Quote:
Originally posted by pcarney
There's alot of talk in the forums about what martial arts are effective, what are not, etc. I was wondering if anyone thinks there are valid reasons to study martial arts other then to learn how to fight. That is, would you ever take a martial art simply for the 'art' sake and nothing else. Some of the Japanese arts come to mind, like iaido, which is simply the art of drawing a sword. If a art defines itself as simply an art, with no direct reference to defending yourself, is that 'ok'? I say this as opposed to some martial arts that poise as fight worthy, but are painfully not.
And if you wouldn't take a martial art that wouldn't teach you how to fight, how do you view martial artists that do?
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I personally train for both aspects. But there are *many* reasons for training in MA ... and only a handful of them have anything to do with fighting. Some it's for fitness. Some it's for health. Some it's for competition. Some it's for confidence. This list is just the tiniest tip of the iceberg of reasons that people train.
I think *all* of the reasons are valid. As long as the student is getting what they want (or need ... which isn't always the same thing) and is happy with the training, then the reasons are irrelevent.
My only gripe in this area is tangential to your question. It has to do with dishonesty. Instructors who teach aerobics and call it "Self Defense." This is one of the most common misrepresentations ... but *any* misrepresentation really yanks my chain. If someone is teaching for fitness or health or whatever ... that's *great* ... but, for God's sake, don't *claim* that it's something it's not. Teach what you teach and be proud of it.
I believe that, in the long run, we each end up with the instructor(s) that we deserve ... that we *earn*. No matter what someone *says* they want out of martial arts ... if they aren't willing to pay the dues for that, then that's not really what they want. So they'll end up drifting from place to place until they find something that *does* suit them. Then they'll either realize that they didn't really want what they thought they wanted ... or, more commonly, they'll ignore the realities of the situation and convince themselves that they actually are getting what they claimed they want. (i.e.: Someone claims they want to learn how to fight. But they're not willing to take any pain in training. They float around until they end up at an aerobics school with no contact and they convince themselves that they actually are learning to fight.)
Mike