Summary
One of the most common reasons people get into martial arts is because they watched UFC 1, in which a skinny Brazilian guy in pajamas dominated people much bigger, taller, and stronger than him.
What an inspiration!
Another is because they watched a movie where the little guy kicked the bigger guy’s ass. Bottom line is that we love watching the underdogs beat the giants.
Royce Gracie (the aforementioned “skinny guy”) did it through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and, more specifically, grappling, which allows you to more easily shut down and overpower a bigger man.
Analysis
One of the interesting questions I have posed to myself is how can anyone, any shape, size, and strength, pick up someone that is much larger than them. There is an obvious disadvantage when you have one small and one large person standing next to each other, but how would the smaller person ever pick up the larger person if they were injured or knocked out unconscious? Mixed Martial arts was one of the first things I thought of when thinking of size disadvantages, specifically in this case, Muay Thai. Nowadays our soldiers and medics come in many shapes and sizes and how strong they are shouldn’t have a negative impact on how they do their job. Someone can be extremely skilled medically, but if they aren’t strong enough to pick up or move someone bigger than them is it fair to discriminate against them? Martial arts is known for only being used to defend themselves and some center around defending and moving someone bigger than you. Are there ways we can take advantage of these arts to move people of any shape and size no matter the size of the rescuer?
