Discussing the martial arts

[Ryan]

What qualifies someone to talk about the martial arts? Is it a belt? A piece of paper? An age bracket? or is it something else? I believe anyone can discuss them. Anyone who opposes other opinions is closed minded. You can research martial arts, art forms and styles and have a general understanding. Just because I can't draw or paint well doesn't mean I can't go to the Louve and discuss a Monet.

[zaxonortesus]

I think that question is a little off. "What qualifies someone to talk about martial arts?" A voice. That is the only real qualifier. I think a better way to state that is "At what point do you start respecting someone's opinion on martial arts?"

For me, to answer the second question, It is dependant on a bunch of other questions, have they done whatever they are talking about? How long? How deeply have they studied it? How much time have they spent studying other related arts? I think the answers to all of these questions relate to the amount of stock you should put into the answer.

If you are Johnny Mechanic off the street debating with the instructor, it's pretty safe to assume who is going to have the upper hand in a debate about martial arts... Now if the instructor's car breaks down, who do you think he is going to go see? More experience = more respect for the opinion.

[Ryan]

I am just referring to the martial arts. My thing is, is that everyone who has at some point studied either by practicing or research should have an opinion. It is human descency to respect the opinion whether agreed upon or not. I respect you, your opinions and everything you bring to the table. I would listen to you about Muay Thai and form my own opinions from what you said. I wouldn't discount them because you aren't Master Toddy.

[willufc]

I think everyone can talk about Martial Arts... The problem though is how sufficient there learning about it is to help others in question to be clarified...

I can only talk about Martial Arts to the point that I had been reading books and an observer of the sport of MMA but until that I cannot tell everyone the technicalities about what should be good in doing the gogoplata, pentagram, or anything as I am not a practitioner of the sport... I can have a brief background of how it looks and how it would be done but for complexities and trouble shooting not me...

I think people who had been exposed to a sport's structure inside out are those that can say something... The problem though is we do not who they are... And even if we know they still have different opinions... Kind of hard to distinguish who they would be...

[Adam]

I think that unless u have trained in the style or ryu in discussion you should listen more than comment. Not to say that someone who hasn't studied will never have a valid comment, its just rare.

I study Judo/Jujutsu so wouldn't comment about wrestling , i no jack about it..

For instance, i never studied wrestling but my Russian mate sure used me as his grappling dummy. So i would comment on how it felt and how hard it was to fight against it and all that..

[Ryan]

I think that unless u have trained in the style or ryu in discussion you should listen more than comment. Not to say that someone who hasn't studied will never have a valid comment, its just rare.

I study Judo/Jujutsu so wouldn't comment about wrestling , i no jack about it..

For instance, i never studied wrestling but my Russian mate sure used me as his grappling dummy. So i would comment on how it felt and how hard it was to fight against it and all that..

would you feel disrespected if someone else tried to determine your worth to the cummunity?

[Adam]

Not really mate.. There so many peeps out there wit issues, always trying to bring others down to make themselfs feel better.. I dont let people like that get to me..
I really dont care what people think about me, i kno my worth and so does my wife and kids.. Their all that matters to me.

[younwha]

Everybody has an opinion about martial arts. However not everyone's opinion matters when it comes to martial arts lol

I think a lot of people think they know a lot more than they really do. I have trained in three different styles stretching to be about 12 years of my life, and yes I'm only 22. The thing is - even some of the stuff I learned my very first day... I'm still relearning it. I'm analyzing it deeper, beginning to understand it more, yet knowing that even if I think I know the technique inside and out - I truly don't know it. I don't think someone can get an understanding by just sitting on the sides.

I joke about BJJ being only a sport not a martial art because I like to razz people. But at the same time my understanding of grappling is far inferior to others. I'm only a novice in every sense of the word... and I've been practicing for 2 years now. However I still don't think my opinions on martial arts matter all that much...

