The True Martial Artist

[MizuRyu]

I don't believe any martial art was created in the name of self-gratification/crime. People may use it for that purpose, and in my OPINION that distances them from the purpose of martial arts.

As for 'waking up to reality', reality is different for everyone. I grew up in a 'ghetto' and I've seen horrible things happen to people. My reality is different from yours. Yours is different from mine.

Case in point, I have a friend who's a great fighter, a member of a family that has a long rich history in various styles of Kung Fu. He looks for any reason possible to get in a fight and brags about it all the time, and almost always wins. To me, he's a terrible martial artist, but that's not to say he can't fight. He just doesn't believe in the code of conduct that comes with having the ability to seriously hurt someone.

[Jiffy]

1. being arrogant doesn't make you a bad MA. It simply makes you arrogant.

That depends on your definition of a Martial Artist. If you believe that a good Martial Artist is nothing more than a good fighter, then you are correct. If you think (like me) that being a good Martial Artist is also about being humble and respectful, then it's not the case.

2. my skill doesn't entrust me with anything - I'm not spider man. I didn't start training to learn to defend myself or others - I started training because I wanted to. That said, I help others all the time. I've stopped muggings, stopped men from beating women - and that was before my job as a bouncer. That's not because I train though, that's just who I am. I would've helped even if I didn't train. Martial arts training does not require that help others no more does being a cop force you to help others -It's not required for the job.

As above. That depends on your definition of a Martial Artist.

3. being a bad person does not mean you're not a good martial artist. Seriously, some of you guys here should look up a lot of the old masters and how they lived. When I was in CMA, my sigung trained under johnny tsai. He does videos and things now, but back in the day, he was an enforcer for chinese triads. Chan tai san and several others have also been known to kill people for various reasons. Musashi was the greates swordsman in japanese history and earned his fame by killing men in duels. Like I said, we paint this nostalgic picture of what we think martial arts should be and try to conform to it, like we are humans trapped in the matrix. When you wake up, you see that reality is not how you perceived it to be.

Just because these people were great warriors and great soldiers does not make them good Martial Artists (by my definition). It's got nothing to do with "Waking Up". It's got to do with definition. If you believe that a Martial Artist is nothing more than a fighter, then great, hooray for you, but don't be deluded into thinking that most people here share your views. That doesn't mean your views are wrong, it just means that your views are just that.

[Zorbasan]

ah, a true martial artists can say that they feel the art they do is best for them.

saying that it is best full stop is where the arrogance comes from, and thats what i beleive is against the MA 'code' or whatever.

[Rick_72]

I'm not sure if all this "arrogance" talk was directed at me or not, but I'll try to better explain my position on this.

I didn't mean to say "my style is the best out there". Maybe it came off that way, as sometimes happens when words are typed.

What I meant from the start is that, any student of martial arts should absolutely have confidence in the training they're receiving. Meaning, that you have to feel that what your giving up your time, money, sweat, and sometimes blood for is the best thing for you. If you don't have confidence (not arrogance) that the things your learning are bettering you not only as a martial artist, but as a person as well, than your wasting your time.

When you walk into a school you should not only feel comfortable with the environment and your teachers, but you should also have confidence that you will learn something new tonight, and its application is real.

I don't know about a lot of the traits of a "good martial artist" that are listed here are what it takes or not. What I do know is that my idea of a good martial artist is someone who has learned their art beyond their natural ability (never stop giving more effort than you have left, you always have more energy inside), someone who is open minded enough to learn (you can't teach a man/women something they already know *yes that's a deep quote from my teacher, think about it*), and the maturity to weild the skills that you've been given (if your learing martial arts to beat people down in the streets, chances are you don't have the mental capacity to see bunkai anyway).

[bushido_man96]

Even Bruce Lee was a little arrogant, and some would have said he was cocky. However, his contributions to the MA world are well known. Most of us would probably say that he is a martial artist as well.

[Zorbasan]

i actually dont think that anyone can think that their MA is the best, despite how much you put into it.

regardless of what art you do, there will always be benefit from doing another. which will help you become a well rounded artist.

there are elements in some arts that arent in others, such as there is no ground work (or very little) in arts such as tkd and karate.

if you only study one style, regardless of how good you are at that style, they may arise a situation that that art hasnt trained you for.

thats my opinion

[Brandon Fisher]

I agree being a honorable / good person is essential. I personally am saddened by the people that think martial arts are only about fighting. There is so much more to it. Remember the Okinawans are very peaceful people they fought to save their lives, that is how karate came to be.

The irony is that Im somewhat saddened by people that think martial arts is more about respect/discipline than it is about fighting. Look at any martial arts tournament and tell me whos regarded as being the best martial artist- its the guy whos carrying the trophy- regardless of how nice a guy he may or may not be, hes regarded as the best because he beat everyone else.

If you want to judge the skill of the martial artist based on his development as a peacefull human being, than Ghandi would be at the top of the list- Im going to base it on their skills as a fighter and how well they can teach someone else to use those skills.

I am not saying that it is not about fighting I am saying it is not the only aspect.

[DragonMike]

I agree. If its only about how well you can fight then why do we call people martial artists not fighters?

[bushido_man96]

I believe that Funakoshi is probably the person most responsible for interjecting the moral and ethic values into the study of martial arts. In the title of his book Karate-do: My way of Life, the title states that it is his way of life. Others may view it differently.

Now, another question is can you view martial arts like other athletic activities? Take football, for instance. It can be used to build physical skills, like the martial arts can, and it teaches things like teamwork. However, there are some terrible people out there that are great football players. I think the same could be said for the martial arts as well.

Boxing and wrestling don't teach moral and ethical values as part of their core curriculum. However, we still consider them martial arts. Are they now not martial arts, because we realize this?

I am not saying that I think the martial arts should not teach morals and ethics. I think we should do these things, because it is the right thing to do. I will teach them. However, I don't believe that these things should begin with the martial arts.......it is the job of parents to lay down the morals and ethics that we are to grow up with.

Now, that being said, it is true that in there purest forms, the martial arts, as they apply to war, were used to defend the practitioner's country in times of war. Saying that they were used to defend what they felt was right for the people of their country, then would lend to the ideas behind what we all learn today in the arts.

[alsey]

Boxing and wrestling don't teach moral and ethical values as part of their core curriculum. However, we still consider them martial arts. Are they now not martial arts, because we realize this?

exactly. what about the UFC guys? tito oritz; i think his attitude is terrible but i'd never hesitate to call him a martial artist. royce gracie was arrogant going into that hughes fight, but in my opinion he's one of the greatest martial artists on the planet.