fit into
this category.
Now I would like to take a step further and theorize that men are into pheromones tend to either
have a history or shyness, being loners or have had problems in meeting women for various reasons.
I was bullied
growing up and have a history of shyness and being a loner. I've been practicing the martial arts for over 20
years. The first style I've studied was taekwondo and more recently, I've switched to kyokushin karate.
I'm into mixed martial arts
(MMA): no artistic part... pure fighting. MMA is what they do in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, for those of
you who don't know. I'm not a loner, nor was I bullied... I just like kicking ass, what can I say?
i just got into watching UFC and
those MMA(mixed martial arts) events recently.... me and my friends always have a good time betting with each other
and just watching a good fight. I cnoot say that i watch these sports due to bullying...... but i did have a hard
time in middle school with kids my age but everything pretty much changed once i got to high school... couple of ups
and downs but now im mature and in university so i can say that i watch these sports solely for the fun of
it......(im pretty sure no ones gonna fu#k with me unless they no that there gonna get whats coming to them)
Hmmm - I know this fits several
individuals here but that may be a bit of a generalization.
I am somewhat into martial arts but it serves a
purpose (work) and is not a way of life. I think martial arts shows a certain amount of A-type personality and the
aggression - competetiveness that goes with it, but tempered by a understanding of the importance of self-control.
I am somewhat independent - I never joined a fraternity in college. But I am a leader in a team environment.
Although it is a team environment that thrusts heavy responsibility down on each individual team member who must be
able to act and makes decisions on their own.
I am definitely NOT shy. My wife say I always "flirt with my
eyes". I say I am just being friendly. I seldom have had trouble meeting someone. (It's easy - just go talk to
them.) I have a lot of female friends in the circles I move in. I can give off the "CEE" if I am not careful but I
have learned the easiest way to avoid that is .... dramatic drum roll .... smile and be friendly. Be nice and
helpful if it is needed. Nothing that has not been pointed out in these forums before.
I took Taekwondo as a young
teenager. I got to 2nd degree blackbelt before pulling out. I wasn't bullied I did it for the dicipline and fight
moves.
I studied Kung fu starting as a
young teenager, more than anything because my big mouth got me into lots of trouble. A good friend thought the
training would mellow me a bit, which it did. When I was about 40 I moved from California to Texas and couldn't
find a master I liked so switched over to Tae Kwon Do. Have been doing that for about nine years now.
No, I
wasn't picked on much but have quite a temper and, as mentioned, a big mouth. Most of my life I've had to do
physical work so was strong even as a kid. It discouraged most people from picking on me. Where we lived kind of
enforced a lone wolf attitude until the track houses grew into the area. By then most of my loner habits were well
established. I think that a kid who didn't talk much and usually wandered around with a very large, mean looking
dog discouraged a lot of friendships.
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson
I was in Tae Kwon Do for seven
years while around high school age. I was the skinny little runt nerd everyone used to pick on, but I fortunately
didn't get beat up much. Ironically, I got involved because a friend of mine, also a skinny little runt nerd, got
beat up good. His mother put him in, and decided his sister should also join. She joined too. My mother was
friends with his mother, so she decided we were joining. Within a month it was just me left there.
I was
mainly there for something to do after school, but I was learning self esteem and didn't know it yet. I ended up
quitting when a gf committed suicide, and decided not to go back out of social anxiety. I really regret that
decision now.
Now, I am wanting to go back, but a bit nervouse because I have both stress induced asthma
and scarred lungs from chemotherapy, and I get out of breath very quickly with any physical exertion. But I really
miss it, and given how much I have grown and become more confident in myself in the mean time, I think if I could
pull it off, I'd be very proud to be back in the martial arts.
My school was interested in the practical
application - can you defend yourself on the street? - and they taught that as their main thrust.
You should get back into it,
find a good school and talk to the master first. A good one will work with you on your limitations. I've had to
take time out for health or business reasons more than once but always went back.
Practical application is
critical, the schools that teach tournament styles are doing the students a diservice, IMHO. On the other hand, the
confidence and respect taught in the korean or chinese fundamental schools is will worth the extra effort. It may
take longer to progress in rankings but you gain a lot more from it. There is a lot of philosophy to learn as well
as the physical side, they need to mesh to do the job right. It is, after all, an art form.
However, this really
has little to do with pheromones and the science of attraction so I am moving it to open discussion.
