Karate vs. Kung Fu

[Pekka]

Everything what David Floyd said, I agree.

SAFTA? Scientific Aggressive Fighting Tehnique of America? You mean the one Jon Hess does? Doesn't that suck serious butts? I thought it was more closer to joke than real thing.. ? I guess I am mistaken.

[Kramerman]

do you think a man who was an expert at a fighting style could take down an animal much larger than himself? This probably seems like a random question, but iwas just reading about how enrmously powerful chimpanzees are, and how they could break a human being in half... could a expert martial artist (like a heavy weight boxer or black belt or somethn) take down a chimp? I hope so...
... stupid chimps...

[David Floyd]

Possibly I am mistaken in saying that is the system that SEALs use. I know that Jon Hess is a joke of a fighter, though.

[Pekka]

David, exactly. I'm not saying you are mistaken, as I do not know what SEALs learn, but if they do SAFTA, then it must be good, and if Jon Hess created SAFTA, it can't be good I don't have any facts though.

[David Floyd]

do you think a man who was an expert at a fighting style could take down an animal much larger than himself? This probably seems like a random question, but iwas just reading about how enrmously powerful chimpanzees are, and how they could break a human being in half... could a expert martial artist take down a chimp? I hope so...

I suppose it really depends, but ****ing with large animals isn't a good idea unless done from 100 yards with a rifle.

I would tend to doubt it, simply because animals are built differently from humans. They have different vulnerable spots, different "tough" spots, are conditioned differently, etc. I suppose if you trained specifically to fight large animals, studied their anatomy, etc., it could be done, but that seems kinda useless and kinda stupid.

Oh, and by the way, the term "expert martial artist" does not translate to "competent fighter". It simply means he know his system well, and can do a lot of forms, and things of that nature.

[Kramerman]

what do they teach you in the finnish military, pekka?

[Kramerman]

Originally posted by David Floyd


I suppose it really depends, but ****ing with large animals isn't a good idea unless done from 100 yards with a rifle.

I would tend to doubt it, simply because animals are built differently from humans. They have different vulnerable spots, different "tough" spots, are conditioned differently, etc. I suppose if you trained specifically to fight large animals, studied their anatomy, etc., it could be done, but that seems kinda useless and kinda stupid.

Oh, and by the way, the term "expert martial artist" does not translate to "competent fighter". It simply means he know his system well, and can do a lot of forms, and things of that nature.

ok, just curious... i just think it would be cool to meet a guy who says something to the affect, "yeah, i just got back form taking down a moose with my bare hands... anyone hungry?"

also, i remember reading about some guy who around the turne of the century wrestled lions. It was a circus act, after all, so i question how genuine the fight was, but still very impressive. I was wondering the validity of this as well.

EDIT: i agree tho, i personally would never get close to a big wild animal without a 30-06

[Pekka]

Kramerman, depends where you serve and what kind of a bad ass you're supposed to be, but nothing much.
I was active in doing the sport back then though, so I got to train 3 times a week in the 'gym' and had few buddies there too who were doing the same thing, so we sparred and trained together. Later on as two of us became trainers, we had the liberty to teach some limited striking and more realistic close combat fighting, but nothing much. We trained together more, but in general they don't teach very much. But here everyone is a natural, so there's no need

So let's say I didn't learn anything new personally, but it was good times. There is a problem you know, almost every men serves, so it's a bit of a problem if every man here walking down the streets knows killing techniques with their hands you know .

Though I think in the special forces they might have something nice.

[CorpusScorpius]

Originally posted by Kramerman



ok, just curious... i just think it would be cool to meet a guy who says something to the affect, "yeah, i just got back form taking down a moose with my bare hands... anyone hungry?"

also, i remember reading about some guy who around the turne of the century wrestled lions. It was a circus act, after all, so i question how genuine the fight was, but still very impressive. I was wondering the validity of this as well.

EDIT: i agree tho, i personally would never get close to a big wild animal without a 30-06

go here to see the consequences of fighting wild animalshttp://www.darwinawards.com/

[JohnT]

The lovely wife and I are thinking of putting Sophie in a martial arts program somewhere between the ages of 4-6 years. I know at this ages the classes are just a bunch of kids who want to yell and play-hit, but are there any suggestions from the more experienced? David?

[FrostyBoy]

Kung fu is the better one. The best offense is a good defense, which is what kung fu is and karate is not.

Kung fu is also better for the mind.

[Pekka]

Don't take my word as an advice, but if I had a girl that age, I'd put her to tae kwon do. David will give you better tips and I'd trust him more.

I'm not sure what would be fun for kid that age, because that's what it should be, fun. But from adult perspective I'd go with TKD... if it was a boy, I'd put him wrestling though. If he wanted that is, I don't want to push anything. Maybe he wants to wear pantyhose and play fluit, I don't know but if that's what he wants, then that's what he'll do. I'm not paying for the pantyhose though.

[David Floyd]

JohnT,

I think the first thing to realize is that AT HER AGE, any value gained from martial arts classes will not be in self defense, but rather in discipline/respect. With that in mind, the actual style isn't really relevant. Tae Kwon Do is fine. One other thing to make sure of is that she can relate to the other kids in the class, and the instructor - I wouldn't recommend putting her in an all Asian class, because the culture/mindsets will be different and she might not enjoy it.

What you'll want to do, in my opinion, is find a school with a good children's program, and an instructor whom you like.

When she gets older, if you (and her) want to continue on with the self defense aspects, that's something different. It's important to realize, though, that as a female, she's less suited to physical self defense than males (in general), and as such, you'll want to find a school focused towards self defense for women rather than self defense in general.

Make sense?

[Pekka]

But it's hard to say which style is better when talking about these traditional martial arts.. at least for me it is. It depends on who is doing it.

Then you put them to fight and see who wins? How do you measure, if the representors of both styles are at the same level? Tough to say..

And as for Sophie, I'd check out the local gyms and see myself what their thing is like, what kind of atmosphere they have, are the teachers good, do they seem like good persons and the person teach your kid, is it a long drive, how much it costs, and if the kid shows interest to some of them more than others... then maybe that should be the place. I don't know I'm just babbling.
But I know TKD is not bad for kids, and there are lots of girls and boys of early age doing it at least in here and they seem to have a good time. When for example you shouldn't take her to boxing. Damn it, ask David! Oh you did....

[David Floyd]

SnOOpy,

Actually, the phrase is "The best defense is a good offense". In any case, though, it is hard to make a superiority distinction between kung fu styles and karate styles. Very often, a very large, but untrained, person will take out pretty much any Karate or Kung Fu stylist he fights. Fights generally end up on the ground, and unfortunately, most traditional martial arts do not have effective ground fighting techniques. Karate certainly doesn't, and the Kung Fu grappling styles aren't much better, from the standpoint of realistic self defense.