Years ago, for work, I spent a week traveling with an aging professional fighter. He was dying, though we didn't fully realize it yet. He had learned several martial disciplines, some for spectacle, some rendering him genuinely capable of breaking an opponent, in body and spirit. His large hands looked like they could crack coconuts, and his thick jaw seemed impervious to the fiercest of blows. Nonetheless, he was among the most polite, gentlest men I'd ever spent time with. He could hurt people, yes, but he knew also what it was like to be hurt, and he had long since understood that inflicting such damage was almost as painful as receiving it. There is some wisdom in this article (regardless of whether there's any in the prospective combatants...).
Excellent points here on self defense, fitness, and confidence! As a lifelong martial artists and now coach, I am a big advocate for martial arts at any age, but especially for the youth.
One thing that is extremely important to note, however, is the risk of CTE and other brain-related injuries. An ignorant coach, poorly structured curriculum, and careless instruction all increase the chances of long-term damage.
It's about finding balance; training hard and training smart. And the last thing we need is to further give MMA a bad rap, because of its inherent brutality... which is why safety protocols must be built into every martial arts curriculum!
My initial reaction to hearing about the proposed fight was to roll my eyes—oh look, I thought, two tech billionaires acting about as mature as schoolboys agreeing to meet out behind the dumpster at recess. But I'm open to acknowledging I may have been wrong there—we do certainly need to redeem physical violence as more than just the territory of thugs and bullies, the (controlled) capacity to be effectively violent is something men have a moral obligation to nurture, so that they can defend themselves and the people they are responsible for protecting.
I saw Jordan Peterson make the same point in reference to the "meek shall inherit the earth" and that it should be the "warrior who lays down down his sword shall inherit the earth. 20 years ago I tried to motivate my son by pointing out that in his condition he couldn't defend his mother or his country. The judo lessons I took in seventh grade helped me block much larger people on the football field. You are useless and a target if you are unable to defend yourself. I am concerned about concussions and wonder how to train in this without getting your head beat in.
When will these guys, who have more security than most of us on this planet, stop acting like they'd ever be forced into hand to hand combat? To defend their family's???It's beyond cos play. It's insane and very entertaining for us warped folks.
I would love to see the next presidential election settled by fisticuffs between Trump and Biden. Both men deserve a generous beating.
Years ago, for work, I spent a week traveling with an aging professional fighter. He was dying, though we didn't fully realize it yet. He had learned several martial disciplines, some for spectacle, some rendering him genuinely capable of breaking an opponent, in body and spirit. His large hands looked like they could crack coconuts, and his thick jaw seemed impervious to the fiercest of blows. Nonetheless, he was among the most polite, gentlest men I'd ever spent time with. He could hurt people, yes, but he knew also what it was like to be hurt, and he had long since understood that inflicting such damage was almost as painful as receiving it. There is some wisdom in this article (regardless of whether there's any in the prospective combatants...).
Excellent points here on self defense, fitness, and confidence! As a lifelong martial artists and now coach, I am a big advocate for martial arts at any age, but especially for the youth.
One thing that is extremely important to note, however, is the risk of CTE and other brain-related injuries. An ignorant coach, poorly structured curriculum, and careless instruction all increase the chances of long-term damage.
It's about finding balance; training hard and training smart. And the last thing we need is to further give MMA a bad rap, because of its inherent brutality... which is why safety protocols must be built into every martial arts curriculum!
My initial reaction to hearing about the proposed fight was to roll my eyes—oh look, I thought, two tech billionaires acting about as mature as schoolboys agreeing to meet out behind the dumpster at recess. But I'm open to acknowledging I may have been wrong there—we do certainly need to redeem physical violence as more than just the territory of thugs and bullies, the (controlled) capacity to be effectively violent is something men have a moral obligation to nurture, so that they can defend themselves and the people they are responsible for protecting.
I saw Jordan Peterson make the same point in reference to the "meek shall inherit the earth" and that it should be the "warrior who lays down down his sword shall inherit the earth. 20 years ago I tried to motivate my son by pointing out that in his condition he couldn't defend his mother or his country. The judo lessons I took in seventh grade helped me block much larger people on the football field. You are useless and a target if you are unable to defend yourself. I am concerned about concussions and wonder how to train in this without getting your head beat in.
" ... this is how you end a fight." Maybe once upon a time. Now, it seems a gun is how you end a fight.
When will these guys, who have more security than most of us on this planet, stop acting like they'd ever be forced into hand to hand combat? To defend their family's???It's beyond cos play. It's insane and very entertaining for us warped folks.
Oh, there's going to be some gold in the comments on this one.
That said, I once heard someone describe an MMA match between two clumsy oafs as a "walrus fight." That's what we're going to have with Zuck and Elon.
(And would I watch it? Hell, yes.)