In order to produce meaningless controversy

[Idaho]

So which is the greatest martial art? Which one could kick all the other one's asses?

IMO Hulk Hogan is proabably the greatest warrior the world has ever seen - especially when he gets in that fantastic boat of his.

...seriously. Surely tai-chi chuan, aikido or some kinds of kung fu are the best. That Karate and Taikwondo stuff destroys your body.

[Dwimmerlaik]

Wu Shu..hands down all around..especially Northern style wushu and shaolin in particular..

------------------
To be happy it is necessary not to be too intelligent
- Flaubert-

[Tenchimuyo]

I think Shaolin's Martial arts and WuTang's Tai-Chi are the best.

[The Black Ship]

Definitely MoeHoward....yukyukyuk style Followed closely by CurleyShuffle...whoopwhoopwhoop style, with Larry derivation

[Idaho]

All that Shaolin stuff is a load of rubbish.

As for the Larry derivation... pah! The Uncle Arthur Nervous Phtang Banana can beat it hands down.

[Tenchimuyo]

Shaolin is the greatest! So you better recognize FOOL!
Arr.....................

Sorry for the anger, I should've said as a monk would say: "May Buddha's compassion go with you."

But they do kick ass thou.


[This message has been edited by Tenchimuyo (edited 12-06-2000).]

[Idaho]

Just made for tv that Shaolin stuff. All those flying kicks and other nonsense... Even worse than the people who chop bricks in half.

[Gregoshi]

Hey Black Ship, so you are into TaikwanMoe, eh? I personally like Pic Tu.

Gregoshi

[Tenchimuyo]

That's because TVs and movies doesn't show what the real shaolin is all about! They wouldn't be this famous if they were really rubbish.

[HattoriKun]

Check out the Ultimate Fighting Championships (something like that anyway) where everybody from Greco Roman wrestlers, boxers, Far Eastern martial artists fight against each other. Usually the ones who win are jujitsu or wrestler types because they can take a couple of punches, close in, and deal out the holds and chokes that make their opponents give up.

[Idaho]

The people who usually win are a group called Gracie Jujitsu from Brazil... they are also the people who invented the tournement. Hence they fight on their terms.

[HattoriKun]

It is satisfying to see the 180lb jujitsu (Gracie) take down 250+ lb boxers. Sort of like the ashigaru taking out heavy cavalry in the STW game. Of course, if one of those slow Taekwondo roundhouse kicks ever connected, Gracie would be history.

[The Daimyo]

Hmm, yeah yeah, I've seen all that, and studied all that. I've got a little over 16 years in over 10 different Martial Arts. I'd have to say that Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do principles are by far the best on the block. He didn't use it much in his movies, but if you ever get a chance, pick up his books on it or find one of those few instuctors in the world that actually teaches it - according to the ways and principles of Jeet Kune Do.

The last instructor (sifu) that I had was Steve "Lee" Johnson, who was a student of Bruce Lee's.

He was an excellent teacher and I learned more in 6 weeks than I ever learned in 2 years of Tae Kwon Do, 4 Years AND 3 styles of Japanese Karate, or all of the years I spent learning Aikido, Tang Soo Do, Ninjitsu, Tiger and Dragon style SKF, or Juijitsu.

I guess it helped that I did all of those other martial arts before I went to learn Gung-Fu/Jeet Kune Do, because I was able to incorporate all of them into what I was taught. (Just like Bruce Lee did to make his style, which btw is not the proper word for it!)
In my opinion there is no "best" style out there. It's a matter of who is the student, who is the teacher, and can that student learn to use the principles and styles effectively and still be able to "flow and adapt" to what he/she may encounter outside of the classroom.




------------------
The Daimyo
Miaowara "Kakizaki" Tomokato
@http://www.planettotalwar.com

[Anssi Hakkinen]

Should I say "Tenshin Shiden Katori Shintô Ryû Kenjutsu?"

Nah, too cruel.

------------------
"If the choice is given between life and death, a samurai must choose death. There is no more meaning beyond this."
- Yamamoto Tsunetomo: Hagakure

[The Daimyo]

Hmm...That's crazy talk I tell you. Noone does that....hehe

------------------
The Daimyo
Miaowara "Kakizaki" Tomokato
@http://www.planettotalwar.com

[xFedaykin]

I've seen the Ultimate Fighting Championships, and I guess if anything, it proves that grappling techniques (Wrestling, Jujitsu, Aikijutsu) not striking techniques are superior in combat. Even participants who classify themselves under taekwondo, kickboxing or karate, eventually resort to grappling because they cant do enough damage with normal striking techniques.

