Kill Arman

Has anyone seen this programme on the extreme sports channel? It's quite a funny series following a Finnish guy called Arman who's a tailor by profession but decides he wants to get in shape and so undergoes the challenge of fighting 10 martial arts experts in their different styles around the world! Needless to say he loses every time as he only has 4 days to train before each fight, but it is entertaining. It's not purely comical either, the guy looks into the martial art's history as well as the history of the country of its origin. Anyway two of the styles Arman participates in are Wing Chun Kung Fu and Taekwondo, one with the emphasis on punching, the other kicking. Now both martial arts allow striking of both kinds (hands and feet) but each have a different emphasis. The Wing Chun style employs rapid fire punches to the head from a centre point rather than using hooking shots, keeping their elbows tight against their chests. In practice it looked rather scrappy and not particularly flashy but it certainly seems effective. However your legs are both more powerful and longer than your arms and Taekwondo experts train their legs/feet to move as fast as boxers hands/arms. So which do you think would have the advantage in a clash of styles?

As far as self defence is concerned I think most people would fight with their fists in a street fight situation but if you could keep them at bay and out of reach with your superior leg strikes then Taekwondo could prove very effective; however unless you're very agile and nimble if someone broke through your defence and closed the distance then you could be in trouble. I've seen some youtube videos of Kung Fu versus Taekwondo with the Taekwondo guys always coming off worse. Now I don't necessarily want to get into an immature argument over which styles are better than others but which do you think is more practical the martial art that emphasises striking with your fists or with your feet? Going back to Arman he came away with a deep respect for both martial arts and indeed I was very impressed by both sets of masters who obviously are extremely skilled; so is it just a case of skill level?

talkingpoint wrote:
.........but which do you think is more practical the martial art that emphasises striking with your fists or with your feet?

Hi talkingpoint

Thanks for posting.

Hmm........ I'm not sure and don't know enough about it but I'm inclined to think that striking with your feet is more practical.

I Hadn't heard of Arman......it sounds an interesting series.......I've just found THIS VIDEO of him on Youtube.

Solerina

Not heard of it or seen it but will check if its on youtube. Another good series which looked into the history of martial arts was fight quest. If you haven't seen it, it was 2 american guys, one an mma fighter & the other an ex soldier & bodyguard who travelled around the world participating in different martial arts then taking on guys from the relevent art. A really interesting series, most of which I saw recently on youtube. Both guys came accross as nice, decent & respectful. Check it out on wiki first, it lists all the martial arts they did.

Another is human weapon which covered half of the same styles but then some others, some of which were more modern. Didn't like it as much as I prefered the guys from fight quest & only 1 guy would have a fight. Again if you haven't seen it you can watch on youtube.

With regards to which is more practical, a style with an emphisis on punches or 1 with kicks I dont think one is better than the other. Possably in a real life situation a full system style may well be better, one that takes in locks or grappling etc. Also no style is more superior, its more down, imo, to the quality of your instructor both as a martial artist & teacher, & maybe as a fighter, and you to how hard you work at it & then adapt it to a sport or real life/self defence situation.

You also mention seeing style versus style on youtube, generally whichever style comes first in the title/post is generally the winner, in my experience of youtube anyway. So if you see K Fu vs Tae k d, K Fu wins or Muay Thai vs Karate, Muay Thai wins but vice versa also wins. In K1 you get all the fist/feet styles competeing in kickboxing against each other with mixed results, also the same in mma, altho in mma there is a bigger style pool & fighters have generally trained in more than one style & adapted them for competion.

Hi sohotnot,

I'm so glad you've joined us!

I'm suejoe on 606.......we met on the weightlifting forum.

Welcome to 606v2

Maybe you can help me boost this Martial Arts section..........it was I who asked for one and it hasn't been very busy, unfortunately.

I met a couple of martial arts guys a few days ago they told me they would join v2 but there's no sign of them yet. I'm seeing them again next week......I expect they forgot the name of the site......maybe I'd better write it down for them lol

Anyway I'm away till late tomorrow afternoon..........I'll put some more vids up when I get back.....try and create a bit more interest.

see you around SHN : )

Solerina

Hi Solerina

I think the main problem with regards to popularity on this forum is that most of the regulars on 606 were MMA fans rather than martial artists. Like the boxing & football forums it is more about discussing matches/fights, teams/players/fighters rather than discussing martial arts & taking part. Outside of MMA thier is next to nothing on tv about martial arts hence people have little to comment on. All I ever get to see is K1 highlights on eurosport & the K1 WGP final which is once a year.

What martial arts or martial art films do you like to watch? Any favorite martial artist(s)?

Hi SHN......the only martial arts film I've ever seen is Enter the Dragon......when I was a kid and I had absolutely no appreciation of Bruce Lee at that time

Will chat more later....must dash

Solerina

sohotnot wrote:Hi Solerina

I think the main problem with regards to popularity on this forum is that most of the regulars on 606 were MMA fans rather than martial artists. Like the boxing & football forums it is more about discussing matches/fights, teams/players/fighters rather than discussing martial arts & taking part.

This is so true.

My favourite martial arts film when I was younger were Van Dam's KickBoxer; however I don't actually watch much martial arts films anymore. The last martial arts film I saw was the new remake of the Karate Kid.

sohotnot wrote:Hi Solerina

I think the main problem with regards to popularity on this forum is that most of the regulars on 606 were MMA fans rather than martial artists. Like the boxing & football forums it is more about discussing matches/fights, teams/players/fighters rather than discussing martial arts & taking part. Outside of MMA thier is next to nothing on tv about martial arts hence people have little to comment on.

Yes quite.

I think we'll generate a lot more interest on this forum, for the individual martial arts, next year, when it's the Olympics.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how Great Britain's Euan Burton does in the Judo......would be lovely if he could get Gold

Solerina