Comments by "iorekby" (@iorekby) on "Firas Zahabi: Some People Don’t Know the Reality of Violence" video.

Exactly. There have been literally stories about karate or BJJ or other TMA instructors who have gone to jail for killing their wives or kids etc.... these aren't good people. Martial arts doesn't make you a saint. If anything, if you have certain negative personality traits, becoming better at inflicting pain on other people, having people defer to you in a way that TMA encourages etc... can actually make some people far, far worse.
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I've also never seen a fight break out at a yoga class. Or in a powerlifting gym. I mean, what does that really prove Joe?
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So, basically the other guy in the car was in potentially a near death or serious accident, his fight or flight had obviously kicked in as he was panicked, and rather than taking a moment to show some understanding, Zahabi jumped out of the car and threatened the guy. And before people suggest he was "defending his honour" or some other BS, the other guy was still in his car and obviously, regardless of what he'd said, hadn't made any physical motions to indicate he was about to be violent. There was no need to threaten a fight. I hope Mr Zahabi takes some time to think a bit more about that story because it doesn't show him out to be the hero or bastion of righteousness he seems to think it does. Quite the opposite.
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Martial arts classes wouldn't exist without insecure people. Some of us were insecure when we were kids and first attended class. A lot of other people have been training for decades and running classes and are still obviously deeply insecure. Conversely, some of the most truly secure people I've ever met have never been near a martial arts class. Joe is romanticising martial arts quite a bit.
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@cleanlee193 I missed this first time around. I have a brown belt in Judo, a purple belt in BJJ and boxed as a teenager. I also did MMA for a substantial amount of time. I''ve tried just about every TMA out there at least for a few classes growing up, and I trained in total for over 16 years. I''m not even sure what you're suggesting here: That martial arts classes are filled with righteous people who are paragons of virtue? Explain this then: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2178847/Catherine-Wynters-killer-Tony-Bushby-jailed-25-years-guilty-stabbing-student.html https://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/15774/karate-instructor-blames-headaches-for-wife-and-niece-murders https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/the-cult-of-lloyd-irvin-6394125 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5526269/Black-belt-martial-arts-instructor-broke-students-jaw-jailed.html https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/martial-arts-instructor-choked-schoolboys-14697126 I could go on. There's literally 100s of stories about terrible things martial arts teachers have done to their students and to other innocent people. Martial arts don't automatically make people "better". That's marketing to get people in the door and take their money. Martial arts classes aren't some sort of Power Ranger factory. The fact is a wide variety of people do martial arts. Some of them are great, some of them are awful. Martial arts doesn't "fix" everyone. It sometimes makes people far worse.
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@millachipmunk Why though? This is a problem I have with martial arts. There's a narrative in martial arts that martial artists are "the good guys", like some kind of self appointed power rangers who have this self-given morale authority to challenge people whose behaviour they don't like. Do you realise how delusional that is? I mean if it's a life of death situation we should all do something to help, but 99% of stories I've heard (or witnessed on 2 occasions) where "martial artists" got in to a confrontation it was almost entirely avoidable. Helios Gracie gained an insight and wisdom towards the end of his life and had a great saying 99% of all conflict is caused by ego Not just one person's ego, but ego on all sides.
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Appreciate what was intended but it's a bit reductive to assume bullies have never been physically beaten before. In fact the 4 most common traits in studies around childhood bullies show bullies with the following common traits: 1) Immature social skills 2) Lack of compassion and empathy 3) Poor impulse control 4) Are exposed to higher levels of aggression. Particularly with No 4, a bully could've seen or experienced heighten levels of aggression in their formative years. It could be a bully was regularly attacked in their own home by a parent, for example. Beating someone instead of trying to understand why they do what they do is a really reductive approach that has not only no guarantee of not working, but making things worse. Anecdotally, I've seen bullies get their asses kicked. It never made them change for the better. It made them take it out on other people instead to an increased degree.
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BINGO!! This is exactly what I've said for a long time. It's like the line from The Departed Use their weapons? They signed up to use their weapons most of them Basically, martial arts classes are full of people (including teachers) who generally have massive insecurities or a predilection towards violence. They want a pretext to use violence in a socially acceptable way with getting in to the least amount of trouble possible. I used to work in a bar and on 2 occasions I've witnessed people "who trained Martial arts" get in to fights that were totally avoidable, but who came out the other side of it saying "I didn't have a choice". It's total BS. It's unresolved issues from being bullied on the playground for most "martial artists". They simply want to expunge them in an unhealthy way. Helios Gracie, towards the end of this life, had a great saying that most of these guys would be better listening to 99% of all confrontation is caused by ego
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Humble has lost all meaning in martial arts. Like when Joe says BJJ makes people humble... no it doesn't. It just eventually creates a different kind of ego in people.
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@muss2055 But a 250lb Powerlifter picking someone smaller/weaker up and slamming them on to concrete could also kill someone. Or getting angry with someone in the gym and trying to hit them with a 20kg plate. You don't need years of MA training to hurt someone or kill them. It's a myth that you need martial arts training to know how to hurt someone. I used to train MMA and there were plenty of competent fighters in my gym who knew how to fight and win matches, but not all of them hit particularly hard or were overly aggressive. They were just good at shutting people down and grinding out decisions. Someone can know how to fight but be too small to actually hurt someone. Some black belt 5'4" weighing 55kg isn't going to kill some 6'5" 120kg rugby player unless they have a gun. Like the other guy said, there's too much variability in fighting to categorically say that. And notice I was polite when I replied. Please do the same.
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@JB-sv2uc Not just boxing gyms tbf, I've seen a$$holes running BJJ schools, Karate schools etc... people who have been training for 10+ years. Martial arts didn't make them "a better person". Martial arts tend to attract people when they are vulnerable or insecure. For certain personality types, once they get some knowledge and control, it just makes them double down on their negative personality traits.
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@Angle1Of2Darkness It's nothing to do with understanding, it's beyond that. Empirically martial arts instructors can sometimes be bad people and do terrible things. I, unlike other people, choose not to romanticize, fetishize or mysticize martial arts. Doing martial arts does not necessarily make you good.
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@Angle1Of2Darkness NP
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