Originally Posted by
Roaddebris
Seiously, again, I'm not a big fan of "my style can wip your style". Martial arts is very personal. If a world class athlete, like a pro football player, applies himself to a bastardized sport oriented style, he's going to be a very difficult oppenent to face for the average joe, no matter what his style or level of training. Size, speed, ballance, and toughness are what they are, no matter what you know.
My view of stlyes/schools/teachers/students: most of them suck. There aren't that many qualified instructors running hard hitting schools, especially here in the states. Schools are run like businesses, and students are often given what they want, not what they need, and they're often given it by instructors who's experience level is questionable.
While it's true that fighting arts are constantly evolving, I believe that the overal level of quality in martial arts is devolving, by and large. Many of the fundamentals of training that were common in the 60's (ex. body conditioning, ie. toughening of hands, fingers, knuckles, shins, feet, toes, etc) has gone by the wayside because it's just too much work for the average person and it doesn't sell.
As far as TKD being looked down apon, there are some TKDers out there who have true self defence skills, but sadly, TDK has led the way in the sport karate movement. This has led to thousands of TKD schools and practitioners who couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper sack. As far as TKD having the most powerful kicks, keep in mind that the higher one kicks, the less power that kick has. I've never kicked anyone in the head in a real world sitiation (with my foot, anyway), but I have gone shin to shin with some poor slob and it was a real show stopper. Not only that, there was no danger of killing him.
I do have to say, that I'm quite a fan of Ed Parker's Kenpo. Like many styles, the hard hitting toughness and conditioning that was a part of nearly all real martial arts has gone by the wayside, but it's still a very complete style, and there are some real romp'n stomp'n descendants of Mr. Parker.
I'm also in awe of the overal toughness of todays cage fighters, but personally, I would never choose to go to the mat in a public place where staying mobile on ones feet is critical to the whole idea of self defence. Also, many of these guys rely on their toughness and strength in a way that just doesn't work for the average joe or josephine. Knowing how to choke someone out, or break a joint is great, but I've found that snatching someone up by the eye sockets is genereally quicker, easyer, and a great way to make most would-be tough guys realise they'd rather brawl with someone else.
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