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Thought. You hear martial artists say, “My martial art is the best!” and others condemn them for saying it. What would you expect a martial artist to say, “That other martial art is better than mine. I am just training in my lesser martial art because I am stupid!”

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Thought.  I just watched a video on the Internet of a “master” teaching a clinic on intricacies of knife fighting to a group of young children; so much for ethics and intelligence in the martial arts.

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Thought. You hear martial art masters claim they can sense people behind them, when the people are going to attack, from what direction they are going to attack, and in what manner they are going to attack. Rubbish? These masters cannot tell you what you thinking when you are standing in front of them starring them in the face, but they want us to believe they can sense and read the mind of a person behind them. Rubbish?

People with disabilities or deformities say they can sense when people around them are staring at them and are feeling disgust at them. When I call my mother, she says she sensed that I was going to call. How do we know they are correct in their assumptions—we know it because they say they are correct. Everyone claims to sense things, and yet, when it matters, such as when a drunk driver runs a stop sign in front of them or when a tree falls on their house, they never have even slightest indication that it was about to occur.

People claim to have predicted events after they happen, but they have a problem predicting things before they happen. After things happen, psychics and the like find things they previously said that they say shows they had predicted the events. However, the predictions were vague statements with no definite details. In addition, psychics predict hundreds of things every year, most which everyone knows have a good chance of occurring, and, when one of the predations occurs, they claim success—neglecting the hundreds of predictions they got wrong. No one predicted the World Trade Center Attacks or the Iraq War. I remember in 1997, when Princess Diana and Mother Teresa, two of the best known women in the world, both died within a month of each other—no one predicted either death.

Think about your own experiences. For every time you have sensed something and been correct, you will have sensed something else and been incorrect. That means you were correct 50 percent of the time; the number expected in random chance. Even if your success rate exceeds 50 percent for a short time, it is still random chance. No one has been proven to be able to predict or sense anything consistently or significantly.

While being aware of your surroundings and the circumstances will help you avoid being in a position to be attacked, oo amount of training will enable anyone to sense an attack. People believe what they want to believe, regardless of facts to the contrary.

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Thought.  There are limits and requirements in life. When it comes to their beliefs and behaviors in respect to a limit or requirement that may affect them, people fall into one of five categories:

Category 1: Those who agree with it and obey it.

Category 2: Those who agree with it but do not obey it.

Category 3: Those who do not agree with it but still obey it.

Category 4: Those who do not agree with it and do not obey it.

Category 5: Those who agree with it but think that it is arbitrary and does not always apply to them, so they do not always obey it.

This topic deals with people in the fifth category: those who think limits and requirements should be flexible and change according to the needs or desires of the people to which they apply. For example, these are the people who believe there should be a speed limit in their neighborhood and it should be used to catch speeders from other areas who use their neighborhood streets as a shortcut when going to work. However, these same people will scream and complain if they are caught speeding on the same streets; they always have reasons why they should be exempt from the speed limit.

These people see a limit or requirement as merely a base mark from which decisions may be made as to whether the limit or requirement should be obeyed under the circumstances, or who should obey it. For example, while most people would agree that 32 degrees Fahrenheit is the established freezing temperature of water, category five people would argue that if pure water is cooled without being disturbed, it will not freeze until much lower temperature, so therefore, contrary to it being everyone else’s limit, to them, 32 degrees is not the freezing point of water.

There are limits and requirements in the martial arts. There are limit on the age a student may be to enter a certain program, test for a certain rank, or participate in a certain event; or there may be limit on the size students may have to be to compete in certain divisions in a tournament. Some limits and requirements were established at the beginning of a martial arts existence and traditionally have been observed since that time, such as the minimum requirements for attaining a black belt. However, even that sacred requirement has been changed in the last few years to make it easier for students to make rank so more students will be retained and a steady supply of income will be maintained.

Category five people, while agreeing that there should be limits and requirements on certain things, think that the limits and requirements should not apply to them, or to certain groups of people, because of their special circumstances. Many times, after these people are given an exception to a limit or requirement, they will then argue that the exception should not be given for others under the same circumstances. A perfect example of this is people who are trying to build a house in area where the homeowners are attempting to prevent new construction due to overcrowding. These people will hold protests and fight in court until they are allowed to build, then they will join the homeowners in efforts to keep anyone else from building in the area. In the martial arts, we see people who think black belt requirements should be lower, and then after they make black belt, they argue that the requirements are too low and should be raised.

