I met an American Muay Thai student today, who didn't care much for my statement that a master from any American school would be utterly destroyed by a mid-level student from a Thai school, and that American martial arts schools are "pussified." We didn't fight, per se, but we had a respectful exchange of ideas about various techniques and methods. The immediate flaw that I noticed in his ideas, and repeatedly pointed out to him (which he didn't like) was that his school of thought revolved entirely around the premise of a martial arts competition... a fight in a controlled environment with rules.

Eventually we sparred... the kid never had a chance. I almost felt bad. He did a good job of breaking through my guard and locking with me so that he could start throwing all his close-distance attacks, I give him credit for that... but he was completely unprepared for me to do anything that would have been against the rules he's accustomed to fighting under. He left me too many openings to do "illegal" moves. He got a good shot in to my ribs... but he tried to repeat it again, and I'm not one who doesn't learn from his mistakes.

The second attempt only earned him an elbow to the inside of his thigh, which both deflected his knee from it's intended target and made him hesitate to put his weight back on his now-tenderized leg... so I dropped down out of his hold and struck the inside of his knee, not quite hard enough to strain it but enough to get his attention. Sure enough, his only remaining support buckled under him and he stumbled... so I drove my shoulder into his stomach and shoved off the ground with both legs, pushing him back and up. It was easy to take him off his feet in his already unbalanced state.

I followed him as he fell, landing on his back with his legs in the air. I grabbed on of them, wrapped my own leg around it and simply fell to the ground with it, twisting his ankle and tucking it under my elbow. After that all I had to do was lean back, and he was very loudly conceding defeat. 

Why did I blog about this? To brag, I guess, but also to prove my point about American Martial arts schools. This kid's mentality is precisely what I have consistently highlighted as the great flaw, the weakness that political correctness has inflicted upon our martial artists. As much as they'd like to think that their success against fellow martial artists in sparring and in tournaments is an indicator of how they might perform in a real fight, the fact is that when you find yourself facing the moment of truth, your body will do exactly what it has done in practice over and over again. And if your practice is restricted by rules, then you won't be prepared when your opponent breaks those rules, and you'll be at a tremendous disadvantage. 

I'd like to learn Muay Thai, but it's too late. I'm 26. For me to learn it the way I wish to learn it, I would have to go to Thailand and devote myself to the study... and even then, I'd be getting my ass handed to me by tweens who'd been studying since they could walk. I may just swallow my pride and find a teacher here in America. Perhaps I might even be able to find one who'll train me, and spar me, like they mean it.