Friday, May 21, 2010

Do you ever get the feeling that many people don't understand martial arts?

I'm not refering to those who don't do any martial arts, but those who think it is cool to inflict pain and injury on other people. Also those people who pose questions involving who would win in a fight between Martial Artist and Wild Animal.





I study martial arts to increase my strength (both physical and mental), fitness, agility, confidence, control, and find out what my body is capable of.





How can responsible martial artists help to make people more aware of the fact that martial arts is not about showing off and hurting people?

Do you ever get the feeling that many people don't understand martial arts?
any physical sport or pastime attracts bad elements,because ma is a self defence or fighting physical element it seems to attract more than its fair share of dead beats and wanna bes.i think though that most ma instructers pick them out fairly quickly and dont teach them anymore.you only have to read some of the questions and answers on here to see how many ppl fail to understand the ethics and the physical ideas behind ma.75% of the ppl that ask and answer questions on yahoo answers ma would have to times there iq by 100 to even reach the level of moron.like some one else said mate save your breath.just ignore the morons on here it doesnt take long to work out the real ppl on here from the rest.a responsible ma just keeps doing the right thing with no deviations and hopefully the rest follow by your example.
Reply:I agree with you. I practise martial art for the discipline and increased concentration it brings in my life. I think martial arts are more a way of life than a way of showing off.


It give me confidence and strength!


One way is to make sure that people who do martial arts for the wrong reasons are not kept in the classes and don't get a licence. My sensei in London would kick out anyone with a bad attitude.


Other clubs insist that you do a lot of reading about your martial art and the martial art spirit and even go as far as asking you to write an essay for higher belts.
Reply:Perhaps by not starring in so many films that focus on hurting people like bruce lee, jet lee, tony Jaa, jacky chan, Jean Claude van dam and steven segal to name but a few.





If this is the image martial artist send out in hollywood, it is of little suprise that people belive that martial arts are soley a means of causing pain and injury.
Reply:Mate save your breath.
Reply:as in its name- marhsall arts is an art, to me its not a fighting mechanic but a kind of art.


You can make people aware of that by showing them exactly what is artistic about marshal arts, maybe if they see the artistic side the fighting side will be of less importance....
Reply:There is an element ofAholes in every sport. In surfing we have localism, where guys punch each other out over waves. IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE FUN!





Just don't help those guys
Reply:maybe because martial arts always seen by the people as form of knowing self defence and usually post on its advertisement. Also they usually seen it in many kinds of real tournament in tvs or movies some are bloody and some are bone breaking. Look at taichi its kind of martial arts movement in slow motion but very popular on many people young and adult alike because they know only that its kind of exercises not fighting.
Reply:Marshal Arts is designed to hurt people ,





Ballet is art and its not designed to hurt people.





Marshal arts has always been a defence and attack.





And what kind of question is





"who would win between a Martial artist and a wild animal"





Firstly you shouldn't inflict any harm on animals,





Secondly I'm sure an African bull elephant would wouldn't notice you kicking his legs.





And really in this day and age a skinny little kid with a gun and a crack pipe is the one to keep your eyes on.
Reply:True, my daughter studied karate, what people don't realise it is a non contact sport, it is not violent and she can use it for self defence it is control of the mind and body.
Reply:I agree with you.





"Combat is identified with fighting and killing and yet, through the practise of martial disciplines, exponents have found increased spiritual awareness. Thus a strange paradox begins to emerge: a concept of inner peace beyond fighting."


~ From 'The Martial Arts', Peter Lewis





"Martial Arts Are As Infinite As The Universe." Master Hironori Otsuka





"Violent action may be understood as the way of Martial Arts, but the true meaning of the Martial Arts is to seek


and attain the Way of Peace and Harmony." Master Hironori Otsuka





The Martial Arts teaches many things, but not all of these things are physical. As we study Martial Arts, we learn many


lessons that guide us through the journey of life. We learn how and when to use or not to use what we have learnt.