I've studied Shotokan Ryu Karate (4 years), but my heavy build cant compete with the speed of most of my opponents (I've fought against Karate, Taekwondo, Boxing, Kickboxing and Aikido -sparring gloves, no armor, armor is for sissies ). Then I studied Judo (1 year) and adapted some of their techniques.

With punchers, I tend to trade strikes and kicks against them but that is usually just a setup for a throw and lock. I'd get hurt and bruised a lot because I can't match their striking speed(especially against kickboxers and taekwondo-jin) but their strikes usually left them vulnerable for sweeps or throws followed by a submission move (tai-toshi works wonders against punchers).

I've never fought against pure judo-ka except with competition rules , but those people are scary. They're tough, high pain tolerance, and have extremely strong stamina (They have to in order to survive a choke long enough to break free)

[Idaho]

Yeah - them grapples are the best; anyone can take a few hits, but no-one can take more than one arm break!

Daimyo - you're right of course. I started out to produce meaningless controversy and you struck it down with wisdom.

[Ieyasu]

I must agree with The Daimyo on this assessment. Though, Daimyo... though I've heard it called "Jeet Kun Do" isn't the true culmination of Bruce Lee's teachings "Jun-Feng"? I am trained with Kenpo Karate, a more boxing/upper-body/street-fighting way... but from what I've heard and saw of the Jun Feng class here, it truly is an amazing mix of all the arts... and at its very core, to me, the most practical in modern self-defense. They teach combos rather than katas, and work on understanding the combos in a fighting sitch.

Side note: there was one group of visiting students who I heard had made the most impact on the class my friend is in... and those were the ones from Thai Kick-boxing... speed, agility, and amazing toughness.



[This message has been edited by Ieyasu (edited 12-16-2000).]

[Idaho]

The problem with the 'hard' styles like karate and thai boxing is that they suit young men. Do that style for 10 years and you will be very powerful - ten years more and you will have damaged your body and will be comparatively weak. The advantage of 'soft' or 'internal' styles is that you can continue to improve into old age.

[Tenchimuyo]

Yeah, Shaolin martial arts can benifit you for a life time. So is Tai-Chi.

[Idaho]

Yeah, but a lot of those Shaolin styles are pretty hard. ANd what's with those flying kicks?!!?? Nonsense!

[Tenchimuyo]

Those flying kicks ARE real man! Not made up by any hollywood stunts. Well unless it involves flying all over the roof. That's not exactly real. But the kick's been there.

[Tenchimuyo]

BTW, for anybody that saw the new movie or the trailor of "Crouching Tiger-Hidden Dragon". Don't believe anything in it, it's just all special effects.

[Ieyasu]

lol

In support of Idaho's comment, when does anyone actually get the time, space, or allowance in a real fight to do a fancy flying kick??

Talk about telegraphing a move...

[Idaho]

A flying kick is like a baseball throwing itself at the bat!

[Katasaki Hirojima]

Aw man,I can't belive I missed this post,I'll have to start comein here more often.

I'v trained myself at martial arts,I got my own style.Mostly comprised of precise strikes in certain parts of the body.(Neck,Nose,Solar Plexus,shin,any place that when hit causes great deals of pain.)Counters(50% of my style is in counters.)and grapples(usually follows a counter)

It's pretty defensive,I'v got a thick,apache type build.I'm not agile,I am fast though,don't let my size fool you,I can make my body cover distance pretty quickly..dodgeing and weaveing is very easy for me.But,because of the lack of chances to condition,I can't last long,meaning no protracted,drawn out martial art spars.

THat in mind,my styles nature is to let the opponent come at you,and according to what he does,counter it.

End the fight as quickly as possible.Strike when neccessary,or when the opportunities there.Common manuvers are Deflect and follow up,atch the punch like a baseball,pull him towards you,useing his momentum against him and then once set up like that,I got a whole bag of tricks to use on'em.bsicly,use his momentum against him to put him in a posistion where a single punch can do maximum damage and theres minimum chance of him blocking it.

I know,kinda self centric,but I love martial arts,and I often incorparate anything I can into my style.Thats my additon to the topic.

Ja ne

------------------
"I maintain none the less that Yin-Tang Dualism can bo overcome.With sufficent enlightment,we can give substance to any distinction:Mind without body,north without south,pleasure without pain.Renember,enlightment is a function of will power,not of physical strength."-Shang-ji Yang,essays on mind and matter.