Quote Originally Posted by dehro View Post
I disagree

wax on..
The way I see it, most variations of martial arts were borne out of people thinking "he's doing it wrong".. and that, in turn, is a thought that starts by the consideration that whatever it is that "he's doing wrong" doesn't include this or that, or should include this or that
.. and the "this or that" may be anything from singing the national anthem to bowing to the flag, from bowing to your opponent to taking a deck-chair to his face or praying the spirits for protection, from playing a berimbau to learning physiotherapy and anatomy or meditation techniques... in other words, radical rethinking of purpose, form, style, phylosophy etc etc.. and these can be grouped under an identical definition of martial arts only if you go as broad as "pretty much everything which can potentially put you in hospital"..which is very zen, maybe, but also rather silly.

.. wax off
See, that all makes some sense, hueristically, as to why there are so many martial arts.

But that has absolutely nothing to do with the definition of what a martial art is.

Quote Originally Posted by Worira View Post
Sure, and they're notoriously unreliable. Pain cannot guarantee compliance or victory in a fight without the ability to physically disable an attacker, whether by structural damage or control of their range of motion.
Aye, structural trauma is the way to go. Well, "way to go", as then you're responsible for causing structural trauma.

Quote Originally Posted by Frozen_Feet View Post
So true. They usually fail when the target is inebriated, and then we get these damn mutants with over-flexible joints or dull pain receptors. It's funny trying to practice pressure point techniques when you suddenly get a partner who doesn't have those points.

That said, I've found pressing your opponent's eyes or nose tends to work nearly always. It's also non-damaging - people instinctively pull their head back.

Note: pressing, not punching or stabbing. To keep the technique undamaging, the key is to press slowly - feels nasty, is 100% safe.
Bridge of the nose causes eyes to water, and between the bottom of the nose and top lip is a clustery spot that causes similar reaction. Plus covering the nose makes nose breathers panic XD

Eyes? Eyes are nasty.