Is it just danger and fighting.

One of my martial arts is Tae Kwon Do, although I do another. People always say 'thats no good on the street', or 'that doesn't make you tough'. But whether it does or not, thats not why I do martial arts. I just wondered what other martial artists thourght, are you all training so you can defend yourself, or get fit, does anyone just start because they enjoy it. I just wondered cos people look at me strange when I say that i do martial arts because I just enjoy them, not cos there philosophical, hard, painful, protection, keep me fit or any other excuse. It also made me think because my best mate got head butted at school and was left with a broken nose and serious head injuries, and there was absolutely nothing he could do as he got knocked out. Therefore I think martial arts mearly give you the confidence not eternal protection, no matter who you are. Does this matter?

 

I think everyone is different.. some people can "kick ass" without any training, others train for ages and get their heads kicked in. Train realistically, remain humble and learn as much as you can from all your experiences positive and negative, do your best and see what happens.

 

For me, part of understanding these good questions is realizing that: what you do and why you do it, are two separate questions.

Martial Arts are about conflict resolution. Any martial art will teach how to survive a culutrally/environmentally specific form of physical confrontation. Simply put, martial arts, at their core, are about fighting. Just as music, at its core, is about sound.

Now why you choose to practice martial arts, well, thats about you. And there are countless reasons why you do it. This is something you already realize. And those reasons will change as you continue to grow and develop. They may even change into reasons why you stopped studying martial arts. But while your reasons change, the core of what the martial arts are remains the same.

Does that help at all?

- Matt

 

Cheers, its good to hear someone else say that. and not just 'tkd's crap on the street' that comment makes me cross, n im a very pasive person

 

for me i couldnt care less about fighting in t3h str33t, its a fairly uncommon occurence for me. I use my charm and rugged good looks to get out of trouble. ifi was THAT interested in self defense i would carry a knife

 

Fun is more important to me than self defence. However, I wouldn't enjoy martial arts training if I felt it was complete crap for that purpose.

 

It's fun. If it challenges me and I grow as a person as a result, great! If it gives me practical techniques to use in a confrontation, great. If it helps me get fitter, great. But it just comes down to "fun". If I don't enjoy what I'm doing, I'm not gonna do it. Plain and simple.

 

we train in martial arts to overcome fear
fear weakens people
If you ever have the opportunity to challenge a person who is unafraid you'll be able
to figure out martial arts quickly

 

When it comes down to it, I train for recreation. I love the challenge Muay Thai provides, and I treat it as a sport. Some people play soccer... I kickbox.

I don't really view it as cultivation of the soul or a means of self-defense.

 

reply...

Glad to see someone post a decent thread A martial art is what you make it out to be, but an art nonetheless. What fun would it be if there was no fun to it? When I first began martial arts I did sportfighting. It wasn't the most effective streetfighting system out there, but I had loads of fun doing it. When I wanted to move to a streetfighting system I moved to Kenpo. The one thing I really dislike though, is a martial art being bashed for what it is. It's when someone tries to present a 'fact' that their art is the most street-effective that always gets everyones blood boiling.

 

i do it to stay fit, flexable, and to be able to protect/attack during a fight

 

I do TKD because I really don't think that I will get in a fight, but on that rare occurance, I believe that I wil be able to handle myself well enough to come out of it relatively (well, relative to the other guy) unharmed using TKD. FOR ME, the benefits of TKD outweigh the negative of not being entirely street oriented. For example, I'm not rolling around on the ground with a sweaty 6'4" bald guy in lycra underwear three times a week, it is a sport which can be taken to the very top tier, and I get to learn things that are coll looking, and I think that I look reasonably sharp in white pyjamas and a colourful belt.

 

perhaps i spoke to soon?

 

Hey, I'm not saying 'Oh, TKD is super effective on street for life!! WOOT WOOT'. I'm saying that I know how to throw a punch and a kick better than your average ****head trying to start something at 3:00 Sunday morning. Perhaps you misunderstood me, or maybe you took issue with something else that I said. Also, I forgot to put a smiley at the end of it, if that makes a difference to you.

 

I like to fight, train, train to fight, just about anything to do with fighting or training. I figured doing muay thai and bjj was a good combination of my love of fighting and my love of training.

 

No worries, I think i owe you the apology here. Didn't mean to jump on ya that quickly over it. But agreed. It does certaintly help more than just being like the average joe. But yes, the uniforms and belts always do add to the fun

 

This is going to sound stupid:

But for me; it's having a legacy to pass on to my kids.

But it has to be a legacy WORTH something(ie i dont want to learn touch contact fighting)

 

I really like the sport part. As Gray said, for some people is football, for me, I kick people for sport.

 

Nothing's effecive on the street, Unless you have the skill to apply it on the street.