In the United States, I've seen, trained and discussed with a lot of traditional martial artists (by "traditional", I refer to practitioners of kung fu, karate, aikido, hapkido, etc. as opposed to practitioners of contemporary BJJ and mixed martial arts).These traditional arts are great, both technically as (some of them) spiritually and morally. In general (provided they have been properly trained) practitioners of these arts are great people, peaceful and good.
But I've noted that among some practitioners (specially the younger ones) there is exist a certain kind of mindset which is extremely dangerous for themselves, namely, the belief that they're "invencible", or that they can win a fight with just one strike, or that their particular style of martial art enables them to defeat multiple opponents simultaneously.
Even though these traits can be seen in some practitioners of all countries (including Japan), I suspect that there is something in the culture of American people in the United States which makes them more prone to it.
The psychology of these (inmature) individuals seem to include the self-perception of being a very tough guy who is able to walk in a dark alley, kicking the ass of a bunch of attackers and fearing no man.
The following fighting scene of a movie by Steven Seagal illustrates this kind of "I'm a tough guy" self-perception:
Also, the following scene by the great Bruce Lee goes in the same direction:
In those videos, you can watch one man (Seagal or Lee) defeating several or multiple attackers in a painful and humilliating way.
Obviously, these are movies and, as such, these scenes are very impressive. But they're not for real. No experienced martial artist, self-defense expert or seasoned fighter will think that just one man (regardless of his style) can kick ass so easily against a bunch of determined, violent and hostile attackers.
However, the inmature martial artists to whom I'm referting to in this post (who are a minority among martial arts practitioners) seem to have a self-perception about their skills similar to the ones showed by Seagal and Lee above. And I think that movies have been instrumental in this wrong perception of what actual street combat is and how traditional martial arts can address it.
In general, real fights are not like that and no martial art will enable an unarmed defender to defeat and kick the butts of a whole bunch of determined attackers who are attacking simultaneously (except in very rare cases). It doesn't mean that no strategy for defending against multiple opponents exists (actually, there are several strategies).
The same applies against armed attackers. There are many methods to disarm an armed attacker (e.g. with a knife), but if the attacker is GOOD with his weapon, your chances of disarming him are very low.
In closed door matches in USA and Canada, I've seen some street brawlers (people experienced in street fighting) to defeat and even humilliate in hand-to-hand combat some of the inmature (and unexperienced in hand-to-hand combat) martial artists. They have learnt the lesson in a very painful way.
It is not surprising at all. The reason is that street brawlers are familiar with the reality of streetfighting, while some traditional martial artists, in their delusion of having deadly techniques and being invencible, almost never train them in the proper way and when reality of combat is unavoidable, they cannot defend themselves realistically, specially against a good opponent.
Traditional martial artists reading this should be aware that a more realistic approach to their training is needed if they pretend to have decent skills for unarmed self-defense or hand-to-hand combat.
Obviously, these are movies and, as such, these scenes are very impressive. But they're not for real. No experienced martial artist, self-defense expert or seasoned fighter will think that just one man (regardless of his style) can kick ass so easily against a bunch of determined, violent and hostile attackers.
However, the inmature martial artists to whom I'm referting to in this post (who are a minority among martial arts practitioners) seem to have a self-perception about their skills similar to the ones showed by Seagal and Lee above. And I think that movies have been instrumental in this wrong perception of what actual street combat is and how traditional martial arts can address it.
In general, real fights are not like that and no martial art will enable an unarmed defender to defeat and kick the butts of a whole bunch of determined attackers who are attacking simultaneously (except in very rare cases). It doesn't mean that no strategy for defending against multiple opponents exists (actually, there are several strategies).
The same applies against armed attackers. There are many methods to disarm an armed attacker (e.g. with a knife), but if the attacker is GOOD with his weapon, your chances of disarming him are very low.
In closed door matches in USA and Canada, I've seen some street brawlers (people experienced in street fighting) to defeat and even humilliate in hand-to-hand combat some of the inmature (and unexperienced in hand-to-hand combat) martial artists. They have learnt the lesson in a very painful way.
It is not surprising at all. The reason is that street brawlers are familiar with the reality of streetfighting, while some traditional martial artists, in their delusion of having deadly techniques and being invencible, almost never train them in the proper way and when reality of combat is unavoidable, they cannot defend themselves realistically, specially against a good opponent.
Traditional martial artists reading this should be aware that a more realistic approach to their training is needed if they pretend to have decent skills for unarmed self-defense or hand-to-hand combat.
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