a bad name for martial arts.

[Son Goku the monkeyking]

okay i have noticed something, i go to a school were most of the kids eather live in the hood or have. ( even though it is private) and of course many try to act hard. i have noticed that almost every1 hasa great amount of respect for boxing, and will go into very indebt boxing conversations. but almost knowone except for the people who actually study MA respect martial arts, anytime someone says that can box or take boxing lessons people respect and belive that. if u say u know martial arts u eather get laughed at, given a challenge u dont want, jumped, or all of thee above. why do u think that people belive boxing is the best thing since sliced bread, but martial arts is crap. i even had one kid say to me that martial arts only works against chinese people ( at my old school). the only reason i can think of for this is that boxing is more popular in music, and Martial arts is not. and also many people try to pretend they know martial arts but DOnt. or took only a few lessons and have not practiced since. what do u guys think

PEACE

[lordtariel]

Nobody wants to be shown up. I think there is predjudice and misconception about every martial art. Doesn't mean that everyone is that way, it's just human nature. Don't let it get to you.

[Blackbeltblonde]

I honestly blame movies. Now, DO NOT get me wrong I love martial arts movies, but think about the differen popular martial arts movies that have been out lately.

Any Jackie Chan movie- Who other than him can really do that effectively?.. No one and everyone knows that.

Jet Lee- most of his require wire work, and while it's great entertainment it's unrealistic and we know it.

Matt Damon (Bourne movies)-itt's realistic.. But, people ARGUE WITH ME saying it was nothing compared to the ones above... *smacks forhead*

Bruce Lee- Not around anymore so many are losing the reality of how amazing he actually was.

Matrix- While their martial arts is real.. the plot is not and so neither is the stunts they do.

Chuck Norris- Too much Ranger lately for people to believe it's anything other than fake... (although he was undefeated 7 time world champion when he retired from competition)

SO, the reality of our situation is because the martial arts is so cool the movies show it off.. ALL THE TIME.. where as Boxing.. well it's pretty much the same setting... 4 sided ring, 2 men, gloves, bell ringing... K.O.

~BBB

[Spirit At Choice]

I honestly blame movies.

That was pretty much what I was thinking. A lot of movies depict martial artists as nearly super-human, whereas boxing movies are a little easier to relate to.

Boxers are often depicted as Jedermann and martial artists as Superman.

[Dlove]

I would venture to say that the specific neigborhood that most of these kids come from, boxing may be the ony out for some of them, so they want to make it sound bigger than life, and when martial arts is brought up they might feel threatened and just lash out in ingnorance., kids are like that........ I grew up in VERY rural Oklahoma and got a simular reception from some of the older students in the school, so after quite a bit of hasslei and getting a few pranks pulled on me , I took the time one day right in the middle of class exchange and EDUCATED two of them , needless to say most of the crap stopped. But I will tell you it was not the high road and I probably should have not done it, Sometimes it is good to just be quite and remain very proud of what you know and enjoy it with freinds......

[UseoForce]

Hey, Boxing is a martial art.

Frankly, your average boxer will be tougher than a karateka. Before you jump my case, that's not just my opinion, even Bill Wallace says so.

Boxers train hardcore. They are in great shape and know what it is like to hit and be hit full force. They spar all-out.

I'm not saying other styles can't hold their own (or be better than) boxing, but the truth is that many Eastern styles adopt "soft" training methods and little or no hard sparring.

Don't even get me started on McDojos. You won't find many McBoxing Clubs because there is no rank and everyone spars. If you can't fight, everyone will know it.

Couple that with the fact that many Eastern styles have so much internal stuff and forms and all that. I'm not saying it's right, but it is easy to see why the average person would perceive the boxer/karateka thing the way they do.

[jaymac]

I agree with blackbeltblonde. Movies are probably the reason people are not interested in MA. Watch a Jet Li or a Jackie Chan movie and you think, "Wow that is awesome." Most people however probably think to themselves, it looks awesome, but I can't do that. People watching a boxer or a boxing movie see realistic fighters and realistic fights. There are no acrobatics involved. They know that they actually could train to be a boxer if they wanted. Best thing is to not even get involved with these conversations. MA is awesome and so is boxing. To each his own. Keep training and continue to be awesome! (Wow, I said awesome alot )

[ramymensa]

I am also thinking about movies. They depict MA as something easy to master (you need to wash some cars and paint some fences and you;re a black belt), the unrealistical fighting scenes using wires and special effects more than actual skills, the bad reputation of some MAs because poorly trained students and masters who are giving a BB in half an year if possible ... Everything that convinces people that MA is simple and we are just not as good as a boxer. In boxing it's pretty simple. They see KOs, they see blood ... usually boxing is taken seriously by instructors and students, there are no BB to be handed down to 3 year olds and so on ..

[elbows_and_knees]

there are a few reasons. one has been stated - the movies. Second, the facts. there are A LOT of McSchools out there. many people train there - several on this board - even though everyone always says they are part of the 10% that are not in one. Third, the goofy point tourneys and neon weapons.

Boxing is void of any of that. boxing is good old fashioned fighting, period. two guys scrapping it out. As said above, the average boxer is WAY better conditioned than the average MA. This is se for several reasons. Also, the average boxer has more fight experience than the average MA.

[elbows_and_knees]

I agree with blackbeltblonde. Movies are probably the reason people are not interested in MA. Watch a Jet Li or a Jackie Chan movie and you think, "Wow that is awesome." Most people however probably think to themselves, it looks awesome, but I can't do that. People watching a boxer or a boxing movie see realistic fighters and realistic fights. There are no acrobatics involved. They know that they actually could train to be a boxer if they wanted. Best thing is to not even get involved with these conversations. MA is awesome and so is boxing. To each his own. Keep training and continue to be awesome! (Wow, I said awesome alot )

I actually think it's the opposite. People see the wire acts and say either "that looks stupid", or "you can't do that in real life, with no wires". I know several people who think that way. It gives people the idea that kung fu only works with wires.