# Do fights involving martial artists EVER unfold like in the movies? Ever see one? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 1, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377 "2005-03-01T02:06:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/21 "2005-03-02T14:20:51Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > The only authentic, truly bad-ass street fighter I ever knew just loved it when someone would go into a martial arts stance. Generally speaking, they never knew what hit them. What exactly is a “martial arts stance”? ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/22 "2005-03-02T15:20:48Z")
> [@Genghis Bob](#): > > What exactly is a “martial arts stance”? It could mean the horse stance, the back stance or the front stance. Damned if I know. I suspect it means stand there losely, ready to react. Hey, anyone ever see the movie “Stray Dog” by Kurosawa? The big fight scene was just two guy grappling, and trying to take down the other while not getting hurt. No fancy punches, just a lot of rolling around on the ground. That didn’t sound like what I meant!:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/23 "2005-03-02T15:41:46Z")
> [@Genghis Bob](#): > > What exactly is a “martial arts stance”? [H’yah](http://www.fast-rewind.com/kkid/tourn3.jpg)! ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/24 "2005-03-02T15:45:32Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > That’s what I was taught in knifework, anyway. “One guy ends up in the ER, the other in a morgue. Do me a favor, kid; don’t get in a knife fight. And if you do, take him from behind, in silence, in the dark.” My dad always tells me that too. That and “anyone can get lucky.” It’s funny how little we remember about fights that we were actually _in_. I remember getting into a fight in high school with a guy who had just put two of my friends on the floor. One was real small and the other was taken completely by suprise. I remember that I won, but I don’t remember any specifics. I remember how they went down, but I don’t remember most of what I did. I relatively sure that I didn’t look like Bruce Lee. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/25 "2005-03-02T15:46:37Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > [H’yah](http://www.fast-rewind.com/kkid/tourn3.jpg)! Yeah, that totally counts. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/26 "2005-03-02T15:51:43Z")
You mean _The Karate Kid_ wasn’t a biopic? I feel so disillusioned. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/27 "2005-03-02T16:56:34Z")
I’m a 5th Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo. The main thing that martial arts training will give you is a sense of confidence and the discipline to accompany it. Your body language will not give out the messages that indicate you are an easy victim and almost all the time, the bad guy will look somewhere else for easy pickings. Having said that, there are always exceptions, right? I’ve trained for over 20 years. During that time, I’ve had exactly three confrontations and won all of them. I talked my way out of one, simply walked away from another and got physical in one. The guy was high and not thinking straight, so I couldn’t talk my way out and when I tried leaving, he followed and attacked me. I blocked his punch and dropped him with a shot to the brachial plexus origin, then walked away. Ghods, I love pressure points! ---
**Author:** ![Dob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/28 "2005-03-02T20:44:53Z")
Agree with **Clodthahump** 100%. I was a TKD teach for 5 years and one of the things I learned was that a black belt does not make you a fighter. Some people can fight, others cant. If a black belt who couldnt fight went up against a fighter, the black belt loses. I have been in a few fights, but never with another martial artist. Usually people who take the time to study MA arent interested in picking fights. So the chance of two MA’s coming to blows outside a ring are small. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/29 "2005-03-25T18:47:07Z")
> [@Genghis Bob](#): > > What exactly is a “martial arts stance”? I meant to reply to this when it was posted and forgot. The guy I mentioned demonstrated by assuming what I understand to be the “horse” stance. He relied on his speed, the strength of his punch, and his complete willingness to seriously hurt folks. I doubt he ever confronted an expert in any of the martial arts; he probably did encounter a few students. You should also understand that I knew the guy back in the 1960s, in Fort Myers, FL. The study of martial arts wasn’t so wide spread back then. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/30 "2005-03-26T02:39:55Z")
