I really like your books, and have read most of what you've written, and I've read and reread the Matadore series at least a dozen times. I like the martial arts aspects of the books and recently started training at a Pai Lum school. I'm taking a combination of Tai Chi and Kung Fu. I started reading and watching everything I could find on the martial arts and watched a series called "Fight Quest". The thing I saw was that when two people go into an organized fight it all looks very similar. It doesn't matter if it's boxing or Wushu. The training may look very different, but when fighters get in the ring they all fight about the same. There may be differences in the rules about what limbs you can use or what types of hold or throws, but everyone guards about the same, everyone throws the same punches and kicks, they end up in the same tangles, they use similar throws. They may train much differently, and have very different philosophies, but when the rubber hits the road fighting is fighting. It brought me back to your discussion of Simuto, and a limited number of ways to move efficiently.
It's not just that it's unbelievable that somebody could take a week's worth of lessons and then beat somebody fifteen years' deep in an art, using only those tools; it's that sparring in a ring is a particular kind of game, and the rules are similar world-wide. Almost as if sparring is a style unto itself.
Yeah, there are only so many ways to move, and there's that commonality. Moreso, I think, when the game has pretty much the same rules no matter where you go.
My daughter has the same hat, if it's the one that sings "Holly, Jolly Christmas." I think it's cool!
ReplyDeleteI really like your books, and have read most of what you've written, and I've read and reread the Matadore series at least a dozen times. I like the martial arts aspects of the books and recently started training at a Pai Lum school. I'm taking a combination of Tai Chi and Kung Fu. I started reading and watching everything I could find on the martial arts and watched a series called "Fight Quest". The thing I saw was that when two people go into an organized fight it all looks very similar. It doesn't matter if it's boxing or Wushu. The training may look very different, but when fighters get in the ring they all fight about the same. There may be differences in the rules about what limbs you can use or what types of hold or throws, but everyone guards about the same, everyone throws the same punches and kicks, they end up in the same tangles, they use similar throws. They may train much differently, and have very different philosophies, but when the rubber hits the road fighting is fighting. It brought me back to your discussion of Simuto, and a limited number of ways to move efficiently.
ReplyDeleteYep, I watched Fight Quest and Human Weapon, and I have to say, I wasn't convinced. My review, from a couple years back:
ReplyDeletehttp://themanwhonevermissed.blogspot.com/search?q=fight+quest
It's not just that it's unbelievable that somebody could take a week's worth of lessons and then beat somebody fifteen years' deep in an art, using only those tools; it's that sparring in a ring is a particular kind of game, and the rules are similar world-wide. Almost as if sparring is a style unto itself.
Yeah, there are only so many ways to move, and there's that commonality. Moreso, I think, when the game has pretty much the same rules no matter where you go.