Why should good TMAs evolve?

[BlackMaskX]

Reading the recent "karate sucks" thread prompted me to ask some questions that are still bothering me. I have posted this question before in the middle of some thread, but it is still bothering me:

*Why do good unarmed combat systems need to evolve?* I don't understand why, if a TMA was good to start with, it should need to modernize so much. There are some people who say that not all systems are equal, and some are impractical to begin with. If that's the case, then fine. But if an art was once effective for unarmed fighting, why should the techniques need to evolve or modernize? People today are still anatomically the same as they were hundreds or even a few thousand years ago. People still have two arms and two legs, and a guy's arm, skull, or nose will still break just like it did a long time ago. So, wouldn't most people today still fight the same way they did a long time ago? It's easy to see that weapons-based arts would need to evolve because weapons have evolved. But why would an unarmed TMA, assuming it was once effective, need to evolve if people haven't evolved physically? People won't get attacked in the street with a katana or spear, but they will still get punched in the face just like they used to.

It seems like more arts that do more simple, "natural" techniques like boxing and kickboxing are widely considered more effective than arts with more elaborate, "artificial" techniques like karate and kung fu. This may be the case, but if simple is always better, one wonders why people bothered to develop the more complicated, artificial techniques found in karate and kung fu in a time when people were probably more likely to be physically attacked than they are today. It could be that some TMAs, including some types of karate and kung fu, never worked in the first place. But if they did, why fix what isn't broken?

[Great Sage]

We live in a centric age where everyone is marketing their brand of "truths." People tell you that if you learn this technique or that, you'll be a better fighter. Some people are always coming up with "new" innovative ideas... However, new is not always better. The people who says that MMA's are better than TMA's merely heard that from another person, who heard it from another person. MMA has never been proven to be more efffective in combat than TMA, it only holds the opinions of this centric age.

TMA has stood the test of time and will continue to flourish. In ancient China, Japan and Korea the TMA were used for self-defense. There was lawlessness and a person needed to be able to protect, defend and at times kill. One could not count on the government for protection, therefore TMA were taught.

Unless, someone has beaten every TMA practitioner in a real fight, don't listen to their propoganda. Do whatever is good for you. Some folks learn kung-fu for health, some for exercise and some for combat. Whatever the case, TMA will evolve from within you, not from people who criticize it.