ARAKAN in Brisbane, Australia - a MA from Burma.

[JP]

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.

[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.

[muranternet]

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.

[Goldenmane]

Real-Life-Stories!

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.

[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.

[JP]

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."

[Askari]

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]

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.

well i don't require your symapthy. but thanks for the offer. Most people ARE often affraid of the unknown. i guess it's just one of those things ;)

Kwoww, im not sure about the history at all, im not really good at that kind of thing. I've tryed googling it but i get nothing. even on wikipedia. oh well. But we do train very realistic and intensley. i have bruises all up my forearm where i was covering up from bare knuckle hits before using a cover fololowed by a back fist.

Sometimes we use pads other times we don't. but i have often collapsed of fatigue after we do a drill. I just gave it everything i had and more.

I remember last night we did this drill where in a group of 3. 1 person doing the arakan and 2 people feeding. 1 feeder would hold up either focus mit and we had to reply with a back fist. the 2nd feeder would walk at our flank and threw a punch at us. we had to cover then reply with a back fist. if the 1st feeder held up a mit and we were to focused on the other person on the flank they hiot us also.

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.

I'm REALLY not trying to be an asshole here. Before you get all defensive and talk about "closed minds" you may want to remember that you brought this to an open forum. Full of people with a pretty clear bend towards skepticism. A lot of people here have been led down the primrose path of bullshit training and some were too smart to. Either way.

The feeling you're talking about, and the experience of bruising, fatigue, etc. Is hardly unique to the art you're talking about. I can guarantee that anybody who's trained hard has felt this.

I appreciate that you like what you do. I even support you doing it if you like it. But accept the fact that to me, this stuff looks invented from scratch. There's no shortage of impossible to prove or disprove arts in the world. I believe you have found yourself in one.

[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.

well i don't require your symapthy. but thanks for the offer. Most people ARE often affraid of the unknown. i guess it's just one of those things ;)

Kwoww, im not sure about the history at all, im not really good at that kind of thing. I've tryed googling it but i get nothing. even on wikipedia. oh well. But we do train very realistic and intensley. i have bruises all up my forearm where i was covering up from bare knuckle hits before using a cover fololowed by a back fist.

Sometimes we use pads other times we don't. but i have often collapsed of fatigue after we do a drill. I just gave it everything i had and more.

I remember last night we did this drill where in a group of 3. 1 person doing the arakan and 2 people feeding. 1 feeder would hold up either focus mit and we had to reply with a back fist. the 2nd feeder would walk at our flank and threw a punch at us. we had to cover then reply with a back fist. if the 1st feeder held up a mit and we were to focused on the other person on the flank they hiot us also.

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.

[muranternet]

if you can't get the foundations down, how can you possibly learn how to fight with a weapon?

If you can't spar one person, how are you going to fend off 3?

Can you provide some information on the origins of your style about 2500 years before the establishment of the Pyu city-states (the earliest recorded civilizations in the area)?

[JP]

Looks like bad silat.....which, depending on your point of view, might be saying the same thing twice.

The sword play stuff looks very much like the use of the sword that I have seen bleed its way into Indonesia by way of Japan.

Nearly ALL of the power generation stuff I see in the videos is from the arms alone without the rest of the body coming along for the ride which makes for ineffective striking.

The blocking and counterstriking drills are odd, but mostly because nobody is striking with any real intention, you guys aren't trying to really hit each other and so you'r not training effective defence or offence.

If you didn't want your sacred cow to be slaughtered why the hell did you bring it here?

[kwoww]

The biggest criticism looks so far like it's more in regards to the style's origin than to the style itself. It looks way too much like Kung Fu for anyone's good, and is apparently very unsimilar to other Burmese styles.

Also, the self-defense claims are pretty big. It's one thing to practice a martial art as a hobby, but if you don't train realistically, there's really no way you'll be able to defend yourself in a real situation. It's just that simple.

[BackFistMonkey]

Ha ha ha I love this. Thought MA practitioners were supposed to be open minded. guess not. What i love the best though, is that here is someone who has been training in arakan and who can say for certain that they teach everything they have stated and you still find ways to screwtinize! ha ha ha!!


Ooh, wait, yes i can....

We fight hand to hand. thats what we do. However, for the more advanced (beyond my current level) they do weapons fighting. Hand vs knife, knive to knife, bo, sword not sure what else, like i said, it's beyond my current level. if you can't get the foundations down, how can you possibly learn how to fight with a weapon?

whats the matter? is the possiblilty of group fighting beyond you too?? ha ha lame.

As for the wrestling, interesting. I've never heard of it before.

I seriously feel sorry for you . Good luck .

[Arhetton]

I have an open mind but not for rubbish.

So how much martial arts training have you done (arakan + others)? I've been a member of three terrible systems, all which said the kind of stuff your style talks about. They wasted my time and money and arakan is a waste of your time and money.

Martial arts like that are more like Live Action Role Playing (LARPing) than actual martial arts training.

My criticism of your instructors group fighting video is this: Its terrible. He could not beat one person in a fight, let alone 2 or 3. The premise that he can fight multiple attackers is ridiculous. Well, maybe he could beat up a group of teenage girls, if he was a bit more skilled.

[Arakan]

Ha ha ha I love this. Thought MA practitioners were supposed to be open minded. guess not. What i love the best though, is that here is someone who has been training in arakan and who can say for certain that they teach everything they have stated and you still find ways to screwtinize! ha ha ha!!


Ooh, wait, yes i can....

We fight hand to hand. thats what we do. However, for the more advanced (beyond my current level) they do weapons fighting. Hand vs knife, knive to knife, bo, sword not sure what else, like i said, it's beyond my current level. if you can't get the foundations down, how can you possibly learn how to fight with a weapon?

whats the matter? is the possiblilty of group fighting beyond you too?? ha ha lame.

As for the wrestling, interesting. I've never heard of it before.