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What is the purpose of learning a martial art?

post #1 of 34
8/13/08 at 6:42pm
Thread Starter 
After reading this thread ... http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=72739 ... about which Martial Art is best for self-defence ... or rather I should say reading bits of it ... it just keeps going and going, over 135 posts right now ...

... I started to get a nagging suspicion that some people might be missing the 'big picture' about martial arts. Rather than hijack the other thread, and have my question lost in its depths, I thought ... why not start my own thread on this topic?

IMHO, martial arts are about more than just beatin' up the other guy. It's a way of life, an ethos, a philosophical approach to life. Sure, part of it is being able to defend yourself, but martial arts should be about respect and proper deference, discipline and good attitude. Maybe not as cornball as the dichotomy we see in The Karate Kid, but still, it's about more than who can beat up whom.

Do others share my view, or am I the lone voice in the wilderness??
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post #2 of 34
8/13/08 at 6:55pm
Well part of the problem is that there isn't just one reason why someone might want to study a martial art. Being "about respect and proper deference, discipline and good attitude" could be one of those things, but I don't think someone who studies martial arts for other reasons is really missing out on the "big picture" as they could get all of those from other things they do in life.
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post #3 of 34
8/13/08 at 6:58pm
I study a martial art because I like to push myself to new physical limits, and then test my physical limits in the purest form possible: man to man combat.
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post #4 of 34
8/13/08 at 7:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by odoreater View Post
I study a martial art because I like to push myself to new physical limits, and then test my physical limits in the purest form possible: man to man combat.

fag
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post #5 of 34
8/13/08 at 7:46pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by West24 View Post
fag

... glad to see we can maintain a sense of decorum.
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post #6 of 34
8/13/08 at 7:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by West24 View Post
fag

+1
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post #7 of 34
8/13/08 at 8:32pm
Have fun and stay in shape. If you're doing it for that, then any aerobic MA will do and I won't mock you. But if you claim you're doing it for self-defense, but it's more art then martial, there's going to be a problem. edit: this guy said it better
Quote:
Originally Posted by odoreater View Post
I don't know about this. I think there are a lot of arts out there that foster a false sense of self-confidence in people that they are going to do well in a fight, when they have trained with nothing but willing partners using techniques that wouldn't work with a resisting opponent.
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post #8 of 34
8/13/08 at 9:29pm
in all honestly to learn to injure or kill people without weapons or with simple weapons.
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post #9 of 34
8/13/08 at 9:43pm
I took kickboxing lessons for a while. I took it solely for fitness reasons (I like interval-type training), but I didn't get enough fitness out of it.
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post #10 of 34
8/13/08 at 11:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc4 View Post
... glad to see we can maintain a sense of decorum.

heh, nothing new there...

I took it up because I was young and weak and never learned to fight. So I learned to fight, and it worked well enough... what made a difference was when I became a junior instructor. I picked up a bit of responsibility and got a taste of what it means to command and direct people. Between the achievement of advancement and the shouldering of responsibility, I learned and grew a lot.
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post #11 of 34
8/14/08 at 12:22am
as was said, there are plenty of reasons to take up a martial art, but if you are not doing it to be able to fight, then there are a wide variety of disciplines available that would be better suited and will give you fitness and discipline.

I practice a martial art for a variety of reasons - mostly health, it happens to be an excersize that I enjoy. also, I find that I enjoy the challenge of sparing, it fits my personality and it is something that, when I don't do it, I miss.

lastly, yes, I like to be able to defend myself should I need to. I think that that is part of the skill set that a man should have.



the biggest trouble with the "philosophical" issue - when a person takes a martial art for the "do" element of it, for the phililosophy of it, is that he might think that he could use the martial art sometime in the future, when he isn't really prepared, and could get his ass hande to him, or worse.
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post #12 of 34
8/14/08 at 1:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by West24 View Post
fag

Quote:
Originally Posted by why View Post
+1

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post #13 of 34
8/14/08 at 2:41am
pssst...i think hes talking to you why!
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post #14 of 34
8/14/08 at 12:44pm
Agree with what various people above have said. Ive been fighting off-n-on since 1995, done all sorts of stuff, ranging from uberhard (muay thai) to forms based and kinda self-defense pointless (wushu). As Eason said, as long as you know what you are getting into going in, I have no issue with any martial style. If you are going to tell me that aiki is great exercise and you enjoy every class, then that's more than cool with me. If you are going to tell me that with your morning tai-chi in the park classes, you now have all the tools to pull apart Anderson Silva, I may take you to task on that. Or I may just ignore you and shake my head In my case, my motivations are pretty damn simple. Fighting is the only exercise that keeps me interested. I started lifting again a couple of months ago, I am already bored. I started fighting 13 yrs ago, I am still interested...and any time I get lethargic, I get slugged in the head and wake up pretty promptly.
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post #15 of 34
8/14/08 at 12:50pm
Flexibility, balance, coordination, fitness, strength, self-discipline, self-confidence, and a little self-defense.
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