Martial Arts Experiences Discussion Thread

[James Y]

The Schism in Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do

https://youtu.be/wiQ4ndPzjVI?si=-y0BJmfxq8jcDzl1

I'm not a practitioner of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, but I could have sworn that BL's original concept behind "Jeet Kune Do" was that it isn't a set style or system to be learned, but instead is the self-realization of a martial artist who transcends the boundaries and limitations of styles or systems. A "style of no style." Meaning that every martial artist's experiences and realizations will be different, and so, too, will their expression of JKD.

Bruce Lee once wrote, "In memory of a once fluid man, crammed and distorted by the classical mess." So isn't crystallizing the movements the way that BL taught them in 1966 and turning them into an organized system, with rules, and requiring everyone to conform to set patterns, a violation of what BL originally intended the concept of JKD to be? I seem to remember hearing that BL hadn't opened any actual "JKD" schools because he feared that people would turn it into another style, with the set rules and limitations that acccompany all styles. Again, I'm not a JKD man, but it's sad and ironic that divisive politics came into it. Like it has in every other "style."

This kind of political mentality is one of the biggest reasons why I no longer associate with the martial arts world. I've seen it happen in virtually every martial art, including within systems I've studied. What does political factionalism have to do with improving one's self, or defending one's life on the street?

Dan Inosanto may have been the closest one to have expressed BL's concept of JKD. But what do I know?

I wonder how BL would have felt about the political divisions, and the motivations behind some of them that are discussed in this video (i.e., the trademarking of the name Bruce Lee)? And what happens if someone else happens to have the name "Bruce Lee"? Are Linda Lee Cadwell and Shannon Lee going to sic their lawyers on them?

Jim

[James Y]

Reality Check Breakdown: Night Club Nightmare

I'm pretty sure at some point this video is going to become restricted on YouTube, but at the time of me posting this, it's not.

This is a lesson in the dangers of posturing, especially in places that serve alcohol and attract a preponderance of young men. It's a lesson in mutual stupidity that many men, especially young men, fall into, and unfortunately, the consequences can be permanent. Being under the influence of alcohol or not is no excuse. And it doesn't require a PhD to see that the perpetrator is a psychopath.

https://youtu.be/J46c0h5vi8c?si=TA77KMi_6LJgijIA

Jim

[James Y]

21 Laws - #1: Personal Development

This is 100% truth. Your inner development is the most important aspect, not only in martial arts and self-defense, but in any pursuit in life.

https://youtu.be/oOt75A5-owI?si=7Nbvkmax0EVpiHa1

Jim

[James Y]

"What Do You Do When Your $H....T Don't Work"

The incident in the video Professor David is referencing happened about a mile down the street from where I live. I occasionally shop at that mini-Target store.

This is a PERFECT example of someone who is unaffected by pain, and who seems to have no fear. Whether because of adrenaline, drugs, insanity, or plain old rage. Against someone like that, any tactic, weapon, or strike that DOES NOT cause injury that is severe enough to impair his ability to physically function, will fail to stop him. A punch to the face, or Muay Thai round kicks to the thigh would probably have had little to no effect on him in the state he was in.

This is something that very few martial arts people and self-defense instructors are even aware of, let alone ever discuss.

https://youtu.be/l6ZgZXNllxU?si=eIrnPHN3NRVq9uVU

Jim

[James Y]

Didn't Have to Happen

Professor David is one of the VERY FEW select martial arts or self-defense-related people on YouTube who I feel could just talk for the entire video, and his words, perspectives, and the knowledge he imparts are worth their weight in gold.

Of course, this entire thread isn't becoming devoted to just his teachings. But he puts out a lot of content, and it's excellent content. He also discusses very real things that almost nobody else (or very few) ever talks about. And I tend to be very picky about which (and whose) videos I'll personally share here, and I'm becoming even more picky.

https://youtu.be/rikI-R0cBPI?si=D7jtz54ReRs0GKvP

Jim

[James Y]

Motion Causes Motion

https://youtu.be/oTx7uEJLotY?si=kcrJ88jRn_m_E7GR

Jim

[James Y]

Punch or Hammer Fist?

(Video below)

IMO, the hammer fist is one of the best strikes for real-life unarmed self-defense. I won't say THE best, because there are a few other strikes I place in that same category, depending on the situation (palm heel strike, blade of hand to the neck strikes, elbow strikes (especially the elbow spear), and forearm strikes to the neck.