I saw some Asian gangsta kids beat up some skinheads who had kicked their car. Aside from the lack of slo-mo and sound effects… it looked just like the movies. And from the kicking of the car to the skinheads lying k.o.'d on the ground, the whole incident took about 1 minute. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/31 "2005-04-18T15:28:47Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Ghods, I love pressure points! As a followup to my comment on pressure points and the OP of the thread - Here is a video of an encounter between a trained martial artist and someone who thought he was a badass. It’s a beautiful example of pressure point usage - the martial artist stuns the badass by striking the brachial plexus origin pressure point and the badass drops like a sack of potatoes. Click [here](http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/ATATKD/files/) , then look for Brachial Plexus Stun. Requires Windows Media Viewer. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/32 "2005-04-18T16:56:18Z")
bah, you’ve gotta be a member of that group to see the file. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/33 "2005-04-18T17:19:33Z")
Can’t view film because I’m not a member. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/34 "2005-04-18T17:28:56Z")
Some years back, a cousin of mine worked as a receptionist/secretary/book keeper for a guy who runs a martial arts school. Some Japanese style or another, goshin jistsu I think. “Sensei” found my cousin to be comely lass and engaged in what we would, today, call sexual harassment. After a rebuffing sensei several times, she told her husband about it. Hubby, at that time, was a very skilled Golden Gloves boxer. He confronted sensei on the parking lot of a local convenience store. Sensei (whom I assume had seen **Billy Jack** too many times) talked some “don’t make me hurt you” shit, then took his shoes off. According to witnesses, hubby nailed sensei with a left-right-left combination punch that the three cracks of fist-on-face blended into one. Sensei became senseless and was left lying on the pavement bleeding from nose and mouth. Hubby took the time to throw sensei’s shoes up on the convenience store roof before departing the scene. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/35 "2005-04-18T17:50:15Z")
I recall reading an episode from Geoff Thompson, British self-defense guru. According to him there was a pan-European karate tournament that broke out into a full-blown riot. The results? No serious injuries. His argument is that one fights how one trains and if one trains to pull one’s punches, then one fights pulling one’s punches. He had several anecdotal stories of martial artists getting beat up, because they didn’t deliver blows fully, as evidence. Hence the advantage of judo & wrestling: full-contact practice. My favorite bar fight story is one I heard second hand. An old roomate was in Florida on vacation w/ some friends, one of who got way too drunk and became way too obnoxious. Some fellas in the bar were going to beat him up until my roomate approached them and said something to the effect of, “Yeah, my buddy is really obnoxious. But I thought I should let you know that he’s the Golden Gloves champion of Flint, Michigan.” According to my roomate, that ended the fight before it happened. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/36 "2005-04-18T17:55:39Z")
That is _priceless!_ > [@Scumpup](#): > > …Sensei became senseless… ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/37 "2005-04-18T18:46:58Z")
My bad. Try [here](http://media.ebaumsworld.com/karatechop.wmv) to see the stun. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/38 "2005-04-18T18:49:01Z")
> [@js\_africanus](#): > > I recall reading an episode from Geoff Thompson, British self-defense guru. According to him there was a pan-European karate tournament that broke out into a full-blown riot. The results? No serious injuries. > > His argument is that one fights how one trains and if one trains to pull one’s punches, then one fights pulling one’s punches. He had several anecdotal stories of martial artists getting beat up, because they didn’t deliver blows fully, as evidence. Bad training if that’s accurate. If the style is a non-contact sparring style, there should be an awful lot of bagwork with full contact going on. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/39 "2005-04-18T19:23:06Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > My bad. Try [here](http://media.ebaumsworld.com/karatechop.wmv) to see the stun. Where was the strike? Closer to the front or the back of the neck? Just curious—I’m not gonna pick any fights. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377/40 "2005-04-18T19:24:40Z")
My brother was 6’4", about 260 pounds, and a black belt in tae kwon do. Once, while stopped at a light in downtown Cincinnati, two thugs kicked out his window and demanded his watch. He got out of the car and got the shit beat out of him - and ended up in the hospital. It would’ve been worse had the girl he was with not had some mace at the ready. So, I guess, mace beats mean and tough, mean and tough beats big and skilled. I wonder if big and skilled beats mace? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fights-involving-martial-artists-ever-unfold-like-in-the-movies-ever-see-one/292377.md?page=3)