There was a time when manliness was defined by muscle size. Charles Atlas ads appeared in comics for generations, promising bigger muscles, and the attendant ability to physically stand up to bullies.
Then Joe Weider put the whole effort on steroids, metaphorically and literally.
Mixed martial arts changed all that. This before character in a Charles Atlas ad, was beating anyone in the world in one on one combat.
Wanting to get a big biceps and chest may have started to wane by the early 1990s, and then in October of 1993, MMA began. Over time the popularity of the sport led to a new definition of manliness – the ability to actually fight.
Whereas bodybuilding once had one senior competitor for every ten athletes in the 20-34 category, those numbers have now reversed. There is no next generation of bodybuilders coming up.
Bodybuilding is actually a very tough sport, requiring great discipline. And the ability to move large amounts can be useful in a fight. But having big muscles, which was once thought to be synonymous with being able to defend yourself, can’t replace fighting ability.
Unfortunately for this guy in the black shorts, no one sent him the memo.
If you like fighting, then learn to fight. There are plenty of people in every decent gym everywhere that will be delighted to indulge your desire to fight. Fighting outside the gym is stupid. You should only punch your friends.
Never the less, these two guys set up a fair fight in a field.
Black shorts had some size on red shorts, but when push came to punch, his ability to fight reduced to a bizarre shuffling of the feet, like Benny Hill antically dashing across the screen, or maybe like a Penguin. It’s an object lesson in haplessness.
He shuffles his feet no matter what happens, forgets to fight in a fight, and ends up in bottom mount when he tries a takedown.
In sum, weight training is awesome. But it should supplement fight training, not try to replace it. If you are a powerlifting or bodybuilding contest, and you beat someone up, it doesn’t look good. And if you are in a fight, and you just look good, that doesn’t look good either.