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson
I studied Okinawan
Kempo for several years. My school wasn't the greatest, many relatives of the founders were "gangster" types. After
a million dollar injury lawsuit, they cut back on sparring to practically none. Then they begged a black belt from
out of state and a different style to stay on after embarassing the school at a tournament we hosted because they
needed him to teach the pee wees.
The combination of my losing respect for the owners for begging this clown
to stay on and the non-sparring issue caused me to drop out right as I was ready to test for brown belt.
I
was also looking for "spiritual philosophy," which little of was taught at my dojo.
I miss it, but now my
knees and ankles bother me and I think that kind of training would be too hard on them. I'd like to learn Aikido,
but I would have to locate to a real city to find a school in that art. I now get my spiritual fix from my
meditation Guru, Siva Baba.
And yes, I am kind of a loner and was picked on in school. I never was one for
team sports and really took to this individual one until my school lost face with me.
I am going to throw something
inot this theory that may strike a chord with some of you...Martial artists have a tendancy to be thoughtful in a
devious sort of way.More open minded and more inclined to study life from a distance befor engaging in it rather
than simply wading into it willy nilly.It has been my observation that martail artists tend to be the people who
actualy think BEFOR they act and as a result tend to display a higher level of competence in thier endevors because
they back up confidence with planning and forthought.
I spent quite a bit of my life
studying martial arts, karate, aikido, and Thai kick boxing, all over the world. Aikido I studided for 12 years in
Japan, and kick boxing at a gym in the middle of nowhere on a tropical island in Thailand; all memories for a
lifetime, and did me a world of good. I wasn't exactly bullied growing up, but I wsa pretty low on the totem pole
in school and developed rapidly into a lone wolf. It wasn't only martial arts that attracted me though; it was all
things Eastern and mysterious. I also spent quite a bit of time in Japan, China, India, Nepal, and Thailand
studying meditation. Some might call it escapism, but in retrospect I would say being "normal" in the US didn't
suit me. I suppose the eruption of drug culture in the 60s and 70s was a similar phenomenon. Everybody just needs
to fit in somewhere/somehow.
B
To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.
- Buddha
Yoga in Eugene
Fair Trade crafts from Peru
Good points... Methodical and orOriginally Posted by tim929
detail oriented I think is a good word to use. That's not to say however that all martial artists are methodical
and detail oriented with everything they do, but when one is very serious about something it's very rare that
he/she will not apply it to at least one other aspect of his/her life. Now we can extend this supposition to
pheromones... I strongly believe that people who use pheromones are thoughtful and methodical to think about
attracting women or men with chemicals. In some ways it seems a little devious or under-handed, but either way you
look at it requires significant premeditation. In other words, we plan to attract women with pheromones, not just
haphazardly hope that our wit, charm and looks will do the trick alone.
Okinawan Kempo is a strong stlye. I'd like to know why wasOriginally Posted by InternationalPlayboy
a $1 million law suit brought up?
Because we live in a countryOriginally Posted by Tiger4
where people who spill hot coffee in their own laps can sue the fast food company...And WIN!
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson
Our dojo had bare cement floors. A "gangster" type (who was in my graduation class in highOriginally Posted by Tiger4
school) earned his black belt, then moved away for several years. He came back and opened his own studio and billed
himself as "Master Willie," but still came to our school to work out occasionally.
This guy was giving
"fighting" classes after the regular class once a week. A buddy of his, who had just been promoted to black belt,
was fighting a brown belt. The brown belt was winning and Willie kept telling the new black belt that he couldn't
let a brown belt beat him. The black belt did a take down and the brown belt broke his collarbone on the bare cement
floor. There was nerve damage and he lost some use of his hand on that side.
The black belts never showed up
at our dojo again. There were insurance problems as Willie wasn't actually an official instructor of the school.
After that, it was like pulling teeth to get them to let us spar. They also encouraged all adults to sign up for
classes through the college so the college's insurance would cover them.
I think jumping jacks, etc. on the
bare floors helped facilitate my knee, ankle and back problems. This school is also located in Arizona, where
temperatures can approach 120 degrees in the summer. The dojo only had a swamp cooler, which they were reluctant to
use because of the expense of electricity. I would lose five pounds in sweat each summer evening workout.
As
a sidebar, about a year later, "Master Willie" knifed his brother in law at a family party. That was the last I ever
heard of him.
I didn't mind the lack of funds in the school and was loyal, even with the limited sparring.
