Why We Fight
Andrew Green
http://innovativema.ca
Some people have a hard time understanding this, why do people glove up week after week and get punched in the head? Why do they seem happy about getting slammed into the ground? Why are they and a good friend trying to knock each other down?
Maybe we are nuts, but I don't think so. People fight, all the time. Not just physically, but in other ways too. If you walk into your bosses office and demand a raise, you are fighting. Your boss might not be trying to punch you in the face, but internally the feeling might be pretty close.
Fighting is a skill that I believe everyone should have, the ability to keep calm under pressure, to act intelligently and to control your emotions while doing so. When sparring you cannot get angry, you can't give in to fear, and when you get tired and are loosing, you keep fighting.
Martial arts, according to the advertisements, is supposed to build character. Character is built through experience, not through sitting in the dark meditating. Meditating is certainly beneficial, but even more so if you have experience to meditate on.
The truth is that we can all put on a show and be the person we want to present when there is no pressure. The internet is a perfect example of that. Given anonymity and a keyboard a person can be anything and anyone they want. Put a person under stress and you get to see a little more of what the person is really like.
This is not just physical stress, like sparring, but any sort of stress. If a person is fighting cancer, they learn a lot about themselves during that time. If they confront a supervisor about a problem, that experience, especially the first time, is a important one. The first time you kiss someone, the first time you kissed anyone remember the feelings before that? For a lot of people it was a nerve wracking experience, and conquering it was a important step.
Sparring, especially hard sparring is no different. The first time you decide to do it is often a frightening thought, learning to conquer that fear and to remain calm, act intelligently and to treat the person trying to physically punch you in the face with respect is a character trait well worth having in my opinion. If a person can do that, keep that mindset and act intelligently and with respect when the stress is as immediate and direct as getting punched in the nose or slammed to the ground, then that person will hopefully be able to carry that off the mat with them.
Martial arts is a great vehicle for building confidence. You learn exactly what you can do physically, you learn how much your body can take, you learn to fight clean and fair and you learn to deal with, and even enjoy working in stressful conditions.
Martial arts training, on a very simple level is play-fighting. Studies have shown that rough play is important to development, and I can't think of a single mammal that does not engage in play-fighting. The difference is skill and purpose. Joining a debate team is basically arguing, which is a important skill. People that know how to argue well tend to get what they want more often, they get promoted more often, paid more, and there ideas get used more often. However learning proper debate is far different then two people yelling “Yes it is!” “No it isn't!” “Yes it is!” back and forth, it is a very complex skill with strategy, tactics and rules.
Martial arts is to play fighting what learning debate is too arguing, both are natural skills that everyone develops to some degree and although somewhat artificial in there practiced environments, are very practical skills.
If you don't understand MMA watching a match will look shallow, like two people beating each other. However the more you learn about it, the more it becomes apparent that everything is thought out, planned and precise. A difference of an inch in positioning means the difference between winning or losing. Baiting and trapping an opponent is a game of psychology. It is a physical game, but it is also a very intelligent one.
So why do we show up week after week to pound on each other? Because it is the most intense physical, mental and spiritual workout we can find. Because it is a lot of fun. Because it is safe, yes, safe. If your partners are injured you can't train. If you are injured you can't train. Contact fighting teaches you to protect your body, to take hits, to take falls, and to protect your partner as well. No other sport that I know of spends as much time and detail on how to protect your body from injury as a full contact form of martial arts does, and that right there is a very handy skill to have.
Further Reading
It's more than fun and games - http://www.apa.org/monitor/mar02/morefun.html
Roughhousing May Be Essential to Social Development - http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/03/kids_roughhousing.html
Andrew Green
http://innovativema.ca
Some people have a hard time understanding this, why do people glove up week after week and get punched in the head? Why do they seem happy about getting slammed into the ground? Why are they and a good friend trying to knock each other down?
Maybe we are nuts, but I don't think so. People fight, all the time. Not just physically, but in other ways too. If you walk into your bosses office and demand a raise, you are fighting. Your boss might not be trying to punch you in the face, but internally the feeling might be pretty close.
Fighting is a skill that I believe everyone should have, the ability to keep calm under pressure, to act intelligently and to control your emotions while doing so. When sparring you cannot get angry, you can't give in to fear, and when you get tired and are loosing, you keep fighting.
Martial arts, according to the advertisements, is supposed to build character. Character is built through experience, not through sitting in the dark meditating. Meditating is certainly beneficial, but even more so if you have experience to meditate on.
The truth is that we can all put on a show and be the person we want to present when there is no pressure. The internet is a perfect example of that. Given anonymity and a keyboard a person can be anything and anyone they want. Put a person under stress and you get to see a little more of what the person is really like.
This is not just physical stress, like sparring, but any sort of stress. If a person is fighting cancer, they learn a lot about themselves during that time. If they confront a supervisor about a problem, that experience, especially the first time, is a important one. The first time you kiss someone, the first time you kissed anyone remember the feelings before that? For a lot of people it was a nerve wracking experience, and conquering it was a important step.
Sparring, especially hard sparring is no different. The first time you decide to do it is often a frightening thought, learning to conquer that fear and to remain calm, act intelligently and to treat the person trying to physically punch you in the face with respect is a character trait well worth having in my opinion. If a person can do that, keep that mindset and act intelligently and with respect when the stress is as immediate and direct as getting punched in the nose or slammed to the ground, then that person will hopefully be able to carry that off the mat with them.
Martial arts is a great vehicle for building confidence. You learn exactly what you can do physically, you learn how much your body can take, you learn to fight clean and fair and you learn to deal with, and even enjoy working in stressful conditions.
Martial arts training, on a very simple level is play-fighting. Studies have shown that rough play is important to development, and I can't think of a single mammal that does not engage in play-fighting. The difference is skill and purpose. Joining a debate team is basically arguing, which is a important skill. People that know how to argue well tend to get what they want more often, they get promoted more often, paid more, and there ideas get used more often. However learning proper debate is far different then two people yelling “Yes it is!” “No it isn't!” “Yes it is!” back and forth, it is a very complex skill with strategy, tactics and rules.
Martial arts is to play fighting what learning debate is too arguing, both are natural skills that everyone develops to some degree and although somewhat artificial in there practiced environments, are very practical skills.
If you don't understand MMA watching a match will look shallow, like two people beating each other. However the more you learn about it, the more it becomes apparent that everything is thought out, planned and precise. A difference of an inch in positioning means the difference between winning or losing. Baiting and trapping an opponent is a game of psychology. It is a physical game, but it is also a very intelligent one.
So why do we show up week after week to pound on each other? Because it is the most intense physical, mental and spiritual workout we can find. Because it is a lot of fun. Because it is safe, yes, safe. If your partners are injured you can't train. If you are injured you can't train. Contact fighting teaches you to protect your body, to take hits, to take falls, and to protect your partner as well. No other sport that I know of spends as much time and detail on how to protect your body from injury as a full contact form of martial arts does, and that right there is a very handy skill to have.
Further Reading
It's more than fun and games - http://www.apa.org/monitor/mar02/morefun.html
Roughhousing May Be Essential to Social Development - http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/03/kids_roughhousing.html
Great article, Andrew!
