Where will Martial arts be in 10 years?

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Monkey King

Guest
Given the current trends, where do you think martial arts in America will be in 10 or 20 years?

I see it as this: Classical arts will slowly become unpopular only because people want what they see in movies. A mixed bag of style and techniques will slowly rise until a watered down version of each art is formed. Eventually , there will only be schools like "Progressive martial arts" with generic names instead if Kenpo, Karate, Kung Fu, etc.

I don't think that the traditionalist will completely dissappear, they will simply become private instruction or non advertised, low attendance schools.

I based this "guess" on the trend with health spas and diet programs.

This is only speculation. I am not a doomsayer. There is an order to everything and everything is progressive.

But are the martial arts coming full circle?

Seriouly think about it before you answer this post. Think about all the schools where you live, the type of instruction there, students, and advancement. Think about the mentality of today's world, in this country specifically.

Do we want everything, and want it fast? And what price will we pay to get it?


WHat do you think?
 
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theneuhauser

Guest
the martial arts community is an eccentric bunch,
in the next decade, things wont be changing too quickly, traditional arts are still in tact centuries and millenia later. a more interesting question would be what you think of the state of the arts in 100 years? harder to guess, but leaves room for real change. because it really does change with the society, not as an island unto itself. but you are right, monkeyking, the people do want the distilled hard core essence of martial arts fast, and that is already evident in some of the newer metamorphises of the arts.
maybe in one thousand years after our brains have evolved and we can bend reality like the matrix, then we will make the change to floating telekinetic boxing.:p
 
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LanceWildcat1

Guest
Given the current trends, where do you think martial arts in America will be in 10 or 20 years?
I believe that the martial arts will survive. I think that there will be a more defined split between TMA and MMA, however. I think that there will always be those who keep to the old method's and form's.

I see it as this: Classical arts will slowly become unpopular only because people want what they see in movies. A mixed bag of style and techniques will slowly rise until a watered down version of each art is formed. Eventually , there will only be schools like "Progressive martial arts" with generic names instead if Kenpo, Karate, Kung Fu, etc.
You may be right about the classical arts becoming less popular, but I believe that many of the students of the future will realize that they need a better grounding in the basics, and will demand it of their instructor's. Oh, there will be those who will embrace the easy way, but they may, at some time in the future, realize that they missed out on a large part of their training by not becoming 'rooted' in the old basic kata's and forms.

I don't think that the traditionalist will completely dissappear, they will simply become private instruction or non advertised, low attendance schools.
[ I hope that you're right about the traditionalist's not disappearing. I agree that the traditionalist's may have to resort to private or non-advertised schools, but I don't see the traditionalist dying out anytime in the future. There will always be those who seek the "OLD WAYS".

I based this "guess" on the trend with health spas and diet programs.
But, as with health spas and diet programs, the old methods still seem to work the best. There may be fewer of them, but they still exist, and still attract customers.

This is only speculation. I am not a doomsayer. There is an order to everything and everything is progressive.
I am not a doomsayer, but I am not a total optimist when it comes to the MA's. I believe that there will always be a place for the 'old school' of trainingl But we will have to help it to continue to exist.

But are the martial arts coming full circle?
No, I don't believe that the MA's are coming full circle. There is too much being lost for that to happen. There are always going to be those who will teach the 'old ways', and so-IMHO-the martial artist's today are seeking the old knowledge more and more. I believe that there is much knowledge still to be uncovered that was hidden/lost by the old masters.

Seriouly think about it before you answer this post. Think about all the schools where you live, the type of instruction there, students, and advancement. Think about the mentality of today's world, in this country specifically.
You posed an interesting set of questions, to which I set myself to thinking about. As I hope you can see from my post, we are the ones who will ultimately decide where the MA's go in the future. For me, I want to see the traditional arts kept alive and well. 'Course, I'm a 53 year old stuffed shirt(Quote from my oldest son before he left home to go 'seek his fortune'!!!), so what do I know. All I can say is that I will work to see that the old ways are not forgotten and still taught.

Do we want everything, and want it fast? And what price will we pay to get it?
Yes, our society does seem to be drifting in that direction. However, the price we may pay to keep the old arts alive may be much less than the price we pay if we lose them.

WHat do you think?
As for myself, the only way I will teach is the way that I believe the master's taught long ago. I feel that this is the way to pass on the best of the arts.
:soapbox:
Now, you've heard from me, and that's the most I've said in quite awhile!! But, I feel very strongly about this subject of not letting the 'arts' be forgotten or bastardized!!
 
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Chiduce

Guest
I feel within the next 10 to 20 years the traditional arts will still exist with much unchanged. The addition of mixed styles and non-traditional in methodology or non-kata street combative stlyes will become the other martial art of choice as an added edge of assurance for self-defense and family protection. The traditional arts will provide the health, fitness, and skill level proficiency, while the non-traditional eclectic arts will add the final element of street defensives to round out the practitioner's/s martial abilities. This will, i feel sort of initiate a trend toward non-traditional styles being the first art of the practitioner, because it can be learned and applied in street defense in the short run and the traditional styles being considered the cross trained stlyes of choice for the benefits of releaving stress, practicing making good mental health decisions, learning martial philosophy, history, kobudo/kobujutsu; zen, calligraphy etc, etc, for long term studies! This trend though, will only effect the younger students or future instructors, teachers, and masters positively as they progress toward uncovering the mystries of the traditional styles along the martial way! Sincerely, In Humility; Chiduce!
 
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Bushido

Guest
I really hope that in the future, there will be a blend of tma and mma: tma needs to open-up and adapt some (not all, some) of their technique for real self-defence needs, they could use some mma stuff. On the other side mma need to keep some technique from tma and the philosophical side of it. I call that "neo traditionnal martial arts" (ntma).

This is what I'm doing in my practice and the two go well together.


-Bushido
 
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Shinzu

Guest
i can see some things changing, but as for a whole... things will remain about the same. i dont think that the traditional styles will be forced out of the picture. i feel they are too important to the martial culture.

i guess the only way is to see what happens. i know one thig for sure, i will still be doing it.
 

Shotochem

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I do not think the future is as bleak as we may think. When the Tae Bo, cardio kick boxing exercise fad passes it will leave just traditionalists and sport (olympic) styles. Of course there will always be a Mc Dojo or 2 with an order of fries......;)
 

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