what is the point of the art in martial arts?

Question

im not trying to ofend any one but i dont see why so many people think that truditional martial arts work. the last time i got into a street fight the guy i was fighting tried the whole cranw thing on me. well it quikly became the wounded crane. spining around 3 times before you kick someone just doesnt work so why do people do it?

i did not start the fighte!!!! and i do train in a form o jkd, but it is based only around real fighting.

Answer 1

correct that's why in Australia zen do kai was formed its freestyle fighting that is "street" and freestyle is now the biggest fight tournament around being th ufc. Which proved that doing 3 turns before a strike got your head knocked off. good bye karate

Answer 2

holy **** when I say the qwuestion i had to provide the total speach you probably did about what an artist is and how the real unique chinese variations of the charecters budo skill to evade 2 spears from clashing yet you beat my face to the punch rather you've a superb base of files! i will provide my unpopular oppinion anybody is as they are not instantly a martial artist bruce lee once suggested that the nicely proper propaganda of the word martial artist became that they were somthing that the others were not yet it truly is truly not real he argued that veryone turned right into a martial artist of different skill of route a draw close extra powerful then the untrained yet that martial arts mostly belonged to anybody because all people ought to apply in spite of the indisputable fact that skill they'd given the most perfect condition it rather is my technical ansewer i'm a touch hypocritical because when I seek for suggestion from a preparation spouse or somthing i do wait a particular element earlier i think i will call somone a martial artist yet in my oppinion if someone shows the right heart and maximum perfect target and is not making their moves completly without concept, he who supplies extra concept to issues coping with morality and such i ought to call that individual a real martial artist in spite of the indisputable fact that in the experience that they absolutely had in the way ahead for tae kwon do undetr their belt in simple terms my 2 cents

Answer 3

The term "art" in martial arts doesn't refer to any kind of art at all.

it refers to the root of the phrase "the Arts of Mars" (translated to english).

Mars bieng the god of war, so it is really a reference meaning the Arts of war.

However in your example, the jackass spinning around 3 times likely recieved bad training. If you aren't training realistically, crap like that happens.

I love this article, so true and heart wrenching at the same time:
http://www.bullshido.net/modules.php?name=Reviews&file=viewarticle&id=3

If you think that Martial arts as a whole don't work in a street fight, then why don't you pick a fight with silvia, ortiz or hughes? Or for that matter walk up to gatti or mayweather on the street and try to punch them in the face and count the miliseconds of consiousness you have before blacking out.

TMA does work, ask any kyokoshin karate student who train (at later levels) with bare fisted sparring.

It all depends on the level of intensity and quality of training you recieve. If you sit and do kata all day and never train against anyone with realistic resistance then you will be able to only do kata.

I don't like fake masters and chi throwing jedi wookies either. Unfortunately there are teachers out there peddling crap and they aren't regulated. If you can figure a way to do so that could be realistically implemented I'm all ears.

Answer 4

Martial Arts are more than just self defense. If it was all about learning to street fight it would be called...well, street fighting. Martial Arts also has a lot to do with self respect, respecting others, confidence, self control, inner peace... heck, even physical fitness. It is about training your mind as well as your body...about learning that you don't HAVE to prove yourself by beating the crap out of someone.
It also seems that this guy you are talking about had NO CLUE what he was doing. He may have been trying to scare you or bluff you into thinking he knew something he really didn't. A real Martial Artist can certainly defend themself and traditional Martial Arts do work. For example, I can throw a spin kick in about the same time it takes you to blink- far faster than an untrained fighter can block it. However, that is with over 20 years of training and not from just watching The Karate Kid 7 times and going through the fight scenes in slow motion.
To sum it up, traditional Martial Arts do work, but only if they are used by someone who actually knows what they are doing and not by someone who is just "playing around" with it. However, they are about a LOT more than just fighting and that is where the "Art" comes in- it's a way of life. If you have to make the statement, "...the LAST time I got into a street fight..." then I suggest you examine something that teaches you a little more than just how to kick someone's butt. Butt kicking is easy and it's is not the end-all of existance. Traditional Martial Arts will teach you something a LOT more worthwhile...an Art of living without violence.
Hope this helps...
Sensei Cox

Answer 5

Traditional training has it's place. The guy you fought does not represent the traditional styles as a whole.
Let me ask this back to you, what has changed on the human body in the last 2000 years that would make these arts ineffective? The human body is the same as it was back then more or less.
This is not to say modern styles have no place because they certainly do. It is all a matter of personal preference.
i think one bonus of traditional style is that the techniques have been proven by time where as a brand new style has no history to refer to as support of it's effectiveness.

Remember, the frequency and quality of your training will far out weigh the style you train in.

Answer 6

I feel that there are 'martial skills' that one can learn as a part of all of the schools. A 'martial art' includes a lot more than just being able to do self defense. A 'martial sport' is done for competition, to win glory, medals and trophies. Martial sports are for showing off, the very anti-thesis of a true martial artist.

To me, the Modern/Mixed Martial Arts are less of the art and more of the martial skills, eliminating any of the trappings typically associated with a traditional martial art.

If that is what one is looking to study, great! Not what I want.

Here, once again, we see the ugly distinction being made between martial arts and martial skills.

The true martial artist studies not just to be able to fight, but to improve themselves. Those that practice such internal arts improve their overall health, while greatly reducing the risk of physical damage. This is a benefit to society, both in the form of increasing the years of productivity and in reducing the cost of health care and health insurance.

I am in favor of the practice of martial arts that are not limited to the young and strong, but ones that can be practiced for one's entire life, not just a few short years in one's youth.

Learn the art, not just the skill.

Answer 7

I've never heard of spinning around 3 times for anything, much less a kick. One of the important things in learning any martial art is learning it to the point where it is reflexive, you don't have to think about it but you simply act. Another important thing is when you can and can not use a particular technique. The most important thing is to lean how to keep yourself out of situations where there is no recourse but fighting. Defication occurs, and anyone can get lucky, no matter how good you are.

Most people learn enough of a martial art to become dangerous, but only dangerous to themselves. A little knowledge is a very dangerous thing.

Answer 8

For some people its easy to separate the art, from the martial aspect. For you its more difficult. That doesn't make you stupid, you just haven't taken a martial art yet I am guessing. There is more to martial arts than just fighting. Its a way to fight or to defend yourself sure, but it goes much deeper than that if you allow it. I have some people I train with that only focus on the martial aspect, and thats cool. I choose to learn both sides of the coin.

Answer 9

You miss the point of "art" because it is a poor translation. Do comes from the Chinese Dao or Tao. It is a way of life. I'm not really familiar with the Crane styles, so I won't comment on them. In general, we practice exotic techniques, not because we plane to use them "for real", but because it helps make other techniques better. The Do does not depend on exotic techniques.

Answer 10

Traditionally, the "art" of martial arts was the part of the training that allowed for self expression and self developement, and had a lot less to do with fighting. That being said, it is the "martial" part of martial arts that allowed warriors to train for battle. Unfortunately, many modern "martial artists" have divided the two aspects -- case in point: The popularity of XMA (purely artistic) and MMA (purely martial). A true martial artist will have mastered both the external and the internal, having developed his fighting ability to his personal best, and having turned his technique inward to attain perfection of character.