Learning skills

Hi,

I was once told a story about a friend of a friend (hehe yea one of THOSE stories) who did karate when he was young. He never got black belt and was never in competitions ....and as he got older, he stopped training.

Then one day he was out driving and while sitting behind somebody waiting to pull out at a junction, he wasn't paying careful enough attention to the car in front of him who was also waiting to pull out and bumped into him. No major damage, just the slighest of dents on the bumper as it was a collision at less than 5mph.

Out gets the guy in the car in front ...and he was a big guy. Out gets our ex-karate amateur (our hero lol) :D

The big guy is acting pretty annoyed and not content with taking insurance details of our hero, he takes a swing at him (the guy who did karate wasn't very big or strong looking btw) ...however ...his training kicked in and he was able to parry the big guys attack in such a way that left the big guy completely open to attack. The karate guy didn't attack him, but the big guy was so shocked by this display of fighting ability he just apologised for trying to hit him and drove off without even taking our hero's details.

This story could be completely false but it was told to me by a friend who has no history of fabrication :P
So ...yea i'd say knowing a martial art would definately be a plus, if only just for the physical fitness it results in (good for the heart and all)


..not to sure about chess

and thirdly ...fly.be or easyjet should be pretty cheap to spain

Games - strategy games that make you think increase the strategic pathways in your brain. Chess in particular trains you to think ahead about the consequences of actions, and possible responses to foreseeable problems. That said, I think it only makes you better at an unrelated strategic situation if you consciously apply the same principles. If you leave the new pathways dormant except for during chess, you've gained nothing.

Clarification: It still takes personal effort to apply skills from one area of your life to another area - having the skills, and using the skills are two different things.

There's been a ton of threads like this asking what's the best martial art to learn..and I'm already predicting responses from specific people.

Listen, if you're looking to come out of street fights the "victor", get into some mixed martial arts. If you want a glimpse into what that entails, rent some UFC DVD's, or just watch The Ultimate Fighter every Monday on Spike. Learn to box, grapple, and basic fundamental submission techniques and you'll be well off.

Google for "Bruce Lee" or go to brucelee.com, it explains thoroughly Bruce Lee's fighting style: Jeet Kune Do. It doesn't have a style, it's not a style of its own. What's necessary is to win, not to follow specific directions or style. Fighting conditions vary, you have to adjust. None of those martial art styles are necessarily better than the others. Any style will work, as long as you have the basic techniques, strength, and speed.

Just shout "That's my purse, I don't know you" then kick your attacker in the balls. Then run like hell until you get to Spain.

CM

1.) Can't really help you here. I'm a master of what I like to call "The Way of the Abject Coward". If there's a street battle, then I'm at least three blocks away one first minute after the first punch is thrown.

2.) I'm no master at chess, but I suspect the key to chess is being able to memorise key tactics (openings, endings, common strategies), and instinctively recognising patterns in the configurations of the pieces of the board; that's why designing an A.I. to beat a grandmaster is so hard. If you were really good at chess, then you would also have a tremendence level of concentration. But from what I hear, the really good players are also all extremely eccentric to say the least, and wouldn't be excellent business leaders. I'd try to master Diplomacy instead.

3.) Not sure on the best way to get to Spain from the U.K., but the cheapest is to swim.

Okay, so maybe I wasn't that much help at all...

Eh martial arts, I do em, but I'll tell you something - its usefulness is all relative.


If you are going to take one, visit all the different classes and make sure it feels right to you. And when learning - be mindful of realism - some martial arts will teach you the craziest thing, and it may be the coolest looking move in the art - but it might also be the most useless in a real life situation.

And try to make the art your own

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Original post by Access I'll just get straight down to it. 1.) Does learning Karate/Kung Fu/ Taekwondo actually help you in real street battles?

Fights are won by the person who first decides to end the battle.