One martial art set of requirements that draws much controversy are the requirements for attaining ranks. Each rank in a martial art has certain age limit and requirements that must be met before a person may be awarded that rank. As long as people have no problem meeting these requirements, they think the requirements are fair. However, when they have a problem meeting the requirements, or they see some “limited” person who is not able to meet the requirements, they demand the requirements be changed, waived, or a special exception given.

Regrettably, many martial art organizations, schools, and instructors have given into these demands. Now there are so many exceptions to rank requirements that they are considered guidelines that may or many not apply depending on the person and the circumstances. The following are a few examples of these expected exceptions:

• During testing, a student makes a mistake on the pattern or did not break the board, but he has done it properly in class many times, so he should not be punished for not doing it this one time because: a) he was sick, b) his grandfather just died, c) his parent overslept and caused him to have to rush to get to the testing, or d) a friend gave him the wrong advice on how to do it.

• The student is mentally or physically disabled and is doing the best he or she will ever be able to do, so he or she should be promoted.

• My child may be young but she deserves a black belt now because otherwise she will have to wait years until she is old enough.

• My son may have failed the test, but he came to class everyday, is a very good student, and he is well liked by everyone, so he should be promoted,

• My daughter is small for her age so she should not have to break the same number of boards as others her age.

• My student is good at sparring, but is only able to spar one round instead of the required five rounds due to a heart condition.

• If a child can perform the pattern movements correctly, spar effectively with children of the same age, and break a smaller or lesser number of boards that adults are required to break, the child should be awarded a black belt regardless of his or her age. Physical, mental, and emotional maturity should not be a factor.

• Aged students should be promoted just because they are doing more than others of the age are capable of doing, or are doing.

• The student is a community leader and could do much to further the acceptance of the martial arts within the community, so she should be promoted.

• The student is wealthy and, if promoted, will continue to train and pay testing fees for many years.

• The student comes from a minority or an underprivileged group and, if not promoted, it will damage his self-esteem and self-confidence.

• The student has volunteered his time to assist at every event and is a staunch supporter of the school, so she deserves to be promoted.

• Although the person is not nor has never been a  student of the martial arts, he is a celebrity or a politician, so giving the person an “honorary” black belt will be beneficial to the school and increase the school’s image.

• The person is a master in the XX style so he or she should not have to complete our style’s normal rank progression; he or she should be awarded a master rank in our style based on rank in another style.

No matter what the level of a given limit or requirement, category five people will argue, why is this the limit when it is nearly as good. Following their logic that the next lower limit is just a good, if you lower the limit to that level, they will make the same argument again, etc. etc. until there is no limit remaining. This is what has been happening to the traditional requirements on rank promotion.

As a result of all these exceptions to traditional limits and requirements, martial art rank now means little to nothing outside of the school or organization that issues it, and, in many circumstances, it mean little within the organization or school. Nowadays, martial art rank merely indicates the length of time a person has been a paid up student pf good standing within an organization or school.

When limits and requirements are not enforced, they cease to be limits or requirements and they become meaningless.

Comments. None.

Thought. In the beginning, martial arts were promoted as the way of life, bushido, the way of the warrior. However, there were few people who wanted to be warriors and even fewer who were willing to do what it took to become a warrior. This was not a problem until modern times when martial art schools become businesses. To be profitable, the martial art businesses needed to attract more students.

Since there was not much demand for schools that taught warriors, martial art schools, in an effort to attract students, started promoting themselves as “secret” fighting arts that were known only to a few masters. They promoted themselves as manly fighting arts that boys could use to build themselves physically so they could stop bullies from bothering them or their girl friends. When meditation and yoga became popular, martial arts promoted their relaxation aspects and how they promoted peace though personal fulfillment. The “kung-phooey” movie craze led to martial art schools concentrating on oriental weapons and fancy useless techniques. When aerobics became popular, martial art schools promoted their aerobic benefits and offered such things as kickboxing and boxer-cize. The Teenage Mutant Turtles got more children interested in the martial arts, so schools concentrated on teaching children. They began watering down the martial arts to please parents who did not want to teach their children violence. For example, students no longer learned fighting stances; they learned sparring stances.

