Quote:
Rob Liberti wrote:
If I missed the OP point, I humbly appologize.
I have to say I wasn't prepared for that. I tried that writing style of making the point, providing an example, and then wrapping up. It appears you responded to my post without reading all of it it first and then going back.
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Hi Rob,
I read it top to bottom, and that was the impression I got; I won't claim it was correct since I'm not a mind-reader. I also won't go into quote-indentation hell by responding point by point.
I actually would have made the same comment about other definitions of high percentage, but my post was already long enough. It's a fair statement to say that if your goal is self-defence, going from say, purple belt to black belt in BJJ probably brings diminishing returns compared to shoring up some other weaker area of your knowledge. Time in any art can become a matter of learning the detailed nuances of that art, but as I said there are other reasons people value certain training. A black belt in BJJ is an accomplishment to be proud of, even if it's overkill for what you're likely to need. That said, there is still high-percentage training vs low-percentage (competitive vs cooperative), and within those there is still high-percentage and low-percentage in terms of responses to the given scenario. A full-grown man is probably never going to be subject to a double wrist grab, but there are still reasonable counters and silly counters even though it doesn't really matter much.
I don't know much about what Dan Harden does, though I've heard good things. I've also followed Mike's and Rob's posts with interest. I would also agree that it remains to be seen what these things can add to the modern repertoire, but I would be very pleased to see a good result. Why would anyone be against impressive martial skills? I believe in keeping an open mind, just not so open that your brains fall out. So I can't go quite as far as wishing for comic book powers, but since I'm not so difficult to please it's really not an issue. Good-for-a-normal-human is good enough for me.
Besides, people just aren't meant to have such powers. I remember an old Steve Martin comedy special where he gave a realistic example of what having invisibility powers would do. He was ignored by some attractive women, and so assumed he must be invisible. He excitedly painted a picture of being the world's greatest spy, and the wonderful things he could do for America. In the next scene, he was being led out of the women's restroom by the police, still claiming to be invisible.
The important thing to note here is that you also cross-train, which seems par for the course for the respondents here. That should say what it needs to say to the original poster.