Martial arts are the ultimate form of self-expression.

[Slap47]

I've heard this said by people who practice traditional Asian martial arts like Karate and Kung Fu. What exactly is self-expression, and how could that be achieved by being a karate nerd?

Martial Arts films were banned in China in the 1930s by both the Communists and Nationalists. They were viewed as subversive and superstitious.

Not a practitioner myself but its interesting how integral these things have been to Chinese history. They form brotherhoods and think they can do anything - even topple the government.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Lotus_Rebellion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Turban_Rebellion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxer_Rebellion

Women practice it sure but it seems like a way for men to express and empower themselves.

 

[Lemmingwise]

As a beginner I'm curious, what is the difference between legit and fake dojos

In reality it's a gradient and different dojo's have different strengths and weaknesses.

This an example of the fakest:

Whereas this is an example of someone that knows what he is talking about:

Basicly any dojo that does no sparring ever is most likely shit, because if you don't learn to work with what is thrown at you, you won't be able to use what you've learned. There is some exception to that rule, as some greek wrestling trainings for example do little sparring, yet they turn you into absolute fighting monsters for 1 on 1.

Really the best thing to do is to check out 5 different places and compare. You'll know where you want to train and see the different strengths and weaknesses of each group.

 

[DontTellMeHowToPlay]

As a beginner I'm curious, what is the difference between legit and fake dojos?

A legit school will be more than happy to branch out into various styles of fighting (you MUST learn boxing at some point) as well as different "what if" scenarios that might happen in a street brawl, what to do if outnumbered or if someone pulls out a weapon, ect.

Avoid the "my style is unbeatable, my moves have no counter!" McDojos.
Example: Steven Seagal claiming he can beat up anyone using only Aikido, but there is not one single video of Seagal legitimately fighting someone outside of a movie set or his own Aikido students.

 

[Zersetzung]

strike first
strike hard
no mercy

 

[Sprig of Parsley]

Dunno how practical it is in a fight but watching capoeira is fucking incredible. Fucking wish I could do that.

 

[DontTellMeHowToPlay]

Dunno how practical it is in a fight but watching capoeira is fucking incredible. Fucking wish I could do that.

It does look pretty cool.

IMO the only scenario where it would be super useful is getting back on one's feet after being knocked prone. If the Capoeira guy takes any damage to his limbs or gets grappled, it's pretty much over.

 

[Jace E. Denton]

As a 13 year old kid forced into Karate theres something to be said about the eroticism of Brazilian jiu jujitsu. Every day I watched 16 year old girls pin each other down and roll around. Just watched them... all the grunting they did didnt help either

I failed Karate btw

They're just gonna grow up to be ugly tranny looking trash like every other woman MMA fighter. And then they still get their asses kicked by a castrated man on estrogen pills anyway.

 

[Sprig of Parsley]

So as far as "get shit done" martial arts go, are Krav Maga and Sambo decent at increasing your chances of leaving the scene of a fight on your own two legs or are they just overhyped crap?

 

[Lemmingwise]

So as far as "get shit done" martial arts go, are Krav Maga and Sambo decent at increasing your chances of leaving the scene of a fight on your own two legs or are they just overhyped crap?

Typically, these are pretty good.

Sambo can sometimes veer into woo-woo territory and I've seen one or two bullshitting krav maga teachers. But they're both definitely above the curve on average. It's not like tae kwon do or pencak silat where you're training something that is typically not very effective.

Not to shit on other styles, but anything that requires more time investment to reach a similar effectiveness level is less effective; it can be hard to judge, but from what I've seen this is the verdict.

But they're almost all an improvement over being unfit and untrained.