A fabulous read: The (Martial) Art of Good Men

[Bill Mattocks]

I highly recommend this article:

The (Martial) Art of Good Men -

However, a word of warning - a light reading of this article without taking the time to try to understand the context in which it is placed (a blog devoted to exploring a decidedly non-PC standard of 'masculinity' in both men and women) could lead one to believe that this is a very gender-oriented and masculine-centric document; it is not that. So please take a moment to look over the blog and understand where the author (a woman) is coming from with the terms she uses. Not what some might at first assume the terms mean.

 

[MartialMasters]

Yep! Some people want to do away with masculinity...some seem to only think of masculinity in a bad light.
But there really is such a thing as good masculinity...and yes, good martial arts are an excellent way to bring out some of the best in guys!

 

[Steve]

I think it's a pretty good article.

 

[Buka]

I don't know. The idea of the good man project run entirely by women, if that's the case, is a little interesting to me. It made me wonder what a good women project that was run entirely by men would be like. Probably not as PC as theirs.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Eh, what the author calls "enlightened masculinity" I would just call aspects of being a strong, happy, decent person, regardless of gender.

On the other hand, many people feel the need to fit into some sort of gender-specific idealized role labeled "masculinity" or "femininity." If you are one of those, then the "enlightened masculinity" she proposes is certainly a better standard than many I've seen.

As far as whether martial arts training cultivates those particular character traits? I'd say it can, but there's no guarantee it will. Martial arts training is a tool that you can use to bring out the person you would like to be, if you put in the hard work to apply it in that manner. If this "enlightened masculinity" is the ideal you are aiming for and you work as hard at applying your martial art in your daily life as you do in the dojo, then it can produce excellent results. If you have a different ideal or if you don't put the same effort into polishing your spirit as you do polishing your punches then it may not turn out that way.