Martial Arts Myths
aka Bullshido
The martial arts community has likely always been a purveyor of tall tales and the age of the Internet has only made it easier for silly claims to perpetuate. Below I’ll list some of the common ones we’ve probably all seen and maybe even believed at some point in time.
Claim:
Martial artists have to register their hands and feet as lethal weapons.
I remember when I was a kid a fellow purple belt in my Shotokan Karate class in Winnipeg telling us that his dad had to take him to City Hall to do this. Classic.
Other than in Guam this is an outright myth.
Claim:
Martial artists should avoid strength training because they will get “too bulky and slow”.
Picking up a barbell doesn’t automatically make someone grow to the size of prime Schwarzenegger. People sometimes point to body builders as being slow and lumbering oafs but this is a silly stereotype, in fact, weight training is vital to maximizing performance and minimizing injury.
Claim:
Traditional martial arts are “too lethal” to use in the UFC (MMA).
Any eye gouging, fish hooking, biting, head butting, groin kicking skills that you think make you indestructible are not a replacement for learning how to actually fight. As Ramsey Dewey says, get out there and train.
Claim:
You can totally Palm Heel Strike someone’s nose bone up into their brain and kill them!
What the hell is a nose bone???
Claim:
Size and strength don’t matter in a fight.
There is a reason why every combat sport in the world is divided by weight class and biological sex. While there will be exceptions in some instances there is a point where skill cannot overcome size.
Claim:
Having a black belt means you can fight.
There are probably more black belts out there who can’t actually fight than those who can, especially if they come from a non-contact style.
Claim:
Being a martial artist means that you are a more ethical, enlightened or moral person.
There is zero correlation between the above listed attributes and regular martial arts practice. We’ve all met dirt bags who train and fantastic people who don’t, along with everything in between.
Claim:
You should automatically accept an expert martial artist’s opinion on unrelated topics as having merit.
The “Appeal To Authority” fallacy runs rampant in martial arts, and it’s a bit strange. Even if someone is a genius coach it doesn’t mean that you should take their opinion on science/politics/religion/etc. as having any merit whatsoever. There are a lot of amazing martial artists out there who believe some really stupid things. “Look into it”.
Claim:
Pressure points are useful in self-defense.
When you let someone use a pressure point technique on you it sure does suck. A lot.
When you don’t let someone use a pressure point technique on you they have an almost 0% chance of successfully using it. Being off by an inch or less makes it ineffective and when you add in the chaos of violence with a non-compliant person makes this whole subset of martial arts mostly useless.