Absolutely, Tom. It's fun to do those kinds of things. I don't know if you got a chance to read the thread on Japanese Sword Arts, but I recently took up Iaido as a way to relax and meditate and I like it. In that arena, it serves a purpose, and it has real value.
But it isn't practical. Not by a looooong shot.
My gripe (and it's not even really that, since I don't care one way or another) is that the art IS NOT a self-defense art. It uses archaic methods and tools, is steeped in ritual, and emphasizes no person to person training. This is just a matter of people trying to make what they like fit what they need. If you're looking for self-defense, look at self-defense arts. Not at a system that was expressly designed to preserve an ancient tradition after it was outlawed. And while studying the methods for quickly drawing a katana, making a cut, and then putting it away or maybe studying how to fight another person weilding a bamboo version of the same, wrapped in thousand dollar armor might make a person a little more capable of reacting to specific attacks, that hardly means it's a good way to go in terms of preparing for real-world attacks.
To borrow your analogy, the guy on the bike enjoys it, and it works. But if he got a call that his wife was dying at home, I've got real money that guy jumps in a cab and says "Step on it!"
When it matters, don't try to convince yourself that the bike has you covered. Ride because it's fun, and because you like that brand of exercise, but please, for the love of God, don't try to tell the guys who drive ambulances and fire trucks that a bike will get them to their respective emergencies just as well.
I know you have it in perspective Tom. The above is not meant to be argumentative, it's just that your question allowed me to expand in that direction.
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