If someone says they are playing one on one basketball with a friend in the driveway and is looking for tips, no one would blink an eye at it.
Or if someone came on and said they where playing street hockey and wanted help with their slap shoot, again, no one would blink an eye.
But if someone comes on here and says they are training by themselves, or with some friends they are promptly told to stop it and find a instructor.
What makes Martial Arts special?
Safety? Martial arts are about hurting people and if done wrong you can get hurt? Yes, so where most of the sports I played in backyards and parks with friends, probably much more so.
Look at something like skateboarding and try to argue it is safer then sparring with gloves and mouthguards or wrestling.
Any sport can be practiced safely, or... not so safely... I don't think Martial arts are intrinsically more dangerous then other sports played and practiced without coaches and officials.
Coaches are no doubt important to other sports, but for the most part, it is the non-coached time that really drives the sport. I mean if Soccer was something that people got told they could not play outside of a class with a coach, requiring a minimum of 10+ years would it have as big of a following world wide?
It seems for sports to really grow, and really thrive, there not only needs to be top coaches and high level televised competition, but before that they need to be played on a community level. Where the kids get together and play the sport outside of a structured environment.
Is community level martial arts possible? why or why not? How?
Can you ever see a day where there is a Optimist (or beer
) Grappling League?
Or if someone came on and said they where playing street hockey and wanted help with their slap shoot, again, no one would blink an eye.
But if someone comes on here and says they are training by themselves, or with some friends they are promptly told to stop it and find a instructor.
What makes Martial Arts special?
Safety? Martial arts are about hurting people and if done wrong you can get hurt? Yes, so where most of the sports I played in backyards and parks with friends, probably much more so.
Look at something like skateboarding and try to argue it is safer then sparring with gloves and mouthguards or wrestling.
Any sport can be practiced safely, or... not so safely... I don't think Martial arts are intrinsically more dangerous then other sports played and practiced without coaches and officials.
Coaches are no doubt important to other sports, but for the most part, it is the non-coached time that really drives the sport. I mean if Soccer was something that people got told they could not play outside of a class with a coach, requiring a minimum of 10+ years would it have as big of a following world wide?
It seems for sports to really grow, and really thrive, there not only needs to be top coaches and high level televised competition, but before that they need to be played on a community level. Where the kids get together and play the sport outside of a structured environment.
Is community level martial arts possible? why or why not? How?
Can you ever see a day where there is a Optimist (or beer