[cbloom]

[ QUOTE ]

The universal problem with all Oriental martial arts is that they heavily emphasize cultural BS which is not necessary when learning to fight. There is nothing wrong with this if you want to learn and enjoy as a hobby, but when it comes to fighting, I want to avoid the bowing, the uniforms, useless ancient weapons and instead get real.


[/ QUOTE ]

This is totally not true about Wing Tsun or a lot of other styles, so you are totally generalizing in an unrealistic way. It is true about some styles, but it's more just a matter of the school/teacher, so if you like that stuff or not you can choose the school that's right for you. A lot of MMA teachers will have you stand around a lot and watch them demonstrate, which is equally lame. Any school that doesn't have you sparring in realistic situations is a bad school in my book.


RichS got it totally right that the #1 attribute to have in a real fight is to get punched in the face and stay calm, keep your eyes open, keep thinking and continue. It's a lot like poker - the real winners are the ones that can take an awful "bad beat" and stay on their A game. If you close your eyes and turn away from your attacker, you're doomed. Experience with real contact sparring is the only thing that can get you used to that. Someone with experience in real fights is definitely going to have an edge over someone who's just trained.