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Traditional Karate for Modern People by Nathanael Verbeke, 4th Dan |
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In an era of fads it seems disturbingly easy to oversimplify the martial
arts,
turning them into mere modes of
exercise- or even worse, using them as a way to learn
how to simply “street fight.” The
latter is one of the vast injustices done by Americans to
the martial arts in the last decade.
For example, the emergence of reality fighting systems
and their subsequent declaration of
superiority over traditional styles has caused many
would be practitioners to believe the
traditional martial arts are an outdated form of self-
defense. They rationalize that the
true nature of the martial arts is purely fighting and
stress the mastery of techniques
meant to maim an opponent. By doing this they dismiss
all aspects of the philosophy behind
the fighting systems. In essence, they are only
strengthening the “martial,”
while throwing away the “art.” These systems are legitimate
forms of fighting, but not legitimate
creative entities that inspire the positive spiritual and
mental development of the individual.
But why is the “art” just as important, or even immensely
more important, than
the “martial?” The answer can be
found in the way in which students come to view the
world through their training. By
neglecting the “art” the students do not focus on the
beauty found in their own movements,
they do not focus on the beauty found in a higher
understanding of their own bodies,
and they do not focus on the beauty of obtaining a
heightened awareness of their fellow
human beings. Aesthetic appreciation, when fully
realized, outweighs the chaos of
controlled brawling that is the “martial,” and causes the
student to realize that his or her
actions have taken a deeper, almost spiritual, meaning.
This not only makes them more
thankful for peace, but it also causes them to be opposed
to the use of violence. For example,
while a student of reality fighting systems is
congratulated for victory, students
of the martial arts are congratulated for their use of
discretion. This is displayed by the
traditional students approach to fighting. They are
trained to gauge a potentially
serious situation and act accordingly; the reaction to a
belligerent attacker who shoves them
will be quite different than the reaction elicited by
an attacker wielding a life
threatening weapon. The desire for victory, which stimulates
the ego, is not a factor in this
response.
Another example of the relevance of “art” is the use of the
form (Hyung in
Korean and Kata in Japanese) in
traditional styles. Simply put the form is a pattern of
regulated blocking and attacking
movements done by the student in an effort to increase
stamina, power, speed, muscle memory,
control, and precision in movement. Reality
fighting systems dismiss the form as
an outdated exercise that does not benefit the
practitioner in a real fight, and
therefore, should be systematically removed from their
curriculum. The problem with this
assumption is the fact that the form is one of the most
physically demanding components of
the traditional systems, and because of this it is the
best way for students to overcome
their physical limitations. In order to do this they must
develop the mental focus and
discipline required to master the techniques involved,
which at times can be a staggering
challenge.
Forms are not, however, simply tools of mental conditioning- they
are carefully
constructed “documents” from an
age when writing was not a practical way to
disseminate information. Within these
“documents” is an abundance of practical and
effective martial knowledge.
Since the relationship between the traditional martial arts and
reality fighting
systems is so heavily addressed in
the above writing it is relevant to spend some time on
the other side of the spectrum. It
has become fashionable to practice aerobic martial arts,
or aerobic kickboxing. This exercise
system offers many positive benefits to would be
students; firstly, they obtain toned
muscles and better cardio-respiratory health; secondly,
they get these benefits while
learning how to punch and kick; thirdly, they feel they are
not obliged to dedicate themselves to
a martial system. The problem with this approach is
they are not taught how to take these
techniques and translate them to a real combat
situation, which is most effectively
taught in a rigorous and disciplined environment.
How then should someone go about studying the true martial arts?
How can they
obtain what is intended in their
practice, that is to say, both awesome fighting power, and
the philosophy of life needed to
control said power? Firstly, they should find a school not
interested in commercial gain or
obsessed with reality brutality. And secondly, they should
be scholars in their own pursuits. The true martial artist attempts to
understand both his or her own mind, as well as the surrounding world in relation to themselves.
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