And this is true whether someone is a fighter or not. Even fighters like boxers have broken their hands in street fights punching with their knuckles, as well as during matches, with hand wraps and protective gloves on.

In high school, I knew a kid who had a permanent disfigurement to his right hand from a punch that landed wrong. His middle finger knuckle was pushed in, and the bone to that finger stuck up on the back of his hand. He couldn't fully close that hand to make a fist.

I know how to throw punches, but I don't include them much in my personal SD arsenal, especially punches to the head. I mainly used punches in sparring and in competition, for obvious reasons.

Note: Hammer fists are not true punches (which are closed-fisted blows that land with the foreknuckles). Another advantage that hammer fists and palm heel and blade of hand strikes have is that they are unconventional, and much more difficult to anticipate or defend against in a real fight than standard punches, if you become skilled at them, and at using them with full confidence and commitment.

https://youtu.be/wJcmNUpH0xA?si=eZYqNNgueqeHE4Yf

Jim

[James Y]

Hoodie Defense

https://youtu.be/i5JRKOrJC14?si=gb4Rr3zK1d50GbzK

Jim

[James Y]

Human Leg vs Metal Pole

I'm about 90% certain that this was fully intended as a gag video, and that this guy's shins are conditioned enough that he probably kicks metal poles with his shins all the time. Because what kind of moron would have anyone, much less his girlfriend/wife, hold a soda bottle against a pole, risking their hands/fingers being broken, so he could kick it?

https://youtube.com/shorts/bg2ikd0jS5k?si=vgTtVSn7HQLIGqiI

Jim

[James Y]

Defend Against a Jab? Really?

This is 100% spot on. Anybody who says that defending against a boxer's jab is easy has never sparred with a real boxer. He doesn't have to be a world class boxer, either. I've sparred with a former pro boxer (journeyman level) and a golden gloves boxer, and it is almost impossible to not get hit with a jab, if they use it. If the amateurs and the pros all get hit with jabs, you will definitely get hit, too. Slipping a jab is an extremely difficult thing to do!

When I was training in kickboxing in the early '80s, I developed a decent jab that landed on a lot of guys, many of whom were better and more experienced than I was. And I wasn't even a professional fighter.

Don't box with a boxer. Don't trade kicks with a kicker. Don't grapple with a grappler. Etc., etc.

https://youtu.be/QzrpoRfOl6Y?si=eQHMZscot43PJLbQ

Jim

[James Y]

The Untold History of Karate

This is a very high-quality video production. I really like Jesse Enkamp's openness in learning everything he can about his art.

Is the history untold? I don't know about that. I've been aware of the Fujian (AKA Fukien) Province/Okinawan Karate connection since the late '70s. An acquaintance of mine, who taught Uechi-ryu Karate and was a Karate researcher, had been going on research trips to Fujian to study this connection when I knew him, back in the '80s. And awareness of this connection between Fujian's Kung Fu (mainly Fujian White Crane styles) and Okinawan Karate had been ongoing since long before that.

The traditional Okinawan systems (such as Okinawan Goju-ryu, Uechi-ryu, etc.), as taught in Okinawa, maintained a much closer connection to their roots in China than the Okinawan systems that were taken to the main islands of Japan, altered, and became Budo ("Martial Way," or martial practice for self-development); as opposed to the original Bujutsu ("Martial Arts," or combat methods) in the early-to-mid-20th century, such as Shotokan, Shito-ryu, etc.

When I lived in Taiwan, I saw many practitioners of various Fujian White Crane styles, which is no surprise, because Fujian is the Chinese province with the closest proximity to Taiwan (approximately 110 miles), just across the Taiwan Strait. And Taiwan is approximately 400 miles southwest of Okinawa.

https://youtu.be/23ARJNmZ00w?si=hPwWus9cxVVDWFjm

Jim

[James Y]

It's Too Hard

https://youtu.be/7iWNanck8sQ?si=4LP8xY16T8ngt6I-

Great points made in this video. I never liked flashy, elaborate, overly-complicated moves for real-life self-defense. I knew from almost the beginning that under the stress of a real fight, complex movements go out the window. Even skills that I had used effectively in full-contact competition I kept separate from what I would use on the street, because the settings, the circumstances, and the purposes are completely different. Regardless of the art I practiced, for real-life SD, I've kept the same few simple moves for decades.

