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Fighting--Should I do it?
I've been very interested in competitive fighting (something like karate, mixed martial arts, kung-fu, or boxing) for years, and I've always wanted to take a class. I was hesitant for two reasons: I am a girl, and I have a small stature (I stand at about 5'0 give or take an inch, and weigh about 100 pounds). I have been told that, because of my gender and size, I won't be taken seriously if I do decide to take a class (mixed martial arts and boxing in particular).
I'm curious, should I just go ahead and do it, or leave well enough alone?
I'm curious, should I just go ahead and do it, or leave well enough alone?
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before you actually compete in a real fight, it will be a long journey and lots of stuff can happen.
by the time you are qualified (if that ever happen) you may or may not change your mind.
either way there is nothing wrong with athletic competition, by training for it, you will practice dealing with all kind of negative emotions (like anger, impatience), practice humility (getting beat up a bit), get in a great shape and perhaps build long lasting healthy habits (eating well and exercising), and perhaps make a bunch of friends in the process.
Who's told you that? wombat's doos....
did you know that most Chinese and Japanese people (the countries these martial arts originated in) are below average height?
And that in every single Martial Art movie you see nowadays, there are accomplished female 'Masters'?
And that in sporting events women play an active, prominent and medal-winning role?
So... what's stopping you again?
but when it's for real, nobody should fight.
And ahahaha, unladylike! Don't care about that bit of it.
That being said, for mixed martial arts and/or boxing, trained or not, it might be difficult to find competitors your size and weight class. However, you'll definitely find others to compete with in Judo, Jujitsu, Kung Fu, and Karate. Just think about these events in the Olympics; lots of different weight classes.
You need to go there and observe very closely any instructors you are considering as your teachers.
You also need to seriously consider whether you are more interested in fighting for self defense or in fighting for "fun," for competition...
because there is a huge difference between those two.
Do NOT sign up for anything where students go sparring with one another long before they have developed the coordination and the skill level to be able to pull their punches and kicks and spar safely.
Do NOT sign up for anything where the instructor assures you that students sparring with one another long before they have developed the coordination and skill level necessary to do so with any degree of safety is "all perfectly well and good because we use really big protective pads here."
Pads do not protect against ligament injury, and ligament injuries can be quite permanent.
Yes, indeed, Bruce taught Linda...
but you'll have to look long and hard to find anybody even remotely comparable to Bruce as a teacher...
and don't settle for less...
because at 100 lbs,(unless you've got a whole lot of speed and a whole lot of flexibility to get out of the way) if anybody lands anything on you (and it happens all the time by accident when even skilled students are not always sufficiently skilled to do any better), you're going to be hurting.
Females traditionally fight because their lives and/or the lives of their loved ones depend on it, and they do not fight for fun; they fight to kill.
Best of luck and keep us updated
You must choose if you are fighting for fun and competition
or fighting for self defense.
There is a huge difference, and you must choose.
I realize this means I am going to take (more than) a few blows and have to actually work. And that's the part I like about it. But yeah, I don't want to sign up for a class that turns out to be shitty and a waste of money. I've heard the horror stories from bad teachers to "I think I'm badass and don't have to follow the rules" students.
I've actually been trying to build up strength and flexibility by stretching everyday to get my splits, and doing as many push-ups as I can until my arms give out.
@aura: I would agree with your statement about girls fighting to kill, not for fun, usually. Most of the girls I know that took some sort of fighting class did it because they wanted to know how to defend themselves. I don't know if this is true, but they guys I've talked to said that they would be more hesitant to kill someone in a fight, and most of the girls I've talked to said they wouldn't give it a second thought. I mean I would, because I don't like hurting people (haha, and I want to do competitive fighting, right?), but that's just me.
In the second one, that complete idiot is trying to impress the world with how well he can throw his qi, by throwing his qi against a baby, a growing developing vulnerable baby with absolutely no way to protect his qi!
That idiot is assaulting that baby's qi! It's NOT funny. What he is doing can negatively affect that baby's neurological, emotional, mental, and social development...
That man is not FIT to EVER be LEFT ALONE WITH A BABY
and he deserves a couple of cracked ribs from the qi effects of "enraged mother defending her baby." "Fighting on the bed" does NOT lead to "lasting bliss."
"Fighting on the bed" constitutes SEXUAL ASSAULT and/or RAPE...
and if you want to play that game....
you had better be prepared to lose a testicle.
I suggest judo. It is very well regulated and offers everything. Conditioning, full contact competition with strict referees. Very useful for self defense.
I have been training in the martial arts for about twenty years and I have seen a lot of people achieve great things from a small stature (gender generally doesn't come into it). You do have to choose you art wisely though, assuming that you have the luxury of choice. For a smaller person I would not suggest an art where height, reach and bodyweight confer significant advantages so MMA and arts such as BJJ or Boxing in gyms that don't separate weight classes are not ideal. That is not to say that you couldn't learn much from them, just that you will have to show some fortitude to build up skill without being overly discouraged.
