solarz
Brigadier
Inspired by the recent kerfuffle over the MMA vs Taichi "master" fight, I am reminded of something Jet Li said a few years back.
During an interview, he was asked if Wushu was just performance art. He didn't even hesitate before answering: "Of course it is! We can't actually learn how to kill other people, because that's illegal!".
Traditional Martial Arts have no incentive to actually teach people how to fight. Their business model is to sell mysticism and fantasy. Wushu students' aspirations are to star in kung fu movies, not become prize fighters.
MMA actually makes money from competitive fighting. It is a sport, just like basketball or football, and people who learn MMA want to be good at competitive fighting.
So the two disciplines exist in different spheres.
I think the reason many people are disappointed at TMA is that TMA sells this fantasy that learning TMA gives you, for lack of a better term, superpowers. I mean, how else would you describe concepts like "internal strength"? But really, did we really need to see an MMA practitioner beat up a Taichi practitioner to realize that "qigong" is not real? I mean, doesn't that say more about ourselves than TMA?
Traditional Martial Arts, like a lot of "traditional" stuff, is more about culture than utility. Traditional Chinese Medicine, for example, has the same issues. A lot of people believe in acupuncture. I think that's perfectly fine, so long as you still see a real doctor when you get sick!
During an interview, he was asked if Wushu was just performance art. He didn't even hesitate before answering: "Of course it is! We can't actually learn how to kill other people, because that's illegal!".
Traditional Martial Arts have no incentive to actually teach people how to fight. Their business model is to sell mysticism and fantasy. Wushu students' aspirations are to star in kung fu movies, not become prize fighters.
MMA actually makes money from competitive fighting. It is a sport, just like basketball or football, and people who learn MMA want to be good at competitive fighting.
So the two disciplines exist in different spheres.
I think the reason many people are disappointed at TMA is that TMA sells this fantasy that learning TMA gives you, for lack of a better term, superpowers. I mean, how else would you describe concepts like "internal strength"? But really, did we really need to see an MMA practitioner beat up a Taichi practitioner to realize that "qigong" is not real? I mean, doesn't that say more about ourselves than TMA?
Traditional Martial Arts, like a lot of "traditional" stuff, is more about culture than utility. Traditional Chinese Medicine, for example, has the same issues. A lot of people believe in acupuncture. I think that's perfectly fine, so long as you still see a real doctor when you get sick!