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"Have people lost their way in Martial
Arts?" I was
emailed a question a few days ago from a person who really likes my
articles I guess. Anyhow, this question really struck something inside
of me and got me thinking (oh no, right?) Anyhow, here's the question
that this person emailed me, and this article is a copy of my response
to that person. NOTE: this might offend some people.
Question: Today it seems the world is
only concerned with sport based applications of martial arts such as MMA.
When did we lose the integrity and meaning behind studying the martial
arts that made them so great? Each day we hear people talk about
fighting, conceptual system versus system arguments and everything is
focused on the obtaining of fighting abilities. Why have people lost the
true meaning of the martial arts and why would anyone believe that
martial arts are only about fighting? Looking forward to your answers.
My Answer: "The biggest problem I see
is the dynamic of those who want a short cut versus those who raise the
bar entirely too high.
To me, MMA, and some other martial art activities like Krav Maga and
women's self defense, attract people who want a short cut or a quick
fix. They want to learn something quick, fast and now. Sure, you can
actually do that, but the problem is that someone who has taken the time
to lay a solid foundation is going to wipe the floor with you. MMA
should be in my opinion, someone with multiple black belts in
complementary disciplines learning how to blend them together against
someone else with similar qualifications. It has the potential to be the
most advance martial arts application there is. Instead what I see, and
I could be wrong, is half-*** trained people pumped up on weights,
thrown in a cage against other half-*** people. If one of the two MMA
fighters is not actually half-***, you end up with slaughter matches. I
know martial arts are about fighting, but I should not have to see you
grappling on top of a pool of someone's blood in order to feel like the
match has a winner. Lots of times, if these matches were stopped at the
point they would be in a TMA contest, you'd still see the same person
win.
The opposite problem are people who want you to take 15 to 20 years to
get a black belt, then even longer before you are allowed to teach
anyone. I'm talking just a 1st degree black belt here. Come on! It
should not take that long. It should also not take 10 or 20 days or
months, but it also should not take 15 or 20 years unless you are a
student who rarely shows up to class. And yet, some of us are willing to
invest that type of time----I know I have been. Some schools only let
4th degrees and above teach, for that would truly be ideal,
realistically, there are not enough of those black belt martial artists
to go around. Not only that, it is the first, second and third degrees
who many times end up doing the grunt work of teaching beginners and
intermediate students anyway. Why not let those folks get others up to
1st degree black belt, which is what is really happening anyway? I could
say that because I'm one of them. Now the whole yellow/orange belts
teaching phenomenon, that's where I say you crossing the line. Brown
belts----iffy, for some brown belts are good teachers. I was fortunate
enough to have great direction from my Chief Instructor when I was
allowed to teach. He monitored me very closely and taught me the true
essence of teaching. We at times have made a cult around the black belt,
made a God out of it, put more importance on it than they do in the
countries that originated these arts. We have to find balance. How many
organizations out there let let people who can fight well but can't
remember how to demonstrate or explain the curriculum slide on up the
belt ranks to 1st degree, so we end up with a bunch of brawlers who
could not teach an old lady how to walk across the mat. So you won 50
tournaments yet you can't tell me how and why to do Short Form 3? You
won the All Kick Butt Karate Championships three years in a row yet you
can't handle teaching a beginner how to do Short Form 1 or Kicking Set
1? So you know how to do it, but you can't tell anyone else how to do
it, right? But you can wear a black belt with pride, right? Yeah, ok.
The second biggest problem is our aversion to training housewives,
husbands and children. Aren't we housewives, husbands and children?
Aren't they the people who more than likely NEED martial arts the most?
This is why the mcdojos are able to prey on these people. The mcdojos--and
mckwoons and mcdojangs, love to take advantage of the most vulnerable.
And guess what? We, as a whole, let them.
Sir, this problem is not unique to martial arts. Rap music has the same
problem. People talk about where "real hip hop" went. Well it went down
the toilet because the public would rather see idiots rap than rappers
who are poetic. Perhaps the public would rather watch and train in idiot
martial arts than in traditional styles, because traditional martial
arts emphasize beauty, peace, calmness AND aggression. How many of us
here have students, and even ARE students, who would rather spar or just
learn a technique just to get through the motions just to be able to
MAYBE pull it off in a belt test...or just to say "yeah i know all 24 of
my techniques". How many of us are out there that think that rather than
get the moves right in our forms, let me just learn it just to be able
to check it off a list because you know it's a requirement for your next
rank? Did you even understand what you just learned?? Or, you'd rather
be a forms competitor instead of working on your sparring, especially
when you know damn well that your sparring needs work.
The biggest problem is US"
Sincerely,
Mr. Maurice A. Gomez Sr.
American Kenpo Karate 2nd Degree Black Belt
USA- Head Instructor
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