Other arts suitable for you would be Wing Chun Kung Fu (very popular with women due to the legend), Karate (especially Shotokan and Wado Ryu), Taekwondo, Hapkido and Aikido. Kendo is good but difficult to find and expensive and I don't really have enough experience of other forms of Kung Fu to share. I am told that Philippino, Indonesian and Malaysian arts are good for smaller people but as a big'un myself I don't know from personal experience.
Give it a go, but be aware that a sense of humour and an adventurous streak are essential.
Spiny
If all else fails, you are closer to the testicles.
Hey that's how much self defense I know.
And the more I study it, the more I'm leaning towards kung-fu. I didn't know this, but there's actually a Kung-Fu place in Detroit where I live.
@ZenBadger I have no idea, honestly. I actually don't even know where to begin...
Then you have Jujitsu... Forget the art, just learn what works to win a fight
But then again she has no formal training so...*shrugs*. Hey, slightly random, but what is Tai Chi?
I really enjoyed the philosphy behind the Kenpo training... strike to allow an opportunity to get away, and the Sensei really focused on techniques for the smaller, weaker individual dealing with larger opponents.
I started with Judo - not a combat form but it was good grounding - whatever you start with is fine - like anything, you get out of it what you put in.
The comment on baby and qi was hilarious... I've been neck deep in martial arts for 25 years odd and still the elusive hadoken escapes me... think the baby was safe there!
Was the baby "playing" with his father?
No. The baby was not engaged with the father. The baby was engaged with his toy and was ignoring the father completely.
What exactly caused the baby to fall over?
The father did not touch the baby. The baby fell over because all the muscles of the baby's back contracted hard enough and fast enough to throw him back from a securely seated position to land flat on his back.
Is the baby most likely right or left handed?
The baby is most likely right handed, as the muscles of his back contracted harder on his right side, causing him to both twist and fall to his right side, indicating that the muscles on his right side are more developed than those on his left. More developed muscles on the right side indicates right-side dominance: right-handedness.
Does the baby enjoy this treatment?
The baby, flat on his back and facing right, still refuses to engage the father.
The baby does not smile, coo, and extend his arms toward the father to repeat this performance in the least. The baby, having fallen back totally facing right, refuses to engage the father, immediately flipping completely to his left in order to engage the only other person in the room, the one holding the camera. The baby is not smiling. The filming abruptly ends right there.
Take a look at it from the baby's point of view...
What if it were you?
You are sitting at your desk engaged with your computer...
Your large intimidating boss suddenly throws his hands up right in front of your face...
Your startle/fear reaction is to pull backwards hard and fast...
twisting your back toward your dominant side because your dominant side has got heavier muscles because you use it more than your non-dominant side...
Your reaction is hard enough and fast enough to drop you out of your office chair and onto your back on the floor.
You do not engage your boss, but instead turn to some bystander filming this for an internet audience telling you that your boss is just "playing" with you and that this is oh so fun and funny to watch.
What a pity the filming ends so abruptly, completely failing to record your expressed delight with this fun game.
The greatest skill of a martial artist isn't kicking the ceiling.
The greatest skill of a martial artist is observation. A coworker said that his father had also been that way... that he too had built up a tolerance for such behavior, and that nothing affects him anymore. He is pushing 60 and it truly does seem as though nothing affects him anymore... except for the fact
that somehow he just never developed the trust, communication, and interpersonal skills necessary to create a successful intimate relationship with another human being.
One, that he is repeating something that he has done before and is not surprised by it, is perhaps humoring his dad. That's what it looks like to me. There does not seem to be much impact. As if he is falling back on cue. Like a game.
Or two, this is the first time the father has tried this. In which case why does the baby not react with fear or pain. Also why would the person filming (likely the mother) stand by for what could be a dangerous experiment.
Perhaps because both these people are irresponsible dangerous fiends. If so why is the baby playing normally and ignoring these people if he is accustomed to being harmed by them?
There is not enough information to go on to accuse this man of being an unfit father.
When my kids were babies and young kids they loved rough and tumble play. Did their muscles clench up? You bet.
1. what a 5 or 6 month old baby looks like
2. that one NEVER engages in "rough and tumble play" with such a young baby
3. that such a young baby has absolutely NO concept of "humoring" anybody
4. that such a young baby cannot be trained to twist abruptly and "fall back on cue like a game" like some professional Hollywood stuntman completely miming the reception of some non-existent physical blow
5. that "rough and tumble play" with children involves mutual consensual physical contact and mutual consensual engagement.
6. that the mutual physical contact of "rough and tumble play" must also be mutually respectful, safe, and developmental age-appropriate
7. that bodily muscles suddenly clenching up violently in the body of a human being WITHOUT ANY PHYSICAL CONTACT OR PHYSICAL STRESS APPLIED WHATSOEVER TO THAT BODY is a clinical sign of SHOCK and EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
The baby reacts with shock, and the filming very abruptly stops before the baby cries. Take a look at his face, take a look at his eyes; he is just about to blow.
Granted much of what you have said about age appropriate play is true, you have not answered my points about the baby's calm demeanor prior to the "assault".
I also dispute that the baby is "about to blow". Perhaps spaceless can provide a link for that clip so we can view more of it. If that baby bursts into tears, I will agree with everything you have said.
Atm I would say the boy chased by the chicken is more likely to be scarred for life especially if the chicken caught up to him.