What do you think is too blame for this?

Question

It seems there is a constant barrage of questions anymore about what style is most effective for street fighting, questions about fight clubs, how can I win this fight, etc. Even many answers reference street fighting when trying to recommend a style. I know that the people that actually train, be they traditional or MMA's know the difference between self defense and a street fight, and getting physical is a last resort, but what do you think is the main reason for all of the "street fighting" related questions?

Answer 1

Think about it. Imagine you know absolutely nothing about martial arts. Everyone wants the best they can get. That's why people ask what's the best martial art.

About street fighting, it may not be to do with wanting to fight people. They may perhaps live in a bad neighbourhood and want to know self defense. They probably mean self defense but just say streetfight because they don't think it makes much difference. We're well aware of this difference and point it out everyday but they don't.

Other cases it's just about teenagers under social pressure. The ones that back down are seen as weak and are perhaps afraid they might be bullied afterwards so want to fight instead. It's all understandable.

It's simply human nature to succumb to conformity and obedience, even if it goes against logic and morality. Look up Milgram experiment and Solomon Asch and you'll see what I mean.

Answer 2

schools out-

kiddies have a lot more time on thier hands in between nintendo and twinkies.

Answer 3

Well, it's summer - there are lots of teenagers and college age males out there with free time, testosterone and cable.  That equates to kids hanging out and watching Tapout or UFC Unleashed.  Then they brag to their friends about what they can do.  Then they get called out and need:

"Quick! Advice on winning a street fight in one hour!"

I'd bet the questions drop off some when school starts back, but there will still be some.  I know for sure that enrollment in MA schools is up nationwide, especially Muay Thai and BJJ.  

Just like anything, people have poor concepts of what it takes do anything well.  Youtube, stupid hollywood movies (Never Back Down)  and UFC broadcasts make it seem cool and easy for young guys to be good - just like street-racing 5 years ago, skateboarding 10 years ago, playing guitar 15 years ago, boxing 20 years ago...back to when man first made fire.  Remember what a badazz Kwai Chain Kane was?  Shaolin Monks and Kung Fu were cool once, too.  Today we have BJJ and Affliction T-Shirts.

Youth and inexperience makes people think watching a cooking show makes them a chef, watching Kimbo makes them a fighter, or watching Tony Hawk makes them a skateboarder...

The trend will settle out, and eventually MMA will be replaced by the next big thing- Swedish Made p***s Pumps have been replaced by Enzyte...but guys will always be guys.  

Answer 4

William P - I must say that I really enjoyed reading your answer. On top of that I would have to say that I agree with you as to the reasoning behind some of the issue.

I have seen it and my father had actually talked with me about it recently. We were reminiscing a little and he told me that he noticed a big change in my attitude as time went on. He said that once I hit high school I stopped smiling so much and became colder to the outside world. I'm still working on bringing back that "old light", but boy oh boy it aint easy in today's world.

This is a direct relation to the aggression I was exposed to my entire life. No matter where I went or what I did, there was always somebody to p.i.s.s in my cheerios and try to hurt me or somebody else who happened to be defenseless.

It is a very sad and disturbing trend in today's society where parent's no longer control their offspring; and the children gather in packs to harm others for sheer entertainment. This, in my opinion is where the parent's fail miserably and should be shot. Yes it's a harsh answer, but if not the cause then some innocent bystander. The cause of the inability to interact with society all starts in the home, and with the older individuals (parents, aunts, grandparents, parent's friends, older siblings), not matter what people say that's where it all begins. I grew up in an unfriendly society having seen and done things I'm not happy about, but I've survived and to become what I think is a positive contributor to society. This would be thanks to the heavy hand of my parents. Put somebody that lived in a nice rural suburb where they had no boundaries, and take a look at what they've done... Columbine, is a prime example, it all starts in the home.

EDIT-

Jamesf24 - I can see and do agree with your statement about mankind being no less violent or no more to a degree, and I would disagree with it all together. Kind of a paradoxical situation we have here.

Answer 5

An increasingly violent society.

A few weeks ago in Minnesota a man was stomped into a comma (not sure if he will live).  He was at an amusement park with his 12 year old daughter.  Answers won't let me swear so I'll use Jerk.  Jerk 1 (18 years old) starts putting his hands all over the 12 year old girl.  Dad (like any dad in the world) stops it.  Jerk 1 calls 7 thats right 7 other Jerks on his cell phone.  All 8 Jerks jump Dad knock him to the ground and stomp on his head (they crushed his occipital lobe "eye hole" ) while a crowd watched on.

