What are the most common martial arts myths?

One I keep hearing is that people think black belts have to get their hands registered as lethal weapons!





Have you come across any other misconceptions concerning the martial arts?|||My favorites:





- All black belts are ninjas... almost sad to say, but I%26#039;ve heard it





- Ability to catch a bullet... thank movies for that one





- %26quot;Black belt%26quot; means best... many people don%26#039;t recognize that a black belt is not the universal symbol for mastery in all martial arts





- All martial artists are mystical and peaceful... I know many that just aren%26#039;t





- You can crack a man%26#039;s skull by hitting him in the temple... a friend of mine told me this, and I realized he actually believed it. In theory it%26#039;s possibly, but not practical





- The Death Touch, or Poison Finger... killing a man with a touch, even if you focus your chi, is highly unlikely. Go ahead and try, I doubt you%26#039;ll get anything





- Tearing a man%26#039;s heart/throat out with your hand... this one%26#039;s possible, but not without years and years of turning your hands into virtual spears, and losing manual dexterity in the process





- Neck breaking with your hands... another one that can happen, but doesn%26#039;t often. It requires an element of suprise, and training, and all kinds of other variables that don%26#039;t come together often.|||1) There is the myth or mis-understanding that you must warn someone before using your skills to defend yourself.





2) That you must break a brick with your hand to become a black belt.





3) That having a black belt means that you are able to defend yourself.





4) That you become a Sensei because you teach or hold a certain rank.





5) That being 4th degree black blet makes you a master.





6) That the head of a style/Ryu is always 10th degree.





I could go on and on but these are a few not already posted.|||* The death touch/ no touch kill is definately the most common myth even in this day and age. There are places you can strike, like the throat breaking the wind pipe, that can kill someone in one strike but alot of the other places people say they can hit someone, and not hit someone at all are balony|||one major misconception is that ground fighting is practical in real world.


it is not practical because if someone were to grab you (i.e. grappling as found in jui jitsu/wrestling), you could easily respond with a hit to their throat, groin, back of neck, eyes.. whereas in a ring no such defense moves are allowed..


in real life it is about defending yourself against someone trying to hurt you, not points for a sport.|||Yes I heard that one from a British Army instructor! The one punch kill is popular too, or how about the ... well wait and see what others have to offer before I add some more. Look forward to reading more


That punching someone sounds like it does in the films - yet I m glad they don%26#039;t copy that sound cause its duisgusting!|||I have heard so many it%26#039;s unbelievable.


One of my favorites is the no touch knockouts.


Another funny one was that to become a black belt you had to kill someone. I don%26#039;t know where people come up with this stuff, but it is entertaining.|||not much i can add,theres to many to list anyway.i would agree with the answerer who said bjj is a good self defence style though that definately is a myth,only a fool would go to the ground in a real situation.|||that doing martial arts means you can do anything or that you are supreme in street fights and lastly it makes you safe on streets, all basic myths, all false, and all dangerous|||I%26#039;ve heard that you have to warn your assailant three times before you can fight them. Not too practical in my book.|||I would say one common myth is the one touch death myth|||pugpaws2.. pretty much sums it up for me and also the classic no touch knockout and ninja death touch lol