Martial Arts training.

[Silenka]

In TKD I was told that once you have a black belt you are considered to be a deadly weapon, lol. I felt they were not joking at the time. According to lolWikipedia though:

"According to popular belief, holding a black belt (or comparable rank) in a martial art requires one to register parts of one's body as deadly or dangerous weapons. While some dojos require black belts to buy registration cards, the government itself does not register black belts as deadly or dangerous weapons. However, holding a black belt will influence court decisions concerning self defense."

I think mine was one where you had to register upon getting your black belt.

[Blarg]

Oh man, the ego of some of those mcdojo blackbelts who think they are deadly weapons.

[Fhqwghads]

I miss your posts, why do you no longer post in the MMA thread?

I got burned out on watching it and then training all the time. I like combat martial arts a lot, but working out then coming home and watching hours of it got a little stale for me, not to mention all the time spent on message boards shooting the shit about it.

[Dimmauk]

In TKD I was told that once you have a black belt you are considered to be a deadly weapon, lol. I felt they were not joking at the time. According to lolWikipedia though:

"According to popular belief, holding a black belt (or comparable rank) in a martial art requires one to register parts of one's body as deadly or dangerous weapons. While some dojos require black belts to buy registration cards, the government itself does not register black belts as deadly or dangerous weapons. However, holding a black belt will influence court decisions concerning self defense."

I think mine was one where you had to register upon getting your black belt.

I've always felt if you were trained to fight, and knew how to defend yourself, then fighting most people would be like fighting a beginner. You can beat someone without beating their ass is really what I'm saying. I've known people with Blackbelts that would go out and look for fights, and it disgusted me, and I would let them know.

[Blarg]

did you let them know by going out and look to fight them

[Dimmauk]

They would talk about it, before and after.

[Woozie]

Even if not

No, you were right the first time. It is bull. Having martial arts training doesn't usually make you get into more trouble for a street fight. And you can't be charged with assault with a deadly weapon just because you have martial arts training. That's a myth.

Edit:

In TKD I was told that once you have a black belt you are considered to be a deadly weapon, lol. I felt they were not joking at the time.

They probably weren't joking. A lot of people actually believe this. But it's not true.

Edit 2:

From black belt magazine

Myths and Misconceptions Part 1 - Vol 44 No. 1

A Black Belt Must Register Himself as a Deadly Weapon

This is one of the oldest American martial arts legends, and there’s absolutely no basis for it. First, the U.S. government doesn’t regulate the martial arts, which means there’s no process to identify people practicing the fighting arts and no governmental method by which practitioners can be evaluated. Such a feat of regulation would cost millions, if not billions, of dollars and be a violation of civil rights. Actually, there’s not a country on earth where martial artists are required to register themselves as weapons, deadly or otherwise.

This myth has its roots in three different aspects of mid-20th-century history. In post-World War II Japan, the traditional arts were banned, and records were kept of experienced practitioners. It lasted only a few years and hasn’t been repeated. It never spread beyond the borders of Japan.

Another root is entrenched in the regulation of the activities of U.S. servicemen overseas. Occasionally, following World War II and even into the 1960s, military personnel who enrolled in martial arts programs were asked to register their participation, though not themselves. That was done to keep track of nonstandard combative training, to ensure that the servicemen were getting good instruction and to monitor those classes that were resulting in injuries to the men. Remember that when a person joins the military, he’s essentially the property of the U.S. government, and engaging in activities that needlessly result in injury is like damaging military equipment. If a school was causing a lot of injuries, the military wanted to know about it and, in some cases, shut it down.

The third root is planted in the soil of the rich and often outrageous history of professional pugilism. In the era of boxer Joe Louis, it was common to have police on hand during a press conference to “register” the boxer as a deadly weapon. It was just a publicity stunt and carried no more legal weight than receiving the key to the city, which, of course, doesn’t mean you can open any door in town and just walk inside.

In court cases involving violent confrontations, lawyers and judges may advise the jury to bear in mind a person’s martial arts, boxing or military training when evaluating the facts of the case, as in the Matter of the Welfare of DSF, 416 N.W.2d 772 (Minn. App. 1988), where the Minnesota Court of Appeals concluded that the defendant, who had “substantial experience in karate,” was aware enough of the potential of his blows to deliberately break the plaintiff’s jaw. But that is a lot different from legally stating that the person in question is a registered and/or licensed deadly weapon.

What’s truly disturbing, however, is that some martial artists carry “registration cards” they’ve received from their instructors. Those instructors charge them a hefty fee to be registered, and the students believe what they’ve been told—that they’re now listed as deadly weapons.

http://www.blackbeltmag.com/archives/452

[Silenka]

Interesting. Good to see that myth dispelled, although it was kind of cool to think that a black belt could be a deadly weapon On the other hand, it was kind of stupid too...

[quannum]

I wanna get into a class that can make me tougher and stronger and most importantly, have fun with it.

regular ol' wrestling will provide you with good fundamentals. after that do whatever sounds fun to you .. bjj, mt, boxing, etc

[Rhyis.]

"A black belt only covers two inches of your ass, you have to cover the rest."

[Max™]

Interesting. Good to see that myth dispelled, although it was kind of cool to think that a black belt could be a deadly weapon On the other hand, it was kind of stupid too...

Like I said, it isn't easy, or likely to do it without a really deliberate effort, but you can beat someone to death if you really try. Generally most people are too squeamish to actually sit there and pound someones head in after they're already knocked out, thankfully.

My point is more for things like a guy who is used to sparring against people who respond in certain ways, and then winds up going for an attack which he was aiming for say, the jaw or chest, and the other guy moves the wrong way, taking a fist to the windpipe, or the bundle of nerves under the armpit, or where your shoulder muscle and pectoral meet, which is probably a more severe level of force than you meant to use. Nevermind shit like getting an untrained opponent into a submission hold and having them struggle instead of giving up, dislocating a joint, tearing muscles, shit like that.

