IdleRich

IdleRich
As a really non-violent and cowardly person I feel very lucky to be in what must surely be one of the safest countries in Europe.
When I park the car I wait a minute with the lights off to see what urchins might crawl out from alleyways.
This kind of situation would be just too much for me these days. Was talking to a taxi driver from Brazil and he was saying how safe he felt in Portugal. Basically that was why he moved here, from a situation where in his neighbourhood he felt that he literally couldn't let his kids walk down the street to the complete other extreme.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Yeah it got popular when the Gracie family won a load of MMA tournaments using it. Grand Royal magazine did a big thing about them back in the '90s.
Yeah I think Dan told me about these guys actually.
Also, loads of people here are into that. More than once I've been back to someone's house after club and they're all coked up and they put on all these MMA videos on youtube and I just sort of smile and nod and say "Oh that was a really good kick he did then" - I don't know why I don't just tell them it's boring me to tears.
 
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luka

Well-known member
Being surrounded by coked up boys watching MMA sounds gross. @Corpsey fucking loves it though. But he says they should still allow the 'soccer kick' to the head of a grounded opponent which they outlawed in an over zealous fit of health and safety hysteria
 

luka

Well-known member
The Gracie's seem to be basically the nastiest meanest most charmless family on the planet from what I can tell. South American machismo gone completely feral.
 

version

Well-known member
We did a horrible exercise in a karate class I did where the adults got paired up with the kids and were told to pick us up and pin us to the wall and we had to do anything we could to get them to let go. Obviously none of it worked and I was terrified I was gonna kick the bloke in the face or something and he'd suddenly snap and kill me. Really frightening experience.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
But it's not just here obviously. When I was teaching in the east end there was this huge Arab guy used to work in the maths department with me and we sat by each other in the staff room and he was always watching these MMA videos and showing them to me and he was just really surprised that I didn't find it interesting. He was going "But you're not into it? Like really you're not into it?" - one day I came in and I wasn't there and I was like where is he and he'd been fired cos he took a swing at one of the senior staff in a meeting or something. I'm not saying that was anything to do with watching that (he seemed like a perfectly peaceful guy), it was just a weird end to his career that I mention cos I happen to be talking about him.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Being surrounded by coked up boys watching MMA sounds gross. @Corpsey fucking loves it though. But he says they should still allow the 'soccer kick' to the head of a grounded opponent which they outlawed in an over zealous fit of health and safety hysteria
It's exactly as you describe.
I'm just hoping it passes and someone puts on some disco.
 

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
I try to avoid MMA stuff, but I do find the Gracie thing kind of fascinating - like, in the 70s and 80s you've this whole culture of traditional martial arts where no-one actually fights for real much any more, but people are venerated as experts in unarmed combat because they've studied with this or that renowned master for however long and because they can demonstrate technically flawless technique in an ancient but legendarily effective style, and then suddenly these Brazilian arseholes just set up and say "alright, if you reckon your shit's good then come and get on a mat with one of us" and proceed to absolutely mince anyone who takes them up on it. The culture shock must have been insane.
 

DannyL

Wild Horses
I have a hilarious self published by a self defence teacher. He mentions how in the 70s everyone was into Bruce Lee - he knew a guy who superglued folds into the corners of eyes in an attempt to appear more oriental.
 

luka

Well-known member
I try to avoid MMA stuff, but I do find the Gracie thing kind of fascinating - like, in the 70s and 80s you've this whole culture of traditional martial arts where no-one actually fights for real much any more, but people are venerated as experts in unarmed combat because they've studied with this or that renowned master for however long and because they can demonstrate technically flawless technique in an ancient but legendarily effective style, and then suddenly these Brazilian arseholes just set up and say "alright, if you reckon your shit's good then come and get on a mat with one of us" and proceed to absolutely mince anyone who takes them up on it. The culture shock must have been insane.

I like this Japanese man who made a point of smashing the Gracie's faces in.

 
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