People Lost Their Way In Martial Arts

The more you sweat in training, the less you will bleed in battle

The generation today often mistakes martial arts with fighting. The concern is only about learning a quick fix technique to win a fight or defending oneself. It is no more practiced as an art which seeks patience, determination and years of diligence. People have lost their way long ago when they started caring more about trophies, titles and competition than they cared for improved self.

In the past, most martial arts coaches claimed to teach a way of life as well as combative skills. As time passed, people began to assume these paths to be one, and not two different philosophies. In the modern era, most people who study martial arts are typically fascinated towards the expertise of combative skills. Today, many people pay trainers to convey skills, not for life coaching. Most modern people see these combat skills and philosophy of disciplined living as entirely separate pursuits. The underlying fact is that many of the “ancient traditions” are poorly understood.

The debate over perceiving the art as ‘trained to fight’ or ‘trained not to fight’ remains unanswered even today. Every fighter or a peacemaker has an art of combating and understand is notion. Fighting as a value and a code of honor. Such values were passed down to generations and now they require deep understanding to master and harness it.

It is not just about improving oneself physically, but also mentally, to face challenges and emotionally, to become tougher and face losses. Quite contrary to these teachings, such learning is nowadays unacknowledged.

Certainly yes, many people have lost their way in martial arts today. But that only leaves a true martial artist to hold on and preserve the ways.