True Brilliance of Martial Arts

[sensei8]

Interesting article....

http://www.ohdokwan.com/martialarts.html

Your opinions?

[Montana]

Excellent perspective which I agree with...thanks.

[RichardZ]

The article was ok. I am a bit confused when I read;

"We’re not interested in bragging or one-upmanship. We’re interested in people who show wisdom, talent, knowledge, respect, humility and most of all character."

Yet, there is a spotlight for "Student of the Month / Year"

I did, however, enjoyed the last paragraph;

The true brilliance of the martial arts lies in what they add to the human experience. The arts help build character. They help us overcome obstacles. They also help us have fun, make friends and stay healthy. They can rival any other art form on the planet as a true means of expression. And in the right hands at the right time, they can be used to defend life. This amounts to a moment of greatness that we strive to achieve and hope never to use

[sensei8]

The article was ok. I am a bit confused when I read;

"We’re not interested in bragging or one-upmanship. We’re interested in people who show wisdom, talent, knowledge, respect, humility and most of all character."

Yet, there is a spotlight for "Student of the Month / Year"

I did, however, enjoyed the last paragraph;

The true brilliance of the martial arts lies in what they add to the human experience. The arts help build character. They help us overcome obstacles. They also help us have fun, make friends and stay healthy. They can rival any other art form on the planet as a true means of expression. And in the right hands at the right time, they can be used to defend life. This amounts to a moment of greatness that we strive to achieve and hope never to use

RichardZ,

My bad. That article was written by Black Belt Magazine, Michael James (Publisher, Black Belt, p.6, April, 2000), NOT by the website I linked to. I'm sorry I didn't make it more clear, again, that was my fault and my bad!

[RichardZ]

The article was ok. I am a bit confused when I read;

"We’re not interested in bragging or one-upmanship. We’re interested in people who show wisdom, talent, knowledge, respect, humility and most of all character."

Yet, there is a spotlight for "Student of the Month / Year"

I did, however, enjoyed the last paragraph;

The true brilliance of the martial arts lies in what they add to the human experience. The arts help build character. They help us overcome obstacles. They also help us have fun, make friends and stay healthy. They can rival any other art form on the planet as a true means of expression. And in the right hands at the right time, they can be used to defend life. This amounts to a moment of greatness that we strive to achieve and hope never to use

RichardZ,

My bad. That article was written by Black Belt Magazine, Michael James (Publisher, Black Belt, p.6, April, 2000), NOT by the website I linked to. I'm sorry I didn't make it more clear, again, that was my fault and my bad!

No need to aplogize. Some of the article was ok to read.

[bushido_man96]

I thought it was an ok article, but where as the last paragraph may have clicked with some, not so much with me.

I'm making myself a better person every day, with or without exposure to the Martial Arts. However, I do agree that anything that you take serious time to apply to doing, does build character.

[Jay]

I have always been confused with martial arts and character building. I mean what is it defined as. I guess it depends on the person. But to tell the truth I am no different now than I was before but I can fight better.

[KarateGeorge]

To me anyway, I think the idea is that it builds discipline and respect. Yes martial arts teaches you how to fight, but it can be much more than that was well.

Some people already have good discipline before starting martial arts, but to truly progress and improve as a martial artist you need to have the discipline to work hard and develop your skills. If you can learn to discipline yourself to progress further in martial arts, ideally you can be disciplined in the rest of the areas of your life.

Respect comes into play when you realize that everybody around you in the school can learn from everybody else. Yes, even the black belt can learn from the white belt...one thing I've learned in the last couple of years is that helping to teach others has really taught me just as much as the one being taught. But being receptive to being taught and respectful of those you come in contact with is vital to growing and learning.

Discipline and respect aren't exclusive to martial arts, but it is a good place to help instill these values.

Just my thoughts, for what they're worth.

[bushido_man96]

I have always been confused with martial arts and character building. I mean what is it defined as. I guess it depends on the person. But to tell the truth I am no different now than I was before but I can fight better.

Hey, me neither.

[mr_obvious]

I mostly concur with the article. My $0.02 -- anybody who trains in any Martial Art, or any other self-improving discipline for that matter (weight training, running, cycling, etc) has my respect. The key is finding what gets your juices flowing, and training to be the best you can be at it.

I have always been confused with martial arts and character building. I mean what is it defined as. I guess it depends on the person. But to tell the truth I am no different now than I was before but I can fight better.

There's something to be said about humble and level-headed application of Martial Skill. Look at Mike Tyson, for example... That guy could have used some "character building" early in his boxing training. Instead, his trainers armed an already powerful individual, with the skill to level most other human beings with one blow. Look where it got him -- broke, beat up and incarcerated. Now add the skillset most MAs train with -- kicks, elbows, jointlocks, throws, etc... Making sure the head is firmly attached should, rightly, be part of the MA equation IMHO.