Muscle mass Or Marital arts?

[haxartus]

The Martial arts guy will outlast the opponent. Dodging attacks and falling properly is a big part of the skillset. The muscular guy is likely to not even keep a stable defensive position, which means that one mistake and it's over.

[Benitora]

As my teachers in Wing-Chun and Tae-Kwan-Do says:
"Strength means nothing if you are not using it right."

I have learned different techniques to take down opponents both larger and smaller than me, and the concept of those techniques are mostly to use the opponents strength against him or herself.

I am not particularly buff either, but I have been in a fight where I have had to take down someone much stronger than me.

[Calzaeth]

Depends on the martial art we're talking about. Some of them can be pretty frikking scary. A dude I met once mentioned that he was in the army, so I jokingly asked him how long it would take him to floor me. Before I knew what's what, I kissed the floor with my right arm at an awkward angle, and he calmly asked "Did you count the seconds?".

"No, I blinked."

THen we had a beer and laughed^^

Anyways, muscles are pretty damn worthless if you can't use them. Hell, 9/10 people actually believe that a punch is as simple as knotting your fist and extending the arm. So it really comes down to : The one with superior fighting experience AND skills. In most cases, it's the one with the buckleless belt.

[Deleted]

Somebody that knows how to fight will have the advantage.

Agreed not to brag or anything but i have had my fair share of fights over the years taken down guys who thought they where clever and twice the size of me with roid rage.As for martial arts i was a amateur champion boxer many years ago not really (martial arts) but it gave me an advantage i guess.Its not about size or what you know its about what your capable of in your head at the time.

[Julian Rayne]

Goes to show how much you actually know about martial arts

More than you obviously.

Sorry but youve actually been taught wrong then, or gone to one of these business first then karate schools in which case then yes, I would expect your style to be useless

Bull. There's a reason that most bouncers look more like Michael Clarke Duncan and less like Jackie Chan. Try getting into a fight with one of those guys using "martial arts" and see how fast you get your clock cleaned.

[Naevan]

Martial Artist takes this by full, IF the Martial Art he is learning is actually useful.
For example,taek won do is kids shit. No way of self defense,it sucks.
But,for example,muai thai or mma,or pankration(which is actually today's mma) beats the crap out of anybody . Armed with a knife or not.

Body builders are slow. They don't know predicting,they don't know how to properly give a punch,they don't know defense. YES,if they grab you they can deal some good damage to your body,but as a martial artist you'll either 1) Never let that happen and rape them as time goes 2) you'll grab them first and do a painful grab to their arm ^^

[Deleted]

martial arts easily win this.
reason is pretty simple. someone who only builds muscles, intends to do some powerful strike and maybe even harden his body. someone who properly knows martial arts knows how to evade and/or block such an attack, and counter attack in a way that doesn't care for a hardened body.

[Wildspirit]

from my personal experience I'd say that a Martial Artist (with at least 5 years experience) will always win against any bodybuilder / muscular mass adept.

I've been practicing Karate, Muay thai and Ju Jitsu for 16 years and I do have a little over weight around the waist and not as much big muscle than the bodybuilder but my body is conditioned for fighting. My movements are fluids and I can move fast and Hit very hard... even harder than a bodybuilder ... and it's not cause I'm a super human... I just know how to use the strength I have and control my chi to do maximal damage if needed.

Bodybuilders are just show off.

Oh and I did saw in my years of practicing, some little guys (mostly chinese or korean) who could overcome some heavy weighted guys with such ease that it was pathetic.

Personally, I don't like to fight if it's not on the ring but I remember having to protect my little brother against two big bad asses... It was quick and painful (cause I'm not gonna lie, I took some hard hits in the ribs) but at the end the difference between these to and me was that I could take some hard blows, they couldn't. Oh and also... I broke two arms, a nose and a jaw in a matters of seconds. And let me tell you that I didn't even think. I just went in, did my shit, and straight to the hospital to have my ribs examine.

I stopped training after this for a while cause I was ashamed of what I did. Remember that martial art is about control, and peace of mind. This time I lost control (but hey... that was my little bro for god sake !)

[PeonMyFace]

The thing many people falsely associate strength with, is power. Being able to squat/deadlift/powerclean/bench x weight does in no way shape or form make you more powerful in terms of hitting someone. For you fellow body builders, I was in the 1000 pound club in HS at the weight of around 200 pounds for my wrestling team so i have experience in bodybuilding as well as completely cutting my weight and getting into karate and boxing. I was told to lose the muscle mass so i could become more agile and gain endurance. Muscle is a good first line defense in a REAL fight, its intimidation. (Real fighting meaning street fight, no gloves and shit) But other than that in my experience, it means nothing. Yea so muscle heads may be able to take a beating but if you have done martial arts you'll be familiar with body hardening and that's going to physically toughen you up much more than a wall of muscle. Shit even having a fat belly would absorb a blow better then muscle. Look at big country for example.

[Grimbold21]

[QUOTE=JonTargaryen;15849049]More than you obviously.

