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Posted

This might be a little too obvious and predictable for fdr but i thought it was interesting, especially since the MMA fighter is still on the run. 

I think it would be interesting to research about both of their childhoods. 

 

 

http://www.tmz.com/2014/08/11/christy-mack-war-machine-photos-injuries-broken-bones-porn-star/

------------------------------------------------------

Personal life

Koppenhaver was born in Simi Valley, California. His German-American father was an officer for the Los Angeles Police Department and his Mexican mother worked as a nurse, but she later became a stay-at-home mom.[4] Due to his mother's drug addiction, Koppenhaver would often take care of his little brother and sister.[4] When he was thirteen, Koppenhaver unsuccessfully performed CPR on his father, only to witness him die during the process.[5]

In August 2000, Koppenhaver attended The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, for two years before being expelled for "poor behavior".[6] While attending, he majored in biology.[6] In an interview, Koppenhaver claimed that he had been earning high marks at The Citadel.[4]

Koppenhaver dated porn star Christy Mack.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Machine_(mixed_martial_artist)#Personal_life

Posted

This is absolute horror.

 

Maybe Stef should re-evaluate his appearances on Joe Rogan.

 

Of course UFC does not explicitly endorse Thug Culture...but...hm...

 

I feel all this "MMA helps you cope with your aggression" is wishful thinking and Joe is proud of a certain machismo & drug use attitude.

 

I know this is unrelated, but Stef should be careful who he endorses.

 

The MMA fighter was actually on the Joe Rogan show. 

I can't really listen to Joe Rogan anymore. 

  • Upvote 5
Posted

This makes the sport look terrible.I know some high level martial artists including a couple pro MMA fighters and they are all good/great people. Unfortunately the violence of the sport is going to draw some real d-bags like this dude. I still maintain team sports like hockey and football promote victimization more than than martial arts/MMA does.

  • Upvote 1
Posted

I think there are 'good' people in the MMA community (like Mac Danzig for example), but then again - why not simply drop the fighting and keep doing gymnastics / calisthenics / powerlifting?

 

Much safer, less risk, healthier...

 The thing is that most mma fighters come from some wretched backgrounds involving a lot of abuse, they turn to mma as a way of venting their frustration through physical combat. This also gives them the mentality of coming back into 'control' as they were dominated by abusers. (Imagine the high of being in a ring with tens of thousands of people roaring with applause as you beat another human being senseless, it is a drug). MMA however does not treat the underlying cause for their aggression, it only serves as an outlet. While none of this makes them 'not good' as it's voluntary, it is not helping them to recovery.

  • Upvote 1
Posted

Do you disagree with the claim I put forward or are you just curious?

A little from column a), a little from column b)

The MMA fighter was actually on the Joe Rogan show. 

I can't really listen to Joe Rogan anymore. 

Look in those eyes, dude is straight out of his mind.

Posted

I practiced fight training for a while, and I plan to do more in the future; but I value my brain too much to actually get involved in these blood-sports.  I study them for the sake of fitness, and self-defense is a great motivator-- If I've got to exercise, I may as well learn something that may be useful if I am ever in a dangerous situation.

 

I do know some people in MMA, or that play rugby, and they have encouraged me to get involved.  Fortunately, I just value my brain (and the rest of me) too much to do that.  If I ever say anything like that, I'm usually presented with some meaningless macho statement, usually implying that I'm just afraid to get hurt.  Then I usually take the course of saying, "why, yes, I am afraid of brain damage, or blowing my knees out, or having other chronic health problems into my old age.  Aren't you?"  It usually boils down to the mentality of male disposability.  Unfortunately, this mentality is well-received by most females-- these guys have hot, sexy girlfriends that are completely happy with their partners' choice of hobby.

 

There is an element of self-destruction inherent in most contact sports, especially MMA.

