Should a martial art evolve with time?

Question

Should a martial art develop and change with time or should it remain traditional to its roots?

I expect that martial sports people will say it should evolve and traditional practicioners to say it should stay the same. But why? Please provide an explaination to support your views.

Many thanxs

Answer 1

I am a Traditional Shotokan practitioner but I believe a certain amount of evolution is good. After most of our Martial Arts as we know them are not that old. When Funakoshi took Karate to Japan this was an evolution of a much older art. Before him when Matsumura was teaching the Okinawan Emporers bodyguards he was changing and adjusting to the threats around him.
Later on the formation of the JKA and it's subsequent splintering was evolution. However, why should the arts evolve just because people can't do them well enough to succeed. That would be like saying you had more chance of scoring a goal in football(soccer) if you could pick a ball up and run with it. Someone already thought of that and called it rugby! Unfortunately the Martial Arts world is awash with mediocre people who have set up their own styles mainly due to their failure to progress fast enough within one of the established styles.
Similarly all the arguments about effectiveness in street fights are futile. 25 years ago I was a more effective fighter than I am now because I had a level aggression and probably vindictiveness that I thankfully no longer possess. In a street fight I would be prepared to do whatever it took regardless of consequence. Nowadays I have a level of maturity and respect for my fellow human being that I did not have as a youth, much of which has come from my Karate training. Do I think we should give up our core values as MA practioners to accomodate thugs from the street who want to learn quickly how to hurt people. Definately not.
On the subject of sports, there is absolutely nothing wrong with sports development and if that makes a particular less efficient as a fighting art then that is the practitioners choice. We are happy to accept that we give medals to modern javelin throwers and do not question if they would be effective on a Ancient Grek battlefield!
Finally, I can only speak for my own organisation but you will only be shown 'real' traditional karate after you have reached Dan grade and only at special classes. These include joint breaks, blows etc which would be banned at even the most extreme MMA competitions. I suspect all the people who continue to slag off karate have never had the opportunity to witness any of this and their judgement is based on peeking through the window at a kiddies class.

Answer 2

A complex question.

I say stay traditional. However that being said, I'm referring to the true traditional arts such as before they were formulized. Judo is a formulized sport, same as kendo, shotokan, etc. Those are traditional arts in the since they preserve tradition (frozen in time.) However they are not traditional in the sense that battlefield arts were fluid and ever changing. They were continuously improving and advancing. If not we would not have the multitude of different techniques.

I believe in tradition but traditional in thought and spirit. A traditional art would have been modernized for today's applications just as it has always been. Does that make it no longer traditional?

Understand too that while we keep the martial arts alive today. It is basically a dead art. It have very little actual "usefulness" in today's world. I mean honestly, I know some of us have had encounters, but can we justify the hundreds to thousands of hours of training put in for those few instances we did something. I think from and analytical stand point, you're better off just to take some licks and move on. So because the martial arts are somewhat "dead" today, arts like Judo, Aikido, etc.. and created to preserve the "end of days" of a time long forgotten. In that instance, they shouldn't change they are accomplishing their purpose.

The chapter in history where unarmed combat was necessary has come to a close. We have finished the final chapter and it's done. Now we just preserve it. However we should preserve every aspect of it. The traditional methods, and thoughts, and ideologies. It shouldn't be so hard to honor the past while training in the future.

Answer 3

I think that a traditional martial art should remain true to its roots, because if it changes with the times, then it would be unrecognizable after a generation, or two. The reason we even have traditional arts is because practioners have sought to do the art exactly the way their teachers taught them; so, going back several generations, the art has stayed constant from teacher, to teacher, to teacher, to current students.

For some teachers, its a sign of personal loyalty, not only to the teacher they studied under, but to the founder of the system, to do it exactly the way they were taught, and to teach it that way. To some people, that is important. Concerns about whether or not a system is up-to-date are not important to every student of an art: some want to study the art that is as it was when it was developed hundreds of years ago. Those practioners for whom modern efficacy is the greatest consideration, should look for arts that have changed with the times, or that were developed within the last 20 years, or so.

Of course, an art remaining the same for centuries, and keeping outmoded techniques may get a current student to become lost in the "classical mess," but that is the downside of studying a classical, traditional martial art.

Answer 4

Yeah I alway wonder why Judo can't change. I mean come on do you always have to train with a Gi? Why not have official Judo classes with no Gi? Why not add no Gi ground training so Judo contestants could enter no Gi tournaments?

The Gi adds an element that usually is not there for self defense. In a street fight it is doubtful that the opponent would be wearing a suit jacket. The suit jacket is a great replica of a gi but it is not as common as it use to be.

Or take Karate, I won't even let my kids train in it because it has too many flaws. The hands low, the point system. Forget about it, adapt to what people know works.

So my answer is yes Martial Arts should evolve.

Answer 5

I think that ma should evolve with time, everything else has. Whatever doesn't change with the times usually ends up behind in the long run.

The abilities of people have been changing with each generation. The mentality of people has been changing also. Today we live longer and have a healthier outlook on life. We also stay active longer. Because of this people can see what works in ma and what works better. If I stay in ma for more years than people one or two generations ago, I can see more trends in the martial arts and their effects.

In the past people had the idea that my style is better than your style and you are dumb. Now more people are getting the idea that a well rounded style is better. Whether it's studying a different style or learning a defense system. Attitudes change.

Defense from a long front stance used to be the norm in the past. Now defensive moves are done from a more upright and shorter stance. Evolution.

It's good to know where we came from. It's not good to stay in the past.

Answer 6

Hi idai,
Have practised muay thai with master sken for approx 11 years now and find it quite amusing the wide range of knowledge these people seem to have on various martial arts. You know what they say jack of all trades master of none!!! So speaking solely from experience of my 11 years with Thai boxing I would have to say NO. Consistency is a major factor in my training and while the world develops and changes in many ways some things are more sacred and in the past 11 years I have seen no changes take place within my camp. Ibelieve there are very few traditional clubs running anyway and to be mentored by a true master of any art is a very rare thing.

Answer 7

Well.... hopefully the knowledge of the practitioners increases with time. The human body only hinges the way it hinges, and there are a limited (although large) number of motions that a human body can make. It is not the movements that make traditional martial arts what it is, but the understanding of movement and the efficient application of movement and efficient coordination of muscles used. In traditional martial arts movement is used to teach the understanding behind movement, so that every movement the human body makes can be a martial arts movement. On the other hand, commercial martial arts teaches movements and the memorization of movements.
Should commercial martial arts evolve with time, hopefully yes. Hopefully more and more martial artists will learn the knowledge behind efficient movement, and grow beyond memorizing movements.
I hope that you are at a stage in your martial arts, where this information will make sense.

No one has ever noticed the my clown costume is a traditional Japanses Gi pattern with lapels added. ;-)

Answer 8

No, then the original form would be lost.
Traditional Martial arts should remain the same. If you are learning Karate TaeKwonDo or Kung Fu it is like a dance.

Yes when it comes to Self-Defense.
Self-Defense should evolve with time and culture. Self-Defense classes vary from place to place and what is it's dominant style being taught.

Answer 9

it already has evolved it evolves every day when you teach a certain martial art to a student, the way that student takes and adapts to the art is evolution that's also why you have people who train in mixed martial arts because they use different parts of many different arts to form there own brand of martial art and for everyone martial arts has different meaning and that's why it has and always will evolve

Answer 10

well this is a thought from a guy who has been around for a bit in the martial arts ,and yes things are changing in our world of combat ,more direct to the fighting,things have become faster paced for the generation ,and traditional martial arts are being forgotten about ......