Well I got thinking yesterday, why do people always associate martial arts with Asia? I mean when people hear I've been doing Judo for a while, the first question they ask me is, "is your sensei Asian?" Granted Judo is Japanese, but basketball is Canadian... is every freakin' basketball coach a descendant of a Canadian!? I think not.
I guess martial arts have evolved where people need them most. Who's more likely to create a fighting system, a rich kid living in a richer city, or someone who has to fight to survive? I have no historical data to back this up, but it seems Asian countries needed martial arts more because they were engulfed in war for so long. Maybe that's why an abundance of martial arts come from Asia.
I also believe that in order for a system to stay true to its purpose, it has to stay active. Muay Thai for example is an incredibly effective stand up system, and it was first created to ward of the Thai's aggressive neighbors, but through time the streets of Thailand have not become much safer, and many citizens still learn Muay Thai for self-defense. Even more use it in sport to bring home money to the table. So it's being well used, evolving, and staying effective. It was made for fighting, and is still used for fighting. It's not like some schools that go under the name of a fighting art, and evolve it into a daycare (Looking at many guilty Tae Kwon Do schools).
So I guess what I'm trying to say is, martial arts is everywhere, and to quote the opening to the show Human Weapon, "they are practiced by every nation, and every people". France's Savate, Greece's Pankration, Israel and their Krav Maga, Africa's Capoeira, Russia's Sambo; these and many more styles aren't asian. So who's guilty of setting this stereotype?
Yours Truly
I'm in the white gi
3 comments:
Hi Brian,
I wish you good luck on your new blog and your quest to become the ultimate warrior! The journey the practice of martial arts will take you on is one of incredible personal growth, which I believe is the greatest of it's benefits.
I'm curious: Where does the comment about some taekwondo schools being "day cares" come from? Being a black belt in tkd, I find that an interesting statement to make. One thing a black belt learns is to respect all forms of martial arts, not just their own. :)
Well I find that TKD is a very widely practiced martial art, and at least where I live there's a dojo on every corner. Mind you I have never tried TKD myself, and I'm not talking about TKD as a style itself, just some certain school that have turned into more of a business instead of a a dojo. Instructors will give out belts easily to keep students coming, and many kicks are toned down so littler children won't get frustrated. They don't actually have to work, and break personal barriers, but isn't that what martial arts is about?
Don't get me wrong it's not just TKD schools that do this, but there's just so many TKD schools that that's where I see it most.
Brian,
Point well taken! I know that in my own community there have been comments about certain schools becoming "McDojos" because people perceive them as turning out too many black belts too quickly. I have not seen that personally, but I certainly can't deny that they exist.
I'm a member of the American Taekwondo Association which if you aren't familiar is a huge organization and widely marketed. ATA is an extremely family oriented organization - welcoming young, old, male, female - I think if you were a purple people eater you'd be welcome in ATA :)
In my school we have many children who are students. Our 4:00 class, open to anyone, is typically full of little energy-filled boys. We also have several families who are learning tkd together; mom, pop, and little tikes all in one wonderful bunch. Granted, the kids don't have to perform at the level adults are expected to. A 10year old isn't going to do forms with the intensity and detailed skill a 20 year old is going to. Neither is a person with only one arm but we have had one such student test with us. We have had two women over the age of 60 become black belts (one even dropped a young punk at a gas station who mocked her in her uniform). Anyway, our kids are expected to learn the same forms the adults do, the same take-downs, weapons, escapes, everything. No one is 'given' a black belt in ATA. However, as I said, I can't speak for every tkd association.
I would be careful making judgements about other groups of martial artists. As a whole, we should be as united as we can possibly be because we wouldn't want to discourage anyone from seeking the path we have found to be so benefitial in our lives. Would we? Martial arts - whether karate, judo, tkd, akido, whatever - is for everyone!
As you continue in your art form, you'll see that it is never an easy journey. The road to black belt is tough. I've seen healthy, strong men become frustrated as they struggle with a particular form or technique that so many others may have a relatively easy time mastering in comparison. No one walks the path to black belt without their fair share of stopping to roll around in the dirt of difficulty, frustration, and heaping, good doses of humiliation :) (I raise my hand to testify!)
Again, I wish you all the best in your martial arts career. You could have chosen no better endeavor!
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