  • Upvote 3
Posted

A little from column a), a little from column b)

While not directly related to professional fighters, there was a study I found a few years back in my College's database which linked aggression levels in students in martial arts and their success at the sport. On average the students whom had more aggressive traits performed far better than the students who were less aggressive. While this does not go into their childhoods or spanking, we know that aggression is largely correlated with adverse childhood experiences.

 

In order to be a professional level fighter one must find success in physical combat, if success is linked to aggression, then most MMA fighters would have a background correlated with aggression.

 

In an earlier post you mentioned that you have some friends in the field of MMA that were good people, I don't disagree with this. However I am curious as to much you know about them on a personal level, did they talk to you about their childhoods? If you've watched the call-in-show on fdr you would know how many people who call in that have normalized their abusive childhoods and it takes quite a bit of digging for them to admit it.

  • Upvote 1
Posted

While not directly related to professional fighters, there was a study I found a few years back in my College's database which linked aggression levels in students in martial arts and their success at the sport. On average the students whom had more aggressive traits performed far better than the students who were less aggressive. While this does not go into their childhoods or spanking, we know that aggression is largely correlated with adverse childhood experiences.

How are they measuring aggression?  A martial arts competitor can be highly aggressive on the mats, but not aggressive whatsoever in the real world.If aggression is measured via number of street fights they've been in, or number of girlfriends beaten up, or number of people bullied, etc. then fine...

Posted

How are they measuring aggression?  A martial arts competitor can be highly aggressive on the mats, but not aggressive whatsoever in the real world.If aggression is measured via number of street fights they've been in, or number of girlfriends beaten up, or number of people bullied, etc. then fine...

 Unfortunately I no longer have access to the study so I can't go into the specifics. Though your primary disagreement as I've mentioned was that because your MMA friends are good people that it is incorrect for them to have abusive childhoods. Bad childhood does not equal bad person.

 

I've also mentioned that the sport is voluntary so I am not claiming 'bad sport' either.

Posted

I practiced fight training for a while, and I plan to do more in the future; but I value my brain too much to actually get involved in these blood-sports.  I study them for the sake of fitness, and self-defense is a great motivator-- If I've got to exercise, I may as well learn something that may be useful if I am ever in a dangerous situation.

 

I do know some people in MMA, or that play rugby, and they have encouraged me to get involved.  Fortunately, I just value my brain (and the rest of me) too much to do that.  If I ever say anything like that, I'm usually presented with some meaningless macho statement, usually implying that I'm just afraid to get hurt.  Then I usually take the course of saying, "why, yes, I am afraid of brain damage, or blowing my knees out, or having other chronic health problems into my old age.  Aren't you?"  It usually boils down to the mentality of male disposability.  Unfortunately, this mentality is well-received by most females-- these guys have hot, sexy girlfriends that are completely happy with their partners' choice of hobby.

 

There is an element of self-destruction inherent in most contact sports, especially MMA.

How's about we use our superior, preserved brains to create highly-fashionable sci-fi exoskeletons that render muscle power primitive and obsolete? 

 

Ha. But seriously though, it's a sign of great psychological health that you're not wringing your cranium through a forest of limbs to impress females who are probably as dumb as your punch-drunk colleagues. In my experience, you don't even need to know how to fight. Just be muscular enough to where nobody bothers messing with you. It's usually the smallest who get picked on, sad to say.

Posted

How's about we use our superior, preserved brains to create highly-fashionable sci-fi exoskeletons that render muscle power primitive and obsolete? 

 

Armor was tried, but only bullies could afford them so we invented guns.

 

Still, I think we all like the image of Ripley fighting bad-ass alien mommas in a loader.

Posted

In my experience, you don't even need to know how to fight. Just be muscular enough to where nobody bothers messing with you. It's usually the smallest who get picked on, sad to say.

 

Hasn't been my experience. I was always big for my age and I can say that if a dude thought I wouldn't fight sometimes he'd fuck with me just to say he was able to

Posted

Hasn't been my experience. I was always big for my age and I can say that if a dude thought I wouldn't fight sometimes he'd fuck with me just to say he was able to

What do you mean by "big"? 

