I read about martial art masters who seem to possess a great natural skill.
Is there a limit to what hard work and discipline accomplish?
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4 Responses to “Is Fighting Something That One Needs To Have Great Skills To Be?”
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Natural skill only makes it easier to learn and understand, the rest is all about hard work, experience, determination and, like you said, discipline. Even if someone is a natural it still has to work very hard to be good at martial arts or any other thing. In my opinion only with hard work you can be great.
There a limit to what natural skill can accomplish the rest is hard work
AUTHENTIC SHOTOKAN Karate-Do – The Ultimate Art
In today’s era of martial arts, I see a large population of people gravitating towards MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) as they like to call it because many ignorant people think it is the best thing to ever happen to the martial arts and the most effective method of self defense. MMA is also currently the most televised martial art in sports today and is rapidly growing due to a worldwide media blitz.
But is MMA really a martial art? Or just a bunch of guys who know how to brawl? Let’s face it, when Kimbo Slice, a street brawler starts getting paid to go on TV to beat up people because he was good in the streets as a thug, you have to question the integrity of the sport a little bit. Can anyone get in the ring and fight regardless of their experience or inexperience in any martial art just because they are bigger and tougher and can give or take a beating more than anyone else because they are ruthless animals and borderline crazy.
It kind of reminds me of the games in Rome at the coliseum. A place where people only wanted to see blood and carnage, to find out who can survive the killings. Of course, back then there were no rules!
So why is MMA looked at by so many people as a superior martial art and why is the winner of a MMA tournament considered to be an Ultimate fighter? What gives?
In my opinion, MMA is not even worthy of the being called a MARTIAL ART.
I personally believe SHOTOKAN Karate-Do is the superior modern day martial art and it is a Mixed Martial Art of its own.
First, let’s look at what makes any activity MARTIAL and what makes it an ART form?
In any art form, whether it be music, drama, writing, dance, painting, drawing, sculpture, or any performing art, they all have one thing in common.
They all have a foundation of basic fundamental skills that everyone needs to master in order to become creative and become an artist.
A guitarist must learn all the classical chords and become skillful with his instrument in order to flow with a lead solo.
A Painter must learn how to make all the strokes, lines and shades of color fall into place in order to paint a portrait of someone. Art has no limits. There are no boundaries and definitely there are NO rules in order to be creative.
An artist is simply a practitioner who was patient and humble enough to attain a masterful skill level at his craft and is able to take what he has mastered to a higher level as it evolves into something better.
Secondly, what is Martial?
Martial means Militaristic in nature and organized by a structure of rank and order.
The definition of Martial is to be soldierly, soldier-like, army, naval; warlike, fighting, combative or militaristic.
So a martial art must be combative, and military like in its nature. Its practitioner also must be a soldierly and follow a code of conduct and honor.
So what does that entail?
Let’s see where the common ground is for both MMA and Shotokan.
1) Is MMA combative in nature?
Yes.
What about SHOTOKAN?
Yes in its movements and forms only, but philosophically it teaches that there is no first attack and that fighting is only out of self defense.
2) Is MMA militaristic in nature?
NO. There is no rank system in MMA
What about SHOTOKAN?
Yes, from its ranking system to the code of conduct that its practitioners follow.
3) Is MMA ARTFUL in nature?
It can be if practiced and studied the same way other arts have practiced for centuries so long as its fundamental skills have been mastered individually, but usually a MMA fighter is not trained long enough in any aspect of their training in order to be considered an authority on any style of combat, let alone become creative with their skills.
Generally speaking the answer is NO.
What about SHOTOKAN?
Yes, Physically due to the variety of individual techniques and unlimited ways to apply them, and philosophically due to the rich culture, principles and values that are taught in Karate.
4) Do MMA practitioners act in a soldierly way with humility, Integrity, honor, respect, discipline and honor?
Definitely NOT! Most of them are arrogant and lack any character of a role model not would they even be considered to be an asset to society. Most MMA practitioners think the world of themselves could care less about anyone else.
What about SHOTOKAN Practitioners?
YES! In fact if you do not practice with all of the above mentioned characteristics, then you are not allowed to continue training until you commit to learning and practicing them in your daily life. All Traditional martial arts in one way or another stress on the perfection of character before anything else.
5) Do MMA practitioners follow an organized system of rank and order?
NO. Anyone can claim they are experienced and knowledgeable because there are no real or credible references to any universal standard.
What about SHOTOKAN practitioners?
Yes, you can easily find a credible source of knowledge from a high rankin
The only requirements for a good fighter is heart; the never give up attitude, and a hard head. There are few that possess the gift of natural skill. It is something that you either have or not. It does not mean that you can not accomplish great things. You just have to have patience and work a little harder.
no but by taking a martial arts class you develop those skills that can be useful in life along with leadership , and self discipline