Haven't read the books, only seen a couple of the movies and I doubt I've even seen them in order. Have no idea who Cho Chang might be, etc.

But it's pretty rare to find an author/writer who can portray a character in a non-stereotypical believable manner when it's a nationality, culture, gender, etc different than theirs.

You'll notice a lot of American characters are based on the "cowboy" attitude when it's set elsewhere in the world. Doctor Who has a bit of this at times.

And male writers who do female characters in books, I often find they spend a lot of time thinking about the lead male character, love, hate, etc. If the lead is a "bad guy" the female is usually very subservient, and if the lead is a "nice guy" the female is "an equal" which they go to great lengths to make clear.

Female writers who do male character perspectives spend a lot of time either belittling the lead female character, being a potential love interest, or are "nice guys" who the female lead has no interest in but they obviously keep trying.

They main character tends to be a similar nationality and race as the author...or values similar to what would be standard for their upbringing. And they often pick hair colors they have.......and similar backgrounds to theirs if it's a more modern book. Lawyer, doctor, martial arts, military, areas they grew up in and or live in, etc.

I mean at this point, I find it funny that as soon as XYZ nationality or "age group" person dies in The Walking Dead they find a replacement usually before 2-3 episodes pass. Killed off annoying old dude who had two "daughter like figures", find a new annoying old dude who has two daughters...situation.

So.... given Rowling's popularity....she's probably doing a bit more than the common author/writers are to keep people interested...because the stuff I wrote above is like 75% of the authors. I'm sure a lot of Chinese writers aren't producing a lot of white guy main character books.....probably should make that black guy instead because they can get offended.

Well anyone with a clue should agree that there are higher and lower forms of martial arts.

Ch'i is NOT some fantastic mumbo-jumbo and anyone talking-shit about Wing Chun, Wushu, or Qigong has head-in-ass syndrome and has watched shitty Hong Kong action films and MMA-masturbatory matches to arrive at their conclusions, which are in fact, horseshit.

I can't really speak for Systema, and there are certainly some people in aikido who focus on mystic nonsense.

But the base underlying principles are sound. I've been taken apart by a 73 year old man literally half my size. I've also trained with other people in various jujutsus, and both of us have found something to learn from the other.

I don't really think it's self-deception. Maybe for some people, it is, but I'm under no illusion about how well I'd do against one of the UFC guys.

Besides, people seem to think that Aikido practitioners are somehow restricted to the demonstrated techniques. IMO, those are merely teaching aids, the "finger pointing at the stars", if you like

Ultimately, debating martial arts on the internet is even more pointless than debating with creationists. You really need to experience each art to understand it. If it isn't for you, that's fine; find something else that is.

It is true that MMA is not the be-all end-all of martial arts,and in fact "two persons of equivalent weight competing willingly on neutral ground" is quite far removed from "actual trouble" (key words: "two", "willingly").

That being said, two things:
1) There have been 'no-hold-barred' fights / underground duels recorded since at least the 1920s, some of them very violent and bone-splitting (famously: Kimura Vs Gracie), and 'soft' aikido-style systems never won anything.

2) More importantly, systema does claim a number of things, including being a martial art in the military sense, and being the product of an elite military force, to which it was reserved (i.e. it was secret). It also claims to have semi-mystical roots dating from the middle ages, and bonker stuff like 'paralyzing soft punch' and 'healing punch' (this is claimed by its actual founder - you can look it up). Of course none of those claims have been substantiated.

So systema is either:
- An elite martial art with Fist-Of-The-North-Star like powers, yet no one heard of it before or beside (not pre-USSR historians, not recognized Russian martial artists, and not actual Russian elite military officers), and was/is super-secret, yet can be somehow taught to anyone.

Or:
- Stuff made up by two guys out of the army.

You decide.

If your goal is "studying" and "bettering yourself", shouldn't that involve something that's honest with its claims?

I agree with Velocity5, it is, indeed, self-deception.

This video is self-deception, same as Aikido and every other martial arts scam.

Prove these techniques in an MMA match or GTFO.

Stop putting astrology nonsense out into the world.

Yep, Aikido is a lot like that too.

It's really easy to look at an Aikido demo or class and think that it's all choreographed and one person is just being compliant. Then you try it and realise that the "compliant" person is just trying to avoid having their joints smashed.

Try the same movement with a beginner and they'll get badly hurt, and it will look clumsy and inelegant.

That said, I don't even worry about it any more. Self defence is not the only reason to train in a martial art.

Systema interests me in the way they absorb power. I don't know enough about it to say if these guys are good or not, but their movements are certainly interesting.

I agree that saying things like "wow, that's pretty good for a girl" is the height of ignorance.

OTOH, size is never irrelevant. Sorry, but between two evenly skilled fighters, the bigger one wins. Why do you think they have weight classes in UFC?

While someone with good technique can absolutely defeat someone bigger/stronger than them, you're fooling yourself if you think it's irrelevant.

And for the record, I train with women in martial arts pretty much daily. I know plenty that are half my size, but with excellent technique. Gender doesn't and shouldn't matter on the mat.

They tied up and fell over together, it's not even like she shot a power double on him. If she had, being heavier only goes so far, especially when he has no idea how to defend. As for the RNC and the tap, size is irrelevant.

What we really have here is someone with some jiujitsu fundamentals submitting someone with no idea how to defend themselves.

I think it's awesome when women train in martial arts, but I also think it's ignorant to act surprised when they are good at it.

Interesting enough, but martial arts demos between unequal or non-combative practitioners of that art rarely give any indication of how useful it is.

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Based on the reviews out of Sundance, it sounds like there's actually quite a bit more plot this time. More than one person has compared it to a martial arts version of the Godfather.

The reviews are nuts, too. Pretty much everyone is falling over themselves to praise it. Some are calling it one of the best action movies of ALL TIME. Like I wasn't excited enough. I think I may have to investigate putting myself in a medically induced coma.

I agree with all of you, it's sad that there are so many gullible people out there. And there's little doubt that this guy knows it's not reliable, so he qualifies as a conman.

But I have run into claims of similar "no touch paralysis" techniques outside of martial arts, and I'm morally certain that not all of the practitioners are consciously scamming people. The first time I saw it, I went home and practiced it with friends...basically trying to reproduce the effect. And it worked on some of them. I could see someone who tried it on a small sample population convincing himself that it was a true ability, rather than just the power of suggestion that only works on susceptible individuals.

This is what I truly dislike about what martial arts have become. No more is it about self defense or mind/body balance, now it's just more macho bullshit.

"I'll fuck you up." Blech.

Some great athletic moves here, and good tricks overall, but as far as a usual martial arts, it is hard to tell if any of them could hit their mark. Their attack directions and locations seems to be completely random and %50 of the landings failed and the person simply improvised by rolling into another move. I would be far more impressed if they had set up targets.

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