The "Ultimate Goal" of the Martial Arts philosophy is "Victory Without Combat", or that you can win a confrontation


without resorting to physical violence. It also teaches us the habits and characteristics not only just to reach Black Belt


excellence but also those things essential to a well-balanced life.
Reply:How can we do this? - "Lead by example" a weak offer of an answer but its the best I could come up with. I took a dislike to a show off but after time realised I was just jealous of the abilities that they had developed over more time that I had put in; wish I had come over to martial arts earlier, still the other philosophy I followed served me well at the time
Reply:There will always be some conflict and differing ideas. People take martial arts for different reasons, view it differently, use it differently, etc. There will always be folks that say something silly or will troll for some responses.


Best of luck. Keep your head up.
Reply:I've no idea- they're too many idiots involved in the martial sports - both as teacher and student, to be honest.





Too many morons do kick-boxing or something that requires not too much brain-power.


I do the Pencak Silat for the fitness and also just for being able to keep my temper better, so- not everyone is out to be a bully.





Oi below! Love to fight you- Pencak Silat is a real martial art- as practiced by Indonesian and Malay special forces not some sport-


I could turn you into a pretzel and severe your carotid artery before your could throw your first clumsy flailing leg .
Reply:In the end, one thing you can't deny is ALL martial arts are about fighting!





as for all that "honor and code" crap, it's stupid! if you want to learn those stuff, take a course in philosphy or something.





Most martial artist who show off tend to be very new to it. But the more experience usually don't really care and have nothing to proof to random Mr. Joe on the street.





As for all respecting eachother and stuff, that happen almost everywhere. People just overplay it when it come to martial arts.





In end it's all up to you to decide how you want martial arts to be. You can try to live like a hermit asian, drink tea, work in garden, and write haiku and claim to be "true martial artist" all you want to.





To me, it's just a way of fighting and nothing more. I learn respect, code, honor, etc... mostly from my family, friends, ROTC, college, traveling, and reading. Not martial arts!








Edit: Shitusei, what are you getting to? I do muay thai which is similar to kick boxing. I don't bully people (my behave on Y.A. don't count) and in fact by being better fighter, it make me not want to fight more. I'm really afraid if I end up in fight and start to strikes, the person would be in hospital and I'll be in prison. So think before you run your mouth. I guess you don't learn a thing in martial arts. What a hypcroite.
Reply:I think that many people don't get it. Usually they weed themselves out as they don't have the desire for the deeper level of the arts.





I don't bother trying to convert them. It would cost more energy than the reward is worth.
Reply:if you happen to watch the movie Karate Kid, you will notice that there are 2 kinds of Sifu/Master. The american one is just want to show off, win the competition, get more students and get more money. The bad sifu outnumber good sifu/master. Even the one who know Martial Arts do not understand the importance of Martial Arts, how can you expect the ones who do not learn any ?





It just like the sports fans today, they watch the game if their team is winning. Many of them do not play that sport, they just want to watch the team that they like is winning.
Reply:Martial art is a way of life, it help to control one self. It is often the wrong teaching, bad master ( money) that pass on wrong idea of Martial Art.
Reply:In all honesty I'm not sure YOU understand martial arts.





Martial arts is simply the art of learning to fight. Fighting results in hurting people. The purpose of martial arts is thus hurting people.





the notion that you should not use martial arts or fight uneccesarily is not a concept of the martial arts- it might be, and SHOULD be taught by a responsible teacher to warn students who don't understand society that they shouldn't take thier skills and go out and begin just hurting people for no reason.





The simple fact that martial arts is about learning techniques to more effectively and efficiently hurt your fellow man is indisputable proof that it is about hurting people.





I think that one should excercise self-restraint because they have superior knowledge of fighting and that by nature studying MA should take ego out of the equation. However this is not the teachings of the martial art, but the character of the student.





Personally I think it is the teacher's job to be selective in who they teach to and that they shouldn't teach to someone who is likely to just go out and hurt someone for the sake of hurting them. However, martial arts is also a business, so unless the teacher is just teaching for fun or privately, this is not a reality.





