“Martial arts is the study of violence so that all violence can be understood and ultimately brought to an end”
It is not a study of but a study in violence. The aspect(s) of violence can never and will never be understood or brought to an end. Human nature, in it's many venues, has and will always embrace violence in some fashion. The most mild mannered, timid, shy, introverted person will at some point revert to violence, to either protect a loved one or save their own life. It's called self preservation and it's a part of everyone. On the other hand, the education of one to learn a martial art is based on self protection. I realize that some have stated that it was not their primary interest, self defense, but I find that rational slightly askew. If all someone wanted to do was to just get in shape or enjoy the company of other's or even challenge themselves, there are many other endeavors that they could have persued. Over the course of time, from the origins of martial arts, they have in general, degraded from their original concepts and by doing so have allowed that mindset to adhear. This is not the fault of the art itself, but rather the fault of those who profess to be teachers. Using TKD as a prime example. In it's original form, TKD encompassed all self defense. It had kicks, hand strikes, elbow strikes, knee spikes, takedowns, joint locks, throws and even some ground fighting. TKD today, in most dojangs, is nothing more than an afternoon babysitting service and a competition to win medals and trophies. Many other style are/have followed suit, because it's cost effective for the school owner.
The martial arts is a natural development of man, for man, to learn how to be and how to deal with violence, nothing more. We, (a generalization) have seen fit to enclude a host of extra's which in reality have nothing to do with the original intent of the arts. The easiest way to determine the validity of that statement is to be totally honest with yourself, if you have ever been in a real threat or physical encounter. The only thing on your mind was self preservation and by any means possible. Now if you are one of the fortunate one's that have never been in this position, feel grateful and lucky, but don't consider yourself remotely knowledgeable about anything associated with the mindset at the time. There was no Zen influence, no compassion for the attacker (perhaps after the fact), no religious aura enveloping or anything of the kind. Nothing but raw instinct to either fight or run away. Reality is sometimes a hard thing to embrace, but the reality of man from the beginning of time has been violence and it will continue to be so............So train for real folks.....:asian:
