It's become apparent you know nothing about martial arts.

There are no "rules" in Muay Thai outside the ring; you can do what you want.

There would probably be more moves in Muay Thai than Karate, given the stacks of clinching if you want to go there.

Regardless, it isn't about how many techniques you know, or even what techniques you know. It's about strength, speed, power, reflexes, timing, strategy and attitude.

Thinking the way you do, it's clearly blaming the tools when you should be blaming the craftsman.

What are the four basic movment you're talking about? That doesn't ring any bells whatsoever...

You know, something a master told me about martial arts:

He was talking about why he started MA. At first, he thought it was to defend himself. But it was so expensive to learn, like, $100 a month and stuff, not including all equiptment and physical supplements you need to buy.

Then, it takes years to get good enough to defend yourself. Even after 5 years, but, there's no gaurentee you'll have what it takes.

Then he thought, why not just buy a gun? If he wanted to defend himself, he could buy a decent one, register it, pay for a few range lessons to learn to shoot it. By the time he'd done all that, it'd cost less than 3 months of MA lessons and only take one week and he'd be able to defend himself extremely well.

So why did he do MA?

Then he thought, MA is a way of expressing the self. It's who he is, what he does.

But now, the man is a master, a teacher. When new students come, he tells them to stand perfectly still, and then try and express themself physically.

Of course, they all are confused. How can you do this when standing perfectly still? When they ask what he means, he tells them MA is a form of self expression, and how do they think they're going to manage the complex physical motions of MA if they can't even express themself standing still?

Now, before I start every lesson, I meditate for just a minute. I don't stand, I just kneel on the ground and think about that self expression of MA I find in emptiness. After that, I know better where I'm going.

I'm not really interested in what style is best anymore. Of course, I do dislike the arrogant "My style is better than yours" comments. But, at the end of the day, very few people could defend against me if they're asking me to "defend" myself, coz I'll just pull out a foot long bowie knife and it'll be over.

But, in the end, the best real martial artist is going to be the one whos most intuitive and expressive in his motion and work.

Here it is:

Martial arts (and also dance) is also called perceptional philosophy in physical action.

No it isn't.

Eh?

After your rant where you claim that it is easier to defend yourself by investing in a gun and that martial arts is about expression... you turn around and say that komitsuki is wrong?

But that's not what it's called.

Anyway, I said it was about expression, but relating it to dance is completely wrong.

Why? Saying it doesn't make it so.

If martial arts is more about expression and less about self-defence... then it is in fact very similar to dance.

Even the term perceptional philosophy in physical action is not inaccurate.

No. You're taking it in the wrong way.

It's as similar to dance as it is to car racing, kite flying, snorkling, sky diving, anything that defines a person.

MA is still about fighting, of course. But if the reason you do it is for self defence, then you probably ought to just buy an effective weapon.

But dance, woah... that's just gay. Just because dance is based around self expression, it does not mean it's related to anything that you express yourself in.

You're just trying to twist my words now to piss me off... again. You never thought this before I mentioned it.

You guys can argue all you want, but training and style will never beat a street kid who grew up fighting. He may have never taken a class, but learned from watching and getting his ass kicked. The best fighter I ever saw was a teenager in Salvador, Brazil. He used some Capoeira and Brazilian Jujitsu moves, as well as just being to see what was coming up,to hospitalize 3 bigger guys (one had a razor blade). I wouldn't mess with the kid.