So, a Chinese “Mixed Martial Artist” challenged a “Tai Chi Master” to a bout. Challenge accepted and, fortunately,videoed from many angles. How’d it go? Well…
The results – the MMA fighter had the “Master” on the ground within about seven seconds, then spent another dozen seconds or so repeatedly pounding said “Master” in the noggin. It was a classic rout… it was not even remotely close. So how’d this happen?
Well, think about it. Classical martial arts are kind of an art form… sort of like dance, with rules and traditions and ethics. Focusing on a specific martial art, such as Tai Chi (which, honestly, to me always makes me think of “old people moving slowly”), may make you an expert in that martial art… but it may also limit you to the moves associated with that martial art. But “mixed martial arts,” that’s another matter. Here, the goal is not to honor ancient traditions, but instead to beat your opponent into the dirt by whatever means necessary.
Now, admittedly, your average black belt could undoubtedly pummel me so fast I’d be indistinguishable from a screeching SJW in a matter of seconds. But if it came down to a fight between an Old School Traditionalist and an MMA fighter, or a Navy SEAL… I’m putting my money on the guy who’s job it is to beat the crap out of the other fella.
Traditional martial arts are necessarily hidebound… they are traditions, after all. Perhaps they have been finely honed over the centuries, brought to a level of perfection. And that’s fine, but don’t confuse it for “actually useful in a combat situation.” The Samurai are today seen as some sort of near-magical combatants, yet the Japanese military hardly employs them anymore. The *actual* Samurai got slapped around by a bunch of Japanese farm kids with rifles back in the 19th century. When the Japanese Empire decided to revive the Samurai “Bushido Code” and virtually worship the Samurai in the first half of the 20th century, they got smacked around by a bunch of American farm kids with rifles.
The katana, the chosen sword of the Samurai, is itself a fantastic example of what I’m talking about. Over a thousand years of so, Japanese swordsmiths created a beautiful sword… but imbued with with mystical claptrap. And if there’s one thing that doesn’t help your sword actually perform, it’s magic. The katana is viewed by many as being some sort of nearly perfect tool… the traditional manufacturing process creating a blade of remarkable strength, durability and sharpness, the killingest chunk of metal to be found. But… no. What those swordsmiths produced was a blade that would be regularly bested by a virtually identical blade made by machines using modern steel straight out of a steel mill.None of all that folding or tradition… just take some bar stock, hammer a bit, grind a bit, heat treat a bit, then go embarrass the hell out of the relatively brittle “traditional” sword. What the Japanese swordsmiths succeeded at was making not the best possible sword steel, but the best possible sword steel using the technology and science that they had. But their techniques were evolutionary dead ends. They made, in essence, the very best possible Thylacines. Great fits for their niche… until something better and more adaptable came along. In the case of the katana, what came along was Western science.
And in actual head-to-head competitions science will kick mystical traditions ass, every time. Where science will lose is not in the actual fight, but the propaganda. People are willing to believe nonsense over sense, especially if the nonsense makes promises that science can’t. Doesn’t matter if the nonsense can actually make good on the promise, many people will still buy it. So… will moving slowly make you capable of defending yourself against a mugger? Sure, why not! It’s an ancient tradition!