I would like a return to the old 'challenge' system, where the combatants sign a death waver, and neither party can be legally prosecuted for any injuries or death that they delt. I have witten drafts of such a waver but legal advice I had been given says that since assult and manslaughter are criminal offenses, no one can be exempt from them even through mutual agreement.
tjqinterest wrote:There are still plenty if techniques which are taught by taijiquan teachers as very effective tools of throwing, locking, deflecting, avoiding takedowns etc. and which are not in that list of forbidden techniques. Why not to use them in competition?
Because it is folly to try and beat athletes at their own field of specialisation. A swimmer may run faster then the average person, but they cannot hope to beat a trained runner. MMArtists train and practise techniques that have been proven to be most effective in winning MMA bouts. If their techniques can easily be overcome by any other competitively legal way, they would've already adapted it.
tjqinterest wrote:
If you say that competitions are not the place to evaluate martial skill, then I have no other choice than to agree this statement. But there is serious problem: This puts us to the position, where we can not criticize any martial art or training method, which is claimed to be only for real fighting for "life and death."
Yes, that is precisely correct! People shape martial arts as much as martial arts train people. There are no bad martial arts, just bad martial artists, whether through training methods that are lacking or laziness. We are united here in the belief that taichi, which is generally considered an exercise for the elderly, is actually an effective martial art, when a practitioner is train correctly. So we of all people should not be so quick to judge the martial arts of others, when we ourselves are fighting the same prejudices. Our opinions can only count where we like or don't like certain styles or techniques as a matter of personal taste, but we can't correctly judge their effectiveness in combat. Fighting skill varies greatly between person to person, even within each style. Unconstructive criticisms on the internet where people have no opportunity to practically demonstrate their point are especially offensive:
KungFuPanda1979 wrote:tjqinterest wrote:
What makes you think that you could really do it in competition or in real self-defence situation?
If you're in Australia (hopefully the east coast) I would be more then happy to exchange knowledge with you.
The offer is still open, tjqinterest.
J HepworthYoung wrote:
There is an interesting story about a teacher/chauffeur in Oz, (Australia) who published a book that was titled to the effect of "how to beat any grappler using death touch"... Well a famous member of the Gracie family challenged him after this and the author basically told him that he would not fight unless it was to the death, to which the Gracie (Renzo) replied "Ok"... the author/chauffeur then refused to fight...
I myself don't like his techniques or teachings, but he is the only person in Australia to give taijiquan a influential voice as a legitimate martial art. He is the closest thing we had in Australia to Scott Randell, and since his passing, there has been no one to take his place as that voice.
Cheers
The Panda