What do you think is a true martial artist is?

[nikos]

I was just wondering what a true martail artist means to you.
What quilities do they have to have?
Does he/she have to be effective in street fights or ring fights, any comps?
Do they have to be a TMA like a shaolin monk or a MMA someone like Vanderlie Silver from Pride?
Do they have to have a range of knowledge from philosophy, religion, traditional medicine, ethics, certain chi or ki training as well as there fighting ability?
Or do they just have to be good at fighting.
Do you think they have to devote there whole life to MA, training everyday or can they just have a 9 to 5 job and do it on the side?
Just your own opinions.

Nikos

[osopardo]

'ello nikos! never mind mite!" - dirty rotten scoundrels

Just look around this forum, read a few posts. we're all as different as wildflowers in an open field in springtime. There are all the different types you describe and more, and they're all "martial artists" of some sort or another.

[Hikage]

I see a martial artist as a different walk of life. It is a life-long choice that some make that will forever set them apart from the rest. They are taught (if taught correctly) how not only to defend themselves, but how to protect themselves on spiritual, mental, and spiritual levels.

I must admit, not being a master of my art I have not been introduced to major aspects to spiritual self-defense. However, I wouldn't say that the martial arts have led to my choice in religion, but it has helped me to chose Christianity as my religion for life and I rely on Christianity for spiritual protection and fulfillment.

Mentally, I have been taught things relevant to self-denfense, i.e., how to recognize bad situations, how to think for myself during an altercation, etc. However, I have been taught how to make effective and informed decisions on life matters. My time in the martial arts instruction has supplimeted my education in ways that college and my parents are unable. I silently applaud myself for being capable of always finding an alternative way of thinking of or viewing a situation. Alternative is defined as different from that of the common view and standing out, almost to the point of being ackward.

Physically, this is obvious. I have learned to defend myself physically. However, there is so much more to it than that. Firstly, I have chosen to always be the unspoken body guard when I am out with my friends and family. I have never voiced this to any of them, for fear they would put me to the test, but I'm always ready to step in if needed. However, I have told them before that if they pick a fight, they are on their own. Secondly, I have been able to apply the way that I move in class to the way that I move through life. Because ninjitsu does not teach you to move like a robot, all the movements have been taken from everyday actions transferring these movements to life has not been difficult. For example, when a door is closing, I will use wind movements to squeeze through the door. Also, I am a not at all muscular. Although through the use of the kinesiology that I have learned in class I have developed strategies for using what I know more effectively use what stature I posess. Thirdly, the confidence gained through this physical study, I have become something of a fast learner in other areas. I.e., Guitar lessons, pitching horseshoes, using gardening tools, etc.

I say all this so you understand from where I am coming. As I stated in the opening paragraph, a martial artist is a different walk of life. They have an understanding of the human spirit, mind, and body that the masses cannot possess and it is appropriate that they cannot possibly not be set apart from the others around them. As the martial artist augments his or her skills in these three areas they will begin to find how his or her particular personality combines with these skills to establish a place in life. Nevertheless, I said set apart, not set above. Being a martial artist does not give one right to place others underneath him or her.

-Hikage