Coor wrote:iblis wrote:Coor wrote:Silent Huntress wrote:I do participate in martial arts, specifically Kung Fu, but can you really consider it a sport? There are tournaments, but I enter for my own personal satisfaction and to test my skills against others to find out where I need to improve, not to win medals and trophys.
Anything that pushed your body as hard as Martial Arts does...Definetly counts as a sport.
but by that token, that would make doing push ups, sit ups, or jazzercise a sport.
kung fu is exercise - definitely. but kung fu is not a sport.
... unless, of course, you practice in a wushu style and/or school. wushu is a sport. actually, i'd say wushu is closer to dance, but some people consider that a sport as well. weird.
but i won't go into that on here. (or anywhere, unless someone buys me a lot of drinks and asks.)
Are you saying that UFC's don't count as sport? That's what I was refering to in saying Martial arts is a sport...Not all forms of it qualify, but some of it does...IMO
If boxing is a sport so is Martial Arts...
okay, i've had more than enough drinks. i didn't say 'martial arts'
first, let me start with boxing. or should i be specific? american boxing. how's that?
boxing is a bunch of weight lifters beating the unholy fuck out of each other, and not taking the simple solution of kicking the others' knee out from underneath the other.
they're athletes, don't get me wrong. those fuckers train like there's no tomorrow, and i don't blame them - the one's who don't get the shit punched out of them, one way or another.
and i feel the same way about UFC. awesome athletes. for someone who's primary purpose is to simply take a punch.
but, i do believe i said kung fu. not silly american boxing where it's illegal to gouge a man's eye out, kick them in the groin, or break their arm and insert said broken bone into arteries.
yes, i said kung fu.
and on that tangent, i mentioned wushu. wushu, when translated to english, means 'war
art'. yes, i'm stressing the 'art' part of that for a reason.
kung fu, when you get down to it, is about killing and/or maiming, and getting better at it. at least, that is what it was originally designed for, and that is how any school with balls will teach it.
the people who designed that shit had far more to worry about than whether or not their goddamned big mac would be under- or overcooked.
and so i start my rant about bodhidharma.
in a time and place without the wonder of gunpowder and the ultimate equalizer, these pacifist motherfuckers were worried about taking a trip 10 miles down the road.
to another temple.
that's right. the originators of the art were
holy men, and they had to worry about being mugged, killed, and/or robbed whilst on a trek to either spread the holy word, or
take care of sick people
they were bad ass meditators. they could pray from sunup until sundown. but they were easy pickings. so this swank motherfucker, by the name of bodhidharma, says, "hey, why don't you meditate and exercise at the same time?"
woot.
he taught them what we now call isometrics. but fucking cruel, painful, evil isometrics. the kind that makes your fat, lazy american ass whine just thinking about it. some of those isometrics, which were and are done while
meditating and
praying consist of nothing more than supporting your entire bodyweight, in a push-up position, without anything else touching the ground but your hand. this is while your arm is ninety degrees. like in the middle of a push up.
and these mofos did it while meditating. for the length of 48 long breaths. (or is it 49? huntress, ask sifu daniel. I always round up. i sometimes do 50 or 60 i chin ching, just because i can't count in my head - without a computer right next to me - worth a shit. ask rob from rogersville, he'll verify that.)
anyway, to make a long story shorter than it should be (because, as i said, i've been drinking, and i have to go pee) they learned the isometrics, got buff, got competitive, and beat the shit out of each other, practiced pressure points, and other such (yes i'm being vague. and on purpose, too. fuck you. ) until they could defend themselves.
these motherfuckers learned how to kill to survive. to teach any less would turn it into something different than what it is. and then they're just selling a watered down, "this is america and yes we're yuppies!" version of what the style was designed for.
which, i might add, is 99% of all tae kwon do schools in this country. (i say 'this country' because the schools in korea are still bad ass, and laugh at us lazy americans every time they turn on espn.)
if 50% of what's taught in
real schools were practiced at such events as UFC, there wouldn't be a UFC. (huntress, think about how people seeing the 'self defense #3' or '#4' technique would look on national televion, if used properly. 'oh look, they're skipping. WTF?! where did their knee go?!?!) at least not more than one event - then there would be dead people, and autopsies, and finally police reports and convictions. and then the 'sport' would be over, and it would be dubbed 'murder'. which doesn't really help schools get students, let alone help them stay open and not be indicted for teaching said students.
most of the best that i've known have kept a low profile.
seems that's the best thing to do, these days.
anyway, i've had my rant. see you in the funny papers.