That said, one commenter under this video blamed TV and movies for misleading people into believing that fights are prolonged and flashy. BS. Even as a child, I knew that fight scenes in TV shows and in movies are choreographed for entertainment purposes, and are therefore fake. Even realistic-looking fight scenes in movies are still fake. TV shows and movies are NOT intended to be self-defense or fighting tutorials. If a grown adult isn't aware of this fact, and is (or believes they have been) "mislead" by fight scenes in TV shows and in movies, to put it nicely, they're not very intelligent.

I can be entertained by movies with totally unrealistic fight scenes without trying to decipher whether the movements are practical for SD or not; it's called suspension of disbelief for the sake of a movie. In the same way I can enjoy watching Clint Eastwood playing The Man With No Name in a spaghetti western, mowing down scores of gunfighters in seconds without breaking a sweat, knowing that no historical gunfighter in the Wild West even came close to doing in real life what he did as a character onscreen.

Jim

[James Y]

Experience vs Inexperience

He seems extra amplified in this video!

https://youtu.be/o1e5lEr_Eto?si=dOjQHpaKLI-uK94K

Jim

[James Y]

How to Use the Palm

https://youtu.be/XKYdMRFLEwM?si=8oSuClD3CD6I_485

Palm heel strikes are among my favorite self-defense strikes. They are also surprisingly more versatile than many self-defense instructors on YouTube are aware. Professor David James has one of the better takes I've seen on YT on the use of palm strikes in SD.

I've seen a couple videos by some other YouTubers discussing the "disadvantages" of using palm strikes vs closed-fisted punching with the knuckles for SD. Almost without exception, those who say that palm strikes are inferior to punches are sports-oriented practitioners. While everybody has the right to their opinions, some opinions hold less weight when it comes to SD. It is clear that those who say that palm-heel strikes (for example) are weaker than punches do not actually practice open-handed strikes. So when they demonstrate open-handed strikes, they are naturally much weaker at them. I could make a video and say that a certain type of strike that I've never seriously trained is weak and ineffective; it wouldn't mean that I know what I'm talking about.

The fact is, just like punches, open-handed strikes (palm heel, blade of hand, etc.) must be trained and trained and trained, until they are conditioned to be as natural and as second-nature as throwing punches. They are NOT merely a fallback for those who don't have the knowledge and skill to punch. Open-handed strikes require long-term, consistent practice to become skillful and effective with them, and to become natural actions. Especially so because most people's (particularly males') natural response is to make a fist and start throwing punches.

Palm heel and other open-handed strikes also require closer proximity and slightly different positioning to the opponent than most punches. In my own (admittedly relatively limited) street experiences, as well as a few dumb, ego-fueled fights in my younger days, I found that open-handed strikes yielded more dramatic results with far less effort expended, and without risking a broken hand, as in a punch. They were also completely unexpected.

Jim

[James Y]

The P.H.D. is Real

https://youtu.be/ifXA4fO7ptM?si=4b4iNXYa-WPZha3-

My apologies to anyone who feels that I post too many videos from this channel. Anybody is welcome to post anything martial arts-related that they like in this thread. But David James addresses things in regards to self-defense that almost nobody else on YouTube talks about, least of all most martial artists and sports fighters. Yet most channels about self-defense treat the subject as if you are praparing to go into a ring, or a cage match. They have no concept of the differences between competitive fighting, ego-based street fighting, and self-defense.

There are MANY examples of street fights and bar fights, in which the winners of the fights stuck around too long after the fight, celebrating with their buddies. Only to have the man who lost the fight (alone or with friends) show up again later, with a weapon. If the fight happened in a bar or at a party, the winners got ambushed when they left to go back to their car, or to walk home.

If you win a fight and behave like a "fighter," there is a good chance that the other person, especially if he's a stranger, isn't going to play your game. I've mentioned multiple times in this thread the story of the local MMA practitioner who got into a fight with another guy in the parking lot of a bar. After the MMA guy took him down and was mounting him, the guy on the bottom stabbed him over a dozen times from underneath with a "pocket knife," which ended up being fatal. The MMA guy had been the better fighter, but he lost his life because he thought he was in a cage fight, and the other guy was playing for keeps. Both men ended up losing in the end.

This is only one of the distinct differences between a "fighter" and a self-defense practitioner. Doing one or the other in the wrong context/wrong environment can often lead to failure. And in a true self-defense situation, failure to understand the difference can be fatal.

