the future of martial arts

[kiddbjj]

just wanted to see what you guys think the future of martial arts holds?

Will the tma's eventually die off as MMA continues to rise?

I sometimes visit TMA school, just to see what they are teaching and what kind of people are there. Seems to me that these schools are slowing losing all the athletes to MMA but are still maintaining a core of true believers.

Have we reached the pinicle of martial arts evolution with MMA or is it just another fad in the same way that Judo, Kung Fu and Ninjutsu had there time in the sun over the last few decades?

[kiddbjj]

thanks for the honest and heartfelt reply, much appreciated.

I see what you mean and generally agree. I have trained BJJ for 5 years and occassionally do some kickboxing or MMA but usually don't because I got sick of being too banged up for work the next day.

Bjj is the happy medium for me; whilst i acknowledge its limitations compared to MMA i am happy to live with these because I can practice it at essentially 90-100% effort without coming home with busted lips and black eyes. My job involves lots of grass roots interaction with the community and turning up looking like dogcrap just won't cut it.

I would ensourage you to ditch the tma's and do something like BJJ or Judo, at least you'll get some good training without the striking.

[Bastich]

I love MMA as a spectator sport. I train in Shotokan Karate and Russian Sambo and enjoy both equally. The problem i see with MMA as a self defence art is that a lot of it centres around being on the floor. One on one in a sport enviroment this is fine but in the street when you don't know who you are fighting and how many friends he may have nearby this could be a big disadvantage.
Better to learn a MA that teaches strikes on your feet such as Karate or boxing in my opinion. Some ground work maybe so you can get up quickly if needed but not as a main weapon.

[pstevens]

I want to make a correction here - you won't get banged up in MMA if you tell the coaches beforehand that you're there to get in shape. In fact, where I train only the hard-core MMA guys who are trying to compete get banged up. They get separate classes too. I used to get banged up, but now I do BJJ almost exclusively because I enjoy the art.

Yes, there are BAD MMA schools that bang everyone up, even children and I don't agree with that. But if you want to train MMA safely, there are good schools that can teach you through drills and safe sparring. Heck, movie stars have been training MMA for years now and they're okay.

The future of martial arts? It looks cloudy... I think everything will move in the direction of sports. The MA's that can present an entertainment and health value will survive, but very mystical MA's probably won't.

MMA looks like it could be around for awhile.... The only thing that bothers me is all the "fake" MMA guys I see at the beach all the time, sporting TAPOUT tees, but can't tell a triangle from an armlock.

[Hardball]

MMA does not teach weapons. As long as weapons are offered in TMA, there will be a demand for it.

[JadeDragon]

I have to agree with Mr. Arieson. As a person gets older the body can't take as much abuse as it did when younger so I think that TMA will continue to exsist for people in their mid 30's and older. Also, not every person who does martial arts wants to be a pro fighter and thats what a lot of MMA practitioners want to do. People do m.a.'s for a lot of different reasons such as loosing weight, better health, self confidence, basic self defense, tournament competition, etc..... These are all things that TMA can offer. And lastly in TMA you don't get as many bruises, broken bones, etc.... so you don't have to cover them up when you go to work the next day. I do think that MMA is a fad like all the other things mentioned in the orig post. I think this fad will last a little longer though but eventually it will fade (but not completely).

[csc]

I believe the future of MA is "combat" and not "sport". Most of those so called "illegal moves" will be emphasized again because it has the highest combat value. Sport is good as the starting point (to develop your skill) but not good enough as the ending point.

[jubaji]

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[aseepish]

To me MMA is not a style per se, it is merely a training method and competition vehicle (sport).

Yes, it is an extremely effective training method not to mention fantastic entertainment, but it is not the be all and end all of martial arts training. As Hardball mentioned, there is no weapons training. There is no multiple-attacker training. There is no situational/environmental training. There's no philosophical/spiritual aspect to it.

Sifu Paul Vunak has pointed out that martial arts training has two aspects - self-preservation and self-perfection. Self-preservation is the "martial"; self-perfection is the "art." TMAs get bashed for focusing too much on the self-perfection side of things. To the degree that some styles market/justify themselves as "street deadly" without realistic training methods, they deserve to get bashed. But there will always be people who learn traditional martial arts for the reason that they are traditional - a way to connect with the past, with a particular culture and heritage.

I love MMA, but it's part of the journey, not the destination itself.

[csc]

there is no weapons training. There is no multiple-attacker training. There is no situational/environmental training. There's no philosophical/spiritual aspect to it.

When one of my frineds had a CMA school in Rio De Janeiro, he brough his student to fight on the street on weekend. They usually pinched on some girls body and got her boy friend involved. They just switched from one place to another to build up their fighting experience. Not something that I would suggest but you can't get any more realistic training than that.

[Tom Yum]

So while TMA needs to increase it's effectiveness, MMA needs to increase it's ability to let people of all abilities learn the technical side of the game without getting the crap beat out of them.

History rhymes.

TKD instructors who immigrated to the states in the 60's/70's after doing mercenary work and/or serving in their militaries, ran schools with full contact sparring.

People quit because they were getting their ribs bruised and their jaws mangled - giving the birth to point sparring.

[Hardball]

People quit because they were getting their ribs bruised and their jaws mangled - giving the birth to point sparring.

Also giving birth to protective equipment like chest protectors, head gear and foot gear.

[Tant01]

A bit different state side

When one of my frineds had a CMA school in Rio De Janeiro, he brough his student to fight on the street on weekend. They usually pinched on some girls body and got her boy friend involved. They just switched from one place to another to build up their fighting experience. Not something that I would suggest but you can't get any more realistic training than that.

Sounds like a good way to get thrown in jail...

[kingoftheforest]

Sounds like a good way to get thrown in jail...

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[Eyegouge]

Sounds like Kobra Kai training to me... SWEEP THE LEG!!!