[Ryan]

Not really mate.. There so many peeps out there wit issues, always trying to bring others down to make themselfs feel better.. I dont let people like that get to me..
I really dont care what people think about me, i kno my worth and so does my wife and kids.. Their all that matters to me.

true. I just don't see the purpose for me to post here anymore since others do not see my points as valid. I might as well concentrate my efforts elsewhere. I mean, since I don't train at this point in my life I guess I shouldn't open my mouth.

[Ryan]

Everybody has an opinion about martial arts. However not everyone's opinion matters when it comes to martial arts lol

I think a lot of people think they know a lot more than they really do. I have trained in three different styles stretching to be about 12 years of my life, and yes I'm only 22. The thing is - even some of the stuff I learned my very first day... I'm still relearning it. I'm analyzing it deeper, beginning to understand it more, yet knowing that even if I think I know the technique inside and out - I truly don't know it. I don't think someone can get an understanding by just sitting on the sides.

I joke about BJJ being only a sport not a martial art because I like to razz people. But at the same time my understanding of grappling is far inferior to others. I'm only a novice in every sense of the word... and I've been practicing for 2 years now. However I still don't think my opinions on martial arts matter all that much...

Its a shame you feel that way. In all honesty, you shouldn't feel that way. There will always be someone better than you at everything. If you felt that your opinion didn't matter because you are continually thinking deeper into things at stages in your life then in all honesty we should just read the blogs of that one person in life that is better than everyone.

[Adam]

Well that's total BS.. Funny, i also felt like i was getting attacked earlier ..
Bro your knowledge on MMA alone makes u totally viable. Wrestling on top of that, man u are a wealth of knowledge i need to have around..
Please don't leave mate...You kinda make these boards what they are Ryan, at least a big part bro..

[willufc]

true. I just don't see the purpose for me to post here anymore since others do not see my points as valid. I might as well concentrate my efforts elsewhere. I mean, since I don't train at this point in my life I guess I shouldn't open my mouth.

Hey man... You are one of the most important member in this forum. You serve as the heart and soul of sub101.

You have the best views out of life, MMA, etc...

[Oneiros]

Hey man... You are one of the most important member in this forum. You serve as the heart and soul of sub101.

You have the best views out of life, MMA, etc...

I second that!!!

You are not only that but very knowledgeable in things wrestling and most important: You are at least a 4th degree black belt in humanity, good tips and all around nice guy...

I love this forum because of the humanity and familiarity... not the "knowledge" about MA.

I do martial arts for around 19 years right now... and I dont consider myself very knowledgeable...

others do.... so what?

Stay with us and give us your best shots Ryan....
Your posts are very welcome with me... :-D

[Brandon Quick]

stepping on to a forum, one opens himself up to counter arguements, scrutiny and worst of all no one can tell what tone you are speaking with when it is all written

[willufc]

stepping on to a forum, one opens himself up to counter arguements, scrutiny and worst of all no one can tell what tone you are speaking with when it is all written

That is definitely true man... There are time that I thought people are already angry with me when I'm reading text messages or chatting when in fact they're not.

I also end up being confused by the manner of how sentences are to be understood like is that sarcasm, a joke, angry, etc...

[Tagg1080]

not knowing the person, as in, having met them face to face helps a lot in understanding how they think and how to understand their posts.

"knowledge is power, not rank" to quote my instructor, is a very good quote to go by.

a lot of people know a lot and things, and even masters learn from white belts, i can honestly say, and i am sure every other instructor on here will agree with me, that it is the questions of the new guys that are the most interesting.


so if you DO have experience, and really do know what you are taking about then people will respect you for that. If you do not, then we will still learn just by getting into your head and thinking in the mindset that you have laid out in front of us by speaking your mind.


we can all talk about martial arts, and we can all learn from everyone else.

as the saying goes, the instructor points your way uo the mountain, you must climb it, and we must all remember, the mountain changes over time, every time we climb it, it is slightly different, we see different things, we learn different things, and most importantly everyone sees and learns different things everytime, so i may have gone up that mountain 500 times, and you once, and you might have seen something i never have.


and open mind is all that you need. One law of kenpo is that the art will be interpreted as the student sees fit. we all see everything in a different light, with different grades of effectiveness and skill.


learning that we are ALL climbing the mountain, and that we are ALL at different points in every aspect, will help you.

