You know, it’s pretty amusing when some folks are so blinded by there sexism they simply reject any information they get from someone with a penis. Go check out this thread… and since it is possible they will delete my posts, I have reprinted them here.
A martial arts thread… pretty cool.
Anyway, I have been in the arts for a decade or so, teaching for 5 and hopefully in another two years I will become a Sensei. it was 8 years till my black belt… a little long for traditional time frames (they run about 5 years) but our school promotes slowly.
My rank holds for Karate, Judo, Ju-Jitsu and we work on a broad range of things we call “self defense” as well as techniques we use when we train police and FBI personnel.
In my experience the right art can be extremely useful for women. We work with local rape centers to offer defense classes for fee and a number of those women have had to use what we taught them in an encounter – the success rate is fairly high for them.
I will make one small comment. Traditional arts do >not< depend on the honor of those participating. Traditional arts are not sports, they were tools of war and social dissent. Ju-Jitsu for instance is devoted to the concept of a single movement resulting in a bone or joint break and/or a kill. This is not a sport.
In general, you local Tae-Kwon-Do school >is< teaching a watered down version of TDK that is really only useful as a sport. Simply avoid those schools.
Rules of thumb? If anyone in the school under 18 has a black belt on – ignore the school.
If anyone is going to promise you that you or anyone else can make black belt if you sign a multi-year contract – ignore the school.
If they don’t make contact – ignore them.
If they can’t teach you how to fight on the ground, where a HUGE percentage of the altercations wind up – ignore the school.
edited for some obvious spelling issues
[ 08-25-2003, 11:03 PM: Message edited by: Soulhuntre ]
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.sig changed at moderator request.If you want to read my weblog search for me in google… but you probably don’t want to do that.
quote:
Originally posted by Lucky Radical Devil:
Tae Kwon Do is my art of choice. I’ve studied it only under traditional Korean masters. Jackasses like Soulhuntre is precisely why I stayed away from any American co-optation of the art.Actually, the American TKD tradition is overwhelmingly run by the Rev. Sun Moon organization. I am not involved with TKD in any way.
American males think the art is just one more weapon and tool for them to use in their obsessive thirst for aggression and violence. Soulhuntre dishonors the art when he falsely claims the art is a tool of war and social dissent and an authorative police-type weapon used for dominance and control by force. This is a complete reversal of what the art is really all about.
You may seriously wish to delve into your history some more. The term “martial” art itself defines these as a tool of conflict… that’s what “martial means”.
You are also incorrect if you believe that Martial arts were never used as a tool of authoritarian dominance or social rebellion.
Martial arts is *not* an art of aggression.
Most Martial Arts were absolutely created as a tool of conflict. Whether they were for aggression or defense would really depend on which side of the conflict you were on.
In Japan for instance Ju-Jitsu and sword were primarily used as tools of the Samurai. Samurai were the offensive weapon of choice at the time and the defensive tool as well.
As a social rebellion tool, Ju-Jitsu was used by the farmers during the time of the Samurai to prevent government Samurai based attacks on farms that disobeyed the emperor or refused to pay taxes. For a time Ju-Jitsu was forbidden to anyone who was not Samurai for this reason.
It is the art of *self defense.* Any student that expressed the type of assinine views such as those posted by Soulhuntre would’ve been immediately dismissed and expelled on the spot.
In your Dojo? Possibly… your Sensei will clearly define what philosophies they will allow; and what version of history they may wish to believe.
My Sense is basically a defensive person as am I. However it would be going against the facts to say that Ju-Jitsu and other martial arts were never intended to be tools of war or conflict.
It was ingrained into us from day one that we could not use the art for anything but self defense. If we could walk away from a confrontation, we were to walk away. If we couldn’t walk away but could run, we were to run away. The art was only to be used as a last resort. And only for the defense of ourselves, our loved ones, our property or our country and *never* as an act of aggression. Period.
This is common – as it is in my Dojo. We do not use these tools as aggressive ones – but it would be incorrect to pretend that they were never so used or intended.
The art will teach you how to damage another human being. Whether you use that for defense or aggression is something for you to decide… Ju-Jitsu at its core is effective for either purpose.
American martial arts, such as what Soulhuntre is involved in, teaches mindless, irresponsible violence.
It is astounding to me how you arrived at a characterization of a person and a Dojo you know nothing about simply because I spoke a simple truth. That the arts are, at their core, NOT sports (you did read the post in context correct?) and they are not dependant on the honor of both participants.
The effective Martial arts require neither the honor or co-operation of your opponent. You should be aware of the fact that like any tool they can serve for aggression or defense… but they were conceived as tools of conflict – not sport.
To say that the arts were not tools of conflict is to deny history and truth.
BTW: I notice this thread is now “women only”. I am not actually clear on whether that designation carries any moderator backed authority.
What I >am< clear on is that I don’t intend to be attacked and mis-represented and then told not to respond.
Now, this thread will not see any interference from me… but I will continue to respond to misrepresentations of my views/philosophies or character. As would any of you.
[ 08-25-2003, 11:15 PM: Message edited by: Soulhuntre ]
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.sig changed at moderator request.If you want to read my weblog search for me in google… but you probably don’t want to do that.