Triggered out of dormancy

Hello, everyone!

Just when I thought that my break from this blog was going to be a long one, some smartass went and posted this on Facebook:




So- I thought it necessary to say a couple of things about an attitude that seems to be spreading among people who consider taking up martial arts.


Well... It seems that Greta Thunberg is a good way to get people triggered about anything, but I would most likely not have even begun writing this post if it did not have something to do with martial arts.

First of all- my view on criticizing any style of martial art has been made known in an earlier post, along with my reasons for holding that view. To save some new readers the trouble of searching through my older posts- let me just say that I am against it. Okay- for my reasons you are free to search through my older posts...

Secondly- I have found a correlation between people saying any technique "does not work" and unwillingness to train.


It was only in very recent times (by which I mean after 2010) that I have noticed more and more people labeling martial arts as ineffective. What is easy to forget is that many of these martial arts have been around for literally centuries. They were developed through experience and have survived this long because somebody considered them worth passing on.

Well... It is already well known that not all martial arts are practiced or taught with fighting in mind.

I guess, though, that the person who created this meme was probably talking about combat effectiveness. That is usually the first standard by which the public measure a martial art, isn't it?

Well... If you like- you can get pitted against other students twice a week and figure out for yourself how to beat them in a fight. That would not really be teaching then, would it? Sure- sparring is important, but you won't learn anything about it if you do not know at least some of the underlying principles.

You see- I know the difference between Japanese Jujitsu and Brazillian Jujitsu. It is about the same as the difference between Karate and Kickboxing.

Where the older martial art has formalised exercises, drills, basic techniques and kata, the other one has less standardised techniques, no kata and lots of sparring.

I have gained enough experience on getting my ass kicked while learning traditional martial arts. Back then in the 90's, however, we did not rage quit and say that it was a crappy style and that it did not work. No- we found out why our attacks did not work, why our blocks were too late and why I was not able to get my opponent into that arm-bar. 

Nowadays- Wenhsiuquan contains techniques from a number of old styles, that all work. If you use them in the wrong way or at the wrong time, however, they won't work. And- it is not only Wenhsiuquan that works this way. It works this way with every martial art under the sun!