Unless they're rubbish at it. Besides, martial arts don't always translate into real world fighting. It's like the old thing with the woman who's taken self defence classes.Jerseymilk wrote:Yes, Liam but even if one's a twat doing martial arts, they're a twat that can break your arm.
"Okay, I can stop you from hurting me. Attack me."
"Okay."
*punches her*
"Ow! You weren't suppossed to do that! Come up behind me and put your arm over my shoulder"
"Is that the official way to mug someone, then?"
Obviously that works better visually, but you get the idea.
It's like those guys that just read martial arts magazines and then practice their little "kung-pow" techniques in the basement and think they're now black belts. When it comes to self-defense, there are always a thousands ways you can do something against a particular attack. The key is to find the one you're comfortable with, can do quickly, easily, and effectively to get yourself out of danger. You're always modifying the way something will work for you. For myself, this is especially true for situations where I'm held down on the ground. I'm small at 5 feet and a lot of the standrad techniques don't work because I just don't have the size, therefore the leverage to perform them quickly and efficiently. So I have to come up with something different for me that works. My instructor, a really respectable and talented martial artist, teaches us to always decide whether it's best to use a "hard" or "soft" technique when it comes to self-defense. Meaning, if it's noon on a busy street and some woman grabs my wrist, I'll just twist out of it and get out of her reach- "soft" technique. If it's midnight in a dark, deserted alleyway, and some huge guy comes up behind and grabs me around the throat, then he's getting elbowed in the face and sidekicked in the ribs-"hard" tecnique, then I get out of there, because I'm not stupid enough to stick around for nothing. And Zacko, if you like the weapons thing so much, there's always something like Kendo or Escrima. 
