Anonymous A started this discussion 1 hour ago#137,796
I remember taking karate as a teenager. At least we sparred. It had some solid training. One day there was a big unified event. A Japanese master showed up. He was about 5’5” and carried himself like a demigod. He did nice demos but nobody fought back and they slavishly thanked him for hitting and throwing them.
If he walked down the line you stopped what you were doing and bowed deeply until he was out of sight. It clicked in my head what a dumb thing it is to import foreign boot licking. Respect and politeness are virtues. The near-worship of a human? Sad as fuck.
I’m thankful to MMA because the arrogant Gracies and various mixed rules thugs put all the purist systems in the ash heap where they belong. Traditional martial arts need to adapt or die. I had a friend who was an “expert” in Okinawan weapons. I asked him if he ever considered that he might as well be playing with a European rice flail. These were the basic implements available to Okinawans. Why not just learn knife, stick, gun instead of man dancing with an oar?