Egregoros

@noids @ForbiddenDreamer @bajax @f0x Nobody tries to land there because the opponent's arms are in the way and if the arms aren't in the way for some reason, why the hell are you hitting the most padded part of the chest (pectorals are right there even in the absence of subcutaneous adipose tissue) instead of going for stomach/ribs/chin, the bits that are usually the *reason* people keep their arms in the way?

Even professional female boxers usually use have a sports bra with some minimal padding. Usually matters more that you can move your arms than that you have a guard.

There is an important exception to this rule: if you have a younger brother, they will always go for the purple nurple the second they start to lose. (Also nut-shots.)

@dsm @bajax @p @ForbiddenDreamer @noids roughly, there'd be no need for the ban of self defense if it were 100% useless; the bonds formed between fighters and their teachers is concern enough. tangentially, the history of Tai Chi and how it split into the useless wellness practice known today and the underground-- and frankly impressive when properly performed-- grappling sport. It only became meditation focused when China got scared of the word "master" under the guise of credentialism, IIRC.

@f0x @dsm @ForbiddenDreamer @bajax @noids China's got a weird relationship with this sort of thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxer_Rebellion .

I think the ones where people fight for money, right, those are a completely different thing from the formalized ones where there are no real stakes; a lot of what gets called "martial arts" are more like dance competitions. Boxing, Muay Thai, you can't afford to make anything look pretty at the expense of being effective, so nobody does the Bruce Lee stance, because it's designed to demonstrate abs on a poster.