I'm highly offended!

*Sigh* I dont wanna expend too much energy even thinking about this topic, but i thought that Joe Rogan was involved in "MIXED" martial arts? If its Mixed then that means theres a variety of styles of fighting involved right? Yeah thats what i thought. MMA is a sport, if someone tried doing that cage stuff on me, shooting for my legs on the street i'd drop a Baji elbow directly on the back of his head. It's The FIGHTER not the STYLE. Pure and simple. Good ol traditional Kung Fu and the type of training a person endures dictate the kind of fighter they will be..this stuff was developed to kill bandits, and use in war right?

It's surprising that Joe Rogan came out and said that, given that one of the current best fighters has a background in Shotokan Karate (Lyoto Machida), which is why he rarely gets hit in his fights and is able to out-maneuver his opponents. Hell, George St. Pierre has a background in Kyokushin karate, and Anderson Silva has trained in Capoeira and TKD, and they're both considered the pound for pound best in the UFC. And, Dan Hardy even trained with the Shaolin monks. Even another, Chuck Liddell has a background in Kenpo Karate. Many of the best fighters have a background or experience in a more traditional/esoteric art, often more than one. I think it's short sighted for Joe Rogan to straight up say that traditional arts are useless. For my two cents, I would say that traditional arts are quite limited without basic knowledge of more practical arts like BJJ, wrestling/sanda, and boxing. But when paired together with an esoteric art or two, the practice becomes really cohesive.

Now I will say this, and it's not meant to be a strike against TKD, but typically the TKD fighters haven't done as well in the ring as other fighters trained in other arts; at least that's what I've observed in the many years I've watched MMA. That might be because of TKD's training of around 90% kicks and only 10% punching ratio. Also, many people in America who have trained in "Kung Fu" haven't really trained in the in-depth art of Wushu, especially the internal side, which is where the real application for fighting comes in IMO. Also, there seems to be a flakiness to many practitioners of Wushu/Kung Fu in America it seems to me, with a tendency toward delusions of grandeur.

Also, Cung Le, perfect example. He was a Sanda fighter, and look how good he did in MMA without much prior experience. He also has a background in wushu I believe, and even trained in taijiquan if I'm not mistaken. It seems that some arts are better suited to fighting in the ring, whereas some--as you said Courtney--are designed to be used on the battlefield in a wide setting against multiple attackers. I think Sanda would translate extremely well into MMA, and would likely become as dominant as BJJ and wrestling if more Chinese started participating in the MMA events. Can you imagine a young fighter with great boxing, wrestling, and BJJ skills, paired with a deep understanding of internal? That would perhaps lead to another evolution in the sport of MMA.

I've had some tell me that I would be good in MMA, and that I'd really excel in the sport because of my internal knowledge and strength training, plus my basic understanding of BJJ, boxing, and even wrestling. However, that would require me to somewhat enjoy causing harm to another person, which really doesn't suit me. Plus, all the injuries that one would accrue over a career-span; even qigong wouldn't be enough to offset the pain later in life from a job like that. I like my health as it is, and would prefer to help someone rather than beat them up for money.