The more that things change .

[Xue Sheng]

The more they stay the same

As I see society, people make the arts into commercial products; they think of themselves as commodities, and also make implements as items of commerce. Distinguishing the superficial and the substantial, I find this attitude has reality than decoration

The field of martial arts is particularly rife with flamboyant showmanship, with commercial popularization and profiteering on the part of both those who teach the science and those who study it. The result of this must be, as someone said, that “amateuristic martial arts are a source of serious wounds”

--- Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645) - Book of the Five Rings

This, IMO, can be applied to absolutely any martial art on the planet today be it TMA, Sport-MA, RSBD, etc.

The style or category does not matter what matters is who is teaching a style and how they teach it and who is training the style and how they train it.

 

[OnlyAnEgg]

Andy Warhol showed us that this perception applies to everything.

 

[Xue Sheng]

As I reread that quote I see I made a mistake and left out a rather important little word and it is rather ironic to me that the word is "less"

Correction

As I see society, people make the arts into commercial products; they think of themselves as commodities, and also make implements as items of commerce. Distinguishing the superficial and the substantial, I find this attitude has less reality than decoration

The field of martial arts is particularly rife with flamboyant showmanship, with commercial popularization and profiteering on the part of both those who teach the science and those who study it. The result of this must be, as someone said, that “amateuristic martial arts are a source of serious wounds”

--- Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645) - Book of the Five Rings

An additional bit of info; The Book of the Five Rings was written in 1643

 

[Harald]

GREAT point. Amazing how well that quote fits today. I have The Book of Five Rings lying around somewhere, gotta pick it up and actually read the whole thing now.

 

[72ronin]

That viewpoint in 1643! There really is nothing new under the sun.

Seems everything goes in circles.