R.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Master
I have been unofficially accepted into a Master of Arts in English program. It will have to go through the whole big process before I get my letter, but I am starting classes next month. I am very excited.
R.
R.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
United Airlines: Shame On You
When faced with the shameful allegation of guitar breaking, United Airlines claimed lack of liability. I say change your evil ways.
R.
R.
Friday, July 03, 2009
A Note on Personal Combat
All thorough my life I have heard the question posed as to what martial art or fighting system is the best. I’ve heard many arguments and seen many inconclusive matches, tournaments, and unabashed braggadocio have led me to speculate as to the probability of a decisive event. This speculation has come about due to a combination of my renewed study of Taekwondo, my recent watching of the one and only season of Human Weapon, and all of the discussion on Blog Ing about which historical warriors would dominate if they actually met in combat. Since many of you are writing fiction, and fiction that involves personal combat on some level, I thought I would share my thoughts for what they are worth.
As a young student of Taekwondo I felt that it was very complete. I was, and still am, though in a much more subjective way, enamored with the art and its many strengths. Over the years I’ve seen and experienced things that made me aware of a large voids or weaknesses within Taekwondo. As I’ve learned more about other martial arts their flaws have stuck out to me as well. I will offer some examples to try to illustrate the point.
Taekwondo is a striking art known for its abundance of kicks, flying and standing. The purpose behind almost all movement is the production of power that will (ideally) end a conflict in one blow. A practitioner that can keep his opponent at leg’s length would be very difficult to beat. However, very little of its emphasis is directed towards grappling (systems that involve throwing, submission holds like joint locks, and/or pinning) in spite of a tidbit called Ho Sin Sul. This self-defense style is basic hold breaking good for fending off the school bully or an alley thug but probably not against someone who has studied jiu-jitsu, judo, aikido, its cousin hapkido, or wrestling.
Other arts, and styles within arts, are also laden with weaknesses, the greatest of which in my opinion is the culture that develops around them. The artist becomes indoctrinated with the rules and specific application of his or her style and is unprepared to deal with an unfamiliar culture. I’ve used the example of Taekwondo’s deficiency in the area of grappling already; I will further illustrate the point by looking at some other combat systems.
To flip the issue, I’ve seen grapplers in the ring take a beating because they are so focused on getting a hold of their opponent that they disregard the heavy strikes from hand and foot. In spite of these, the grappler usually has the advantage; most punches and kicks are fairly basic and not completely foreign to the grappler. Grappling on the other hand is often totally unknown to the striker as the main goal of most striking systems is to keep the opponent away. This is not always true; aikido for example is a peaceful art, meaning the goal is to protect yourself and your enemy at the same time. It is an art of counter-moves, but over the years moves that are considered too aggressive have been removed from practice. This leaves the practitioner without a practiced counter-move if faced with a cross-system confrontation.
Another aspect worthy of consideration is the cultural rules of engagement. Maui Tai, Pradal Serey, and Wing Chun all utilize knee and elbow strikes which are anathema in most other martial arts. A practitioner of Karate, Taekwondo, or Savate would likely be caught off guard by this brutal approach to fighting. Basically the stricter the tournament rules of a combat system are the more of a disadvantage their artist will have when faced with an anything-goes kind of match, whether it be on the street or in a ring. Another cultural feature is that of turns. In my years of Taekwondo experience I remember there being an unspoken rule of engagement: you attack, then I counter-attack, then you counter-attack, and so on. Many systems, especially those of Southeast Asia, spit in the face of such systems. Practitioners are taught that if you wait for your opponent to finish his attack you are already too late. Counter-attacks must be made immediately once the attack is recognized.
