What the Heck?! Thread (Closed)

Very old news:
A Dutch Protestant newspaper I subscribe to has an article this Saturday about misbehaving allied soldiers in the Southern Netherlands in 1944-45.

After the failure of Market Garden allied soldiers in the liberated part of the Netherlands plundered and caused destruction on a large scale. Strong boxes, including one in a church, were blown up. A town administration was thrown into the street and lost when cabinets it was stored in were stolen. The bedding from two hospitals was stolen. Pictures were cut out of frames Also an exercise in fighting in streets was held in streets that had not been damaged in fighting while damaged streets were available. Five farms and their stored crops were burned down during an exercise with flame throwers. The damage was done by British and Canadian forces but mostly by US army.
I had heard about this but this is the first time I read about it and it was much worse than I imagined.The paper found this information in the Dutch National Archive.

delft said:

I had heard about this but this is the first time I read about it and it was much worse than I imagined.

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Indeed, that's horrible. Should have waited for Soviets...

delft said:

Very old news:
A Dutch Protestant newspaper I subscribe to has an article this Saturday about misbehaving allied soldiers in the Southern Netherlands in 1944-45.

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After the failure of Market Garden allied soldiers in the liberated part of the Netherlands plundered and caused destruction on a large scale. Strong boxes, including one in a church, were blown up. A town administration was thrown into the street and lost when cabinets it was stored in were stolen. The bedding from two hospitals was stolen. Pictures were cut out of frames Also an exercise in fighting in streets was held in streets that had not been damaged in fighting while damaged streets were available. Five farms and their stored crops were burned down during an exercise with flame throwers. The damage was done by British and Canadian forces but mostly by US army.
I had heard about this but this is the first time I read about it and it was much worse than I imagined.The paper found this information in the Dutch National Archive.

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As they say, history is written by the victors. Inconvenient and uncomfortable truths are often air brushed out of the mainstream history books as a result.

I sadly fear finds like these will be less likely for future generations looking back at what we have done as propaganda from all sides and fake news become ever more prevalent and sophisticated.

plawolf said:

As they say, history is written by the victors. Inconvenient and uncomfortable truths are often air brushed out of the mainstream history books as a result.

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delft is laughable talking about 'destruction on a larage scale' (five farms burned) or 'plundering' (the bedding from two hospitals was stolen). It was a war where millions of people died and entire cities bigger than anything you can find in Netherlands were razed to the ground.

It doesn't get neglected because

plawolf said:

history is written by the victors

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It's neglected because there were tens of thousands stories like that during the war. Not to mention that bad things done by Allied troops in Western Europe in 1944/45 is child's play compared to Soviet way of 'freeing' Eastern and Central Europe.

And now there are users comforting his crocodile's tears becuase that puts Americans in a bad light...

Janiz said:

delft is laughable talking about 'destruction on a larage scale' (five farms burned) or 'plundering' (the bedding from two hospitals was stolen). It was a war where millions of people died and entire cities bigger than anything you can find in Netherlands were razed to the ground.

It doesn't get neglected because
It's neglected because there were tens of thousands stories like that during the war. Not to mention that bad things done by Allied troops in Western Europe in 1944/45 is child's play compared to Soviet way of 'freeing' Eastern and Central Europe.

And now there are users comforting his crocodile's tears becuase that puts Americans in a bad light...

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I gave a few examples of absurd crimes. The majority of the the mayors in the area had long lists of crimes committed by soldiers according to the article. Burning grain in an area with hunger is such an absurd crime.

I just heard on BBC Radio 4 Obama interfere in the French presidential election!!!!!!!

MMA fighter issues challenge to any traditional martial arts masters who think they can take him on
BY IN ON MAY 2, 2017 5:35 PM


After , a MMA fighter has issued a challenge to any other traditional Chinese martial arts masters who think they would have better luck against him in a fight.

Last week, a video went viral on Chinese social media of the (brief) match between Xu Xiaodong, a 38-year-old Beijing-based MMA fighter, coach and promoter, known by fans as a "madman" for his ruthless aggression in the ring, and Wei Lei, the 41-year-old founder of the fledgling "Thunder style" school of Tai Chi in Chengdu. Prior to the match, Xu insulted traditional Chinese martial arts, saying they were all about style with no substance.



He then put that belief to the test. About 10 seconds after the fight began, it was over with Xu taking Wei to the ground and pummeling his face with punches in front of a large crowd in Chengdu. The Tai Chi master hadn't managed to get in a single blow.



