Well I was wondering if there is some type of criteria or something that defines what a true martial arts is in a philosophical perspective. Or would this be something that the individual would have to discover themselves? What are your opinions, and what do you believe a true martial artist is?
The term is relative. If I choose to call myself a martial artist I would have to provide proof as to why I call myself that. Is a weekend warrior a martial artist? How about training 3 times a week? Or spending 2-3 hours a day, everyday for every week make me one? There was a great thread considering this. The mutual conclusion that we reached was that the term martial artist is just a label to identify what we do, anything past that gets relative and everyone has a different meaning for the word. Now if we start discussing what a true martial artist, we'll have all sort of things coming in. Is a true martial artist a warrior? What is a warrior? Are only soldiers warriors? Etc. Just train and not worry about these things.
True martial artist? One that doesnt have to lie or stretch the truth about anything, esp their rank which fuels the ego.
As a jushichidan in sudo kuratee and self appointed Saokie of said style; Just you wait until I take off my size 15 Gi jacket and gold, red and purple belt.....never mind, i'm out of breath now.
A true mastial artist will understand the "true" meaning of MA, that is 1. 狠(Hen) - fierce 2. 毒(Du) - poison 3. 要命(Yao Ming) - kill No matter how much nice words that you want to associate with MA (such as self-improvement, self-defense, self-awareness, ...), MA is "kill" and "be killed".
I always find the two words rather dubious... both 'true' and 'martial artist' The word true is always going to be relative and presupposes a polarized world view. I often find this a very blinkered way to look at the world. As for 'martial artist' - the term is most often bandied about by a whole lot of tossers who couldn't take the man on the street. It seems to have become a catch all term for people who do the social hour in white pajamas. Lots of theory... lots of talk... lots of what if... but very little stepping up to bat and smashing it out. I equate the term with ninjas and any idiot who comes up talking about chain punches being t3h d43adly. I just can't take the term seriously.
When you see an action movie that the main actor - fights for 30 minutes and he is still doing "flying side kick", you will not be serious about fighting. - kills his opponent within 3 seconds, you will think that fighting is not fun and should be avoid as much as possible. Only after you have seen the "dark side" of MA, you will then be appreciated the "true peace" of our world. This is the "true" meaning of MA and should be passed down from generation to generation.
Thanks for the support, sir. However, in my opinion this thread is really stupid. A true martial artist? that's like when i was skating around and some people would talk all, "Dude's not a true skateboarder" and it's like, oh... okay. great. Homeboy's got a board... he's riding it.... lotta cats weren't half bad but still chased out of the skatepark.... very cliquey scene, really. I remember in the TKD gym how much guff they talked about Kung Fu... but then the Grandmaster really didn't like the Chinese much... go figure. I mean... uh... this thing is pretty much just like saying "Kawasaki doesn't make true cruiser bikes" or "Charlton Heston wasn't the true Moses" ......who cares. Fighting is animal stuff. It's primal behavior. It's fun in the sense that competition makes us stronger.... but that's it. Wanna hurt a "fighter" and they'll just rip at your soft spots. done- you done, boy. True warriors are loathe of war. That's how you define a warrior. A true martial artist isn't someone you screw with, and that's about it. I practice TJC about 4 times a week, and I do my hard arts maybe once a week. But i lift me some weights, boyeeee. (turn up the music!) Could give a hoot about hard technique practice during the work week because damn, you know? I got all that good technique stuff down.... but a punch and a kick is still just that, no matter how freaking awesome they look. I guess true martial artists don't rant. Or maybe they do? Someone make a chuck norris joke.
So it seems that most of the people replying here forget the fact that when martial arts were invented in the Shoalin Temple they wasn't meant to be violent. They were meant to help the monks keep their physical health up to assist with the bath to enlightenment. And when it came to combat, they were meant to return the force thrown at them. Over time martial arts evolved to become a violent art, but the root of martial arts is seeded in a peaceful and spiritual meaning. So I guess I'll find the true meaning behind martial arts if and when I reach enlightenment. So until then, I'll just focus on my training.
You may not realise this, a few people here disagree that martial arts were invented in/at Shaolin. And - The root of martial arts is far from peaceful or spiritutal. IMHO - I think you may need to research martial arts a little further and dispell the many ongoing myths and misconceptions.
Agree! CMA were brought into Shaolin temple by "killers" who were hidden there as monks. There were no Shaolin temple style without those "killers". The human being had to - fight against weather, - fight against animals, and - fight against other human being. When a bad guy swings a sharp sword above your head, either your head or his head has to be separated from the body. There is nothing peaceful and spiritual about that. If you - have the ability to kill but you don't want to kill, you are a smart guy. - don't have the ability to kill but you still try to kill, you are a stupid guy.
How do your account for Pankration, which pre dates Shaolin massively? Nope, the chi cung exerices taught were indended to do that, the martial applications were intended to hurt people. While its true that the monks used staffs to reduce the chances of killing people(as they also did in this country) that didn't mean what they did wasn't effective and involved extreme violence at times. Ancent China often made the current situation in the middle east look positively peaceful. The martial arts have always involved violence. If the world wasn't a violent place martial arts as a concept would be completely unknown. Also when you've trained for a while you'll realise that the training is enlightenment.
