I’ve been thinking about martial arts and how really it is useful these days since a lot of places will have criminals hiding firearms or in the U.S. some states have conceal carry.
Whilst it contains discipline and it is enjoyable to train in a club for, say Karate, I just think it might not be that useful in places where firearms are commonly held, all it really takes is for someone to take safety off, aim, pew pew and that’s it.
I suppose I probably get this thinking from kung fu where it’s seen more of an art form then actually being a serious bone breaking form of combat
If you want something that could actually be useful in real-life situations, pick up running.
Small technical error, you’re supposed to yell as you do that.
Can’t stop laughing
You should see a doctor about that.
Lmao
“Doc, he’s still going!”
“If he keeps it up at this rate, his as will fall off entirely!”
The science on how humans survived through some seriously apex predators tags this as the reason. We evolved to run, the Usain Bolts of the world not being rare back in the day, which is why we are even here, and now we’ve de-volved into a sedentary society where Usain Bolt is the only one.
It was never about our speed, it was about our endurance and persistence. There’s no point in history where we were the fastest creature in the local food chain, a deer or Buffalo was going to sprint faster than us, but when they had to stop to cool off or recover from the fast burn of energy, we were right there, right behind them, still coming.
It’s true we’re more like the T1000 from T2 than usain bolt. Iirc our endurance on land is unsurpassed by any other mammal
It was just one theory, backing his advice. We didn’t have the sharpest teeth or claws, but we could run away. And far better than our lazy asses generally can today.
Usain Bolt was faster than the hundreds of billions of people that came before him. He set a world record that still hasn’t been broken.
Define useful.
Will any martial art make it a good idea to engage in a street fight, ever? Will any martial art prevent you from getting shot, stabbed, or ganged up on and beaten? No. Your best bet is situational awareness and a keen sense of GTFO.
However, martial arts are physical activities. They involve precise movements, and allow you a safe space to build conditioning. All of that means that, even if the techniques of the specific art you practice are fundamentally useless in the situation, you’re going to be just better able to use your body effectively. Hopefully to run.
I’d say the biggest thing a martial art has over a traditional sport is conditioning yourself to take a proper hit. Beyond any technique, the first hit is usually the deciding hit in a street fight. Knowing what it’s like to be hit, and being able to not immediately crumble, go further than any technique.
My trainer always told me, even after years of training, that the first choice should always be running away instead of engaging.
100m hurdles and Parkour/Free Running are the greatest self defence.
I begun judo a few weeks ago. The teacher was clear: it may not be useful in actual fight, but we don’t fight often in the real life. But it’s great for your body, spirit and it will teach you how to fall without hurting yourself. And these things are way more useful than self defense.
I got up to judo brown belt as a teen and it has saved my ass countless times. Not in fights, but in silly ass falls. Having good instincts when falling is a lifesaver.
I had a few bike crashes: 2 times breaking the same collarbone + some head trauma. All of it could have been avoided by knowing how to fall, head first is bad, elbow first is bad and also chin first is bad. After learning how to fall I should also learn how to use a bike maybe 😅
All of it could have been avoided by knowing how to fall
That is so damn true.
I’m a downhill biker but I learned a bunch of combatives in the army so I know how to fall really well. My friends are always surprised when I walk away from a crash that should have broken something and all I have is a scratch on my shoulder.
My secret is just go limp. Tensing up is when you hurt yourself in a fall.
I just had a big fall on my electric bike this spring.
There was a brick sticking out of the brick bike path and I flipped over the handlebars into the street. It was the one day I forgot to grab my helmet leaving for work.
My hands got a bit cut up and my shoulder was slightly bruised, but I was completely fine! I only got a yellow belt in judo years ago so falling and basic throws are all I learned, but that probably saved my ass from getting a hurt elbow, wrist, or hitting my head.
Gods yes. Just the falls I’ve taken since becoming disabled that I prevented injury because I know how to fall safely would make the time spent training worth it.
The best physical training I ever had were: judo and working in the dish room of my college dining hall where the floor was always wet and slimy with food. Between the two of them, I never slipped again. When I saw an ice covered stairway or slope, I could go shooting down it with confidence I’d stay on my feet. Between the slippery floor while carrying breakables and knowing how to fall, falling was just not an issue.
Of course now I want me some of that “youth” back
When faced with a firearm or a knife, any self respecting martial artist will tell you the one technique that will save your life.
Running the fuck away and or taking cover.
When it comes to hand to hand combat, understanding the dynamics of how to protect yourself and control the opposer like in Jiu Jitsu is very useful and can also potentially save your life.
But no, if they have a weapon of any kind, get the fuck out of there.
Agreed. Good instructors tell you to run if you can, and teach you to fight if you have to.
Useful for what?
As a kind of joke, look at these senior citizen doing tai chi in the park, while many 80 years old can’t walk without a cane. Looks like pretty useful.
Judo or Aïkido will teach you how to fall, which may save you a visit to the ER if you slip on the street, and pretty useful again.
It’s also a fun way to exercise and stay in shape, so again, it’s useful
op mentioned the context is situations where firearms are used. so pretty sure they meant useful as a self defense method and not useful as a way of exercise
Get good enough and just dodge the bullets
Aside from how problematic the film is, I loved this as a kid!
Cool. Gun kata before Equilibrium.
That was some hilarious bullet dodging
tai chi in the park, while many 80 years old can’t walk without a cane.
As an aside, get someone to show you what they’re really doing when they’re doing Tai Chi. The muscle memory they learn is - when sped up - brutal and painful to others. It’s great how they hide it in a dancy movement class for blue-haired park-goers.
