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Old 01-07-2010, 02:48 PM   #24
Mark Kruger
Dojo: Aikido of Eugene
Location: Eugene/Springfield, Oregon
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 40
United_States
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Re: Martial Ineffectiveness

Martially Ineffective... in what context?

What is and isn't effective is very context driven. What is effective at Sekigahara in the 1600's is different from what is effective at a gulp-n-go robbery today.

Clearing a structure at speed works when you are part of a well trained team. There are enough eyes to watch all the angles. Clearing a structure at speed solo when you don't know where the threat is? Suicide. Yet, I had an martial arts instructor complain about how slow I was clearing structure by myself. It turns out his instruction was solely with law enforcement/military trainers who teach teams and he was applying his knowledge out of context

Striking with a closed fist (boxing) figures prominently in the ancient greek world, almost disappears in the medieval european world, and reappears in the modern. I suspect that it is a function of armor. Punching a metal breastplate... not so good. So it all but disappears from toolbox until that armor goes away.

Being able to push someone many feet away is a great skill. Unless the other person has a projectile launcher (gun) in which case opening the range gets you perforated repeatedly (dead). If you both have guns, you both die if the range opens from contact. I've watched classmates of mine do this repeatedly with simunitions. Given that context, you have to maintain contact to keep them from deploying their weapon.

Shooting in for a double leg takedown is a very effective wrestling move. Change the context and place a knife in the hands of the person being taken down. A double leg results in a number of serious cuts in the back if your lucky and a slit throat if you aren't.

So, before we talk about martial effectiveness, we need to define the context. Where are we? When are we? How many folks are involved? What are the goals of the parties involved? Are there weapons? Who has the weapons? Is there some form of armor? Is there a disparity in weapons, skill, size, strength, numbers? Does one side have an initiative advantage or deficit? Are there legal restrictions on how much and who can apply force?

Respectfully,
Mark Kruger
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