Pavlina vs. Robbins

[sirkinm]

All this talk of polarization and such is boggling the mind, so I set forth on another question: Tony Robbins vs. Steve Pavlina. I'm not talking who has more effective personal development philosophies (that's a no brainer). I'm asking who would win in a no-holds barred fight to the death. I realize that the philosophies of both would probably exclude fighting in this fashion, but let's put aside that technicality. Note that any gains from the vegan diet are nullified -- both men have similar dietary habits.

With all that passion oozing out his ears, Tony would definitely mobilize the giant within...and without -- the man is large. I'm not sure how large, but I'm thinking at least 6'6", and that's after all that firewalking has burned off everything from the knee cap down. Not only that, but I once heard him say that he copied the body language of a black belt master, and by doing so he gained the same martial arts skills that took the black belt a lifetime to master (no joke). And if he gets those teeth on Pavlina...let's not even think about that...

However, consider:

• Highly polarized Pavlina has no fear of death.
• Steve's wife is psychic, and can draw on supernatural forces to influence the outcome.
• Steve's renown for his intelligence and ability to think on his feet -- this is the man that finished a college double major college in like two weeks. Remember when the dean told him he'd be crazy to take that many courses? He said "Stuff it, Dean!" and he proceeded to blow everyone away with his smarts.

Ultimately, I think Pavlina's quickness and agility might sway the fight in his favor. Remember: This is a former master gamer (or at least game developer), so you gotta figure the reflexes are top-notch. Tony is a former fat slob who slept in his bathtub. In the end, I think Pavlina has Robbins totally pwned. Anyone else want to weight in?

[Jerigan]

lol, thanks for that. I like you.

[annie]

I'm throwing my vote in with Steve also, although if Robbins gets only one hand around Steve's neck it's all over. (have you seen that guys hands....enormous I say!)

But the real question is....who would outlast the other in terms of talking? Put the two of them into a room and let them fight to the death with WORDS? Who would win that one?

[Steve Pavlina]

LOL.

I met Tony on stage once during one of his seminars. He is very tall, 6'7" I think. I'm 6'0". His hands are enormous.

Tony is supposedly a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, but my old TKD instructor (a 4th degree black belt) told me he doesn't give that much credibility, since it's easy enough to buy your way to black belt if you so choose. Tony claims to have trained in TKD for 8 months. I trained in TKD about 3 years. If I earned my black belt in 8 months, I'm certain I wouldn't be much of a black belt... unless maybe I was training every single day for hours at a time. I seriously doubt Tony has the skill level comparable to most black belts in TKD.

I have a red belt in TKD (one rank below black). I'm currently training in Shaolin Kempo, which is a Chinese martial art, taking both group classes and private lessons. I'm only a purple belt in kempo so far (3 ranks above white). Unlike TKD which is mainly a sport, kempo focuses on techniques that could be used in real street fighting. In TKD it's illegal to punch to the head, so that's not too realistic. I'm learning to stop relying so much on my kicks and integrate more hand techniques and strikes. I'm good at kicking to the head, but Tony's head would be pretty hard to reach.

Kempo is a bit more violent than TKD, since we try to make the fighting more realistic. A couple weeks ago, I got caught in the face with an errant backfist during some knife-fighting drills. It split my lower lip with a 1/2" gash. It's all healed now, although the lip is still a bit lumpy.

I'm not sure who'd win in a fight between me and Tony. I probably have more martial arts experience (unless he's done more training than I'm aware of), but he definitely has a significant size and reach advantage. I don't have much experience fighting people who are taller than me. Usually I'm the one with the height advantage. I would definitely need to get in close with him, and close fighting is what kempo is all about.

Tony is also 11 years old than me. He just turned 47, and I'll be 36 in April. So I'm not sure how spry he is now.

It would probably be a fun fight to watch.

[Alex]

Haha this is great! Steve, you're lucky they're not putting you up against Jim Rohn, you'd be in big trouble!

Btw, I am a black belt in TKD and i'm currently learning blended kempo, brazilian jujitsu, filipino weaponry and muay-thai kickboxing. If you ever want to fly me out to Nevada to spar I'm game!

[Bruce Achterberg]

Haha, this is pure gold! (And this thread REALLY needs to have a poll.)

<insert Mortal Kombat Shao-Khan voice>

“Round 1. Fight!”

Do it Steve!!! Although you may want to replace the “fight to the death” part with "fight till one opponent can no longer stand”, ‘cause, you know, “death” may hinder your ability to continue working on your life mission (at least in the physical realm). Just think, you could organise the fight as a pay-to-view event and put the money you get paid towards furthering your cause.

As for combat tips, being a blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do myself, I think if Tae Kwon Do is the only combat training Robbins has done it wouldn’t be difficult to beat him, unless he has exceptionally superior physical strength or speed to you (Robbins may be “big”, but is he strong? Is his strength functional?). You could gain a huge advantage by exploiting the somewhat restricted style that is Tae Kwon Do by bringing in some punishing Muay Thai-style elbows and knees and attacking him in close quarters which will remove the advantage of his reach and restrict his ability to kick you effectively.

And if you start getting hit too much up-close you could always clinch him (place both arms around the neck in a head lock-like hold) and proceed to put some meaty knees into his mid section. If you have to stay at range, put him off guard by some sort of facial blow (slipping the jab in his face a few times would do the job), dash forward, and lay a punch (or two... depending on how much time you have before he regains composure) into his quads (upper leg) to hinder his movement. Alternatively you could just work the midsection with some hurtin’ bombs Clubber Lang-style (that’s a Rocky 3 reference, by the way) and chop down the mid section so he hunches over leaving his head exposed.

The only thing I think you'd have to worry about is Tony lunging on top of you UFC-style (seriously, they should call the UFC the "Ultimate Mounting Championship") and bringing you to the ground in some sort of sissy hold position that would make Tony's sexual orientation look questionable. In that case you just need to be jacked enough (read: buffed enough) to overpower him in strength or simply bite into him (which is ok, since it's a fight, not a tea party).

But ah... <ahem> ... lets not get too carried away there, shall we? Heh.

[Alex]

Haha, this thread is out of control!

I forgot to mention that I'm 5'8 and 180lbs. I used to have a roommate in college who was 6'7 (Robbin's height) and he used to be able to lift me with one arm going out to the side. It's really a monstrous size to be, I wouldn't want to fight Robbin's.