So if I was just starting in the Martial Arts I might want to know about "street effectiveness"

Also some people are just dumb and "street" sounds cool

Answer 6

William P, I agree with your answer. I remember from high school, it was always the stupid kids who acted tough and tried to start fights. Now that I'm in university, there's a lot less of that. I think it's down to sheer ignorance when people get involved in street fights and "fight clubs", etc. Any intelligent person would think about the dangers of that (serious injury, breaking the law, and so on) and choose not to concern themselves with any of it. Uneducated people tend to bypass that kind of logical thought process and just jump into anything because "it's cool". They're just compensating for a lack of intelligence by acting tough.

Usually the people who ask questions like that are ignorant of what getting into a real fight would be like and think they're being "cool" by declaring their interest in street fighting to the world.  I disagree that it's youth that causes people to act that way - I know plenty of rational young people, and I like to think I'm one of them. We may have less experience than old folk, but that doesn't make us stupid.

Answer 7

It's a lack of education and knowledge that makes an idiot seek to be a bad a** Katana17 because they're making up for what they lack in "know-how".  It's always going to be the same story with Americans and their vain, shallow, self serving views.  I've sat in this nation all of my life and I've watched this same c**p over and over the old, "I'm  so bad it's a crime" routine from countless teen-agers and worse yet adults that never really got a decent education.  An educated man thinks more along the lines of, "What can I do to help?" as to where an unedcated idiot thinks more along the lines of, "What you want something?...... I'll kick your a** man!"  These same types usually end up beating their wives all the time just ask any cop.  They are insecure about what they lack in "knowledge" so they seek to be noticed as the "toughest" on the planet and there's way more of these types out there than you might think too man.  

It all boils down to lifestyle ...such as drugs and alcohol on one end of the spectrum and then there's the educated man who constantly craves "knowledge" and nothing but.  

It never hits a "stoner's" brain though that he's too stupid to know how to win a fight in the first place even though he seeks to fight all the time.  Sounds weird I know, but true none the less.

Good question ...easy answer.

One more thing: There was this dude at an MMA event that I knew from way back.  A "true bad a**" at least he always thought because noone cared to put him in check.  He goes to get into the cage at 40 years of age and I yelled, "Hey man let me sit in your corner dude!" he was like "ok man".  Sitting there watching him get totally dominated and destroyed broken ankle and all my first reaction when they dragged him out of the cage was, "Dude what were you thinking?" .... He says to me as he shrugs his shoulders of course, "I didn't think these dudes could keep up" My jaw dropped to the ground hearing that.  This dude was an old friend of mine from the 80's, but wasn't on my MMA team and he didn't even know that I had one until that fight.  The thought hit me that the man was always seen as a bad a** because of his hieght and weight on the streets, but some little fat dude done went and tore him a new a**hole which proves that it is "The Lack of Knowledge" that destroies God's people just like it says in the bible. Assumptions and misconceptions man every one in America has them.

Answer 8

I don't think society is more violent than it has been in the past.  Humans have always been violent.  In fact, I could argue that mankind is less violent than it was 100 years ago, or 400 years ago.  There is just more media outlets and news spreads faster than it ever has before.  Just 20 years ago, most parts of the US would never have heard about a street fight, or a 10 on 1 at an amusement park in Minnesota.  Don't get me wrong, we would have heard about something like Columbine, but it would have faded much faster than it did.

I think the answer for the barrage of questions is simply because so many people spend their time on the internet and are addicted to the internet so that they start forming theories in their mind, or they become interested in something, and they come on message boards, answer boards, etc. to either validate their opinion, or to learn more.

The other part is kids are out, playing, they have a confrontation, and agree to meet in one hour, or the next day, or the next week.

I know I personally had many "planned" fights from verbal confrontations when I was kid.  These fights usually don't happen because one or both of the people that were supposed to fight don't show up, then they blame their parents or whatever as to why they didnt show up to save face.  When I was a kid, we didnt have the internet, but if we did, I bet I would have been asking those types of questions just in case the fight really happened.  

James