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Original post by Conner McCloud Just shout "That's my purse, I don't know you" then kick your attacker in the balls. Then run like hell until you get to Spain. CM

Hah!!! One of the best King of the Hill episodes ever!!! Do I get brownie points for catching the reference? In fact, my friends blues/rock band warms up singing that to basic blues riffs... hilarious...

However, back on topic for the OP, as far as which style will be most likely train you to come out the victor of a fight -- get rid of this "street battle" terminology, you're glorifying a fight -- it also depends on what you mean by "victor". Do you mean you incapacitate the other guy? Pin and hold him till he calms down? Deflect his attacks until you can get away or get help? Different styles of martial arts address just such questions. Karate is primarily an offensive style that goes by the "best defense is a great offense", i.e, if you can put them down fast (and, I do mean fast) they can't hurt you. Aikido is a largely defensive style centered around deflection. Judo is a sort of wrestling style that specializes in holds and take-downs. What do you want to be able to do?

Mage

Btw, in my opinion, don't even bother with Taekwondo. The vast majority of dojos you find are going to focus on kicking and tournament sparring. And, seeing as how in tournaments there is no kicking below the waist, you learn a whole lot of useless stuff. As in, in a real fight, if you're fighting someone who knows what they're doing and take the time to pick your leg up that high, well, you're fucked.

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Original post by Access 1.) Does learning Karate/Kung Fu/ Taekwondo actually help you in real street battles? So if i was good at one of these martial arts, and I got in a fight with someone, would these arts actually help? Or are they just that,..movement arts?

Yes, one (or preferably more) martial art(s) will help you out if you get into a fight, both in that you'll be better equipped to strike effectively, and also in the fact that you'll probably be somewhat better trained in when not to fight, and in the self restraint to not go overboard if you're winning.

When it comes down to it, you don't want to fight unless you really have to, and if you're forced into a fight your object should be to disengage as quickly as possible with as little damage to all involved parties (particularly yourself/anyone you're defending, but also your opponent) as possible.

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2.) Chess, Go. Does playing chess actually help with strategy in say business situations? Or does playing chess just make you better at playing chess?

I can't really say for certain, but I'm inclined to think it would certainly help somewhat, if only because it will get you used to considering consequences and thinking ahead. It may also help train you to split your focus to cover the whole board (or to consider the whole of whatever situation). Another excellent game of this type is 'Pente'.

Also recommended if you have the patience is checkers; but without a board, as this would also help you develop your memory. If you want to try it, have a third person maintain a game board that you can't see so that you can check where the pieces are, and so they can tell you if you do anything against the rules.

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Original post by Access I'll just get straight down to it. 1.) Does learning Karate/Kung Fu/ Taekwondo actually help you in real street battles? So if i was good at one of these martial arts, and I got in a fight with someone, would these arts actually help? Or are they just that,..movement arts? 1b) Out of those three, which would you recommend if you had to choose one. Which is most effective for self defence and winning physical battles? 2.) Chess, Go. Does playing chess actually help with strategy in say business situations? Or does playing chess just make you better at playing chess? (in this question i'm asking specifically about the games Go, or Chess and not any other games such as monopoly) 3.) Whats the cheapest,best way to get to spain from UK? Random and possibly unrelated questions, i know but answers will be much appreciated. I'm not interested in how stupid/anything else my questions are. I just want answers. Thanks in advance. Rate++ for any help.

1) Yes, but not in ways you would think. You learn specific techniques and methods that may seem ridiculous as you're doing them, but it's the underlying principle of them that applies in a real-world situation. It's also the reflexes learned that help you in a fight, how to think quick. Being physically fit doesn't hurt, either.

I couldn't pick one, it always depends on the dojo. Read up on the different styles, through Wikipedia or wherever, and find the one that sounds most like what you want to learn. Then visit dojos in yoru area and find one that fits you. Talk to people who've trained at various places. Research.

