"XMA" on Discovery Channel

[hillbilly]

I've been watching "Xtreme Martial Arts" on the Discovery Channel.

Advertised for over a month as a scientific look at martial arts.

It's turned out to be a combination of the "Matrix" movies along with "Kung Fu Queer Eye for the Samurai Straight Guy."

No joke, the computer animation segments have been done by the same company that did the animation for the Matrix movies.

This thing has been on for one hour and 45 minutes and just now, JUST NOW, are they getting to actual sparring..........You know..........like fighting against another human being?????????

The previous one hour and 45 minutes have all been Martial Arts as competitions, basically kung-fu music video type crap. Martial arts as judged athletic event, ala figure skating, complete with a panel of judges flashing 9.99s, etc.

Five time world champion martial artist working on his choregraphy with his sensi......Yes, choreography, as in dance routine. Making his moves "flashier" to impress the judges. Reminding himself to open his throat and yell on his really flashy moves to make his flashy moves even more impressive to the judges.

Yeesh............

I would love to see one of these highly trained, pretty-boy, moussed-hairdo guys faced with an experienced real fighter......say a guy who's survived ten years in a max security prison.

Give the prison guy a tire tool and let them have at.

I'm putting $5 on the guy with the tire tool, actual combat experience, and the bad attitude. He'd fracture the skull of the martial artist as he was trying to focus on his flashy choreography.

In fact, right now in the show, the "Five time world champion" pretty boy is sucking at sparring. He's been hit in the face, and is losing his cool, and getting pimp slapped.

hillbilly

 

[Rupestris]

I watched too. At least 'til the first comercial break. Then I found out that "A Christmas Story" was on.

"FAAA-RA-RA-RA-RA - RA-RA-RA RAA!"

 

[Wanderer]

I watched it for a little, then realized that they were focusing on how good things look, instead of how effective they were. It's nice looking to do backflips, but the aforementioned tire-tool-wielder will knock you on your ???, so you better be good at groundfighting too.

 

[Soap]

Yeah...it sucked big time. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't consider that dance routine stuff to have anything to do with the martial arts. And the sparring they did was just glorified tag. *yawn*

Wing Chun, not fun to watch, very fun to do

 

[learnedmonkey]

I found it about half and half useless and interesting. While exhibition-style competition is, IMO, completely contrary to the principles of self-defense, I would stop short of saying those guys are purely posers. I've done my share of martial arts training, and I like to think I've learned enough to survive an attack, but I can't do half the stuff those guys did. I've trained with bo staves, and they're easy enough to twirl, but it takes real training and skill to twirl it exactly the way you want it to go without smacking yourself in the head. Now, as far as using any of those twirling techniques to defend yourself...admittedly, that's completely useless. One well-timed touch on the staff will send it spinning away. Bye-bye bo!

Some of the weapon information was new to me, so I found that interesting. I also appreciated that they made a point that the power of martial arts techniques comes from the entire body working in concert. I've seen too many start-up schools that mimic the external movements without understanding the bone and muscle interactions that power the movements. A 50 lb. child hitting you with their entire body weight focused into one knuckle on a direct path is going to do more damage than a 250 lb man hitting you with the weight of their 25 lb arm dispersed over a wider surface area, with an arcing path and an extended contact time. Not to mention that a jiu-jutsu student with maybe a month's training could take that arm and introduce said man to the sidewalk in a hurry...

I don't consider martial arts to be training for fighting. I consider it to be training for avoiding fighting. The very nature of point-scoring sparring encourages you to forget that if you're attacked, the longer you take incapacitating your attacker, the less likely you are to survive the encounter, all other things being equal. It circumvents the necessity to read an opponent and find the fleeting opportunity to incapacitate them quickly so you can get out of danger. It also defeats the learning of the instinct to run away from a fight you don't have to be in. If I'm jumped while unarmed on the street at night, I won't stop to punch and kick at the guy if I can run away. All that's just to give me a chance to escape with my life. If he's got a gun, he's either close enough for me to take his gun away from him, or far enough away that I'm screwed anyway.

 

[OrvilleYertleson]

I flipped back and forth betwen that and a couple other shows the other night. I thought that the guy who did the sword kata (correct terminology?) looked really neat. Don't know how practical it was, but it was neat.

The rest of what I have seen was stupid. But it's an accurate reflection of what most 'extreme' sports are becoming competition wise.

 

[Soap]

Don't know how practical it was, but it was neat.

Imagine flailing wildly with you arms in random directions. Then insert stupid "WA" "Cha" "WOOT" etc. noises. That matches the combat effectiveness of that guy's "kata".

 

[cordex]

Whenever I see someone spinning and flipping and being generally irresponsible with pointy things, I always remember the scene from that Indiana Jones movie.
*sigh* ... *BANG*

 

[learnedmonkey]

Odd bit of trivia: That scene in the temple of doom where Indy shoots the sword dude wasn't originally what was supposed to happen. There was a long elaborate fight scene planned, but Harrison Ford had the runs...he couldn't make it through a scene without having to run to the toilet. So Spielberg and Lucas were discussing what they could do, and the suggestion came up that Indy could just shoot the guy. One of the best moments in cinema history, and all because of a little intestinal rebellion.

 

[schadenfreude]

There was a long elaborate fight scene planned, but Harrison Ford had the runs...

That's not entirely accurate.......Harrison Ford actually had the Green Apple Splatters

Back on topic, I watched the whole thing and toward the end I kept hoping the martial arts guy that was competing would catch a savage beating from someone who knows how to fight.

 

[El Tejon]

Don't get me started on the crack up in modern wushu.

Sort of what happened with IPSC. They took all the "fight" out of the "art."