The Pleasures of Drowning

http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-pleasures-of-drowning

by sriram_sun • 14 years ago

14 6 14 years ago

sriram_sun• 14 years ago

It's a great article on Brazilian Jiu Jutsu (BJJ) and MMA with a couple of mind blowing examples highlighting blind faith in martial arts. Watch the videos. They will make your day maybe in a sad sobering sort of way.

arjn• 14 years ago

It made me cringe to watch that. This isn't the first time I've come across this. There are plenty of such people going around deluding themselves and their "students" (or maybe they're just liars). Youtube has several such examples.

sodiumphosphate• 14 years ago

The Aikido videos are indeed sad. The saddest part is knowing how surprisingly representative they are of the Aikido mythos, originating with the founder himself. Accounts of Morihei Ueshiba and his supernatural adventures in ki are perplexing at best.

That being said, I don't think Aikido is as ineffective as the videos may lead one to believe. I recall a similar experience to the one described in the article, when I strolled into the Aikido dojo with a new black belt in TaeKwonDo. The sensei saw my colossal attitude and broke my confidence repeatedly in front of his students. It was entirely open ended; I attacked and he countered. Each attack landed me in a painful pin. And while my strength and stamina were utterly exhausted, he managed me effortlessly. I was made an example; humbled.

The core techniques of value are not exclusive to Aikido, however, being borrowed from prior arts, and I believe more practical sources of them are Bujinkan and Krav Maga.

bradleyland• 14 years ago

I remember the very first UFC. Maybe it was pre-UFC, I can't be sure, but I remember that it was very, very early in the MMA days. There were fighters entering the ring citing their discipline as "Shaolin Tiger Kung-fu" and the like.

One-by-one, we watched the fights devolve in to a standing clinch, with many athletes sporting a confused look, glancing at the referee as if to ask "aren't you going to separate us?" The fact was that many of these fighters, althogh well respected in their individual arts, had absolutely no idea how to "fight".

We even saw a few self-defense specialists enter the ring. One guy had formed some self-defense art with "bear" in the name. I can't remember the specifics. He was refreshing. During the pre-fight interview, he was confident, but humble. His comments could be summarized as, "I feel pretty confident that what I've developed works, but we're about to find out for real."

It was a unique time with a lot of the layers of delusion being stripped away with the swipe a leg and a thud on the mat. Sometimes I wish we could turn the clock back, just to watch it all over again.

bootz15• 14 years ago

This is all moot, of course, if the opponent brings a gun.

WettowelReactor• 14 years ago

If the other party is armed and you are not then chances are your fate is sealed. Still a sudden violent attack when no option to escape is present is still likely the correct course of action. As Harris states in his early post(1) if they shoot you during the struggle (or escape attempt) they where likely going to shoot you anyways.

1. http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-truth-about-violence

The Pleasures of Drowning

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