It was when they begged the black belt from Arkansas and a different style to stay on after what he did at a
tournament and had to say afterwards that I finally dropped out.
Something
interesting is that the father of the injured brown belt was a black belt at our school. After the lawsuit, he was
still there.
I think you could say that aboutOriginally Posted by tim929
half or more of us in the martial arts. The dojo I originally studied at discouraged those who were there simply to
learn to fight so had a higher percentage of what you could call true artists. A karate dojo I visited after moving
to Texas focused on street fighting and I felt that there was very little in the way of thought about what they were
doing other than the easiest way to win a fight. Very little of the discipline involved in that particular art was
taught there.
Both dojos I have been involved in discourage violent solutions except as a last resort. They do
not advocate 'Losing face' but emphasize trying to avoid situations where you'll need to fight. That requires
extensive forethought and it does carry over into other aspects of life. I started learning to train dogs when I was
about 8 and that requires certain forethought too. Maybe the need for forethought in an occupation attracts those
with a proclivity ofr such attitudes?
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson
Originally Posted by InternationalPlayboy
That sounds like an ugly situation. I'm talking about the part where the brown belt broke his collar bone. The
bare concrete floor certainly didn't help anything. What did the black belt do, execute a judo throw or
something?
Where in Arizona was the school?
I'm not sure about the take down. I didn't personally witnessOriginally Posted by Tiger4
it. The dojo was in Yuma. I'm not sure if it's still open. One of the guys I worked with has opened his own school
and the college doesn't give classes through the dojo I was affiliated with anymore. The Arkansas guy who talked
crap about the founders and then was begged to stay left a couple of years later to open his own school too. In his
original style.
I've wanted to learn Tai Chi
ever since I saw an informercial on David Carradine's Tai Chi videos. It looked fairly easy to pick up.
I'm
totally non-flexible. I can barely cross my legs.I'm strictly a strength guy, like the big dude in Bloodsport
that broke a brick with his forehead
I've always been interested in MA. Some of the first movies that I
watched were "Talons of the Eagle" with Billy Blanks and "Full Contact" (I now own it). Mostly the 80s stuff is the
best: Van Damme, Don "the Dragon" Wilson, Michael Dutikoff (sp).
If I could learn any form, I would learn Eagle
Claw and Tiger. Also Krav Maga, and most of the weapons. I own a ninja-ken (sword), nunchucks, shurikens and a
balisong. I want to learn those and the bo, sai, chain whip, butterfly sword, and the
broadsword.
Personally I practise Systema.
Its not an art but I dont care for "spiritual philosophy" as people will always do whatever they want in the end. It
aint fancy, just gets straight to business. I've fought Taekwondo, Karate and Jujitsu guys and won every time, but
maybe they werent that good? Only another systema fighter comes close and Ive heard Krav Maga guys are leathal but
have yet to fight one. Also ive heard the dojo of Glock is pretty effective as well
As for the lawsuits and
injuries, dont you guys sign papers preventing lawsuit if injuried etc???
Immediately after such a statement I realize that youOriginally Posted by Icehawk
are not a martial artist nor do you know anything about what being a true martial artist is all about. Further
more, you probably wouldn't have the aptitude nor the discipline to learn a martial art.
Yes you are correct. I do not
practice a martial 'art'. I practice a fighting style. Nothing more. I do use it on the street, so learning an
'art' is pointeless for me. As for the aptitude or discipline part, well never know as I probably will never
venture into that area. Ive done my share of living however. I do live a very disciplined life. And I do see how
people could pick this as a way of life. But that aint for me. I only see the phisical. If you've got a problem
with that than fine.
do you fight in mixed martial arts
tournaments, icehawk? Just wondering as you have beaten a number of different styles. Do you know if they teach
this style in the U.K.
thanks
Nah, no turnaments for me.
Strickly practical useand sparring. A friend of mine practiced taekwondo and karate, but has since switched
over to systema. Its a very practical way of fighting. The idea is to close to and 'defeat' your opponent as
quickly and efficiently as possible. Maximum damage in minimum time. No fancy stuff, no high kicks etc. Here is an
excerp by an Aikido trainer;
"His skills are astounding and in perfect consonnance with the philosophy of aikido.
