American Martial Art.

[MichiganTKD]

I would agree with some of the posts mentioned above, but add some of my own thoughts on the matter.

 

1. As stated above, the gun has defined Western self defense for the past 5-600 years. Especially in this country, we have not culturally felt a need a need for unarmed self defense because the gun is our prefered method of personal security. Also, no government has tried to take away our guns, necessitating a need for unarmed self defense.

 

2. Since our culture is predominantly European-influenced, our unarmed fighting skills would be influenced by whatever we brought from that area. This includes Greco-Roman wrestling (as mentioned above), and English boxing. While techniques we might associate with oriental martial arts do exist in Western culture (kicking, attacking vital spots), they tend to be more associated with hooliganism and gang warfare. Hence, below what decent people would use to defend themselves. Remember, it is still vaguely dishonorable to kick someone in the groin.

 

3. In China, Japan, and Korea, the influence of Confucianism-Taoism-Buddhism has produced the concept of Do-the Life Path. This is not religion, this a foundation for what it means to be honorable. It also produces the idea of focusing your physical-mental-spiritual energy into an activity and making part of yourself, rather than simply an activity.

 

In the West, our primary religion, Christianity, stands by itself and requires obedience to it separate from worldly thought. While many of the precepts of Christianity are morally similar to Eastern religion, Christianity has always thought of itself as more than just a moral code. It considers itself a Way of Life. I'm not endorsing it, by the way, just trying to put it in the context of martial thought.

 

To KickChick: You're on the right track regarding Koreans not punching to the face. However, there are two reasons why Korean martial arts traditionally don't punch to the face:

 

1. Kicking is considered more difficult, thus more desireable to learn. Korean activities and games have traditionally valued difficult techniues. Punching was thought of as too easy, the realm of streetfighters and thugs.

 

2. Korea has a long history of producing exquisite cultural works (pottery, crafts, etc.). Since the hands were the source of one's income, it didn't make much sense to punch someone, break your hand, and lose your way of making money. As a practical matter, it made more sense to develop kicking. If you break a bone in your foot, at least you can still sit down and create pottery!

[Rich_2k3]

Unarmed combat in the western world has always been unarmed combat and a totally combative form of close quarters fighting and nothing more, there has never been any spiritual side because that is western culture, I think our goals in the western world have always been about money and power.

 

Soldiers have always been taught basic unarmed combat, but usually with a sword or baonett, when guns took over the armed forces, swords became obsolete. The baonett was still used by soldiers (on their weapons) but when guns became more and more efficient they then became obsolete.

 

The furthest back I can think in terms of boxing was in the British armed forces, it was used not as self defence or even sport but simply to teach soldiers aggression in combat and also a method of fitness, nowadays boxing is a popular sport in the British army and is encouraged throughout, I dont know if it has a place in other nations armed forces, but it most likely does. However boxing was never a form of self-defence and thats the only truely western fight sport and its not actually a martial art anyway. Things like kickboxing or american kenpo karate are just modified versions of eastern martial arts which in this case is karate.

 

Unarmed combat is taught throughout the armed forces around the world nowadays but is simply called unarmed combat or self defence etc. I suppose the methods employed in them all stem from eastern martial arts. I know that the SAS have their own form of unarmed combat which is one of the most efficent ways of defending yourself and has been passed on to special forces around the world, the thing is the original SAS close-quarter fighting instructers were all experienced martial artists in karate, kung fu or whatever, they adapted them into their own art of selfdefence but again it still stems back from eastern martial arts.

[DLopez]

This may look like wild flailing but there are always preferred methods (styles) in any fighting tradition. The problem is that alot of arts never made an effort to distinguish themselves from sport boxing and wrestling and were thus absorbed into those traditions or simply died out when America was domesticated.

 

http://ejmas.com/jmanly/jmanlyart_gorn_0401.htm

 

Holy Toledo bustr!!

 

I have never heard or or read tales of such stuff before, and I gotta admit, some of the descriptions of "Rough and Tumble" really blows my mind!!

 

I guess "Rough and Tumble", even as savage as it sounds, might qualify as an American Martial Ar... well, hehe, a martial something! Dunno if "art" is the right word for it!

 

That's fascinating reading! Thanks for the links!

[SevenStar]

We have lots of sports and sports arts like Boxing,but that is no real martial art.

 

And why pray tell do you not think those are martial arts?

[Rich_2k3]

And why pray tell do you not think those are martial arts?

 

Plz allitirate.

[daeinwolf]

Please check this site out. It is has a great deal of info on the Western arts.

 

https://www.ahfaa.org

 

SiK---Joshua