This has been bothering me for a while.
With the horrific genocides of the Toronto and NorCal throwdowns fresh in our minds, I think it's time to broach an uncomfortable subject, that being the failure of the throwdown as a concept.
Certainly this isn't the first time this has happened. Anyone remember the MD TD where Kikkoman was completely stumped by a chunner forearm choking him in his guard? How about Blad3windu?
And it's not like i'm the first person try to make this point to you. There've been wonderful ye olde joke threads started on this very topic. People were discussing this ever since the days of crimsontiger.
But still the march of fags. In an unending race to the bottom, we get alive wing chun, soul calibur weapons sparring, people who have never sparred, kung fu vs ninjutsu submission grappling, every conceivable thing wrong with bullshido presented to us in visual form. It's the blind leading the blind into a seltzery clown fight.
And then there's the afterhours angry, sandpaper masturbation: the endless bitching over little fist.gif icons, the sudden revelations that everyone was either using only 10% of their TRUE SAIYAN POWER or was just a begginer/just doing this for fun/had never sparred before/their cat just died/had just downed some X. The tearful removal of videos because of legitimate technical criticism. The thinking we are all tuff stuff now for having tried out this aliveness thing.
And then there's a question of motivation: While a TD causes gut wrenching nervousness in, say, most karateka and a feeling that this is the litmus test of their years of standing in horse stance, for BJJers and others who do actual combat sports, every single training session is a throwdown. Scratch that, every single training session is a much more intense version of a throwdown. If we feel a real need to test ourselves, we compete.
I've been to several TDs, and even though i'm chronically late for class, most were less exhausting than an average session of BJJ.
This bears repeating: Most throwdowns are less intense than a BJJ lesson with the warmup and half the drilling skipped. I can't imagine the crushing disdain that Spatch&Anna must feel for you people.
Have there been positive experiences? Certainly. Osiris cracking open someone's guard with headbutts. Luan picking apart that silat guy. Asia shoulder ramming crimson tiger around the room. The last couple texas throwdowns have been good due to a preponderance of competent grapplers, tasty barbeque and cheap liquor. But these remain in the minority.
So with all that said, let's talk dettente. The obvious solution is for people to start training at real gyms. But is there any way we can punish blatant offenders? Perhaps with water/cricket/sand/lardboarding?
With the horrific genocides of the Toronto and NorCal throwdowns fresh in our minds, I think it's time to broach an uncomfortable subject, that being the failure of the throwdown as a concept.
Certainly this isn't the first time this has happened. Anyone remember the MD TD where Kikkoman was completely stumped by a chunner forearm choking him in his guard? How about Blad3windu?
And it's not like i'm the first person try to make this point to you. There've been wonderful ye olde joke threads started on this very topic. People were discussing this ever since the days of crimsontiger.
But still the march of fags. In an unending race to the bottom, we get alive wing chun, soul calibur weapons sparring, people who have never sparred, kung fu vs ninjutsu submission grappling, every conceivable thing wrong with bullshido presented to us in visual form. It's the blind leading the blind into a seltzery clown fight.
And then there's the afterhours angry, sandpaper masturbation: the endless bitching over little fist.gif icons, the sudden revelations that everyone was either using only 10% of their TRUE SAIYAN POWER or was just a begginer/just doing this for fun/had never sparred before/their cat just died/had just downed some X. The tearful removal of videos because of legitimate technical criticism. The thinking we are all tuff stuff now for having tried out this aliveness thing.
And then there's a question of motivation: While a TD causes gut wrenching nervousness in, say, most karateka and a feeling that this is the litmus test of their years of standing in horse stance, for BJJers and others who do actual combat sports, every single training session is a throwdown. Scratch that, every single training session is a much more intense version of a throwdown. If we feel a real need to test ourselves, we compete.
I've been to several TDs, and even though i'm chronically late for class, most were less exhausting than an average session of BJJ.
This bears repeating: Most throwdowns are less intense than a BJJ lesson with the warmup and half the drilling skipped. I can't imagine the crushing disdain that Spatch&Anna must feel for you people.
Have there been positive experiences? Certainly. Osiris cracking open someone's guard with headbutts. Luan picking apart that silat guy. Asia shoulder ramming crimson tiger around the room. The last couple texas throwdowns have been good due to a preponderance of competent grapplers, tasty barbeque and cheap liquor. But these remain in the minority.
So with all that said, let's talk dettente. The obvious solution is for people to start training at real gyms. But is there any way we can punish blatant offenders? Perhaps with water/cricket/sand/lardboarding?
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