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Much of martial arts pedagogy is not about fighting ability. I went to a very strenuous and traditional Tae Kwon Do school as a kid in a diverse semi low-incom
by pa7ch 8y ago
Much of martial arts pedagogy is not about fighting ability.
I went to a very strenuous and traditional Tae Kwon Do school as a kid in a diverse semi low-income neighborhood. I had no delusions that it was teaching me how to fight well in MMA or a street fight. Situational awareness, lack of ego, and running are more important for self-defense anyway.
I got into great shape, became flexible, learned body awareness (forms are good at this), breathing, and it really helped me develop a lot as a person and forever recognize the importance of physical health and humbleness. It was a very welcoming family environment with people from all ages and ethnicity and everyone had so much respect for each other. I still visit my master when I see my parents and its such a blessing. I come back nearly 15 years later and it feels frozen in time in the best way. I'm a little sad to see MMA gyms take over, but I think this school was a rarity even when I grew up. My master spent his entire life doing Judo and TKD and had 30+ years of experience in each.
We sometimes practiced Tae Kwon Do the Sport. Its what you see in the Olympics. Its not about real fighting, its just a sport and a very small aspect of the rest of the training. The other bonus is you don't get CTE from practicing unlike MMA. (at more competitive levels knockouts do happen, but there is headgear and no head punching)
Nothing has made me sadder moving to the software industry then how I let it sever my connection to physical arts. I'm not blaming the industry, it was my own time management and habits. Now, I saved enough to take a year off doing cheap travel in the US and I plan to spend a few months going back to my home gym. I feel so grateful.
- abledon 8y agoWhat stopped you from training after work or on weekends ?
- pa7ch 8y agoSince I didn't exercise as much I focused on physical activities that require less commitment like hiking, rock climbing gyms, and the occasional yoga class. I just found having a full time job made it hard to get in consistent workouts that weren't just showing up to a gym. I had a work schedule that was shifted late for commute reasons so I found it hard to hit class times consistently. If I didn't eat enough that day I could still go to a gym and do a light workout. If I messed up my eating schedule and had to go to a intense class, that just wouldn't work out since I couldn't eat too soon before class or go when I hadn't eaten enough. I looked at jiu jitsu gyms since that's a consistent experience I enjoy and there are lots of gyms. Its pricing is kinda steep if your not committed to going a lot. I find that more traditional martial arts gyms really vary for me depending on the culture and instructor and haven't tried to shop around for those as much.
- goldfeld 8y agoSpeaking from experience, holding an office job (it's worse with programming, bad for the neck, wrists, eyes and spine) for 8+ hours a day and then managing a disciplined regimen (hours a day including stretching and relaxation, good sleep, eating well) to get really good at a body art of high performance is really tough. Result for me was the opposite, dropped the programmer job at the middle of this year to go back and focus completely on my physical training and run some side projects with very reduced hours and ample time for rest when training gets gruesome.