2)Again I'd say yes. I'm a Go guy, myself, but I wouldn't doubt abilities honed by thinking abstractly as well as foreseeing future outcomes can't hurt in business. If you're practicing to be a future businessman, Monolopy can't hurt either [smile].

3) Can't help you here. 2/3's not bad for me, though [smile]. I heard flights between European countries (and the UK) are pretty cheap.

Good luck with the martial arts. My parents enrolled me when I was in junior high and it had a supremely positive impact on my life. Not only did I learn self-defense, but I learned something more important, self-control.

Thanks for all your help so far guys.
Here is my reasoning so far:


1.) i've ruled out taekwondo due to its emphasis on high kicks and kicking in general. Ive got long legs and have always loved kicking so i'd rather go for something im not so confident at. (im not saying im good at taekwondo tho).
Unfortunately theres no place close to my uni that does JKD. My other options now are between Karate, Jitsu and Kung fu. Jitsu is mainly defensive. So ive ruled it out personally. So its Karate vs Kung fu.
Im leaning towards Karate.

2.) From responses gathered so far i guess playing Go and Chess could only be beneficial. (somthing tells me i would have played them anyway). At least for the fun of it.
Checkers without a board sounds interesting especially as i AM interested in bettering my memory. But the hassle of finding someone with nothing to do but maintain the board, an opponent to play wit,etc. (unlike monopoly i can just play online on)

3.) Thanks. easyjet 40 bucks from UK to Spain and back. Awesome. Thanks vilio.

____________________________

New Question:
Im really getting into personal development and ive been learning a lot of different skills recently similar to Bruce Wayne developing himself in lots of areas. Ive been doing confidence, public speaking, vocab, image, etc.

What skills do you think would be cool or beneficial to add to the skillpool.
What kind of stuff would you personally be interested in learning and for what benefits?

//Assume you could be pretty good at it with enough effort.

Quote:

Original post by Access 1.) Does learning Karate/Kung Fu/ Taekwondo actually help you in real street battles? So if i was good at one of these martial arts, and I got in a fight with someone, would these arts actually help? Or are they just that,..movement arts?

From your answers to these posts, it sounds like you're chomping at the bit to go out and beat some people up. I really hope you're not planning to get into a fight. The bad thing about fights is that no matter how good you are, there may exist someone who is better. And losing a fight usually results in serious (and possibly permanent) personal injury.

I would urge you to take a second look at what it is you really want. Is it learn how to protect yourself and defend against an attacker, or is it to learn how to inflict harm with your physicality? The two may not be as hand-in-hand as you think.

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Original post by Access 1.) i've ruled out taekwondo due to its emphasis on high kicks and kicking in general. Ive got long legs and have always loved kicking so i'd rather go for something im not so confident at. (im not saying im good at taekwondo tho).

Take up boxing. Then learn how to avoid ending up in a fight at all. If the second fails, youll be trained enough to take few blows when running away.

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What skills do you think would be cool or beneficial to add to the skillpool. What kind of stuff would you personally be interested in learning and for what benefits?

Pyshology. Learn how people react, what you can do to affect them and what they think. Manipulation is a superpower.

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From your answers to these posts, it sounds like you're chomping at the bit to go out and beat some people up. I really hope you're not planning to get into a fight.

I can honestly say that i have absolutely no plans to beat anyone up. Like I said its part of my desire to develop myself and learn different skills.Mental and physical. My favouring attack over defence is just me.

Skills anyone?

1. Of course some will help more than others and in fact many won't help street fighting much at all.

b. Not sure of which of the three but a combination for an all-around fighter seems to be Muay Thai and BJJ, gives standing up and ground fighting teachings.

2. Go, never heard of it :S Anyway, chess, this will increase your ability to look at things logically, which in turn helps in business situations, I doubt it helps much though.

3. Cheapest - Walk; Best - Flying Tank; Best given cheap - Cheap Flight)

Oh and BTW, it's obviously he's trying to beat somebody up from Spain who won all money in a game of chess.