Poker as a martial art

The more I play and study, the more I see an interesting correlation. I started to see poker as a martial art.

Let me explain.

In martial arts you start from the lowest levels, white belt, the idiot beginner who's spewing fists and legs all over the place, sometimes gets the hit, but a good fighter is executing him on the spot. You keep raising through the kyu ranks, the belts get more coloured, you reach the dan ranks, you are already good and you know it, but you keep learning, don't hit the ceiling, you know it's gonna take a lifetime. The discipline is shaping you as a man, makes you better and more balanced. A basic lesson in martial arts is to not get involved in conflicts blindly, to be flexible and to know when to attack and when to withdraw.

When you reach the utmost highs you get the white belt again, like the beginners, but this time in recognition of your purity of practice. And you're never allowed to think you know everything, When you do think so, you're lost. At this level you may play the fool, you may look soft and apathetic, because you know what you're doing and will strike when nobody's expecting.

In poker the kyu-dan ranks would be the stakes, probably 200NL online would be 1 dan. At high stakes we already talk about white-belt seniors, who may often look playing like ordinary fish, but think upon the game at fully another level. And if you, ordinary fish, come and try to play like them, because you've seen them doing so, you'll get burned like crazy.

And tournaments would be like movie fights, when the hero is battling 10-20 folks at once and somehow beats them all down

There's a lot to be said and I wait for your vision. I diiscovered in my little playing time that poker is ultimately a noble art, with all miseries you may encounter at times. There are fish at high stakes - and in martial arts they sometimes buy belts or run phantom federations. But the good ones are revealed in time.

Interesting. I think some martial arts like tai chi or even just meditation that would help you keep focused In poker and reduce tilt.

You should read Paul "GiantBuddha" Hoppe's book "Way of the Poker Warrior" .. sounds like it's right down your alley.



http://dustyschmidt.net/order_dusty_schmidt_books_now/

Sure is but the shipping increases the price a lot for us Romanians. It looks like a great book for sure.

It's available in eBook form as well.. no shipping needed.

I like yr analogy vasysm, I think you could also go a lot further/deeper with it... could be a book/article in there...

The lessons of poker can be applied in our lives. For sure.

That is an extremely interesting idea

I am a 3rd Dan in Tae kwon Do and have never
ever thought about the similarity between the
paths of poker and martial arts but when I read
your article straight away I could see how your
idea makes sense

I am an ordained Buddhist and there is an obvious
similarity between martial arts and Buddhism but
the more I think about it the paths of martial arts
and poker are so alike I cant beleive I didnt
see it before

Well done for a brilliant article

yea i think poker its the game of life

Hi and welcome to CardsChat.
It is actually 7 posts a day and 2 threads that you can start.
You should really read the ****ing gay rules and faq before spouting.
There are other forums you can join and get in much faster, along with 1200 ppl if that is what you are into.

I have been on the Buddhist path myself, and I still appreciate it, in spite of some issues I have with its ontology.

I'm a journalist, so maybe I will elaborate on the idea. It struck me on the fly, yesterday morning. It's really obvious if you have knowledge of how the two fields work, and would possibly make a good argument in the "poker vs. gambling" debate.

He's such a high caliber of poker player that he's desperate to play in freerolls. lol

lol nice, Pooffy.. very nice!

Phil Hellmuth Black Belt Poker lolz YouTube - Phil Hellmuth White belt 1

There is actually a site run by Neil Channing called blackbelt poker, not sure about the exact ins & outs but every so often there's some sort of grading where if you get through the belts you earn rewards and ultimately if you reach black there's a possibility of getting staked into some games.