11/29/2023
A "Buddy Talks About Martial Arts" post:
There isn't one martial art that meets every need.
Why? Because people vary a ton.
Originally, most martial arts systems started out as combat systems with weapons. People needed effective ways to fight other people with weapons.
Now the majority of martial arts systems are practiced for sport, self improvement, or self defense to varying degrees.
This means that "martial arts" refers to a VAST group of styles and systems that all go back a common starting point - but not all of them have the same purpose.
Does this mean that we should all go back to practicing something that is effective in war?
Not at all.
Martial arts can be used for ALL KINDS of things.
It is helpful, though, to know a little bit of that history.
For instance, most of modern day Karate includes weapons training. But, what's not taught very often is that much of the unarmed (or empty hand) side of Karate was designed to demonstrate actual weapon usage. A lot of unarmed Karate is like a shadow of the armed martial arts of its time.
It is an adaptation of a previous system.
The armed martial arts all required strength, stamina, speed, balance...etc.
They required mental and emotional stability.
Those art forms encompassed so much that, now, we get to unpack the various parts that we need, and use those parts in our life where we need them. We get to use what was left behind for us, and we get to use it how WE need it. We don't have to use it how they needed to use it.
Remember...we use martial arts, martial arts don't use us. That's why so much of martial arts can and should be personalized.
Make martial arts something that works for YOU, even if you're starting with something that worked well for someone else.
