Penn and Teller last night

hahaha - would make a good short animated movie, for sure

 

Sure - but no kissing.

 

What kind of cheap saurian do you think I am?

 

We know what kind of cheap saurian you are...normally it's just a case of haggling over price

 

Bow-chicka-bow-wow.

 

I'd change my profile pic to a scientific representation of dinosaurs mating if I thought the TOS would allow it. As is I think I better watch my step. :X

 

Would any dinos being wearing a hat while doing this?

 

That wouldn't be very scientific.

Also a gentleman removes his top hat during.

 

I just had an interesting time on Google Images writing in different wording for "dinosaurs mating."

Just thought I would mention it. I think the T-Rex one will pass on MAP philo.

 

i think we're in agreement about seat belts and guns.

but i just really think the "martial arts" industry has a lot of problems--a lot. the first of which is that very few "students" are taught how to actually fight.

one of the most amazing things that i've found is the marketing, because of magazines, movies, mass media. i've been doing martial arts for over a decade of actual training time. when someone asks me about training for themselves or their kids, for both i say "judo" or "wrestling" or "boxing". and many times that's met with derision, from someone who has no idea about what to actually do if someone is about to hit them.

 

Hope they wear raincoats instead...hate to see what would come o that nastiness

 

Ergo you don't then.... :evil:

 

Well, my kids are doing Wrestling, and Judo, and BJJ and I am trying to find somewhere for them to get their basic striking.

But I know what you mean.

 

Can any of us say that there isn't a lot of BS (as per the name of the show) in the martial arts community/industry? The show was comedy and satire, but the fundamental point is valid. How far would you have to drive to find a school that is completely worthless as judged by the students capability in a life threatening violent situation? Probably not far at all...

 

Arguing over the validity of MA on a Penn and Teller show is like arguing over the validity of MA in a Powerpuff Girls episode. As for injuries in training I don't think I had a single injury training Wing Chun.

 

What you're talking about is situations in which (a) the attacker has no goals except to commit an act of violence for its own sake, and (b) there is no place to run. I don't think I'm really going out on a limb when I guess that this is a small minority of incidents of violence.

My experience has been that "most" is entirely accurate. How many of your instructors have tried their moves out against thugs on the street?

Yeah, you probably would, but that's not the point. The point is that it doesn't happen often enough that the likelihood is worth the thousands of dollars and a lifetime of work, especially in light of point #8.

Depends on what you train. I'm an aikido guy, so I've dealt with a lot of that trash in the four short years I've been training.

What, specifically, is this "blatant lie" that P&T are telling? Can you quote the show? Judo founder Jigoro Kano introduced the dan, but the first recorded use of a series of colored belts is in France in the Twentieth Century.

Nowhere in the show does anyone say that all martial arts training is useless. And you yourself admit the point is accurate, so I'm not sure what you're getting at.

For every quality MMA club in this world, there are ten karate or TKD clubs overcharging children for Power Ranger moves taught alongside fortune cookie philosophy.

Their point is that training martial arts to protect yourself from harm doesn't make sense, since the training is more likely to cause you harm than protect you from it (and that point they do back up with statistics). You can deny this point if you like, but that's not what you're doing: you're calling it "misleading as hell" but then pretty much admitting it's true in the next breath.

 

I'd be interested in reading more about this if you wouldn't mind posting a link or something.

 

From what I can find, the colored belts for different kyu ranks were first instituted by Mikonosuke Kawaishi in France in the 1930s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikonosuke_Kawaishi
http://judopedia.com/index.php/Mikonosuke_Kawaishi
http://www.gojukandojo.com/sensei/mikonosuke.kawaishi/

 

A less...tactful person than I might say that that says more about the quality of your training than it does about the dangers of martial arts training in general. Of course, I would never dream of making such an allegation - you've probably just been really really lucky.