Watch video of the fight below:



Afterward, the fight sparked a contentious debate online over whether traditional Chinese martial arts could in fact stand up to more modern styles of fighting. Xu has made his position known, saying his quick victory over Wei wasn't a fluke, he has thrown down the gauntlet to any other master who thinks that they can take him in a fight.

In his Weibo , Xu said that the fight will be "anything goes" with kicks to the groin and pokes in the eye allowed. He even boasted that he could take on two or three masters at one time. He writes that while he could lose, he isn't afraid of losing, because he is fighting against fakery with the support of the Chinese people. A true promoter, Xu says that the event will be broadcast across the country with 1.2 million yuan in prize money in total up for grabs.



A handful of traditional Chinese martial arts experts have already stepped forward to defend the honor of their discipline by accepting Xu's bold challenge. One such challenger is Lu Xing, the president of the Sichuan Tai Chi "pushing hands" school, who said on Weibo that he was ready to "teach [Xu] a lesson."

“He is deeply biased against the traditional martial arts and his words were insulting. I challenged him so he could have a fresh perspective of Tai Chi and the true traditional martial arts,” Lu said, according to , adding that he was 80% sure he would win the fight.

However, not everyone is so confident in Lu's chances. While some Chinese netizens have hoped that someone will be able to take down Xu and humiliate him, others have praised the MMA fighter for helping to unmask charlatans. On Chinese social media, videos of other Tai Chi "masters" in action have gone viral, like this grandmaster of the "pushing hands" style:

source:

This is an ongoing hotly debated topic in China right now; surprised no one mentioned any news of it here. What you guys think?

bluewater2012 said:

MMA fighter issues challenge to any traditional martial arts masters who think they can take him on
BY

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IN

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ON MAY 2, 2017 5:35 PM

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I'd like to see this guy take on . I don't think he'd have the guts though. This guy is just a shameless self-promoter.

Anyone familiar with the martial arts scene knows that 99% of traditional martial arts practitioners are not trained in actual combat. People learn TMA for fitness, culture, and self-confidence. So this guy is just picking on some easy targets.

solarz said:

I'd like to see this guy take on

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. I don't think he'd have the guts though. This guy is just a shameless self-promoter.

Anyone familiar with the martial arts scene knows that 99% of traditional martial arts practitioners are not trained in actual combat. People learn TMA for fitness, culture, and self-confidence. So this guy is just picking on some easy targets.

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Liu Hailong does not fight with Taiji. He never said he would take on any Sanshou fighter and he never claimed to be an elite fighter.This guy's whole point is that China has to learn and adapt rather than hold on stubbornly to tradition. Traditional martial arts like Taiji, mantis fist, tiger claw, long fist, are out-dated styles that cannot stand up to modern combat forms like Sanshou, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jujitsu, and their combinations. Even though they are deeply ingrained in Chinese tradition, it's time to recognize them as what they really are today: performance arts. So this guy's challenge is meant to break apart any old "masters" who swindle Chinese students into paying them them their valuable time and money learning these old forms thinking that they would be prepared for true self-defense. In reality, their time and money would be properly invested in a modern combat form. I'm not saying the old styles should all be purged. They can continue to be taught as performance arts (dynamic dance) and the students should know that going in. His challenge only goes out to those who wish to perpetuate the lie that these old martial arts can be used in a real fight. I agree with this man's challenge and message though I do think he looks like a cocky idiot.

By the way, that BS Taiji "master" who was beaten went on to blame his shoes for the loss and also said that he intentionally held back because winning would go against his philosophy. This garbage needs to stop. Taiji is for old people in the park to improve joint mobility and breathing. This swindler should close shop and sell fried tofu.

Look at Cody Garbrandt dodging the former champ Dominic Cruz's punches.

But then Cody was a top level boxer. Boxing gives you fast hands that are powerful and when coupled with bob and weave movements, is excellent for street fighting. You can literally take on four or five opponents.

Combine it with wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and you belong to the MMA league. I don't see Chinese fighters count Taiji as their discipline. Sanshou yes, but it lacks emphasis on grappling. A good practitioner of Sanshou is Li Jing Liang, who is contracted to the UFC and has compiled an impressive win record. But his lack of a good ground game is his archilles heel. So Sanshou is not enough to take on the best.

I feel boxing, wrestling and bjj should be part of the Chinese colleges' curriculum, if only for the basics.

As for the winner of that duel, Yi Long should be able to redeem honor from him.