Defining a martial ART

[Shintake]

From a very interesting thread in the 'fillipino' forum, i am interested to get everyone's take on what makes a martial art stand out as an art and not a martial style or discipline. I have heard a lot in the other thread, but im curious about the other styles as well.

[Szczepankiewicz]

That's a very good question. I really don't have any idea how to answer it yet. Let me get back to you....

[JaredExtreme]

Well, I think a martial art needs to have 2 fundamental things. First of all it has to teach self-defense in some form, hence the word 'martial'. This is why most peole don't think of tai chi as a martial art, because MOST of the time it's applications are purely for relaxation/excercise. The second thing a martial art must have is a code of conduct or ethics to incorporate into your life. For example, if you take a self-defense class at a local police station, is that martial arts training? Of course not. It's strickty some techniques you learn in order to protect yourself. A TRUE martial art changes you both physically and mentally.

[Szczepankiewicz]

If you look at the techniques that are used throughout this arena, there are only small differences in them that different schools maintain.

The philosophy of each school is what sets them apart from everyone else.

Kenpo is mainly about speed.
TKD is primarily about length of weapon (kick higher!)
Karate is mainly about power.
BJJ is mainly about leverage (mechanics).
Ninjitsu is mainly about stealth. ( go ahead, roll your eyes...)
Kantan Kyo JuJutsu (my art) is mainly about balance (options)
Judo, boxing, pancrase, wrestling all have their unique philosophies as well.

The techniques are similar, but the application of techniques and the mental attitude of the artist is what defines an art in my opinion.

[taba]

am new to ma so forgive me if this prev covered, but would appreciate reviewing my thinking.

as runner and golfer, pretty convinced that art/character perfection not limited to ma. m scott peck's 'golf and the spirit' makes that case pretty well. so, believe effort/practice, regardless of style, grants benefits.

under impression that more important to develop attributes (line familiarization, coordination, awareness, etc) before techniques.

70"/145#, 38. more comfortable at distance than closing.

currently practicing kickboxing.

appreciate crosstraining thinking.

looking for progression allows that skills to map across, complementary.

thinking seque to tkd, then akido.

would encourage me to study a well-rounded art from beginning? rather than build range-at-a-time?

hapkido rather than tkd/akido (or jkd rather than muay thai/bjj)?

really asking if think better to work to master single range before others or best to have an appreciation of all ranges from beginning?

or jump pre-mastery but at point of diminishing returns?

etc, etc.

thanks.

[Szczepankiewicz]

Taba
It seems you have an open mind and are approaching this in the right way.

You have to find what works for you. Developing one range at a time is great if you have the time and patience to wait about 10 years for the full package.

To address a complete self-defense approach, you should find a school or schools that will provide you with Long range, short range, and grappling skills.

We do it this way:

Communication (talking your way out, strategy, tactics) This also includes mental attitude and the philosophy of your school.


Transportation (how to move effectively while walking, falling, rolling, or on the ground)

Striking (from your longest weapon (legs) to your shortest which for us is hammer fists) But if you're Qkfx, you may have a shorter weapon than that....

Grappling, zero range where locks, throws, chokes become very useful. This is an area that broaches the will of the user to either escape (throws, drops, flips, releases) or contain (locks, chokes etc).

Our school is a Jack of all trades, master of none. We are proficient at playing our game, and not to let the other person play theirs.

I guess the most important aspect is that you have to start somewhere. Most people on this board are BJJ for grapping and crosstrain in MT or JKD for striking aspects.

I would stay away from TKD or judo (just my personal opinion) unless you are pursuing a sport aspect. They are all good at what they do, but they aren't really built for self defense. If you choose aikido, plan on spending much time before you can effectively defend yourself. In the hands of a master it is extremely effective, but then again, so is a 7 wood....

I crosstrain in Judo(for the sport aspect and conditioning) and Jujutsu (as it has been explained above) for self defense.

Shop around, read the other excellent posts on this board concerning how to find a school and stay away from anyone who says they have the do all- end all martial art.

No matter what you do, if you work your butt off at it, you can probably defend yourself with training. Depending on whether or not you pick fights, or are picked on....

Just my two cents on the subject.

SZ

[taba]

appreciate your response.

hmmm. hadn't considered 7 wood as weapon, do keep clubs in trunk... maybe should look into escrima?

interested in tkd because it offered by gym currently at. olympic style. simply emphasizes kicking aspect of kickboxing.

being slight, like idea of keeping opponent at bay. won't go into my longer weapon than legs.

to add grappling skills then, thought an advantage to pursue style that builds from existing base. thought hapkido the obvious choice. understand that bjj might require some additional time to integrate with tkd?

apologize, should have better explained interest in akido: do understand it considered to art end of ma continium. afraid after 3 yrs (?) to tkd bb, another 3 (?) to hkd bb will at age 44 be losing some flexibility and ability to recover from injuries. am certainly aware of diminished capabilities since ran in college. also guess hope at that time to be capable of putting up a fight in unlikely event attacked.

thanks again.