It's fun to roughhouse with people you know can take a hit, and without the intent to really hurt them... but man, it sucks when you accidentally end up fucking someones shit up. I remember one time with one of my best friends, I was showing off and doing a feint of a flying knee that I was going to cancel by pushing him back with my hands on his chest before I connected, and he charged in as I went up, so I wound up catching him full force in the chest with my knee. I kinda vaulted over him as he went down, but by then he was laying there gasping for air and holding his chest where I hit him with this look like "wtf was that?"... that sucked.

[Fhqwghads]

It's even easier to get yourself in trouble if you're moderately proficient in a striking art. The people we spar with or fight against in gyms know how to deflect or avoid strikes, and even if you "accidentally" land one full-force they're used to being hit. On top of that they're wearing mouth guards, which reduces the likelihood of being knocked out since it helps keep the jaw from moving as much when struck (as long as the person isn't breathing hard with their mouth open.) People also usually train in a ring or on mats.

Against an untrained opponent with no mouth guards on, and no gloves either, and more than likely on a hard surface (sidewalk, asphalt parking lot, etc.) the risk for serious injury or death is exponentially higher. The person a trained fighter hits has more than likely never been struck by someone who knows how to throw a proper strike (whether it's a punch, knee, kick, elbow, etc.) The difference between two retards windmilling each other and arm punching and a trained striker landing solid accurate shots is huge. The guy (or girl) with training is a lot more prone to knocking someone the fuck out. Unless they're prepared to catch the person (highly unlikely) that person is going to fall to the ground and slam their head with a huge amount of force on the ground. There have been plenty of instances of people suffering massive concussions and even dying after sustaining trauma to the head, not from the punch, but from being KTFO and hitting their head on the concrete.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/nat...-1226001015321
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content...Q.html?sid=101
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/loc..._bar_1_2370493
http://www.wlwt.com/r/14992090/detail.html

There's pages and pages of this. The scary thing is I'll bet all of these guys have never even trained for any striking. So imagine the results of someone who does know how to strike...

Bottom line is: a person doesn't have to earn a black belt, be Ernesto Hoost or Mike Tyson to find themselves in deep shit if they fight someone on the street.

[Slott]

It's true, and it's actually kind of scary to think of the force you are capable of inflicting after training for a while. Even against my brother (9 years older than me...been training for a few years at a different location) or sparring against lower belts...just blocking their punch sometimes gives them black and blues or soreness after, and that's without really trying. The amount of conditioning you put your body through to accomplish higher belts is such a slow and gradual change, that by the time you're at a higher level, it's sort of awkward when you realize what you're capable of, versus what you were capable of when starting. Not only are you more proficient at hitting, but you also know where to hit and how to make it count. There's also a huge difference in styles when it comes to a style used primarily for sport/tournaments, and one where you learn to KO someone, and not fuck around with bullshit hits.

[Woozie]

In addition to what Fhqwghads, Slott, and a few others said, there are other subtleties involved when it comes to street fighting that a person may not be aware of. For example, if you kick someone with shoes on (especially in the head), you can potentially be charged with assault with a deadly weapon (I know of this happening at least a few times). There are also strange laws regarding how much you're allowed to defend yourself if attacked (which is stupid because in the moment you're not going to be able to use "just the right amount of force". Not to mention self defense laws vary from state to state). These things and other things can easily turn a fistfight into a felony and jail time and monetary judgments from lawsuits if you're not lucky and careful.

[Silenka]

Like I said, it isn't easy, or likely to do it without a really deliberate effort, but you can beat someone to death if you really try. Generally most people are too squeamish to actually sit there and pound someones head in after they're already knocked out, thankfully.

Yeah but you don't actually need to keep hitting them til they go down or beating them to a pulp. All you need to do is give a person a strong hit in certain places (solar plexus, throat area, spine, temple) and they will be down and depending on the hit possibly dead. One time our HS psych teacher (he was a Vietnam green beret) taught us how to kill someone using only our thumb... lol... So as long as you are trained in the areas that will kill people if hit a certain way, which I could see many schools teaching, then it's not very hard.

[Slott]

It's pretty fucked what people can do with enough training. I remember one of the highest instructors in our program gave me a poke with his index finger to my chest...nothing happened...10 seconds later my insides are spazzing the fuck out.

[Dimmauk]

It's true, and it's actually kind of scary to think of the force you are capable of inflicting after training for a while. Even against my brother (9 years older than me...been training for a few years at a different location) or sparring against lower belts...just blocking their punch sometimes gives them black and blues or soreness after, and that's without really trying. The amount of conditioning you put your body through to accomplish higher belts is such a slow and gradual change, that by the time you're at a higher level, it's sort of awkward when you realize what you're capable of, versus what you were capable of when starting. Not only are you more proficient at hitting, but you also know where to hit and how to make it count. There's also a huge difference in styles when it comes to a style used primarily for sport/tournaments, and one where you learn to KO someone, and not fuck around with bullshit hits.

We used to do conditioning training, which was basically blocking with blocks. Its something that they do in White Crane, I guess cause there are no blocks in White Crane? Your forearms and shins would be destroyed afterwards. It was almost like a Kata that you did at someone. We also didnt use pads, and wore shoes. My Sifu felt that if you got into a fight, you would take your shoes off first.

Afterwards, he would give us Dit Da Jow and a Beer.

[Slott]

Ya - we always do/did conditioning without any pads, that's why my arms are built up so much. My legs on the other hand still prove to be a problem for me, but meh...all comes in time. As long as I'm having fun, staying in shape and progressing, I'm all for it.