He never opposes an attack, but blends and leads the attacker into a fall or submission. Vladimir is humble but with
complete confidence born of his many years of training and exposure to life-and-death situations. Out on the mat I
found the training in Systema to be very rigorous. It includes lots of pushups, situps, varied breathing exercises,
and body strengthening exercises. Since it is so demanding, anyone who seriously trains will become very fit
quickly. The techniques themselves are applied with wave and spiral-type motions which can transform into a cascade
of follow-up movements depending on the reaction of the attacker. An important part of training time is devoted to
light, sparring exercises that are quite enjoyable and constantly challenge you to resist the temptation to use
power. Systema techniques performed at the highest level use only the minimum amount of energy and operate largely
on a mental/psychic plane. Also, the variety of training scenarios is vast ranging from empty-handed attacks, to the
use of various street and military weapons, multiple attacks, car-jackings, bodyguarding work, etc. You name it,
Systema has a body of techniques to deal with
it."
http://www.aikidojournal.com/article.php?artic
leID=367
Now in retrospect, I do realize that Im comming across as pompous. Simply put our fighting style is
relatively new and unknown so we end up screaming it to the world
Anyways here is a link to a few UK systema
sites. Check it out if you're
interested.
http://www.russianmartialart.c
om/main.php?page=affiliates&loc=int
I’ve been practicing Aikido for 6
years. I’ve never been shy or a “lone wolf” and I tend to “go with my gut” rather than engage in a lot of planning
or reflection. But it may be significant that I took up the art during a lonely point in my life while I was riddled
with many self doubts.
My original intent was to burn off aggressions and meet new people, but it’s turned
out to be something of a spiritual journey instead.
My avatar illustrates an example of “irimi”: entering an
opponents attack before the point of impact. There are many cooler looking moves in aikido, but this one has lots of
symbolic significance for me. I used to always go out of my way to avoid unpleasant situations and I was a hopeless
procrastinator when faced with unpleasant tasks. I believe that the physical practice of “irimi” has given me the
spiritual strength and emotional resolve to jump right into any problematic situation before it turns into something
unmanageable. (But I don’t suppose there’s any way of proving that.)
I see a wide variety of personality
types at our dojo. Most got into the practice for the same reason that Bruce did: fascination with Japanese culture,
Eastern philosophy, and/or Oriental medicine. But the ones that stick with it tend to be the types that derive a lot
of joy from the practice.
For me it’s just like being a little kid and roughhousing with my friends. There’s
lots of grappling, lots of tumbling, swordplay, nifty joint-pressure locks... Plus you get to dress up like a
samurai. On some days the instructor makes us do crazy things like a full session of “suwariwaza” (kneeling
techniques), and our dojo has no central heating or air-conditioning - which makes for really tough practice on cold
winter or hot summer days. But it always feels like play to me and I never seem to notice the hardships until after
the fact. (Sort of like when kids spend the whole day sledding and don’t notice that their toes and fingers have
gone numb.)
I don’t knowOriginally Posted by Tiger4
about other martial arts, but Aikido shouldn’t be classified as a “solitary endeavor". All of the techniques are
counter-attacks, so there’s no way to practice on your own. On a deeper level, the techniques don’t really work
unless you have perfect timing and something like a sixth sense for how the attackers are going to react. So you
really need many skillful partners if you want to advance your own skills.
With regards to winning
fights... I think beyond any skills or techniques, you’ve got to have the will and desire to break another person
down. I don’t have that. So I don’t even bother getting into fights.
Give truth a chance.
I have concluded that since I keep hearing the same thing, I am going to get back intoOriginally Posted by belgareth
it. I have also been told by doctors that I can improve lung volume by working them out, and I'm sure I could also
improve it with mental technique.
I heard from a friend the other day that one of the guys who was a brown belt
when I started is now a 5th degree black belt and runs the school I used to go to.
Well, at least I'm in good
with the Master. :-)
Shinte do & american freestyle &
yep I'm a loner.
I started with Kung Fu when I was
about 10. Later, Aikido, Kempo, and Judo. For the most part, I've never had to use it "for real". however, there
was a point in the jungles of Viet Nam where I was forced to demonstrate that people can die from these "arts".
Freedom begins when you tell Mrs. Grundy to go fly a kite.
--Lazarus Long
Started tae kwon do at 12 and
practiced off and on over the years, when I was a bit younger. I was originally inspired by the original "Kung Fu"
TV series with David Carradine, and some of the mysterious aspects. I boxed for a few years more recently, and
enjoyed it quite a bit. I learned that martial arts are a great precursor for boxing, but that boxers are much
better punchers.
DrSmellThis (creator of P H E R O S)
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