If you have climbed that mountain a thousand times, and never saw an owl, and some1 who climbed it twice saw the owl, should u not believe them? call them stupid and push them away? saying here is no way? No, we learn from them, ask them where they saw it, and then we look for it when the time comes.

heh, i like the analogy of the mountain, i think it is very versatile and effective in explaining many things related to martial arts.

jus my thoughts, :D

[Tallsilkyslim]

Ryan:

I know why you spawned this thread. And i think debate is healthy to an extent. But a PM to you know who might also be a good idea to clear up any bad feelings. No one likes feeling unimportant. :)

OP:

I think there have been some great points made on here by everyone, and to save time i will say "plus one" to Kyle's post; Tagg1080 for those you don't know.

[cuzz63]

I dont consider my opinion worth much but after 20 plus years in MA's others ask me for my opinions and I give them, its up to them to consider what its worth.
I was having a discussion the other day with a BJJ guy who has a bluebelt and actually got it while living in Brazil, I would have thought his opinion meant a little more than mine since I have no belt but the kid made the comment that Rubber Guard was for stalling and was really useless and that was the opinion of his instructor also. After that I discounted whatever he had to say (maybe not fair of me).

[Ryan]

Hey guys, I appreciate it. I am going to stick around. I just got real pissy about things that were said. Again, I appreciate all of you. I may disagree and I may agree with things that all of you have said but I want you all to remember that I respect all of you. I have never been to a forum as cool as this with people I would love to hang out with.

Like in all families, we have fights and we have fun.

[Ari Bolden]

I must have missed something in this thread?

Its a forum. People have opinions. Opinions are not right or wrong. As long as you aren't a jack ass, you are welcome here.

If you think its tough in the virtual world-try doing philosophical debates for 5 years in university face to face....that was fun!

[Tallsilkyslim]

I must have missed something in this thread?

Its a forum. People have opinions. Opinions are not right or wrong. As long as you aren't a jack ass, you are welcome here.

If you think its tough in the virtual world-try doing philosophical debates for 5 years in university face to face....that was fun!

I would personally have to fight the urge to RNC people when i wasn't winning the debate........ And don't tell me that it didn't cross your mind at least once?:D :D

[Ryan]

I must have missed something in this thread?

Its a forum. People have opinions. Opinions are not right or wrong. As long as you aren't a jack ass, you are welcome here.

If you think its tough in the virtual world-try doing philosophical debates for 5 years in university face to face....that was fun!

its all good now

[mattamatta]

Hmm... I wonder if there's something to a connection between philosophy and grappling (maybe it's between philisophy and martial arts in general). My instructor studied philosophy too.

[younwha]

I assume this has something to do about the kata thread lol

Fact is that type of argument will continually be a problem for all martial artists of the world. A group of us will think they are a very important part of training, and a group will think they are a waste of time. It's just a matter of opinions, if things get heated just leave that thread for a while.

On a side note - I have used specific techniques from some of my katas to get the upper hand in a fight :) and I didn't realize it until after the job was done

[willufc]

Hmm... I wonder if there's something to a connection between philosophy and grappling (maybe it's between philisophy and martial arts in general). My instructor studied philosophy too.

There would always be... It's just that I don't know anything about it.

I'm a Political Science major and one of my professor is going to to his Ph. D. research pertaining to the "Politics of Sex Scandals."

Now I know everything can be connected in any other way...:D

[Ryan]

There would always be... It's just that I don't know anything about it.

I'm a Political Science major and one of my professor is going to to his Ph. D. research pertaining to the "Politics of Sex Scandals."

Now I know everything can be connected in any other way...:D

Only with the democrats :) Cough Clinton Cough Kennedy