The Rock

What makes a martial art a "traditional" martial art?

Here is the way I explained it to a student once - and remember that this is My Opinion Only (MOO)...

The Rock

Let's pretend you come into class and the instructor hands you a good sized rock and tells you that you need to keep it with you or around you at all times.  The instructor may tell you nothing else about it or what to do with it - in fact you might not even use it during a class.

You wonder about the purpose of the rock and figure out that it can obviously be used as a self defense weapon (one of the first in fact), that you could build some muscle using it as a weight, and that by keeping up with it you are working on responsibility. You also over time that it makes a good paperweight, a doorstop, and a will keep the trailer from rolling while you unload the mats for the tournament. One night you are sitting around with the kids and decorate it.  Another time, you are all by your self and feeling a little lonely so you paint some eyes on your rock and suddenly you have your very own captive audience.

In fact, the longer you have that rock, the more uses you are able to see for it both in and out of class.

Traditional martial arts are like that.  The reason and meaning behind all the things you do are often not immediately apparent like they might be in more "modern" martial arts whose main criteria is street self defense applicability and practicality.

Most "traditional" martial arts have forms/patterns as part of the curriculum.  Forms study and practice has so much to offer (check out Master Andrew Trento's most recent post www.beingthecandle.blogspot.com) but it isn't an instant reward.

Everything gets better with time and repetition - I get that.  What I'm talking about here is unexpected and unseen value that comes later from something you first learned a long time ago.

"It's a downblock."  I say that all the time.  It was one of - if not the first - martial arts technique I ever learned and STILL 36 years later I'm finding new ways to apply the movements and the concepts...

Traditional martial arts - the things you learn are the gifts that keep on giving...

Respectfully,
Kathy Wiz