01 Jul 2015, 10:12 am
Not just taken them, but had to use them. I'm not just talking about martial arts, but self-defence as a broader category; for instance, Krav Maga is considered a self-defence technique but not martial arts per se. I've taken Krav Maga as well as Jiu-Jitsu (regular and Brazilian), and some Karate - I never went way up in the rank system, just at the lower end, to get some basics. (And I watched Youtube examples too.) But I must say I never had to use it. I'm close to 40 now, so statistically I'm less likely to enter confrontations as compared to say the volatile 18-25 age group when young men have a code of not taking any crap and showing they're macho etc etc...or the other end of the continuum where, sadly, once you're over 60 you risk becoming a victim because of the cowardice of thugs preying on the elderly.
I postulate four reasons why us Aspies wouldn't be as effective in applying martial arts in a spontaneous confrontation:
1) Well, the applied aspect, as stated in that intro sentence. While we may have more potent intellectual knowledge on the average than NTs, we simply don't have the same capacity for applied knowledge and muscle memory - or, the scale is quite skewed, we'd have to practice three times as much to get the same muscle memory response without becoming "deer-like".
2) We're simply not as bellicose as "the NT gene". After all, it was NTs who were behind the planning and carrying out of major wars throughout history, and the reason why, IMO, weaponry as a technological category seemed to accelerate faster than other categories of technology throughout history. It's about the innate programming of evolutionary psychology that largely seems to have bypassed people with Aspergers. The corollary of this is that we tend to have more affective empathy than cognitive empathy, which can be a detriment in a confrontation where our safety is at stake.
3) Our lack of coordination...enough said.
4) Lack of spontaneous processing - we would likely have a greater tendency to freeze instead of paying attention to subtle nonverbals such as the other person lowering a shoulder slightly or narrowing their eyes while "squaring up" - blame it on our slightly enlarged amygdala (which researchers said is about 10-15% larger than that of NTs, on average).
Add to that other compounding factors both during instruction i.e. mirroring difficulties and processing speed, and institutional bias, i.e. if we defend ourselves and it turns out badly for the aggressor, then we may be subject to more scrutiny - and punishment - because our mental condition would come out and authorities would prejudge. Not so for an NT.
Nevertheless, having taken these self-defence classes was a good boost to my self-esteem and fitness, and I could chat with NT friends and acquaintances about it, as a shared topic that we all got into - I was however guarded to tell people I'd just met because I didn't know what their intentions were at first 
And in case anyone was curious, no, I never had to or chose to use the self-defence skills I accumulated. But I'm OK with that; it's like First Aid, you hope that you never have to use it.
01 Jul 2015, 10:22 am
01 Jul 2015, 11:40 am
Not really martial arts, nothing artsy anyway.
Once I kicked a guy from behind in the knee, knew him slightly, he was a pimp and owner of nightclub and sportschool and came in with two of his sportschoolbullies, I felt they were armed, they were doing jobs for real estate developers, threatning my bf who was searching for his knife, a stupid coward with a knife he was 
So the fight reaction changed the situation completely. How I was trembling after that!
OliveOilMom
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01 Jul 2015, 7:45 pm
I once saw a black belt in Kung Fu try to use it in a fight with a regular guy who knew how to fight. The black belt got his ass handed to him.
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01 Jul 2015, 7:57 pm
02 Jul 2015, 11:13 am
02 Jul 2015, 11:16 am
02 Jul 2015, 5:04 pm
That is when you need a backup form of defense:
I think he was just unlucky, then. Probably wouldn't have happened with most people. Some guys just have innate aggression combined with natural athleticism, even if they've never set foot in a dojo before they can handle themselves and prevail. I've met two guys like this, they were actually short and not that built, and they said they successfully took on guys who were like over 200 lbs and over 6 foot tall. Who knows if they were just bullshitting though.
I for one couldn't tell tales like that with a straight face, and I'm medium height with a muscular build from years of working out. 02 Jul 2015, 5:09 pm
As an adult I've only been in a handful of fights, in large part because I rarely socialize (fighting requires being around at least one other person), I hate parties--where most drinking occurs (fights often involve alcohol), and the people I do generally enjoy spending my time around aren't very violent people themselves. I generally don't care enough about what other people do or think to want to fight them--I'm usually not the one to start a fight, but sometimes I'll really upset someone by saying something without meaning to or miss a social cue and a guy will get into a huff (or a girl, I have been attacked by a woman once--which sucks because all you can really do in that situation is try and hold them away from you).
I have been sucker punched before without seeing it coming, but in most cases people make a production out of getting ready to fight trying to psychologically cow the other fighter and also psych themselves up so the whole psychological delay thing is not usually an issue. It's really kind of ridiculous, but it can be a great opportunity to either walk away or get the first shot in before their ready (if I do have to fight I really fight, I do not believe in honorable combat, I stomp on feet, kick people in the crotch, scratch their eyes, kick them when they're down, choke them out, I've thrown people into walls and once off a balcony). I try to avoid fighting because I can (and have) really hurt people, and that is not something I like to do, but at the same time I believe in doing whatever I have to do to protect myself and when someone comes at me violently. I feel the best way to do that is to make sure they are not physically able to do so because they are either injured or unconscious, or after fighting for a while have realized this is more trouble than its worth. (And if the fight's going badly my way, I'm not too proud to run).
Geez, it's a wonder you're not in jail already!! You threw a guy off a balcony, I'm assuming that was only the second floor, then. Well, I believe in parts of your philosophy in any case, I recall the good phrase "the only fair fight is the one you lose!" - which is why Krav Maga is more practical for real world confrontations than Karate or Kung Fu where there's no pomp or grace or posturing or what have you. The only caveat is that if the antagonist's friends are around him and you fight him unfairly, then they might gang up on you, figuring that YOU broke "the code" so why should they abide by it.
Then you wake up in the hospital where you discover that life ain't like a Steven Seagal or Jason Statham movie, where you can take on seven aggressors at once and prevail.
nick007
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03 Jul 2015, 3:50 pm
03 Jul 2015, 4:37 pm
03 Jul 2015, 4:53 pm
03 Jul 2015, 5:29 pm
03 Jul 2015, 6:08 pm
OliveOilMom
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03 Jul 2015, 10:59 pm
That's curious, since belts as a ranking system is a japanese thing not found in traditional Kung Fu (although you will find some schools that adopt such a system, it's pretty much a marketing ploy) , and that aside, "Kung Fu" is an umbrella term for something like 500 styles with wildly varying effectiveness in combat. Wing Chun is extremely utilitarian and effective. I personally question the combat utility of, for instance, the no-hands cartwheel
but that too is a style of Kung Fu. What matter more, really, is the practitioner. In a tense situation, adrenaline will impair your ability to perform intricate moves, but if you stick to the basics and employ what's in your muscle-memory, you'll have a better chance if you're trained than if you're not.
Well whatever it might have "actually been", it was a school in Leeds that said they taught "Kung Fu" and they had belts and different degrees of belts. This guy was a black belt of some degree or other and I've seen him fight at their competitions they had at the Civic Center and he did good. He couldn't fight for s**t against a regular, pissed off redneck though. I think that if you are going to use that stuff for real you have to be very, very good and pretty advanced.
To the other poster who said in school he used karate against bullies, I did a similar thing to stop the bullying against me except I used a regular baseball bat. It worked just as well.
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I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
My forum is still there and everyone is welcome to come join as well. There is a private women only subforum there if anyone is interested. Also, there is no CAPTCHA.
The link to the forum is http://www.rightplanet.proboards.com
03 Jul 2015, 11:22 pm