Since their inceptions, the martial arts have gone from being fighting systems that taught you how to kill with your empty hands to the point that they now are being promoted as being nonviolent children sports. Why have these changes taken place? Has it been a logical growth path for fighting systems? I say—no! It has been because some people with an interest in the martial arts wanted to make money from the martial arts, so they kept reinventing them to fit the prevailing mores so they could attract more students, not to teach them true martial arts, but to make more money.

Nowadays, most of the martial arts have little or nothing to do with fighting or self-defense, they are martial art related sports for children designed to attract socially conscious parents. They only have adult programs to accommodate the children when they get older and to attract adults who want to stay fit using the latest “in” system. ]

Nowadays, you will have to search long and hard to find a modern martial art that is anywhere near being a real martial art. While there is not much demand for warriors, there is a need for people with warrior spirits, and there are basically only two places to get that—in the military and from the martial arts.

Comments.

Will says (4/20/07):

What do you consider to be a "real" martial art? Is taekwondo a "real" martial art, with its recent development in Korea and wildfire spread on "non violent" tournaments, heavy emphasis on tradition, impractical and elegant stances, and complete lack of grappling techniques?

What made me interested in Taekwondo was reading Grandmaster Richard Chun's book "Beyond Self Defense" - an autobiography where the author attributes all his success (he was a very successful man by any standard) to taekwondo - all the while stressing the importance of the "way of no sword" - to avoid a real fight if possible. The one incident where he had to use his martial art training in a real combat situation, he felled several men in a bar who were trying to rough him up, sending them all to the hospital. He felt he had failed in the true martial art way of non-violence towards others, and ended up going back to the bar some time later, finding a couple of the men he injured, quickly apologizing, buying one round of drinks, and leaving.

Currently I am studying taekwondo, and the majority of those in the class are not warriors - most if not all the black belts the school I feel would get a solid beating by anyone with a decent right hook and (always the prime factor) guts.

I think any martial art system can be used as a vehicle to promote physical development to the point where one knows he can kill another with his bare hands, but more importantly, the spiritual development of a humility and reverence towards life never to use such power against another unless absolutely necessary. I think the highest aim of any martial art has not been the ability to kill or control others easily, but gaining complete mastery over ones self. This was possible in the days of old, and is still possible today, though you are right - it is much harder now.

TKDTutor says (4/21/07):

What is a “real martial art?” Sadly, for Taekwondoists, it is certainly not mainstream Taekwondo. As you say, and I have said repeatedly in TKDTutor, Taekwondo has become a commercial sport that is to the martial arts as flag football is to the NFL. In my opinion, the only place to find anything close to a true martial art is in a style of classical, traditional karate, where the methods of combat and way of the warrior are still practiced.

When facing an attacker with a knife or gun, multiple attackers, or an attacker intent on killing you, grappling is useless. I’m not going to go to the ground with an attacker who has a knife, or an attacker with friends nearby. Many martial arts specialize in certain aspects of fighting, such as MMA does with grappling, and their competition rules are such that these aspects are extenuated. If a sport Taekwondo fighter competes in a MMA competition, he will probably lose. If a MMA fighter competes in a sport Taekwondo competition, he will probably lose. However, when it comes to combat or self-defense, you had better know how to face an enemy, and take him or her out as quickly and efficiently as possible, usually from a standing position. In real life, when you grapple with opponents, they will bite anything and will bite off body parts, they will break fingers and kick knees, they will gouge eyes and rip off ears, they will rip out any hair within reach, and they will head butt joints or head butt your face to pulp. They will not try to kick you in the testicles, but, at the first opportunity, they will crush them to mush. Also, in real life you will not dressed for a fight and will probably not be alone. Do you want to be holding an opponent on the ground in a lock while his friend has his way with your girlfriend? Grappling is overrated hype!

I haven’t read Chun’s book but his current philosophy does not appear to one of a warrior. If he is a true believer in non-violence, then why is he training in an art that is based upon violence? I am not a violent person, but I am not a believer in non-violence. While I do not relish violence, use violence as a way of life, or use violence as way to achieve my goals, I will not hesitate to become violent when attacked with violence. However, I will only use the amount of violence required to stop the attack and to prevent it from reoccurring. People are surprised at how a mild-mannered martial artist can turn into a raging beast in a split second with the situation demands it.