Posted

 The thing is that most mma fighters come from some wretched backgrounds involving a lot of abuse, they turn to mma as a way of venting their frustration through physical combat. This also gives them the mentality of coming back into 'control' as they were dominated by abusers. (Imagine the high of being in a ring with tens of thousands of people roaring with applause as you beat another human being senseless, it is a drug). MMA however does not treat the underlying cause for their aggression, it only serves as an outlet. While none of this makes them 'not good' as it's voluntary, it is not helping them to recovery.

I not had a problem so much with the fighter - I have always had a problem with the audience wanting to see the S*** beat out of someone, blood on the floor and on the fighters.  They are the depraved and the ones I think have the problems

Posted

I can speak for myself, as one who has studied a couple forms of martial arts and as someone who is licensed to carry a firearm and does. None of those things, learning how to fight, getting acclimated to being hit, learning to fire a gun with the sounds of gun fire close around, none of those things has made me a more violent person. In fact, my fighting style is decidedly defensive in nature and focuses on using my opponents attacks against him and when I'm carrying a firearm I am exceedingly non-confrontational. In both cases my singular goal is to remove myself from the situation safely. Now, I approached all of this from a defensive standpoint and that there are people that simply enjoy beating the crap out of people. 

 

One of the problems I have with current psychology is the concept of working out your anger. If you're angry, hit something, it's not good to bottle it up - see, it feels good to release it. Anger is there for a reason and we should all learn to process it, but learning to derive pleasure from the release of anger can lead to someone becoming more angry and violent as they seek the release that comes following a bout of anger. This is all fine and good as long as you have your sparing partner close by or a punching bag, but what happens when it's your ex-girlfriend and you don't know how to safely process your anger. You just know that if you hit something it'll feel better. Of course a good deal of anger and frustration as well as a way to deal with it can be instilled as a child by a parent. An abusive father who uses violence can cause frustration and the learned response is to use violence. 

  • Upvote 1
Posted

I can speak for myself, as one who has studied a couple forms of martial arts and as someone who is licensed to carry a firearm and does. None of those things, learning how to fight, getting acclimated to being hit, learning to fire a gun with the sounds of gun fire close around, none of those things has made me a more violent person. 

 

 

 

I don't think most people make that case. I think what stef says is that if you are in a relatively safe environment and you practice fighting its most likely because of some past trauma. 

I don't think learning to defend yourself is bad if you are in a dangerous environment. 

Stef has more than 3 videos on this topic some callers made those points and stef responded. 

Posted

I know a guy who was an accomplished kickboxer / muay thai figher, having fought for the world champion title in his weight class division, and although he is now retired, he's defeated all 4 or 5 of the last world champions (though they weren't world champions at the time). He was also a kickboxing coach for about a year. He's one of the least aggressive persons I know.

 

It seems to me that a lot of people get more aggressive when they feel they've got something to prove. The typical example is the coward who beats children or women because they represent no threat to him, but he would quickly de-escalate if they thought their adversary was anything close to an even match.

 

Am I saying all professional fighters are non-aggressive? Of course not. But I think the arrow of causality is not what most people think. It's not that fighting makes you aggressive, it's that aggressive people flock towards the professional fighting world more often than their non-aggressive counterparts.

 

Having a porn-star for a girlfriend says a lot more about a guy than whether he is a professional wrestler. And about her. If the title was just "porn-star beaten by her boyfriend", would we be surprised at all?

  • Upvote 1
  • Downvote 1
Posted

I know a guy who was an accomplished kickboxer / muay thai figher, having fought for the world champion title in his weight class division, and although he is now retired, he's defeated all 4 or 5 of the last world champions (though they weren't world champions at the time). He was also a kickboxing coach for about a year. He's one of the least aggressive persons I know.

