Fight or flight in retrospect.

[TyDrace]

Martial Arts: (noun) Various sports or skills, mainly of Japanese origin, that originated as forms of self-defense or attack, such as judo, karate, and kendo.

Correct, martial arts != fighting, but you train many of the same skills that are required to be a good fighter. You learn how to find openings in your opponents defense, you learn how to strike fast and hard, you learn how to defend against your opponents attack, you train your reflexes, etc. There's a reason that UFC and professional MMA fighters mostly all have black belts in various forms of martial arts, and it's because the skills they learned from those disciplines transfer to real fights. 

And when I know nothing about person A, and one of the few things I know about person B is that they are a black belt in a form of martial arts, the odds from the current information suggest B would have the advantage .

Like I said before, you learn how to fight against other martial arts users, who also use the same or similar techniques. It's nothing like on the street.

[Prpl_Mage]

you learn how to fight against other martial arts users, who also use the same or similar techniques. It's nothing like on the street.

This. Just like a fighting game, you know your opponents moves, but you're gonna lose the moment a new character joins the fray simply because you don't know what to expect.
When fighting the same style as your own you don't just know what the other person can do, you also know it yourself and have practised useful defense against it.

[TyDrace]

Well, but the martial arts guy will at least have more strenght and stamina than someone who never does any kind of exercise.

Who says they never exercise? The guy could've been a body builder, a construction worker, a baseballer, a kickboxer, jogs for fun, loves to kano. Just because you do martial arts doesn't mean your strength and stamina are better than the guy who doesn't.

[DragonBlaze]

How many "street" fights have you guys been in?

[TyDrace]

drunk hobo

unfair

Drunken Fist

How many "street" fights have you guys been in?

I've been in enough fights to know not to judge someone based on appearance in terms of fighting. Even when I was still one of the star players of my baseball team, known for my hard swings.

[Prpl_Mage]

How many "street" fights have you guys been in?

Only a few, nothing spectacular or life threatening in the end though. Most were over the moment people stepped in and pulled us away, The usual. Fights during drinking on the other hand  - don't end well as often. So avoid that kids.

[Archem]

How many "street" fights have you guys been in?

Quite a few.

[zuhane]

To be fair, the guy looked pretty out-of-shape and that's probably why I had to courage to call him what I called him.
Even if you don't always apply the skills, the fitness is there, and that fitness stopped me getting possibly beaten up.

There's lots of misconceptions about martial arts that I've learned about martial arts over the years. You have to always
remember that when you're drunk, your motor skills just aren't up to scratch. You need to be aware of your speed limits
that get capped. There's always the chance he'll have a weapon, I fall over, he has friends, etc. Fighting isn't some huge
movie fight scene - it's about whoever scores the first nasty hit. After that, you chain through with more moves until you
win.

Martial arts aren't useless by any means, and I feel confident in being able to win against someone with no martial arts/fitness training,
but they don't make you invincible. They just assist in situations and slightly bump up your chances of not losing every time
you practice them. A lot of the stuff we do isn't just flashy ****. We do lots of close up grabby bitey teary elbowy bone-breaky
stuff and practice being thrown around, do pain conditioning and really go for it. Most of our stuff isn't catered towards fighting
other martial artists, but is more catered to drunk people trying to tackle you, punch you, grab you, etc. It's all great, but there's
the nerve aspect that I think wouldn't go away until I'd been in a proper fight.

[ZeroKirbyX]

It happens a lot. I have a lot of friends who practice martial arts, some in pay dojos and some who straight up fight. One of em even practiced wing chun in China for like ten years and used to deal with the Chinese gangs in Hong Kong. I'd put my money on the guys who straight up fight in training to those who go to the dojos. I've seen it happen and guess who wins.

Story short, its normal. You've trained under very safe, contained situations. You've never had to train to incorporate all the feelings and emotions that run when your *** is really on the line.

Of course I could be wrong. Feel free to refute.

[GaryCXJk]

The best self-defense in a fight is to run away in the opposite direction, e.g. not towards your enemy. It's better to leave the foe unharmed than to be harmed, no matter how strong you are.

Also, if there is one thing more scarier that martial arts, it's marital arts.

[Archem]

Also, if there is one thing more scarier that martial arts, it's marital arts.

Well said.

[TyDrace]

I think we need to make Drace and Zuhane fight, and after we sees who wins, we will know which is better: martial arts or whatever Drace does.

Probably pull a gun and shoot his knee. Hmmm... I wonder who'd win.

[Obvious Sock Account]

[spoiler]SKYRIM.[/spoiler]

It was inevitable.  I just thought I'd be a dick and ruin your guys' fun.

[Archem]

Took a bullet to the knee? Damn you, memes.

[Dragonium]

I came back to Charas to post an arrow-to-the-knee joke in this thread.

Never mind, then.