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Old 03-26-2006, 11:47 AM   #34
mtch
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: TN
Posts: 83
Aother important point made earlier was the false confidence that MA and MMA instill in participants and students. I studied under a champion (why is it that all instructors are champions?) instructor until I was 12. I quit when I saw my uncle, who was 19 at the time, beat the snot out of my champion instructor. This was not a controlled or sanction match, but a fight in the parking lot. My uncle broke the instructor's arm, nose and a rib. I'll concede that my uncle was a nationally competitive (jr. olympics) high school wrestler and had spent some time on the wrong side of town, "honing his skills". However, I had seen my instructor win tournies and other competitions, so I lost a lot of confidence in American instructional combatives and MAs when I saw him go down like that.

I know that there are many factors that determine the outcome, and this may have been an issue of dumb luck, a bad day or fatigue. But, after I saw that, I realized that most MA training is controlled and it will not prepare someone for a real, uncontrolled street fight. It simply provides enough confidence to stand and take a beating instead of backing down and running.
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