 

 

Again people. 

 

If i may, I don't think that is anyones stance. 

Stef made a good point when he said no one has ever emailed or called me and said "Im a fighter and i had a peacefully childhood." 

 

That is the main point here, that if you are into fighting you might have some unprocessed childhood trauma.

I can't really make generalizations because there are always exceptions but that is what i think the main theory/point stef made. 

If you disagree, call stef up. You will be put into the front of the line. 

It would be interesting to hear your points on it, discussions on text can be hard to follow. 

  • Upvote 1
Posted

I remember a member of this board named Summerstone was talking about her in a video he made some time ago and if I remeber correctly he was sort of anticipating something wrong, I would lime to see him in this thread.  

Posted

Again people. 

 

If i may, I don't think that is anyones stance. 

Stef made a good point when he said no one has ever emailed or called me and said "Im a fighter and i had a peacefully childhood." 

 

That is the main point here, that if you are into fighting you might have some unprocessed childhood trauma.

 

That doesn't prove causation. Just about everybody has had a "non-peaceful childhood", so with that logic we could conclude that everything from painting to carpet cleaning to making a philosophy podcast is caused by unprocessed childhood trauma. But clearly that is not the case.

  • Downvote 1
Posted

That doesn't prove causation. Just about everybody has had a "non-peaceful childhood", so with that logic we could conclude that everything from painting to carpet cleaning to making a philosophy podcast is caused by unprocessed childhood trauma. But clearly that is not the case.

 

 

 

I know i can't prove causation, that is why i use the words "might" and "i think"  . 

 

Its all based on my belief that violence  stems from childhood trauma. 

 

If you watched all stefs videos on this subject and still disagree and have not called in. 

Im not going to pretend to have a conversation with you about this subject. Im done talking to you. 

Posted

I don't think most people make that case. I think what stef says is that if you are in a relatively safe environment and you practice fighting its most likely because of some past trauma. 

I don't think learning to defend yourself is bad if you are in a dangerous environment. 

Stef has more than 3 videos on this topic some callers made those points and stef responded. 

I began learning martial arts in Jr High. I grew up faster than most of my class and became a target for bullies trying to prove themselves. I studied Shotokan and Aikido. One of my strongest memories from then was the concept of blocks as strikes. There were a couple fights where I used an opponents forward momentum to throw them. Another time a bully actually threw a roundhouse kick at my face. I threw a block and made good contact with his shin. The fight was instantly over and he limped away, although he tried to hide it. Of course telling the "authorities", i.e. teachers and principals the result was not positive. The "authorities" did nothing and the bullies sought retribution. I later shifted to studying Tai-Chi. 

 

As for the firearms, I'm not convinced that when the "cheese" runs out the entitlement crowd will just peacefully accept that. But I agree, it's best to avoid dangerous areas. 

 

Back to my childhood days I have to wonder what kind of childhood those bullies had. 

Posted

What do you mean by "big"? 

hit 6' before I turned 13. Lanky as a kid. Filled out a tad when I was about 17.

 Of course telling the "authorities", i.e. teachers and principals the result was not positive. The "authorities" did nothing and the bullies sought retribution.

That never really changes.

 

Back to my childhood days I have to wonder what kind of childhood those bullies had. 

Some worse than your own, some better. Some bullies are narcissists or sociopaths who were never themselves abused. Some had things rough and it was just all they knew.

Posted

I began learning martial arts in Jr High. I grew up faster than most of my class and became a target for bullies trying to prove themselves. I studied Shotokan and Aikido. One of my strongest memories from then was the concept of blocks as strikes. There were a couple fights where I used an opponents forward momentum to throw them. Another time a bully actually threw a roundhouse kick at my face. I threw a block and made good contact with his shin. The fight was instantly over and he limped away, although he tried to hide it. Of course telling the "authorities", i.e. teachers and principals the result was not positive. The "authorities" did nothing and the bullies sought retribution. I later shifted to studying Tai-Chi. 

