What did you used to think was cool in the martial arts?

When I was coming up through the ranks, there were some things that I thought were cool --- and that now make me cringe. For example, at one point I thought the traditional white gi was boring and I secretly wished that we could wear something else. I was also overly enamored with high kicks and spent way too much time in a quest to master them.





What is it that you've changed your mind about during your training? Is there something that you used to think was worthwhile, cool, effective, whatever --- but now think is the opposite? What changed your mind?

What did you used to think was cool in the martial arts?
kiap and a spinning backfist :)








yeah TKD kicks woohoo! not much use on the ground :(





BJJ and boxing really opened my eyes...God I hate katas
Reply:I always liked the death touch until I accidentally put someone into a coma because of it. I still like using the Iron C*ck technique.





Ok, Ok, you didn't like my answer. Here's more of what I hate in MA that used to be cool, but now is not.


-That lame self-defense they teach where you kick knives out of guys hands. My ankle got cut in real life when I did that practicing with my friend. He was laughing while I'm screaming for a medic.


-Hopping front kick that only Ralph Maccio, David Carradine and other fake martial artists do because they can't kick for s*it and to the general public it looks like a special move. It is effective in real life, though, to get momentum to kick someone in the chest or chin.


-breaking boards and bricks. As Bruce Lee said, boards don't hit back.


-The Guard, commonly featured on the Ultimate Fighting Championship as the pinnacle of ground defense. I was freakin happy when I started seeing guys like Tito Ortiz rip people while they thought taking him into the guard was a safe harbor.


-I used to think the elbow was ineffective because most schools don't teach you how to use it right. You have to go to a Thai clinic, JKD school, or today's MMA schools to learn to utilize the true power, effectiveness, and shock value that elbows bring.
Reply:well for me it was the well planned, slow speed simulated attacks that one does with partners. once i felt the mugger man suit, and the fast incoherant speed that an attack could really happen at, i pretty much made up my mind to chuck wrist locks as reality self defense.. still like doing them, but not in full combative training..





~*smilez*~
Reply:Man did I want to be able to do those somersaults they did in capoera, closest I got to was a half as*ed hand stand. (I figured its probably only cool for showing off anyways) And yes, kata seemed cool at the time, but also seems only good for showing off, give me shadow boxing anyday. One last thing, Aikido is something I think most start off believing is practical and "cool". Took me till I reached brown belt that no one is going to go with the technique.


I happen to like the spinning back fist though, not many see it coming.
Reply:the channel 5 movies is what made me get into martial arts but what made me change my training from formal traditional karate to mma was that I had my belts handed to me because I was really good. btw... I refused to get a higher belt that i didnt earn and thats when i realized that most schools are not honest and thats true when it comes to fighting too. some schools fight at a lower level then they should for an easy win and thats for their own benefit not yours.( ive seen instructors do that and it makes me sick!).. thats why I like Modern Martial Arts in NJ. they are completely honest and tell it like it is. the guys there fight at the correct levels maybe even try one level UP to test themselves and no one makes you feel inferior and to me thats how it should be. when your not involved in deceit or drama your martial arts and personal life benefit from it..
Reply:used to think karate punch %26amp; kicks, epitomized in its popularity by karate kid movies.


(some of the older movies are terrible for younger guys to watch %26amp; unconsciously be influenced- bad cliches or impress wrong aspects for silver screen magic)





also used to go by certain traditional martial arts mindsets, but hindered myself unknowingly.





then i found out (sometimes hard way) that kind of fighting does not work, esp against any psuedo-trained guy.





eagle hapkido (master wong) students showed me the difference in their striking (%26amp; the reason to their technique %26amp; what "impact" looked %26amp; felt like.





as per certain traditional attitudes, just weren't practical %26amp; they take a lil more guidance than is let on. adaptability %26amp; flexiability under the right guidance, are crucial to progress.





as well as being in real-life, it teaches you (if you aren't victim of your naivety/mistakes) fast.
Reply:In all honesty I started martial arts when I was 12, I'm now 40. I have always had the same ideas about martial arts. Right or wrong I always saw them as a self-defense kinda thing first and formost. I searched many a year looking for what would fill that void. I first found it in 1990 with Escrima/Kali, and again in 1992 when I saw bjj. Again in 2002 when I was deep into MMA. So I have always sought truth in combat, it just took me many many moons to find it. I have stayed true to my views and ideas over these many years. what I think is "cool" today is what I thought would be cool back when I was 12. Only then I hadn't found it as I have now.
Reply:Jiujitsu ground fighting techniques, until I saw a guy get the back of his head slammed to the concrete pavement repeatedly in a street fight while they were grappling, then had his face bashed in with a piece of rock on the ground.
Reply:the discipline, self control and the perfection of character brought by the practice of it. and it still remains cool for ten years and the years to come.
Reply:I had a certain accqaintance that started off martial arts when he was small, and quit when he found out that he couldn't blow things up or fly like on dragonball...yeah.lol





What I don't particularly like are Katas. They can teach you things, yet then when you do them enough times to learn a few movements, your already 'set' into a pattern, sorta making you a programmed robot going through the set movements, and not actually dancing( that's what I see as martial arts..sorta) or being a real artist. You become a wooden dummy. You know, you sometimes see a black belt on someone who faces an opponent in a spar, and their like, rigid sort of thing...yeah...like their boxy...you know? It might be just me, or does any Particular martial art become too formalised, too paternalistic, too made? They punch, you block, they kick, you block..etc...or maybe I'm just an idiot, not seeing some hidden wise meaning in going over set movements...


I see art as transient, nothing lasts forever...neither should katas/systems be ingrained in you forever....but somethings like change never change.....yeah