Am I one of the few people here who took martial arts for self defense?

Question

And not for sport fighting or trophies? I'm not talking about MMA, because its mostly a sport that has self defense applications. Instead of the reverse.

I hear a couple people regard martial arts as only a sport. Is this the new frame of mind the younger martial artists are taking?

Or is my thinking just backwards in that martial arts is supposed to be mainly for self defense and not sport?

J-Dog:

I'm only focusing on the sport vs self defense aspect here. I'm well aware of the rest of what you said. It is just that those tend not to be in argument.

I suppose I wasn't too specific. lol I'm really talking about the people who think martial arts is ONLY a sport.

Any fighting technique can have a sport application, but not all "sporty" martial art techniques have good self defense applications.

Example: Tornado kick (360 Roundhouse/kick). Street fight/self defense, it would be more or less stupid to turn your back on an attacker.

BUT! The tornado kick has good sport applications to it.

It is almost like "People, do you know what the term 'martial' means?" lol

One more question.......what fool gave J-Dog a thumbs down?

I actually don't mind watching MMA, though when it goes to the ground, it tends to get boring for me.

Full Contact tournaments are better, in my opinion, than the point sparring and olympic sparring we see. Atleast in full contact, you have a better idea of what an actual fight would be like.

Doce Pares is not really what the system is called. Doce Pares is the group that founded in the Philipines using Escrima or Kali.

Look up Human Weapon-2nd Ep. and they did Escrima/Kali. Doce Pares was the group that they learned from.

Stick and knife fighting is what they taught you, yes? It's much more than just stick and knife fighting, but that's the basics of it.

Answer 1

Nope. I took Karate for a self-defense side. It's also helped my fitness a lot but I didn't join for that reason.

I personnally don't like it when people laugh off karate as only a sport and nothing to do with self defense anymore. At the dojo I train at, we do a LOT of self defense work, and hardly any competition stuff compared to other dojos, but that's not to say that we're better than them at self defense or anything.

I think that many martial arts were 'sportsified' when the mainly western demand for markers of achievement caused the introduction of the belt system, instead of a belt being white because its the colour of the gi, and going to brown and black simply from the amount of dirt, sweat, blood and tears that have got ingrained into it.

I do think that a lot of young people do go in for the sport, but that is more the nature of modern society (I hate that phrase) and a lot of young people, at least an equal amount if not more, go in for the fitness, personal safety or self discipline side of it. People who do go in for sport will still get the self defense side of it if they're participating in sessions right, and I think that's good, although I do think that people have forgotten the literal meaning of 'martial art'.

Answer 2

I think many people take martial arts for many reasons. I also think you're right that MMA is a sport and that martial arts are about something else than measuring against other martial artists constantly.
I am 6'2" over 240 pounds and in good physical shape. So self-defence wasn't one of my prime concerns. I'm jus not the type of guy that gets bothered by criminals in a parking lot at night.
For me, I took martial arts for the challenge it represented, because although I practiced a number of sports, I've never been very good at stuff which involved intricate technique. (My body's built for strength and endurance, not speed and flexibility). So I've decided to do something difficult that would take me to new levels and force me to work my weaknesses.
Over time, I've discovered there was even more to it than this. I've come to embrace the whole ritual and philosophy of the arts and have taken an active interest in more intangible aspects of it too. I've also taken an interest to the history of aikido (which I practice) and different arts.
What bothers me the most about a lot of the mentality fostered by the MMA is lot of people keep going around saying this, or that sucks and that art is no good, etc... I find that attitude counterproductive and, quite frankly, childish. I've come to believe there was something to be learned from all arts and I never assume something is easy or inefficient if I haven't done it myself (how should I know?).

Answer 3

No-not all. There are many people that think like you although I am not now strictly one of them per say. I have found in doing martial arts for almost forty years that oftentimes, but not always, as a person starts, takes, and does martial arts their reasons for taking it, along with their attitude, and interests sometimes change. Like you when I first took it the last thing on my mind was competition or trophies-all that was few and far between and my reason was for self defense as well as curiosity.

Besides the obvious self defense aspects, character building development, and health benefits that martial arts offers it still also offers a place where people can at times disagree without having a major melt down and respect others that think like yourself. I have students that do think like you that I am more than happy to teach and I consider the competition aspects as just a venue were you can test your skills against other similarly skilled individuals, whom you know little or nothing about, under a set of rules outside the emotional safety that your dojo or dojang offers.