If you've just put someone down and out in SD, do not stick around; get out of there. Do not taunt them, and do not celebrate. The only other person I've seen or read discussing this in depth is Marc "Animal" MacYoung.

Jim

[Naperville]

This is usually how it goes.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cZdLWOUDtGw

[Naperville]

Who is at the top of the Muay Thai circuit right now, is it "Rodtang" (sp)? Whoever it is we need to get some of these champions to fight in the UFC. Time and again it has been proven that you do not need BJJ skills, just skills to avoid a take down.

[James Y]

Who is at the top of the Muay Thai circuit right now, is it "Rodtang" (sp)? Whoever it is we need to get some of these champions to fight in the UFC. Time and again it has been proven that you do not need BJJ skills, just skills to avoid a take down.

Thanks for posting, Naperville. Since I don't know the answer, I wanted to wait and see if someone else who may be knowledgeable about the Muay Thai circuit would have an answer. I personally do not know.

IMO, it would be MUCH easier for a world-class Muay Thai fighter to learn to sprawl, and other various takedown defenses and escapes, than it would be for a pure wrestler or BJJ specialist to develop really strong stand up/Muay Thai skills.

Jim

[James Y]

Ed Calderon's Everyday Carry (EDC) Pocket Dump, with a Navy SEAL

Not martial arts-related, but this is an excellent interview with Ed Calderon. Someone had posted it on BF, and I thought that some here might find it as interesting and informative as I do.

At approximately 18 minutes in, he gives his observations on tactical knives.

Also discussed are improvised weapons, among many other subjects.

https://youtu.be/d1MqucZyodc?si=DzoDX07tQ_QakiDD

Jim

[Naperville]

I plan to acquire some of these things. Watched the video 2x, and forwarded it to folks that I know.

Urban Survival (the grey man) - Ed Calderon worked as a police officer in Tijuana, Mexico and now works in executive protection.

RFID Fortac Five, small programmable disc (could not find)

$100+ in Cash (20's)

Debit card with a few hundred dollars on it

Gold coins in plastic containers or small bars
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LB7U7QS/re ... B00LB7U7QS

Bic Pens with tip shaved down to hypodermic needle shape
https://www.amazon.com/BIC-Cristal-Smoo ... ref=sr_1_5

Walmart pioneer woman fixed blade knife with light cardboard sheath
https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Pioneer- ... hbdg=L1600

Zip ties and tools to defeat them (dress for the restraints that will be used against you)

Beacon or Hyfin chest seals
https://beaconchestseal.com/
https://www.amazon.com/North-American-R ... 69-9834964

Chito Guaze
https://www.amazon.com/HemCon-ChitoGauz ... ref=sr_1_4

Packing gauze
https://www.amazon.com/HemCon-ChitoGauz ... ref=sr_1_4
https://www.amazon.com/QuikClot-Advance ... 69-9834964

2 - Soft-T Tourniquet Gen 4, high vis orange worn down pant leg
https://www.amazon.com/Tactical-Medical ... ref=sr_1_3

Hemostat
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Hemostat&i=s ... TZ4TQ6HVS8

Pack of cigarettes

Alcohol flask

Know how to panhandle to MAKE CASH AVAILABLE, study it, cardboard signs, how to observe, how to dress

Learn how to convince environment you are part of it

small 1/2 x 1/2 ceramic blade to fit in your mouth (cannot find)

Catholic Escapulario magnetic with kevlar cordage, Santa Muerte scapular (unable to find magnetic model)
https://inhisname.com/saint-michael-shi ... ular-10089
https://www.etsy.com/search?q=Santa+Mue ... pe=gallery
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=scapulars+ca ... VA2ZB469NU

Kevlar cordage
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=kevlar+corda ... 2C1KA4PMAL

change in your pocket is a handcuff key
https://shomer-tec.com/products/escape-nickel

personal alarm that fits in your pocket "Basu eAlarm"
https://myealarm.com/
https://www.basu.com/store/p26/eAlarmPRO.html#/

door wedge alarm
https://www.amazon.com/EMDMAK-Alarm-120 ... ref=sr_1_3

wifi signal jammer used by pentesters (so cal off grid)
https://www.offgridweb.com/preparation/ ... l-jammers/
https://www.perfectjammer.com/wireless- ... mmers.html