ARAKAN in Brisbane, Australia - a MA from Burma.

**Askari** · Posted On: 9/24/2007 9:07pm

Originally Posted by Arakan

Ha ha ha I love this. Thought MA practitioners were supposed to be open minded. guess not.

Go to MAP they are open minded.

Here we call Bullshit on Bullshit.

You are spouting Bullshit. Now either step up and find a member of the board to spar with or do some research and realize why we immediately know that you are spouting bullshit.

JP · Posted On: 9/24/2007 9:11pm

Originally Posted by Askari

Go to MAP they are open minded.

Here we call Bullshit on Bullshit.

You are spouting Bullshit. Now either step up and find a member of the board to spar with or do some research and realize why we immediately know that you are spouting bullshit.

There's a famous quote and I don't remember who said it but here it goes:

"Keep your mind sufficiently open and people will dump all sorts of crap in there."

**Arakan** · Posted On: 9/24/2007 9:24pm

thanks JP, no i don't think you are being an asshole. I accept the fact that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I also knew what i was doing before i made the post. ha ha, it's a bit of an uphill battle but thats ok. I know lots of people will not be convinced and im not trying to convert anyone at all. Hell, i didn't even know this site existed till i googled it arakan. (im at work and im bored)

So thats cool man.

Others, im not at the stage where i could fight another "martail artist" yet, though i believe i could handle average joe in the street. And i do hope that MA have taught enough dicilpine that they wouldn't start a fight on the street anyways. that being said, if it came down to survival, i would do everything i could to win.

**Goldenmane** · Posted On: 9/24/2007 9:28pm

I urge everyone to read the Real Life Stories about ARAKAN on that website.

Actually, no I don't. You have better things to do.

In all honesty, the website is terrible. The design is passable, but the content isn't. The information about ARAKAN (always capitalised, you'll note) is vague and pretty much useless, and the videos... well, what there is of them for the most part looks like slappy-happy-fun-time drills, which appear in all the best LARPing schools.

One of the biggest concerns is the claims that they teach effective ways to fight multiple attackers. But then, we know why these claims are concerning.

It would be nice if someone from the place who could actually answer questions joined the discussion. A one-year student who has no experience of any other training and knows nothing about the history isn't really a useful source.

**muranternet** · Posted On: 9/24/2007 9:34pm

Originally Posted by Arakan

Obviously you don't have an open mind. Otherwise you would accept the possibility of an unheard of martial art and someone who TRAINS in it telling you it's true. the videos don't do it justice. i kow that. watever.

I don't have a problem with little- or un-known martial arts; I like to actually look into them and their history. However being told that it's true by a practitioner doesn't constitute proof. Part of open mindedness is the willingness to challenge your views and accept the possibility that it may not be true. From a historical perspective this system's claims seem extremely dubious, hence why I asked for more information. A claim of a 4673 year lineage, predating the earliest known civilization in the area of origin, with no supporting data (even allegory or oral history) doesn't help.

Most people ARE often affraid of the unknown. i guess it's just one of those things ;)

Nothing to fear here; I'd actually be pretty impressed and happy to discover that the given information is true. In that case, however, the claimant should be contacting archaeologists and historians, not potential customers.

I could barley hold my hands up after about 50 reps, i was gunna collapse. all of a sudden i just felt this "im not giving up!" feeling pass over me. I switched on. and hit better than i had in the 50 reps before. it was an amazing feeling.

This feeling is also common to other martial arts as well as other forms of exercise including (but not limited to) long distance running, lifting, a lot of military basic training, etc. This is not meant to belittle it; it seems that at least you're getting a workout.

There's nothing inherently wrong with practicing any form of exercise like cardio kickboxing, "fuzzy" tai chi, Tae Bo, whatever. What's harmful is misrepresenting the thing you're doing as combat training when it's not. That's fraudulent and potentially dangerous to the student. Combat is serious. If you believe that

im not at the stage where i could fight another "martail artist" yet, though i believe i could handle average joe in the street.

it's only in your best interest to test that theory before you wind up injured or dead.

I agree with Goldenmane's assertion that an instructor's (or even a senior student's) input would help to address some of these concerns.

**Arakan** · Posted On: 9/24/2007 9:38pm

Goldenmane, you're in australia. why don't you seriously come down for a FREE one on one no obligation lesson. I urge anyone in the area to. it's free. they don't care if you don't train, they would just like to show the world what arakan is about. Then you will back up the one-year student. ;)

Oh by the way, many other MASTER martial artists thought the exact same when they saw the ads in the yellow pages. They took a 1-1 with the chief and were blown away.

JP · Posted On: 9/24/2007 9:40pm

Originally Posted by Arakan

thanks JP, no i don't think you are being an asshole. I accept the fact that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I also knew what i was doing before i made the post. ha ha, it's a bit of an uphill battle but thats ok. I know lots of people will not be convinced and im not trying to convert anyone at all. Hell, i didn't even know this site existed till i googled it arakan. (im at work and im bored)

So thats cool man.

Others, im not at the stage where i could fight another "martail artist" yet, though i believe i could handle average joe in the street. And i do hope that MA have taught enough dicilpine that they wouldn't start a fight on the street anyways. that being said, if it came down to survival, i would do everything i could to win.

I want to be clear about something:

I wasn't trying to be an asshole to you. But I think what the gentleman who is teaching this art is doing is deplorable and I would happily be an asshole to him if the situation warranted. He's selling packaged illusion. I know because I spent 5 years involved in something that has very similar earmarks to the art you're doing.

You've only been involved in this thing a year and you've got nothing to balance it against. I urge you to check out some other things but I know you won't, you've got the sound of the newly converted. I appreciate very much where you're at. Good luck. I think you're going to need it. And do yourself a favor and try some different arts? Something with consistent real-pressure testing.

**muranternet** · Posted On: 9/24/2007 9:55pm

Originally Posted by Arakan

Oh by the way, many other MASTER martial artists thought the exact same when they saw the ads in the yellow pages. They took a 1-1 with the chief and were blown away.

Can you name these other master martial artists? One of them wasn't ScyberMonk was it? I think he's in Brisbane.

**Arakan** · Posted On: 9/24/2007 10:09pm

nah couldn't tell ya to be honest. I was just chatting to one of my instructors on thursday about something and it got onto that topic. no mention of names at all. But there have been many other people from different MA already having their black belts or what not that have trained with arakan and stayed. i guess it's just one of those things that you need to see to believe?

**Goldenmane** · Posted On: 9/24/2007 10:28pm

Originally Posted by Arakan

Goldenmane, you're in australia. why don't you seriously come down for a FREE one on one no obligation lesson. I urge anyone in the area to. it's free. they don't care if you don't train, they would just like to show the world what arakan is about. Then you will back up the one-year student. ;)

Oh by the way, many other MASTER martial artists thought the exact same when they saw the ads in the yellow pages. They took a 1-1 with the chief and were blown away.

I'm on the west coast, mate. If I was traveling to the east, I've got much better things to do than rock up at the place in response to internet challenges from a one-year student on behalf of his teacher. There's a Throwdown in Melbourne, for example.

And, let's be frank here: claims that "many other MASTER martial artists... blah, blah, blah" are a dime a dozen in BS schools. My advice, which you may take or not as is your wont, is to accept that defending a club/school/group/whatever is a job best handled with the tools of knowledge, examples, and proof. Throwaway claims, unsupported, are worth less than the pixels used to display them.

Or, as the saying around here goes, vid or it didn't happen.