MuayThai Fighter

Shows how little you know about martial arts if you can actually say that katas are not to hide techniques. Katas are pre-arranged movements with hidden techniques. My instructor has nothing to do with my way of thinking,unlike traditional arts we don't get brain washed a certain way.I speak my own opinion from my own experience in both Goju Ryu Karate Do and Pankration.

That is where I disagree,because it doesn't take much to break bones.Little effort is needed.Does it take martial arts and power to break someones nose? Of course not,if you know where to hit or kick,then you could easily break someones bones. It doesn't take much to do a side kick to a person's knee caps,even though in karate they try to make it look like it would take alot of effort.You bring your knee up high enough and drop your kick in a person's knee it can automatically break with no effort at all.

That is so true.

My instructor who fought in UFC is Lance Gibson at the Gibson Pankration School in Port Moody,B.C. He is well known in the martial arts community and even by people who saw his fight in UFC. http://www.gibsonpankration.com He knocked out his opponent using his knee to guy's chin.

Thanks,I went here and I'm still not convinced that board breaking is useful. I have read some saying that it teaches accuracy more then hitting a heavy bag,which I totally disagree with. I can break 3 boards at most,so what if I can't break a whole stack.Even if I could break a whole stack what would I have accomplished other then being able to break all the boards? I think board breaking is useless and stupid.Either you will break the boards or you can end up breaking your fingers or knuckles and then you end up worse off and end up getting nothing out of those boards,so what is the point of breaking the boards? I did my share of breaking boards when I used to do Goju Ryu karate and thought it was fun but never really got anything out of it,and never understood the point behind it.

Well katas are useless.

Yep,that's all it is a novelty.

A heavy bag doesn't hit back either. I do however agree that a heavy bag makes more sense since it helps you with accuracy,focus,concentration,improve technique,speed and power all at one time.Where as it doesn't take much to break a board or even 3 boards. It might be hard if not impossible to break a whole stack of boards,but whether you are able to or not,what does breaking boards really accomplish?Nothing more then being able to break those boards as far as I am concerned,it definitely won't help you improve your fighting skills like a heavy bag will.So I agree with you 100%.

I agree 100%

Whether Tai chi,Karate,KungFu,Tae kwon do etc.,forms are just forms,nothing more. Katas originally supposed to be away of hiding unarmed combat techniques being practiced are just really forms.They may have a few useful techniques,but in general they are just a bunch of techniques that have been pre-arranged to look a certain way that's all. The same thing goes for Capoeira an afro-brazilian martial art invented by the African slaves in order to cover up their practice of fighting techniques from their masters.This martial art became more of a dance and the change they had done to hide their techniques ruined their art forever making it just another way of practicing forms. You really think any of these forms would help you to become a better martial artist and better fighter?Then you better just keep on dreaming.

Okay if you understand it,why don't you tell me what good board breaking does?

I disagree,a punch isn't just a punch,as you have stated.A karate punch is different from a muaythai punch and a muaythai punch will be more effective then a karate punch,why?well first of all a karate punch often comes from the waste(belt level)leaving oneself open for a punch to stomache or solar plexus.MuayThai punch comes from above,holding at head level and being thrown whether straight jab,right cross,or uppercut,hooks etc.The less time a punch takes to be executed the more power you will have.Speed breads power.It takes longer to execute a punch from waste then it does if you are holding your fists up at head level. Also snapping your punches as is done in karate and many other styles is less effective then if you just go right through with the punch.Snapping and pulling back on punches does absolutely nothing for the same reason point sparring is not as effective as full contact. I can rely on things like UFC for a deciding factor as to what is effective and isn't because UFC although not an actual fight is the closest you will ever come to a real situation.Also my instructor has fought in UFC and teaches us the same stuff you see in those octagon fights so I can compare it to karate since I used to do it and see the huge difference.

I will agree that tai chi is nothing but forms. You see UFC as just a bunch of half naked guys beating up on people in a ring for pay per preview,and don't see it as proving an art,well then you have never watched or don't know much about UFC. They prove their art by using what they are trained in,and they all have mixed martial arts experience. To even bring up guns is stupid,because we're not here to discuss about what weapons can do,any moron knows that a gun can kill anyone regardless of martial arts being taken or whether a person has trained in M.A or not.You're stating the obvious.Don't get off topic,we are discussing martial arts and only martial arts not guns,you don't have to be in martial arts to know what a gun can do. I pull a gun on one of you karate guys and it will be the end of you too,so what's your point?

I never once said MMA doesn't have its limitations infact I did say all styles do,just some more then others. What makes mixed martial arts a sport and traditional arts not?What to you makes other arts more of a style then mixed styles? As far as I am concerned mixed martial arts are more of a martial arts then your typical traditional arts.After all martial arts is originally meant for self-defense yet styles like karate don't teach much of it,they teach alot of katas,where as other styles like Pankration,Savate,Shooto etc.concentrate specifically on self-defense. The word "martial" is for combat,if I am correct.Traditional arts have very little of that training. Do you even know the difference between a martial arts style and sport? A karate ka,judo practitioner,and a boxer can enter the octagon but they would all lose without knowing any other styles.To win in the octagon you would have to know a combination of arts such as stand up and grappling or you will lose as simple as that.No single art will work in UFC or Pride.In case you haven't noticed most fights go from stand up to the ground and usually won by submission. Traditional arts are not the type of martial arts that will work in competitions like UFC,Sabaki Challenge or Pride. MMA not being a style is what makes it a better martial arts,because then it means it is less limited.

I agree that there is no complete art however there are some arts that are more complete then others(the mixed martial arts styles)just as there are some arts that are completely limited,such as karate. Doing katas limits one's fighting ability. Mixed Martial Arts that concentrate specifically on self-defense/fighting are the only useful arts available and have been proven over and over again in UFC,Pride,etc.,however even they have limits.