Hi Steve
Why do you think Judo is an old art? As far as I know it is in fact one of the youngest of the martial styles, being 'invented' in the C20th.
Do a similar search for Shotokan Karate, Isshin Ryu Karate, Tae Kwon Do or several of the other acknowledged "Traditional Martial Arts."
I think I was pretty clear with what I was saying, that
Judo is among the oldest of the modern styles, predating most (if not all) of the okinawan karate styles as well as TKD. Right?
A TMA is essentially one that has been practised over many generations and usually has it's beginnings more than a century ago.
So then, by this definition, both modern Judo and BJJ are traditional Martial Arts. I would agree. I also agree with you that modern Boxing, along with other Western Arts, would qualify as Traditional.
I don't think that our definition is widely accepted, however.
arnisador said:
Well, the Okinawan Karate styles were being formally codified around the time that Judo was. Shorin-ryu is probably older and Goju-ryu is a contemporary; Isshin-ryu is more recent and Uechi-ryu is, as usual, an outlier (younger than Judo by that name but older in its largely equivalent Chinese form). TKD dates from the 1940s but its lineage is Shotokan Karate which itself is a modified version of Okinawan Karate. It's complicated!
Fair enough. What I was driving at is that there are some funny misconceptions about what is a TMA and what isn't. People consider these styles of Okinawan Karate to be TMA. Judo is 50/50, but people don't consider BJJ to be traditional. TKD is, but boxing often isn't. Which is why I was asking these questions. I don't understand how anyone can answer the questions when we're using terms that aren't well defined.
The first and last are TMAs; BJJ is not, in my opinion, because although it's mostly Judo mixed with some wrestling the approach is so different. If you crosstrained Kyokushin Karate and Shuai Jiao and combined them successfully in your practice then I'd call you a MMAer doing two TMAs and making your own MMA from them. If you kept them separate I'd call you a TMAer.
Very interesting. Thanks for the response! I completely understand your perspective.
So, what distinguishes Judo in your mind from BJJ? BJJ is all Judo, really. Well, pre WW2 Judo or modern, Kosen Judo depending upon who you ask. It's a different focus, to be sure, with a different ruleset for competition and an emphasis on a part of combat that has been marginalized in modern, competitive Judo. But essentially, BJJ, like modern Judo, is a derivative of Pre-WW2 Judo. The culture is different, but just as traditional.
I would argue that many people don't consider BJJ's approach as a TMA only because the culture of Brazil and of BJJ are not what we traditionally think of when we think martial arts. But as at least a couple of people have said, TMA in their opinion (as in mine) doesn't have to be of Asian origin to be traditional, and by extension then, it stands to reason that a TMA from somewhere else will have a culture and tradition unlike the Asian arts.