Answer 4

I really started taking mixed martial arts as an exercise program when i was in high school. It was a great work out. I love Ju Jitsu (sp?) and have actually had to use it a few times. I never really thought of it as self defense until i had to use it. There are plenty of things that i learned in MMA that i would use on the street. like a roundhouse kick for example. If you have a good teacher you will perfect the spin and land the kick with precision each time. MMA is about discipline, knowledge, and lastly fighting. It depends on the teacher you have. I was first entered in a school with about 100 others, then as i progressed my sensi sent me to individuals to learn specific aspects. It really depends though on the person entering the school as to how the percieve the classes. Some thought it was just an after school activity while others took it seriously and made it far.

Answer 5

@Garret, thanks for mentioning our art, but we are not Krav Maga with traditional martial arts roots. We are a traditional martial art, with titles, uniforms, salutations, belts, forms, and respect and discipline is taught. We are just the "Hawaiian street fighting art" and we just have crazy training methods. And because of those crazy training methods, not too many people stay in Kajukenbo and that's why nobody's ever heard of Kajukenbo. And when Kajukenbo people compete, they follow the rules of the competition. Benny Urquidez follows the rules of kickboxing, and Chuck Lidell follows the rules of the UFC. Or else they would be disqualified. What was shown on Fight Quest was just a few Kajukenbo schools getting together and having a bit of fun. The basic rule is don't deliberately do anything to hurt your sparring partner because you want him to come back to train next week. But sometimes things get a bit out of hand. But it's never intentional. Kajukenbo is good for self-defense. But the training is vigorous, brutal, violent and painful. And most people cannot handle it. It takes immense dedication to go back week after week. If there's a hardcore Kajukenbo school in your area, check it out. If not, check out the Karate, Kung Fu and Tae Kwon Do schools. Best of luck in finding the martial art that suits you.

Answer 6

When I was younger, I participated in matches constantly....call it the simple hubris of youth when I was still training in Hung Gar and Muay Thai. Though, it made me fight against another person and truly understand how the techniques worked under adrenaline and pressure. So, I don't begrudge someone for participating in tourney's at all.

But, to focus on nothing but the sport, and JUST the sport elements of combat style training is foolish.

It's good for a man to fight another from time to time, but if all you think about is fighting, I think you'll lose track of the greater scope of what martial arts have to teach.

Now, I use the arts as purely self-defense alone, and as a means to constantly keep my ego in check so I can grow as a person.

Mind you, MMA is the new fad, like Karate was in the 80's....and with it, you bring the fanboys with it. Don't get me wrong, I respect MMA immensely, but it's limited in it's approach as a combat art simply because it's a sport venue.

Sports have rules, rules have limits, limits hurt your overall ability to defend yourself when rationality goes out the
window.

So, the moral of this whole diatribe is this : you do what you do and be happy with it, let them do what they do and let them be happy with that.

Answer 7

No, I started martial arts training for self-defense back in 1968 when that was all it was for.

The martial arts are not sports! I never cared for sports as a kid which is why I gravitated to the martial arts: Judo, Karate, and Jiu-jitsu. I am very dedicated to Senseis and couldn't care less about a coach. And I would never put on a baby blue gi.

Sportifying the martial arts is the ruination of the martial arts.

Answer 8

I fight in tournaments to give my self a idea where my skills are at. It is a way of testing my self but I am against the fighting just for the entertainment value of others I believe that we should only use martial arts for self defense and defense of others and I am afraid people are losing the spiritual and moral side of the arts

Answer 9

It's an Art.
A way of Life.
A great outlet.
It's a mindset.
It has an aspect to express itself in the form of a sport.
It's a form of self defense.
It's a self esteem booster.

To put all your attention on just one of these descriptions would take away from the ideal Martial artist.

You're not alone in your thinking though. I agree I read about many people focusing too much on the sport aspect.

Answer 10

I started for self-defense. I practice only for self-defense, and have never done a tournament or a demo.

Many people come to our school for self-defense, some, like me, never move past that point, but for many it becomes so much more. They love the tournaments, ring fights, they do kickboxing to stay in shape, and practice XMA or Jackie Chan type stuff. Some of it has very little practical use, but then neither does running on a treadmill! I compare it to any other sport, there's people who practice for self defense, and then there are the fanatics!