While I may personally have regret about what I had to do, I will not blame myself for doing what had to be done. If several people are attacking me, while each may intend just to strike me a few times, the culmination of all the strikes could result in my serious injury or death. Therefore, just as Chun did, I will stop their attack and insure they are not able to continue the attack. However, if anyone is to be sorry, it is the attackers. They should seek me out and apologize for attacking me and putting me in the situation where I had to defend myself.

If you believe in non-violence, you will probably hesitate when confronted with a violent situation. That hesitation is all it takes for the attacker to get in one good shot. After that, you are at the attacker’s mercy.

Atomic energy was originally developed as a weapon of mass destruction. Over the years, it has been adapted for use in generating power and as a medical treatment. Although it now has peaceful uses, its original purpose still exists. Although its use has been controlled, the need for the bomb still exists. Although the martial arts have other benefits other than combating violence, such as fitness and the development of self-control, their original purpose was combat and the need for combat still exists. Without combat, a martial art is merely TaeBo.

It has been said that there are no atheists in foxholes. I have been on the bridge of warship during a combat situation. During drills, sailors bitch, complain, and make wise remarks, but during the real thing, they are quiet and it in deep thought; usually uttering silent prayers. In violent situations, there are always a few non-violence people around (usually standing behind the protection of warriors. Once they move to the front, they are systematically eliminated. Non-violence has never gained widespread acceptance, since it is self-limiting; converts are killed off almost as fast as they are created. You can be non-violent in your approach to non-violent situations, but when you are dealing with violence, non-violence will get you killed.

A true marital art is one that trains you be violent, gives you the ability to be violent, and teaches you to control that violence. A person who is willing and able to commit violence, but who has the training to control that violence, will usually react to violence with restrained violence. A person who not willing to be violent or does not have the ability to become violent, will be overcome by violence. A person who is not trained to use restrained violence, will probably use uncontrolled violence with faced with violence. When a non-violent person is pushed to the limit, he or she will react with uncontrolled violence since he or she has not learned how to control their violence, and since the person do not know how to effectively use violence, the person will probably be eliminated.

Most of the modern martial arts do not train students how to be violent or teach them the methods of violence; some even stress non-violence. Then, when the students are faced with a violence situation, they either do nothing or do the wrong thing.

Thought. I’m over 60 and still compete in regional and national sparring events. Our organization as a division for black belts who are over the age of 40, which means I still fight black belts that are 20 years younger than me (I am usually the oldest sparring competitor).

Age does have one advantage; no matter who wins a match, the older guy always wins psychologically. If I win, everyone thinks it is great the old guy beat the younger guy; whereas, if I lose, everyone thinks it is great that an old guy can stand up to the younger guy and they frown on the younger guy for beating up on the old guy.

No matter the fitness or skill levels of competitors, age is a major factor in how well a competitor will perform. As I get older, it gets more difficult to compete against the younger competitors, so I have a couple of solutions. They are a half joking solutions but they do have some merit.

In drag racing, two vehicles in different classes (different weight, horsepower, equipment, etc.) may race against each other on relatively equal footing by the use of bracket or elapsed time (ET) racing. In this type of drag racing, to make the competition more equal, the more powerful vehicle starts a few milliseconds after the slower vehicle, thus giving the slower vehicle a head start. The amount of the head start is determined by a formula that uses the elapsed times of the vehicles over several races.

Why cannot we do the same thing for senior citizens in sparring competitions? For example, for every year older a competitor is than his or her opponent, the competitor is spotted ½ a point. For example, if the competitor is 10 years older than the opponent, the competitor starts the match with 5 points.

Or, even better, as in bracket racing where one vehicle’s starting light is delayed, why not delay the start of the younger competitor. For every year older a competitor is than his or her opponent, the competitor is spotted 1 second of scoring time. For example, if the competitor is 10 years older than the opponent, for the first ten seconds of the match, the opponent cannot be awarded points.

Comments. (11/29/07) Gil says: In a Taekwon-do tournament last summer, the two finalists in the heavyweight black belt division sparring were myself, aged 59, and Cullen , 61.  I was lucky in that I beat two guys in their mid-forties to get into the final round.  Cullen had to beat a 20-year-old and a 23-year-old, both who are awfully good.  We always say, "Old age and treachery will prevail over youth and talent," but he put on a clinic on timing and spacing.  I was fortunate to beat him in the final round because by then his two bad knees were hurting him more than my one bad knee.