Martial Arts...fighting or not?

Question

What is your opinion about Martial Arts...do you see it as fighting, or as strenghtening your mind, body and spirit?

Answer 1

I've been doing Martial Arts for nine years. It is a way of life. It is about discipline and respect andd honor. Learning to be at peace with your mind and becoming more spiritual. Finding yourself. It is about soooooo much more than fighting. But it does feel good to get in the ring!

Answer 2

Proper teaching of marital arts is to strengthen your mind, body and spirt to the point one does not need to fight, but has the ability to defend themselves if need be.

Rare a true martial arts person will pick, start a fight of any type. Cause having this training and then hurting someone by the use of it can bring criminal charges against a pesron for use of a deadly weapon.

The movies show marial arts as all fighting, kicking, punching, like everything else on TV its fake and fantasy world.

Go watch a few different martial arts classes and the good ones will stand out among the others, calm atmosphere, attentive teacher, etc.

Answer 3

Real martial arts (as opposed to those developed for sport) were developed in response to a defensive need in time of war, back in the day when combat was up close and personal. They were developed as physical and mental training with fighting implications. They had to physically and mentally prepare for the gruesome realities of battle. But the road that led to that state of preparedness developed "mind, body and spirit". Having the skills to take another person's life is a great responsibility and should not be taken lightly. Therefore, a truly accomplished practitioner avoids getting into situations were trouble may arise. Of course many practitioners want to find out were they stand in the pecking order and see how their skills measure up. That's were safe sparring comes in. I'm sure no one wants to be the recipient of a dim mak strike or a bone-breaking maneuver. Those are for real fights, not sport. You can't really practice those on a real person.

Fights should be avoided specially if you're good at martial arts. Learning how to fight in a tournament teaches a lot of bad habits that can get you hurt in the street.

Answer 4

The heritage of martial arts stems from a spiritual and physical beginning. Monks learned martial arts to gain enlightenment through their earthly bodies, and as a side effect were also reknowned fighters in the physical sense. However, something less focused on are the martial arts created and used by spartans, romans, greeks, etc. They had war and fighting tactics before and during the rise of more modern martial arts, however their styles (usually with spears, swords, shields, etc.) Were for purely dominance over others, however the leaders of these trained killers often became the rulers of countries. This I believe correlates back to how martial art training expands your mind and spirit to percieve things differently, and what help set those individuals apart from their societal mobs.

In the end I feel that martial arts are what you make it. You do not have to study Kung Fu or Aikido to understand the spiritual side of the martial arts. The ever so popular BJJ can teach you the conservation of energy on the mats-how does that not relate back to your life? Timing, movement, technique, pain tolerance-all of this and more can mean as much as you want it to. It just depends on the different levels that one wishes to understand the different concepts.

Answer 5

First and foremost, martial arts are about fighting. The term "martial" literally means 'of, relating to, or suggestive of war'. Many people study martial arts with other goals in mind and many styles of martial arts emphasize other disciplines, but unless some type of combat is being practiced it's not a martial art.

For me personally, martial arts are about fitness and competition. I'll strengthen my mind and spirit on my own. I study martial arts because I like the challenge of one on one competition and it's a great way to get in shape. There is the added benefit of being able to handle myself on the street, but prefer to aviod fights before they start.

Answer 6

Martial Arts is just that, an art. I'd see it more as strengthening you mind body and soul as opposed to, fighting, martial arts is so much more than that.

Answer 7

In any Martial Arts Program there are opportunities to compete in Fighting, opportunities to compete in Forms and opportunities to challenge oneself physically and mentally through rigorous workouts and various techniques. Fighting is just a small part of the total pacage. A true Martial Artist will only fight to protect their life or the lives of others unless they are competing in a tournament which is an excellent way of putting your skills to the test if you are up to the challenge!

Answer 8

It's disciplined fighting. Most martial arts stress the concept of self-defense. It is not focused on aggression, but preservation.

Answer 9

I practice martial arts for fighting MMA, not to defend myself or to learn philosophy

Answer 10

Tell Tim the Maine-iac Sylvia or Tito Ortiz, or any other UFC fighter that martial arts isn't fighting.