If our technology is so great and our minds are so mighty, then why can't we handle wars with martial arts

Question

instead of using weapons of mass destruction...total annihiliation and genocide. Whatever became of the "art of war..." Iraq is a total mess.

Obviously I mean where both sides are fighting hand to hand. Trolls are so cute ;)

PS- If you are easily angered by my question then simply don't answer and I'm not talking about the text, Art of War. I'm just referring to war as an art form, a passion, maybe something worth putting effort into to perfect. Geez...

Answer 1

Your question is a great example of how out of touch the general public is with the military...

Been to Iraq three times, obviously some people think being ignorant is cute ;)

Answer 2

Sun Tzu wrote a book called "The Art of War" several thousand years ago.

The existence of nuclear and biological weapons doesn't detract from the validity of what he wrote. His principles still stand, and are unchanged by technology.

You should reconsider your opinion on Iraq being a total mess. Perhaps you simply don't have enough information to actually understand the situation; I know I don't have answers to all of my questions, but as long as I remain convinced that the answers exist, I don't think it's a mess, I think I just don't understand it all.

I think the truth is that someone wants you to think it is a mess, and that's where the real battle is being fought. As Sun Tzu said, "All warfare is based on deception". I think the real battleground of Iraq is the battle for your opinion. If you think it is a "mess" then someone has probably won that battle.

Answer 3

It would be great if we could use our technology to develop effective nonlethal weapons.

Maybe laser guided precision weapons are a step in the right direction in that they limit the killing to a smaller area. Can the laser guided technology become so accurate that it can destroy a weapon without killing the person(s) operating the weapon? Would that put an end to the cycle of revenge that results when someones loved one gets killed and they want to kill an enemy in return? Would it deny the enemy the motivation that comes from being in a "kill or be killed" situation?

I hope so ........ but a martial arts expert can kick a tank all day and it wouldn't do much good.

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Answer 4

It is precisely because our minds are so great that we can come up with better weapons. In fact, what are martial arts but better hand-to-hand combat?

Better weapons enable us to kill more of the enemy more efficiently and more quickly, before they can kill us more efficiently and more quickly. Simply put, war is about killing people and breaking things. If we do it to them faster and better than they do it to us, we win. If they do it to us faster and better than we do it to them, they win.

And people say violence never solves anything. When you use violence to kill off your enemy, he can do you no more harm. There, violence just solved something. That is what war is about. Take out your enemy, and problems are solved. That's how the Romans conquered their lands. That's how the Greeks conquered their lands. That's how the Huns conquered their lands.

You might have a hard time thinking like that. Not everyone does. A very short list of people who thought like that:
Napoleon
Peter the Great
Alexander the Great
Attila the Hun
Genghis Khan
Timur e Lang

I agree with a previous poster's answer that the general public is out of touch with the military.

Some questions for you to answer:

Do you have any martial arts training?
Have you personally ever killed someone/defended yourself with that training?
Could you kill multiple enemies with that training...?
...before being killed yourself by an opponent that happens to be faster, stronger, or just better?
Do you have any idea how difficult it would be to win a battle (not a war, a single battle) with no weapons, just hand-to-hand combat using only martial arts?
What happens when one (just one) opponent brings out a weapon (a sword, for example)?
Does that sword-bearer gain an advantage against you and the other unarmed combatants?
Would you not seek a similar advantage?
Do you understand what 'escalation' is?
Do you know what the 'art of war' means?

If you're going to ask "pie-in-the-sky" questions like why can't we handle war without weapons, why not ask one like this:
"If our minds are so mighty, why can't we handle problems without resorting to war in the first place?"

Answer 5

1) You answered it in the question. We have technology, why fight with our hands?
2) It takes five years for someone to be proficent in hand-to-hand combat. It takes 2 weeks to learn to hit a man-sized target at 300 meters. Factor in that size matters, and martial arts becomes even more inefficient.
3) Our enemies use guns and bombs. Would you like us to karate chops bullets and IEDs?

Answer 6

Not every country has martial arts, like in America most people use just brute strength. Why have a small dude and a big dude fight when the small dude can tak ethe big dude out with a .50 mm bullet.

Answer 7

I am a martial arts instructor and also a soldier. The enemy would kill us if we attacked using hand to hand. Believe me, they won't give up their weapons. We try to achieve peace through superior firepower.

Answer 8

Yes, just send the political leaders on a fighting ring.
Whoever wins, takes all.

Funny, but Vladimir Putin will kick everybody's butt. He is a Judo master.

Answer 9

art of war-That's funny there is no art about it and we don't do martial arts patrly becaue we have the resources to kill them easier and secondly because the enemy have big guns.

Answer 10

We would have to get the enemy to agree to that!

And in Iraq the enemy is too much of a coward to fight us one on one. They need to use car bombs and children as shields because they are so cowardly!