I just read an interesting forum post where the guy honestly asked the question : "how can I be the best martial artist in the world"
Its an interesting question. The more practical question of course would be, "how can I be the best martial artist I can be". That thought brought me to another interesting question.
In most sports you have a general physique or physical potential that might help you excel towards being the "best" player ever. For instance, you would imagine that the best basketball player ever would be fairly tall. Of course, there are some great players that were not tall (mugsey bogues, spud webb, ect), but these people could not be considered the "best ever". Each person has their own unique potential, but I honestly believe that most people would not have the physical potential to be the best basketball player ever, even if they applied themselves as much as humanly possible.
So, the question is, what would define someone with the potential for being the "best" martial artist. Lets narrow the question down to being the best in a specific style. Do you think that any person, if applying themselves hard enough, can become the best in their art? And no, please don't respond with "create your own art, declare youself 10th Dan, and you are the best". I'm trying to ask a serious question.
Another interesting question would be: How dramatically would the answer vary based on your art of choice? I imagine the physical requirements for being the "best" in each art would vary to a degree.. for instance, someone taking TKD may need a high degree of flexibility, where in Aikido, that might not be so important. So, if you -could- be the best in Aikido, would you also have the capability of being the best in TKD?
Just some thoughts! what do you think?
Its an interesting question. The more practical question of course would be, "how can I be the best martial artist I can be". That thought brought me to another interesting question.
In most sports you have a general physique or physical potential that might help you excel towards being the "best" player ever. For instance, you would imagine that the best basketball player ever would be fairly tall. Of course, there are some great players that were not tall (mugsey bogues, spud webb, ect), but these people could not be considered the "best ever". Each person has their own unique potential, but I honestly believe that most people would not have the physical potential to be the best basketball player ever, even if they applied themselves as much as humanly possible.
So, the question is, what would define someone with the potential for being the "best" martial artist. Lets narrow the question down to being the best in a specific style. Do you think that any person, if applying themselves hard enough, can become the best in their art? And no, please don't respond with "create your own art, declare youself 10th Dan, and you are the best". I'm trying to ask a serious question.
Another interesting question would be: How dramatically would the answer vary based on your art of choice? I imagine the physical requirements for being the "best" in each art would vary to a degree.. for instance, someone taking TKD may need a high degree of flexibility, where in Aikido, that might not be so important. So, if you -could- be the best in Aikido, would you also have the capability of being the best in TKD?
Just some thoughts! what do you think?