Why
would I write about something that is not a martial art? Apparently,
not everyone realizes that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is not a martial art.
One of several problems I have
with MMA is that it attracts some of the worse people in society - but it also attracts many good people. On
almost any day, an Internet search for news on MMA will lead to examples of
how street fighting without redeeming philosophy or moral guidance leads
to violence and misuse of drugs. Don’t get me
wrong, I use to enjoy watching Sugar Ray Leonard and
George Foreman, But these were two classy sportsmen.
But even boxing attracts many bad apples.
Karate also attracts some bad apples, but traditional martial arts, I suspect attracts a much greater percentage of honest, law-abiding people.
Karate
was never intended to be a sport. As developed by Okinawan martial artists
centuries ago, karate was a method of self-defense, self-improvement and self-discipline.
During its evolution, it was a necessary tool for Okinawan body guards of royalty because bladed weapons had been outlawed by King Shoshin in 1480 AD due to his non-violent Buddhist philosophy. However, we all know (except for self-serving royalty and politicians) that taking weapons away from people does nothing to stop criminals - it only gives criminals incentive to rape, murder and steal. After all, their law-abiding victims are not going to be armed. So watch out for any self-serving politician who looks to eliminate our second amendment and give control to other countries through the UN to monitor gun controls in the US.
So, after having no bladed weapons to defend their selves and having no standing army, Okinawa was an open invitation for invasion. And it happened. The Japanese Satsuma Samurai invaded Okinawa and conquered it with little to no problem
The Japanese invaders of Okinawa had no idea what karate was. It was practiced in complete secrecy for centuries until
introduced to the Okinawan public school system and also to mainland Japan in the 20th century. It was the Japanese, not the native Okinawans who modified karate into a
sport. And since that time, much of Japanese and American karate has suffered
(there are exceptions). Sport karate opened a Panadora’s box.
My Sensei operates one of the
largest and most successful traditional
Okinawan/Japanese/US martial arts associations in the world, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary and brought members together
from around the world – all of whom have proper credentials and
certifications in martial arts and none practice sport martial arts that I’m aware
of.
Many sensei,
martial arts associations and dojo have applied for membership in this
organization, but most are turned down because of a lack of credentials and lineage. It is not easy to get into this
association.
There are questionable styles
that have recently surfaced with no basis or no lineage. One organization even
advertised in a popular martial arts magazine and would send out any rank diploma for a
fee (without any proof of rank).
So, new
students are faced with a dilemma – finding a martial art that suits them,
finding a martial art that is legitimate, and finding a martial art instructor with
legitimate certification. You may ask, what is legitimate certification? Thank
God, government has not stuck its ugly hand into certifying martial artists (yet),
and I pray it never does. Government always makes things worse. There are
organizations around the world that are considered legitimate based on history
and/or lineage. But it does require checking and some knowledge.
I have nothing against MMA (I don’t watch
it), but I do have a problem with their use of the descriptive phrase ‘…. martial arts’. They should describe
their system for what it is “street fighting with a couple of rules”. But calling MMA
an art? This is very questionable.
I’m
currently working on a
book (actually a couple of books at the same time). This is a problem I’ve
had all my life. I cannot do just one thing - I need to do a variety of
things. One of the books I’m writing is Layman’s Guide to Traditional Martial Arts.
In this book, I spend several pages trying to define martial arts: never
thought it would be so difficult. But just think for a second. How would you
describe art? You can probable visualize people performing martial arts, but to define it. Now that's a challenge.
Dictionary.com gives 15 explanations for "ART". A few of the more useful are: The
quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles,
of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. A
branch of learning or university study, especially one of the fine arts or the
humanities, as music, philosophy, or literature. Skill in conducting any human
activity: a master at the art of conversation. Synonyms: knack, facility, technical skill,
skillfulness, know-how. The principles or methods governing any craft or branch
of learning: the art of baking; the art of selling, craft,
technique; procedure, method, way; fine points, subtleties.
 |
| A sketch by the author |
Art is an esoteric expression
and any attempt to define art is difficult, especially when art is different to different people. For
example, when I look at a sketch, I look for something that excites my senses –
something that brings out emotion or awe – it has to be beautiful and provide visual
stimulus and the person who created that piece of art, must have put
considerable time into its creation. When it comes to most abstract art – for
me, any zoo animal can do abstract art (and many have) – but it is art to some people,
and it is what they find interesting.
When accessing martial arts dictionaries,
I couldn’t find one that provided any real definition of martial arts. For
instance, the Overlook Dictionary of Martial Arts defines martial arts as “…an encompassing term usually reserved for
the Asian fighting arts, although it can refer to any fighting discipline with
or without weapons”. This definition is so
general that it may suggest anything from target shooting to wresting can be a
martial art, as long as it is done by someone of Asian descent. Even more
enlightening is A Dictionary of the Martial Arts since this dictionary didn’t even make an effort to define
martial arts.
In another, the Overlook
Martial Arts Handbook, the author writes, “The term ‘martial arts’ means those arts concerned with the waging of
war”. Many other definitions I found on the
Internet appeared to be written by non-martial artists with little to no understanding
of martial arts. For example, Dictionary.com defines martial art
as - any of the traditional forms
of Oriental self-defense or combat that utilizes physical skill and
coordination without weapons, as karate, aikido, judo, or kung fu, often
practiced as sport. This definition falls flat on its face, as martial
arts, until recently, was never considered sport, most incorporate weapons and some arts are exclusively about weapons such as kobudo, iaido, kendo, and kenjutsu to name a few of the many dozens.
By separating the two words – “Martial” and “Arts” we might gain some insight. Martial has several
definitions. The one that stands out is characteristic of, or befitting a warrior. When discussing martial arts we refer to budo (martial
way) or bushido
(way of the warrior). This
is a clue because way used in this sense means a path: the path of someone who
has characteristics befitting a
warrior. But then, what is path?
 |
| A path leading to a garden - sketch by the author. |
One definition of path “a course of action, conduct, or procedure: the
path of righteousness”. This is a good definition as it implies a path should lead to righteousness. It should also lead to knowledge and understanding particularly when considering martial arts. Martial art must lead to righteousness; it must be beautiful
and involve a segment of higher learning.
It needs to be a lifelong path that
leads to self-enlightenment. Does this sound like MMA?
Now let’s examine the philosophy
of Gichin
Funakoshi and Shoshin Nagamine two well-known Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Karate masters from
the past. Nagamine, Soke wrote, “If there
is no kata, there is no karate, just kicking and punching”. He continues “…that kata is karate, and one must
embrace ‘do mu gen’ proverb – which asserts: There can be no end to
learning”. He concludes “karate begins and ends with the study of
kata”.
So if we are to believe Nagamine (as well
as other Okinawan masters), karate
must contain kata and kata must be the primary curriculum,
otherwise it is not karate. Kata is one of the primary exercises
that places karate in the realm of
art. Gichin Funakoshi, the great Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Karate master wrote many
similar arguments including one of my favorite, “the ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in
perfection of its participants”.
So, is MMA
a martial art? It certainly does not fit the definition of martial art. In the
immortal words of Nagamine Sensei, “it is just kicking and punching”.
A martial art must have social and esoteric benefits to lead a person down a path of righteousness. It is almost like a religion - it is very Zen like,
in that it should help a person to be a more productive member of society. So
is there much in the way of social benefits in MMA. Not that I’ve seen! So, let’s
just call it what it is – it’s street fighting with a couple of rules.
A very important legend about the
creation of martial arts describes a monk named Bodhidarma, who taught philosophy and Zen in the Shaolin Temple in
China 1500 years ago. During meditation, Buddhist monks were in such poor
physical and mental condition they fell asleep. Bodhidarma instituted the
practice of ‘shi po lohan sho’ known as the ‘18 hands of Lohan’ in what is reputed to be an archaic form of
Kung Fu that likely originated in India. This blending of Zen with empty
hand and weapon’s fighting resulted in Shaolin monks becoming formidable
fighters and philosophers throughout China. So if we declare this as the
original form of martial art, it is apparent that Zen, self-defense training, and
forms (kata) were necessary ingredients in martial art. Some authors have even described
kata as moving Zen. So is martial art a sport – I don’t believe so. Karate and
martial arts have never been sports until they were Japanized in the 20th
century. Whereas, for several hundred years, they were not considered as a
sport.
If we examine Traditional
“Japanese” Karate as opposed to Traditional “Okinawan” Karate, karate was created
by Okinawans and kept secret for
centuries from all outsiders (especially the Japanese). There were rules required
to learn the art and individuals had to swear an oath to keep the art secret.
It is not a Japanese art and was not introduced to Japan until the 20th
century, and it was the Japanese who later created karate sport at the
objection of Okinawan masters in the mid-20th century. Even the
indigenous Japanese arts like jujutsu
and judo, were never taught as sport
until recently. These were originally samurai combat arts designed to defend
against a heavily armored samurai.
In contrast ‘do’ there are systems of martial art that attach the suffix ‘jutsu’ – such as karate-jutsu, or jujutsu.
These have been classified as martial arts for years but few of these have many
kata although they do observe
traditions.
Peter Urban (1967) suggests that
martial arts means fighting arts but
goes into more detail and indicates that a more valid interpretation comes from
the word Budo which translates as ‘the way of the fighter’. The suffix do or way which is often used in Oriental spiritual thoughts provides
profound direction in our search for an answer.
Urban further writes the use of
techniques and integration of these techniques with the spirit are all
important. The way or path is intended to lead the individual to the attainment
of perfection or what is often known as self-realization, enlightenment, or
simply maturity.
The way of the warrior should lead to ethical conduct and
self-awareness govern by tradition. Martial art must include a balance of the
spiritual, moral, and technical. It must include kata.
Be it karate, kendo, judo, jujutsu, iado, kobudo, aikido, kyudo, etc, Urban writes that
based on the idea of virtue, the followers of martial arts are in effect the
descendants of the samurai of old. It is the aim of all martial arts masters to
work toward promulgating this spirit of the ancient Zen warriors, a spirit
which is more than mere knowledge of fighting techniques- it is the attainment
of a virtuous way of life.
So, if you are new to martial arts and ready to find a school to learn martial arts - its up to you. You can train in traditional martial arts, or you can find sport karate, MMA, kickboxing, etc. Its all up to you to decide. As you are searching for a place to train in martial arts, boxing or MMA, remember, one of the most important factors will be the instructor. Is your instructor, or future instructor, the type of person you can get along with. How about the students in the school. This is always a very good indicator of what the instructor is like. Are the students pleasant, respectful, intelligent. Or do they look like a bunch of ... Well, hopefully you get the idea.
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