Because of each combat system’s innate weakness, newer hybrids have a distinct advantage over more historical and culturally accurate arts. Blends like Israel’s Krav Maga take the most effective and brutal moves from a variety of fighting styles and use them in urban warfare and anti-terrorist combat. It is a very effective art. Some blends lose a lot in their conception; mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting was historically a format where practitioners of different systems could meet up and see who had the bigger roundhouse, or armbar, or whatever. It has become a culture where a martial artist has a base system (like jiu-jitsu) and then picks up assorted moves from wherever he can. The result is a whole lotta slop, like in that song by Led Zeppelin. Kicks and punches are thrown with all of the technical awareness of a potato head, but with a lot more force. The one area they excel in is that they are not usually caught off guard by attacks of differing systems; they see more moves and have to contend with more variety in a match than any other art.
When it comes down to it, I don’t think there is a superior combat system. Each one has weaknesses and shortcomings due to the culture of its origination and the culture that has sprung up around the art. I propose that if two martial artists of similar stature but differing systems collided outside of the ring that the winner would be the fighter most able to deal with having the carpet yanked out from under him; by that I mean the one who can most quickly adapt to compensate for his lack of knowledge of the opponents system.
I think this would apply not only to empty-handed combat, but to that revolving around the use of weapons such as sword, shield, axe, pike, etc. Every system of combat would have its own set of strengths and weaknesses that could never be artificially compared by a computer because in the end it would be the fighter’s adaptability that would determine the outcome.
R.
As a young student of Taekwondo I felt that it was very complete. I was, and still am, though in a much more subjective way, enamored with the art and its many strengths. Over the years I’ve seen and experienced things that made me aware of a large voids or weaknesses within Taekwondo. As I’ve learned more about other martial arts their flaws have stuck out to me as well. I will offer some examples to try to illustrate the point.
Taekwondo is a striking art known for its abundance of kicks, flying and standing. The purpose behind almost all movement is the production of power that will (ideally) end a conflict in one blow. A practitioner that can keep his opponent at leg’s length would be very difficult to beat. However, very little of its emphasis is directed towards grappling (systems that involve throwing, submission holds like joint locks, and/or pinning) in spite of a tidbit called Ho Sin Sul. This self-defense style is basic hold breaking good for fending off the school bully or an alley thug but probably not against someone who has studied jiu-jitsu, judo, aikido, its cousin hapkido, or wrestling.
Other arts, and styles within arts, are also laden with weaknesses, the greatest of which in my opinion is the culture that develops around them. The artist becomes indoctrinated with the rules and specific application of his or her style and is unprepared to deal with an unfamiliar culture. I’ve used the example of Taekwondo’s deficiency in the area of grappling already; I will further illustrate the point by looking at some other combat systems.
To flip the issue, I’ve seen grapplers in the ring take a beating because they are so focused on getting a hold of their opponent that they disregard the heavy strikes from hand and foot. In spite of these, the grappler usually has the advantage; most punches and kicks are fairly basic and not completely foreign to the grappler. Grappling on the other hand is often totally unknown to the striker as the main goal of most striking systems is to keep the opponent away. This is not always true; aikido for example is a peaceful art, meaning the goal is to protect yourself and your enemy at the same time. It is an art of counter-moves, but over the years moves that are considered too aggressive have been removed from practice. This leaves the practitioner without a practiced counter-move if faced with a cross-system confrontation.
Another aspect worthy of consideration is the cultural rules of engagement. Maui Tai, Pradal Serey, and Wing Chun all utilize knee and elbow strikes which are anathema in most other martial arts. A practitioner of Karate, Taekwondo, or Savate would likely be caught off guard by this brutal approach to fighting. Basically the stricter the tournament rules of a combat system are the more of a disadvantage their artist will have when faced with an anything-goes kind of match, whether it be on the street or in a ring. Another cultural feature is that of turns. In my years of Taekwondo experience I remember there being an unspoken rule of engagement: you attack, then I counter-attack, then you counter-attack, and so on. Many systems, especially those of Southeast Asia, spit in the face of such systems. Practitioners are taught that if you wait for your opponent to finish his attack you are already too late. Counter-attacks must be made immediately once the attack is recognized.
