Vices in Martial Arts and Life

[DAYoung]

*thread dies*

[Feryk]

many practitioners of non-competitive MAs increase rather than decrease the power of that fantasy by pretending to train rather than actually training.

I think that is true, although I'm not certain as to why.

My guess (and it's only a guess) is that any kind of serious investment of time/energy into a given art causes you to be committed to it, even in the face of it's obvious deficiencies. However, this kind of self delusion will disappear quickly in the face of real conflict, don't you think?

I'm thinking of the 'yellow bamboo' fiasco that occurred a year or two ago. The Yellow Bamboo people were genuinely convinced they could channel chi so effectively that they could make themselves invulnerable to an MMA trained opponent. It ended very badly (RNC) for the guy in question, and he got an ass pounding. Although I have never heard what happened to him after that, I have a hard time believing he would continue.