Martial Arts, anyone?

Because it only took Viking-Sensei three years (and the approaching end of Errant Story) to come up with a better name for "General Discussions"
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Boss Out of Town
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Re: Martial Arts, anyone?

Post by Boss Out of Town »

dubioso wrote:
Boss Out of Town wrote:Query, to all the experts: is the lack of groin kicks in most martial arts systems related to "not hitting below the belt," or is it more the difficulty of both hitting a remote area (near the body's center of maneuver) and doing so without unmasking something more vital (head and neck) when stooping to aim at that area.
I can't claim to be an expert, but my guess is that most fighting systems one hears about are "martial sports" rather than "martial arts". The difference is that a sport has rules, which are designed to avoid serious injuries of the participants and to make the fights entertaining to watch for the spectators.
In Ving Chun, all the main targets are in the center line of the body: groin, solar plexus, face, gorge. We don't stoop to attack the groin, everything below the waist is attacked with the foot or knee. The kick to the groin is done horizontally with the straight leg, the attack with the longest reach that we have. If the opponent is closer, we obviously prefer to attack the groin with the knee.
You and several women I used to . . . well, never mind that. I suppose attacking the groin with the longest reach has to do with getting into the middle of the opponents defense, not because touching a guy's groin is icky. :cry:
History celebrates the battlefields whereon we meet our death, but scorns to speak of the plowed fields whereby we thrive; it knows the names of kings’ bastards but cannot tell us the origin of wheat. This is the way of human folly. --- Henry Fabre
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