I’ve also met Fumio Demura at a seminar, and he comes across as just an old guy who wants to go fishing when he’s not teaching us to be damaging – so while they may look old and slow, there’s more going on.
Yeah people who don’t practice Tai Chi usually don’t realize that most of those movements they’re doing out there are slowed and exaggerated joint locks and throws. It is a combat training routine used as exercise.
Let’s be honest, most people who learn Tai chi as an exercise also don’t realize that it’s joint locks and throws.
Fair, a good instructor would tell you so though. Helps visualize the correct motions better.
Break falls are the only skill I’ve kept from my martial arts training, but it’s literally the most useful one.
Yes, but not for what you may think. Ritualized shouting and flailing is cathartic and great cardio. And when you’re doing it in a regular group, you don’t look as dorky (see: Line Dancing) and peer pressure will influence you to stick with it – and that’s the biggest failure mode of any workout plan.
Also, stretching is neat. Sometimes there’s meditation. Always there’s making noise and angry faces.
Somewhere, in there, you may learn two things: how to dodge something coming at you; and that you should always try to flee if you can, flee if you almost can, or negatively reinforce the person hurting you until they stop and then you can flee. The cardio helps with the fleeing.
And I can’t under-state the utility in fleeing. I’ve done the hi-ya, twirled a stick, played shooty-pow-pow and rat-a-tat; and, still, fleeing is the option with the best outcome.
This. Anyone actually seasoned in martial arts will back this up. Exceptions to this are trying to sell something.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has been very useful to me. My cardio has improved dramatically, I am much stronger than I used to be, and I’ve gotten a lot of enjoyment out of going from absolute trash to slightly less trash over 2 years.
But I don’t expect it to really help me in a fight. If I did get into a fight, I certainly would do better than if I hadn’t trained; but one thing I’ve learned from fighting people for like 8hrs a week is that it is REALLY easy to fuck up and get hurt in ways you wouldn’t expect. The outcome of a fight is unpredictable - especially when the other person could have a weapon. The best martial art for self defense would be running.
If you have a history of getting into fights, then yes it’s useful. Otherwise you’ll basically never use it. However there are plenty of benefits even if you never use it.
- Strength
- Flexibility
- Knowing that you’re going to get hurt even if you win the fight
- Etc
Exactly. Martial arts will make you live longer, not because you can kick ass in a fight, but because it is generally a great way to maintain cardiovascular health.
If need to train for an unarmed fight, I’d personally suggest the 400m sprint.
What is the “meme” of the 400m sprint (best MA discipline btw), I’ve seen it popping up everywhere the past couple of weeks haha
Is that a thing? Or is it just Baader-Meinhof
With 6 months of brazilian jiujitsu training you’ll win an unexperienced person bigger than you at wrestling virtually every single time. You may still get punched in the face, stabbed or shot but if you need to go hands on with someone it absolutely is better to know BJJ / MMA / wrestling than not.
I’m no expert, but I think basically unless it’s a one on one with someone who’s unarmed, and maybe inexperienced, it won’t help much. Every good instructor would tell you to give them what they want, or maybe run away if they only have a knife.
all of the “real” Martial arts from back before guns were about using weapons. those aren’t really practiced as much anymore because they’re all useless in the face of firearms anyway. why spend years training with a knife when the same time could be spent training with a gun. if combat effectiveness is your goal then you need to learn modern combat techniques.
that said, there’s plenty to be learned from it, and it’s not like it can’t help you in a fight. but as another commenter said, the real way to win every fight is by avoiding them. so really the best thing to learn is de-escalation and recognizing danger.
Yes, absolutely! Mostly for exercise and mental health though.
For more practical styles, look at jiu jitsu, Muay Thai, MMA, and/or krav maga. Look for a teacher who has fought professionally or otherwise has practical experience. There are a lot of bullshitters out there who will happily take your money.
Also, keep in mind you get out of it what you put into it effort wise.
I have done quite a few martial arts. Anyone who tells you you can learn X and fight against someone who is armed (knife or gun) is simply spouting B.S.
If someone pulls out a gun on you, give that person what he wants and pray you are not going to end up shot anyway.
If someone pulls out a knife on you, again, don’t try to be a hero: give that person what he wants. Don’t play hero, especially if the guy holding the knife seems to know what he is doing.
Martial arts are just a way to train your body and your mind, both trainings are valuable in and out of themselves. They will keep you calm in a tense situation, they may even save your life since no one wants to mess with a dude that keeps his cool. Ultimately, a street fight can be avoided just by looking calm and composed.
If someone pulls out a knife on you, do the same.
I know what you mean here, but the phrasing is hilarious out of context.
Always bring a knife to a knife fight
But if you have a tank, use it instead.
Op is Australian:
Yeah, I should read what I write before posting… 😉
It’s a sport. It’s not meaningfully more useful than other sports.
If you want something that’s genuinely useful in a confrontation, give up the fantasy of beating people up. Every time you fight you run a very real risk of incurring permanent harm or worse. Instead, sign up for track and learn and practice how to run away really fast.
TLDR: fighting not good. Not fighting, good.
It taught me meditation and self-control. It made exercise desirable as an activity.
But for self-defense, many martial arts do teach techniques for disarming opponents. The range within a gun loses effectiveness against a trained, unarmed opponent is actually larger than you think. Not to mention that muggers tend to avoid “harder” marks like those in good shape or who move like fighters.
who move like fighters.
This is a big one. People who know how to fight can pretty easily identify other people who know how to fight. Just knowing how to fight will keep you out of a lot of fights.
