How exactly would you know what embarasses other people? As for ethnocentism in the martial arts, COME. ON. The MA world is about the most ethnocentric thing ever. Thai boxing, Okinawan Te, Boxe Francaise, PMA, CMA,…
More to the point : what do you care? It is not Bullshido. It is trained Alive, it is reality tested under nasty conditions. Maybe they can only make it work against the average inmate. SO WHAT? That’s all its designed to do. That’s all your typical corrections officer could ever ask for in a MA.
Let Jody have his jailhouse rocks and stop whining.
Go forth and multiply, but in the meantime, for those who are struggling to keep up, the clip you linked to features the controversial Lyte Burly, who, we were told a couple of pages back, backed down from and/or got beaten up by BSDer and all-around wrecking machine Jamel; and who also has bad blood with the FWAPE/BlockStar crew, who are the actual subjects of this thread and who are legit. representatives of the 52 Blocks.
You know, the ridiculously strong, righteous brothers in the OP YouTube clips? The ones who are using the 52 Blocks to steer kids away from gangs and drugs?
You don’t think I know that? I’ve been in every fiddto blocks thread on this forum. My point is, if BJ Penn decided to start representing Ballet, it doesn’t mean that it’s a great fighting art.
It’s a self-righteous ethnocentric concern for trying to create a familiarized cultured martial art. Black people in America have been doing this for centuries. I understand though, what with not having any idea what their background and cultural roots are. I can understand why they’d want to try to make their own culture up.
But that’s like wanting to ride a horse so you tell people about the unicorn you own.
Black Americans have a culture, it’s slavery and a bunch of really fucked up shit. Get over it, that’s the hand you’ve been given, accept it and move on. All of this bullshit goes against one of my mainstay principals which is merit. This bullshit is promoting doing things wrong.
So what if some dude who’s a good fighter is helping out with this whole stupid organization? He is a Muay Thai fighter who’s participating in a glorified clapping game, he’s not a 52 block artist. That’s just bullshit.
This is going to be awesome when I reveal to you my ethnic background… Hey someone sent me a PM. I’ll be back in a second. I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be about this thread.
The reason we give arts and cultures legitimacy because they have been tested through the hardships of time and tribulations.
We give arts like kali, silat, muay thai, kenjutsu, jjiujitsu, etc. legitimacy because they have been field tested through the years. Arts like kali and silat were used to kill people on the battlefield hundreds of years ago, and were probably used to kill someone today. They have been put through the ringer and proven to be effective and have garnered respect and legitimacy over the centuries. These days it’s impractical and impossible to create your own style because there’s no need for it in most of western society. Trying to battle test your art will get you thrown in jail because you’re an idiot.
The same goes for cultures. They’re preserved through the years and go through trials and come out alright for the most part. It’s dynamic, but ultimately there’s no such thing as a “new” culture. They’ve all been established already, and at this point unless you drop a pair of babie in the middle of nowhere on it’s own island and they spend generations creating their own culture that doesn’t borrow or simply build off of an already existing culture, you’re not doing anything but be pathetic.
Rashad Evans can say whatever he wants it doesn’t matter because he’s black and therefore bias and therefore not trustworthy. OHMYGOD DID I JUST SAY HE WAS BLACK? RACIST! No, actually I’m not. He’s black and this is a predominantly black spun “art”. I can’t trust his words, so they’re out. Someone with amazing skill who isn’t black who can peer test this with 100% scientific method and give me a socratic run down of why this should be legitimate, then yes, I’ll give it legitimacy.
But I already know it’ll fail all those things, so fuck it, I’ll just be a dick and make fun of it. It’s pathetic.
Oh and you people have to much white man’s guilt not wanting to say anything because they’re black is really pathetic. You’ll tear apart the chinaman’s art because it sucks, but when there’s a black equivalent, you’re all timid and shit. You fucking faggots.
Yes. Going into detail would require a a dissertation length reply. However, a few generalized points to consider in response to your “black Americans have no culture outside of being victims of slavery” position:
Syncretization of various aspects of African culture with European culture, especially with regards to religion and music.
Development of a unique culture throughout the late 19th Century after slavery building on this earlier syncretization.
The spread of this culture to urban centers outside of the South in the early and mid 20th century and furhter development and refinement and adaptation (epitomized by the Harlem Renaissance, the development of jazz, the blues and, of course, Rock ‘n Fuckin’ Roll)
The Civil Rights Movement, which transformed the entire approach to social reform in America.
The handsome black man who fucks your mom because your dad can’t get it up anymore after witnessing the fruits of his passion that are embodied in you.
W.E.B Dubois is studying 52 Blocks in Heaven right now just so he can bitch slap you from the other side of the grave.
Nope, I agree with you that most of what I’ve read and seen on video clips looks craptastic. However, I did see some guys training at my friend’s dojang and they actually looked pretty good, so I’m reserving judgement for now. I think your trying trying to characterize this as a desperate attempt to create some sort of culture out of a sucking vaccum is an inherently racist argument. I think a much better argument would be that they are trying to romanticize a very negative, albeit significant, portion of black male culture in America - i.e. prison culture. If at least one segment of the 52 community is trying to break with this romanticization and use their “system” (I’m still not convinced that there really is a system) in order to lead kids away from the negative influences in the inner city, then I am willing to cut them a bit of slack with regards to suckiness.
Ah, man, why’d you have to Duffshido this. I may dissagree with Cris, but at least he was offering a differing viewpoint that made this thread more intersting. It was in YMAS, after all. If it had been in Strikestan, I could see the logic in you actions.