Apples and Oranges

Comparing different martial arts

There are three basic types of human combat: competition (a game), fighting (a serious and potentially deadly game), self-defense (not a game, it involves defending your life and possibly taking a life), and warfare (definitely not a game, it involves killing as many of the enemy as you can before they kill you). The primary concern of the martial arts is combat, but not every martial art is concerned with all four types of combat. To be compared fairly, only arts that are concerned with the same type of combat should be compared. For example, it is not fair to compare a competition martial art, such as sport Taekwondo, to a self-defense martial art such as Krav-Maga. Each type of combat may be compared as to:

• Purpose. Each type of combat has a purpose. In competition, the purpose is to satisfy the need of humans to pit themselves against each to determine who is best at something. Competition combat allows people to compete often and satisfy their need to compete, since there is little risk of injuries that may prevent them from competing. Fighting has the same purpose as competition, but the combatants are people with little fear of being injured and their goal is to injure the opponent enough that he or she gives ups, is knocked unconscious, or is unable to continue. However, injuries limit the number of fights a combatant may enter, since, depending on the severity of the injury, the combatant must take time off to heal. The purpose of self-defense is self-preservation. The victim must defend and counterattack to protect his or her well-being or life. The purpose for warfare is to allow a group or country to gain power over another group or country and force it to cease its attacks or to comply with the will of the victorious country.