Because of each combat system’s innate weakness, newer hybrids have a distinct advantage over more historical and culturally accurate arts. Blends like Israel’s Krav Maga take the most effective and brutal moves from a variety of fighting styles and use them in urban warfare and anti-terrorist combat. It is a very effective art. Some blends lose a lot in their conception; mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting was historically a format where practitioners of different systems could meet up and see who had the bigger roundhouse, or armbar, or whatever. It has become a culture where a martial artist has a base system (like jiu-jitsu) and then picks up assorted moves from wherever he can. The result is a whole lotta slop, like in that song by Led Zeppelin. Kicks and punches are thrown with all of the technical awareness of a potato head, but with a lot more force. The one area they excel in is that they are not usually caught off guard by attacks of differing systems; they see more moves and have to contend with more variety in a match than any other art.
When it comes down to it, I don’t think there is a superior combat system. Each one has weaknesses and shortcomings due to the culture of its origination and the culture that has sprung up around the art. I propose that if two martial artists of similar stature but differing systems collided outside of the ring that the winner would be the fighter most able to deal with having the carpet yanked out from under him; by that I mean the one who can most quickly adapt to compensate for his lack of knowledge of the opponents system.
I think this would apply not only to empty-handed combat, but to that revolving around the use of weapons such as sword, shield, axe, pike, etc. Every system of combat would have its own set of strengths and weaknesses that could never be artificially compared by a computer because in the end it would be the fighter’s adaptability that would determine the outcome.
R.
Where, Oh Where, Can My Little Site Be?
Years ago I came across a nifty website. It was super cool and I was buried in school and now I feel a fool because I didn't write down what it was or something. It worked basically like this:
You would enter an author's name and it would pull up a map of the genre. The map or tree or whatever consisted of a bunch of author's names all over the screen. The one that you entered would be in bold or something like that and it would give you an idea of what authors in the genre were writing similar things.
If anyone knows where this site is I would be thrilled for the information.
Thanks,
R.
You would enter an author's name and it would pull up a map of the genre. The map or tree or whatever consisted of a bunch of author's names all over the screen. The one that you entered would be in bold or something like that and it would give you an idea of what authors in the genre were writing similar things.
If anyone knows where this site is I would be thrilled for the information.
Thanks,
R.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Too Rarely Heard
These are a couple of playlists I have put together, mostly for Ing, but anyone who has not given Metallica a good listen since the Black Album on account of what was getting played on the radio. The new album, Death Magnetic, I have posted almost in its entirity and the other playlist is a collection of deep cuts from Load, Reload, S&M, Garage, Inc., and St. Anger. To my knowledge none of those songs have been played on the radio unless someone was listening to one of those Metallica shows (Mandatory Metallica and its like).
Death Magnetic - This album, to me, is an amalgamation of all of the best sounds of Metallica. Some of my personal favorites are Broken, Beat, and Scarred and Cyanide, along with the first instrumental since Justice, Suicide and Redemption.
The Metallicats - This should be a fun playlist. At least it is for me. Lots of Metallica but no tired radio tunes. It's heavenly. Bad Seed and Where the Wild Things Are be some of my favorites off of this list of favorites. I wanted Purify off the St. Anger album, but I couldn't find it on playlist.
Pleasant listening.
R.
Death Magnetic - This album, to me, is an amalgamation of all of the best sounds of Metallica. Some of my personal favorites are Broken, Beat, and Scarred and Cyanide, along with the first instrumental since Justice, Suicide and Redemption.
The Metallicats - This should be a fun playlist. At least it is for me. Lots of Metallica but no tired radio tunes. It's heavenly. Bad Seed and Where the Wild Things Are be some of my favorites off of this list of favorites. I wanted Purify off the St. Anger album, but I couldn't find it on playlist.
Pleasant listening.
R.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