As one that practices martial artists, i may disagree.

[Deleted]

Martial Artists learn to fight using basic anatomy. They know where to find all your weak spots. Your temples (side of your head, above your ears) for example. Try covering that with muscle mass. =P

[PeonMyFace]

Bouncers are only big to intimidate drunk people and to be able to throw out the big guys. have see those skinny bouncers are bars? those are the ones to stay away from, they are normally the ex military and martial artists.

More than you obviously.



Bull. There's a reason that most bouncers look more like Michael Clarke Duncan and less like Jackie Chan. Try getting into a fight with one of those guys using "martial arts" and see how fast you get your clock cleaned.

[Deleted]

Martial arts. One can hit you in the nuts before you blink, then it's just wearing you down while you're down already.

[Sughs]

Assuming someone that really knows martial arts and the other guy is only muscle. Martial arts always win. They are faster, smarter ( know what to do because they are used to fight / practice ) and as someone already said they know where to hit.

One day i was on a fight on my school when i was 15, 16 maybe. With guy that used to go to the gym with his older brother. He was not a beast but had some muscles. One day we fought and he did a lot of damage to me by giving me 2 punches when i was distracted. I stayed in the floor almost knocked out. He was kinda sited on me preparing to give me more punches but then i hit him with my knee in his stomach,got up, punched him in the throat and then roundhouse kicked him to the floor. He went on the ambulance to the hospital.

That was the only actual fight i got into. I guess my Karate was better than his muscles. I know, i know, it's not the best example, we were only 16, at 16 our muscles aren't very developed yet, even with gym, but yeah...

Now i am 19 and i really miss my martial arts training sessions 3 times a week. Thinking on going again but maybe to other type instead Karate. Maybe Muay Thai, Boxe or Kung Fu.

By the way, some people here underestimate Karate, Kung Fu and Taekwondo a lot, ok, they are less effective than let's say Muay Thai in actual fights but they hurt a lot too. Especially Kung Fu.

[Deleted]

Experienced Fighter >>>>>> Inexperienced Fighter

Strength >> Agility in most cases.

[Sughs]

Strength >> Agility in most cases.

Really? Why do you want strength against agility? Strength doesn't matter if the other guy can dodge everything. Both me and my father like martial arts and we sometimes train together. He is much stronger than me but i am more agile. I dodge everything and eventually find some way to hit him. And little by little i "hurt" him and i get the advantage. Of course if he hits me only once, he does a lot of damage but in the end even with my weaker punches and kicks as i hit him more and he almost doesn't hit me i always "win".

[Eazy]

Strength >> Agility in most cases.

You haven't read my post above.

[Deleted]

Waiit, I get the topic, it seems to be about someone has marital arts experience ( a married man) versus a bodybuilder. Hmm, well i'd have to go with the married man, his level of built up rage would make him rape the bodybuilder with the power of a thousand suns. Guns don't kill people. Marriages do.

^^ This!

OT:
Too many variables to keep into account:
what is the experience of the muscle-dude? Is it healthy-muscled or overly done? (too many muscles make you clumsy - I'm sure most body builders will account for that)
Also: "Martial arts" is too generic.
Even within martial arts, there is much dispute. As far as I've came to understand: grappling-kinds generally win over the punch-and-kick types.
Equally skilled martial artists of different disciplines will win or loose, based on the rules their discipline adheres to.

Example: kick a wrestler or someone that practices simple Judo... Your leg will be held, twisted and you'll be floored before you know it. 150kg of muscle or not.

Lastly: experience and state of mind make one win or lose. I've seen a doped up scrowny loser beat the shit out of a friend of mine (black belt in both Karate and Judo) in a bar brawl just because he was doped up. Read: "totally unpredictable, and in a state of mind that he was invincible, and couldn't care less about personal safety"


Either way: I'd say a mix of different disciplines is best: do some sports to keep a healthy body with some lean muscle, and practice martial arts that don't focus on a single aspect (ranged or closed combat)

Personally; Bluff, personality and bullshitting works good enough for me

/ww out

[belfpala]

Bouncers are only big to intimidate drunk people and to be able to throw out the big guys. have see those skinny bouncers are bars? those are the ones to stay away from, they are normally the ex military and martial artists.

That's true, in my experience. I pay a guy to bounce at my place on the weekends. He's a tall, solidly built guy, but not musclebound... probably 6'3" and 200 lbs. He's also an ex-Army Ranger. I've seen him do some absolutely insane shit, in terms of defending himself and restraining belligerent drunk people. Big muscle guy takes a swing at him, and is on the ground for probably 10 seconds before he even realizes he's not standing anymore.

I go to the gym with him a couple times a week. He's incredibly strong. Strength does not require bulk. And then about the time I'm completely spent on my workout... he's just about done with his warm ups.

[Deleted]

The poll should be strenght or martial arts. Bodybuilders aren't even super strong. All professional powerlifters are much smaller than professional bodybuilders yet they have a lot more strenght.
But on topic MA.