I don't think you are taking martial arts for the wrong reasons because all the reasons you listed are legitimate side benefits that may come with studying martial arts, I just disagree with your notion that the martial arts are not about hurting people, when the point of martial arts is in itself the study of how to make one a better fighter so they can more efficiently hurt people. I do agree with you that one should not "show off" pointlessly (I have yet to see someoene just break into a demo on the street- if they did I would die of laughter and tell them to go back to thier mcdojo) or that one should not start pointless fights, but those traits come from the student, not the subject matter learned.





EDIT: modern wushu:


Actually karate kid is the WORST movie to site. the "american" teacher was actually a better teacher because he actually TAUGHT his students to fight and encouraged them to spar (even if the movie was only crappy point sparring). Miyagi on the other hand is the exact example of what a crappy school would be. teaching useless excercises without a resisting opponent. True, the excercises done absolutely build stregth, but they wouldn't teach him how to fight.
Reply:I get that feeling every time I take a look at this board.





The best way that I know for responsible martial artists to help make people understand is by DEMONSTRATION. In this case "demonstration" would most probably consist of courtesy, restraint and self-control.


.
Reply:i run my own club , any one who uses ma to bully are kicked out, since starting ma i have never had a fight, i put this down to the self confidence that ma gives you , bullies are cowards and look for people who lack self confidence, as for the movies most are choreographed ballet dancers
Reply:For one I do believe some people take advantage of the power of Martial Arts. I have never been a student but I do have much respect for the Art.
Reply:Yes. I said this a few answers back but about 70% of today's MMA fans are boxing fan rejects used to seeing fists flying constantly %26amp; have no idea that the grappling/jui jitsui plays a major role in MMA action. What gets my blood boiling is when the crowd starts booing fpr no good reason!
Reply:Hi there





I think people don't understand martial arts because of what they see on TV and in magazines. There's nothing better than the old TV set to warp young minds. Most martial artists get into martial arts generally because of the crap they watched as a kid. Its not until you have been training for quite a few years that you really start to understand what its all about.





The best thing that could happen would be to separate the arts.





Martial sports for bbj, boxing, judo etc.


Martial arts for karate, iaido, jutjutsu, akido, kung fu etc.





Fighting is a very small piece of the puzzle! It takes intelligence to be able to work out the rest.





People in this world want a quick fix.


Martial Arts are long term and not the gym!








regards





idai
Reply:Honor Among, I guess you just dont get the Martial Arts. The "honor and code crap" is what makes a true martial artist. Martial arts is more than just fighting. There are many fighting systems out there. There is a difference.





There is really no way you can convince people that martial artists aren't out to hurt people. Just be humbleand use it when needed. When someone knows you are a martial artist they seem to look at you differently.
Reply:My guess is that most people posting here have never had a Martial Arts Class in their lives. Also, unfortunately there is no regulation of MA in the US so any thug can claim to be a Martial Arts expert %26amp; open a school. Their students only know how to fight not how to live.
Reply:I really agree you, many people start martial arts because of the things they see in films which isnt even what its all about, its giving a false impression of what martial arts are about, it makes me sad and a little annoyed when i see this, it is an art form and an excellent sport to take part in, enhancing every property of the body and mind
Reply:Hahaha! This is too funny. Sorry for laughing, but I'm a girl who trains hard in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. There is no way to explain why I like to roll around the floor with other guys to get them into positions to make them tap, as I'm trying to armbar them (aka break their arm) or choke them or break their foot or knee. How do you explain that?





Yet, I love doing martial arts. The only way you can explain it is have them try it. Not everyone wants to do martial arts, but those who do, usually love it!
Reply:Have you looked at the questions here...





And you still ask this question.





hahahaha
Reply:Unfortunately you always will have the idiots as with any persuit but genuine martial artists only believe in improving themselves and only reacting in genuine self defence and are not interested in thoses who wanna debate if bruce lee could beat rickson gracie etc you know the type of questions.





well the only way is to act humble and only demonstate if asked and not degrade other styles as all have much to offer


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