My utter disdain for traditional martial arts grows by leaps & bounds...

[Permalost]

Also:

What...in the holy hell...is this? I'm thinking demon possession.

Reminds me of this kid:

[Jazz.w92]

First black eye at about 7 from a mawashi geri to the face, first bloodied gi probably at 6 or 7 from a straight punch to the nose. Many since and I STILL haven't quite learned to keep my guard up...should probably do more work on my shoulders...

@Permalost- AAHAHAHAAAAAAAA Doppelganger!!!

[tao.jonez]

I'm only 30, so maybe someone who's older and has practiced MA for a long time can give me insight on this. Were these types of Korean/Japanese themed daycare McDojos prevalent back in the 70s and 80s (or before), or is this a more modern phenomenon?

When I was in Kindergarten (1986), my mom briefly enrolled me in a strip mall dojo called "Family Karate Center", which of course would set off all sorts of alarm bells now. However, kids trained with adults, Sensei worked us out hard, I had to do knuckle pushups anytime I talked out of turn, he would whack my legs and core with a shinai during kata and every class ended with sparring, even for the kids. I was young, so I don't remember if it was point sparring or full contact, but I do remember people getting hurt from time to time.

So, did I get lucky, or have things just gotten softer in the modern era?

It's gotten worse as far as I can see. I'm only 39, but we sparred in my strip-mall TKD/HKD school and not touchy point rules. Then again, the owners were off-the-boat Koreans and ran that place like a military base. We counted pushups in Korean and bowed to everything using Korean terms. We even ate Korean food at the annual festival they did. Bloody noses, injured ribs, broken toes were not uncommon.
I don't see much of that anymore - they are all "little ninja/little dragon" type places that seem more like MA themed daycare than actual martial arts schools.

[tao.jonez]

Jazz - that mullet kid actually has some skills. His forms are just forms, but hell, he's crisp, fast, and clean. The girl can't say any of that.

I mean wushu isn't about fighting, but it's at least got good choreography. 4 blackbelt girl is just a sham.

[Jazz.w92]

Yeah, like i said, he seems pretty skilled...i'd just never heard of "musical forms" before. Is that a wushu thing?

[Epeeist]

Reminds me of this kid:

I just wonder when the hell determined and focused with eyes carrying intent during a kata became screaming, red-faced, and angry. It makes one look like a giant dork to kiai every move while swinging a graphite toothpick around and addressing the judges by angrily yelling.

[It is Fake]

Is that a wushu thing?

No. Wushu is basically has specific routines, requirements and a degree of difficulty similar to gymnastics judging.

[tao.jonez]

I just wonder when the hell determined and focused with eyes carrying intent during a kata became screaming, red-faced, and angry. It makes one look like a giant dork to kiai every move while swinging a graphite toothpick around and addressing the judges by angrily yelling.

sparrow / hawk

A hawk just looks fierce by its nature.

A sparrow has to flit about madly and chirp at the top of it's tiny lungs to fool it's enemies into thinking it's more dangerous than it is. Like Sirc.

[Permalost]

I just wonder when the hell determined and focused with eyes carrying intent during a kata became screaming, red-faced, and angry. It makes one look like a giant dork to kiai every move while swinging a graphite toothpick around and addressing the judges by angrily yelling.

They formal angry name-stating and all that weirds me out at tournaments. I'm doing a big multi-style tournament on Sunday (mostly for the stickfighting) and my teacher wanted me to do a sayaw (form), so I'm gonna, but I refuse to put on a big show about who I am and where I'm from. The Far Eastern martial arts forms divisions should be fun to watch, just to see who's got the best angry face and snazziest gi.

[Epeeist]

sparrow / hawk

A hawk just looks fierce by its nature.

A sparrow has to flit about madly and chirp at the top of it's tiny lungs to fool it's enemies into thinking it's more dangerous than it is. Like Sirc.

That's really an awesome analogy for what's going on here. I always hated the formal angry name stating (hereafter referred to as FANS) and thought it was dorky and weird and had nothing at all to do with fighting capability. Also, things making fun of Sirc are hilarious, especially when you imagine someone chain punching a sparrow. But seriously, such brazen displays of emotion and anger as the FANS don't really exist in Eastern cultures that emphasize "face" and composure. So where the hell did they come from?

[Jazz.w92]

But seriously, such brazen displays of emotion and anger as the FANS don't really exist in Eastern cultures that emphasize "face" and composure.

That's what I always thought/was trained....but I guess it helped having a sensei that was trained in Japan? The weird things I saw at competitions always used to me and being young and impressionable, I always came away with bad habits...

[Epeeist]

That's what I always thought/was trained....but I guess it helped having a sensei that was trained in Japan? The weird things I saw at competitions always used to me and being young and impressionable, I always came away with bad habits...

I think it's partially westerners trying to out-Asian Asians. They think stoic and disciplined means ANGRY AND MILITARISTIC. It's the same thing i see with people acting like obi have some sorty of mystical spirit and hard work that mustn't be washed out or that I am somehow dishonoring the ancient spirit of Sensei Nobu if I fail to fold my gi properly before putting it away. Funny, because most of the people from Japan and Korea I've trained with just stuff it in their gym bag and go home.

[tao.jonez]

I think that there is a lineage issue here -
Wushu and gymnastics are pretty close to one another in grading format.
Gymnastic type routines are par for the Wushu circuit, and many gymnasts do Wushu. Gymnastics and cheerleading are often taught in the same academies.

I wrote out my whole theory and deleted it, but you can see where this is going.

[Permalost]

But seriously, such brazen displays of emotion and anger as the FANS don't really exist in Eastern cultures that emphasize "face" and composure. So where the hell did they come from?

My guess is that it came from the early wave of martial arts teachers that were US military stationed in Korea, Okinawa etc and trained only as long as their deployment. Then the yelling and stuff just kind of seeped in from the military side of things.

[Epeeist]

My guess is that it came from the early wave of martial arts teachers that were US military stationed in Korea, Okinawa etc and trained only as long as their deployment. Then the yelling and stuff just kind of seeped in from the military side of things.

I kind of think this too. When learning TKD from Koreans I have to wonder how much of the yelling and side slapping is Korean Martial arts and how much of it is their mandatory military service shining through.