Why do most people who have never used their martial arts for self defense say their art is best for it?

Question

Most male fights do not go to the ground unless you get slammed or knocked out, kicking is useless when socked in the face unsuspectingly, and you cannot carry weapons legally, so what art does not require me to straddle another man (that's so Gay), throw hundreds of kicks or pretend I'm a ninja mastering the swords, knives, staff, stars, nunchaku or other weapons that I can't carry? What's going to work on the street or in a bar?

Answer 1

Martial arts is mostly about conditioning, discipline and balance. The conditioning will improve your reaction time, the discipline keeps you thinking straight, and the balance keeps you on your feet.
But once you have mastered any particular martial art you realize that the best defense is to walk away.

Answer 2

Get ready for at least 10 different responses, from Kung-fu to Tae Kwon Do to Traditional Martial Arts like Shotokan Karate and even on down to Aikido. Everybody loves the MA they practice and few have patience for any others.

For direct applicability, I would look into a Jeet Kun Do school, maybe of the Paul Vunak lineage. You can then research from there. Alot of people are going to disagree on this one, but there it is.

I recommended this because, guess what, if you're worried about getting in a fight, you need groundfighting skills. No one is saying that if you're beating the snot out of someone standing up that you should take them to the ground. But, if someone takes you to the ground and you are not a ground fighter, you're hosed.

Believe me, that is the one thing that I would worry about if it ever came to blows...I would just hope that I can get outta there before it goes to the ground as I don't have the skills.

And check out http://www.bullshido.com ...good stuff over there

Answer 3

I work as a bouncer at several clubs and your wrong except for the first few wild punches thrown most guys lock up at some point most with a side headlock, I use my martial arts every time I have to escort someone out, or when engaged in a fight I use different moves depending on the situation, being trained in some form gives you an advantage as long as you are physically prepared and spar, sparing is the best prep for the real thing, most people hesitate and have to think about what to do, if your trained it is an instinct reaction. stick with the basics your not going to have the time or room to do any high flying kicks, but when i grab the back of your head and start to throw uppercuts and elbows believe me they work!

Answer 4

I hate to tell you, but Kenpo isn't the be all end all of martial arts. It's good though. But yeah, I see what you're saying about that weapon fighting stuff. As if someone just walks around with a katana sword like some kind of ninja turtle. And I think we all know how useless most traditional martial arts are. But to answer your question, it's because everybody wants to think they're right and doens't want to think, "Maybe I spent the past 8 years of my life learning some ridiculous dance that will get my *** kicked if I ever have to defend myself."

Answer 5

Most (good) instructors will not train you if they find out you are training in order to bar/street fight, first of all. It's a sport. Secondly, most fights DO go to the ground, male or female. The fact that you think that is "gay" makes me think you don't have a lot of confidence, so maybe a martial art could help you in that department.

Answer 6

i think everyone should know grapling and standup fighting, you cant say "Im just not going to take the fight to the ground" unless you have done grapling, if you know how the system works you THEN you can sort of fight on your feet and it will depend on the other persons skill if he can take you down or not, but without any experience anyone who says they are not going to go down might have a real bad experience one day

Anyway, martial artists shouldnt fight with eachother and thats the whole point, as long as guys who do BJJ dont go out and start fights all the ninjas will be alright

I want to tell you that every art will work against someone who doesnt know anything, even *shudders* Aikido will work, well maby not Aikido but anyway, what i mean is all martial arts have some good points in them and that might be enough to get you through a fight, but personaly i want to be the best fighter I can be, and that means to challenge myself in tournaments face my fears of getting clobered and learn everything i can thats valuable from everything the martial world has too offer

Answer 7

What's going to work on the street or the bar is the confidence in which you carry yourself. Martial arts teaches you discipline and keeping your wits about you. One who has mastered most techniques believes he can deal with attacks when they come and most bullies, drunks or punks don't want to deal with a confident opponent. I personally know a short sensei who lost his daughter in a car accident and feels that he has nothing left in life to lose, and several bar flies have remarked they would never tangle with him because he doesn't care if he dies, he just cares who goes with him, and they don't want to be the one.

Answer 8

OK... If you trip a guy and snap his arm I'd think that's pretty effective. Why are you fighting in a bar anyway?

Of course people are gonna say the art they practice is best. If you like the NFL over MLB aren't you gonna say the NFL is better?

Answer 9

the most fights go to the ground stuff is just a myth perpatrated by the ground styles such as bjj to make it look good to uninformed ppl,and i'm not saying bjj is no good before anyone starts emailing me with ****.
what works best in real situations is your brain.its also important to cross train in stand up,ground/grappling and weapons if you want to defend yourself effectively in most situations.

Answer 10

Ok dude........ 70% of ALL fights end up on the ground. So if rolling on the ground beating each other up is "gay" to you. Just don't fight. Because you WILL wind up on the ground.