 

As for the firearms, I'm not convinced that when the "cheese" runs out the entitlement crowd will just peacefully accept that. But I agree, it's best to avoid dangerous areas. 

 

Back to my childhood days I have to wonder what kind of childhood those bullies had. 

 

 

I think its justified that you learned to that fighting style to intimidate the bullies. 

I also started working out when i was younger to intimidate bullies. 

Posted

I think its justified that you learned to that fighting style to intimidate the bullies. 

I also started working out when i was younger to intimidate bullies. 

I don't think so. My strongest desire was to be able to walk around school not being afraid of who might be around the corner. Now seeing the bullies back off and leave me alone felt great, I never did turn the tables and try and intimidate them. I simply became a more difficult target. 

  • Upvote 1
Posted

I don't think so. My strongest desire was to be able to walk around school not being afraid of who might be around the corner. Now seeing the bullies back off and leave me alone felt great, I never did turn the tables and try and intimidate them. I simply became a more difficult target. 

 

So if you could go back in time you would do differently ? 

 

I know the ideal is to have good parents that and good relationships. 

Posted

This is absolute horror.

 

Maybe Stef should re-evaluate his appearances on Joe Rogan.

 

Of course UFC does not explicitly endorse Thug Culture...but...hm...

 

I feel all this "MMA helps you cope with your aggression" is wishful thinking and Joe is proud of a certain machismo & drug use attitude.

 

I know this is unrelated, but Stef should be careful who he endorses.

 

Well thank you for being honest in saying that it's just how you feel. It's not wishful thinking for Joe as it has helped him cope with his aggression, but obviously it's not the case with The Machine.

 

Any medium of expression will always attract those who will abuse their heightened skill to further perpetuate their vices.

 

Self disciplined martial artists will channel their aggression through the practice, and keep the violence in voluntary bouts, while others like The Machine, and the guy who recently attacked Jon Jones at a weigh in press conference, can't get a hold of their aggresion at all.

 

I still think Stef's appearances on Joe's show are valuable as they've had some of the most interesting and enriching conversations, and don't think he should never do a show with him again unless Joe is actually okay with the actions of one of his past guests.

I practiced fight training for a while, and I plan to do more in the future; but I value my brain too much to actually get involved in these blood-sports.  I study them for the sake of fitness, and self-defense is a great motivator-- If I've got to exercise, I may as well learn something that may be useful if I am ever in a dangerous situation.

 

I do know some people in MMA, or that play rugby, and they have encouraged me to get involved.  Fortunately, I just value my brain (and the rest of me) too much to do that.  If I ever say anything like that, I'm usually presented with some meaningless macho statement, usually implying that I'm just afraid to get hurt.  Then I usually take the course of saying, "why, yes, I am afraid of brain damage, or blowing my knees out, or having other chronic health problems into my old age.  Aren't you?"  It usually boils down to the mentality of male disposability.  Unfortunately, this mentality is well-received by most females-- these guys have hot, sexy girlfriends that are completely happy with their partners' choice of hobby.

 

There is an element of self-destruction inherent in most contact sports, especially MMA.

 

Hmm then on the other hand you bring an interesting point. There is a vast difference between simply training for it and then actually choosing to get into a dangerous, albeit voluntary situation to put it to use when you don't really have to.

Posted

So if you could go back in time you would do differently ? 

 

I know the ideal is to have good parents that and good relationships. 

No, nothing major anyway. I might have started taking Tai-Chi sooner and may not have told the "authorities" about being bullied as that did nothing positive. As for my parents, they had problems, but this is one area where I think they got it right. The school wanted me to simply roll over and take the beating or I would be punished. My parents told me that if I ever had to defend myself they would stand with me and support me fully no matter what happened. As long as I didn't initiate the violence. I haven't been in any fights since getting out of school; that was a good 20 years ago. 

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