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In analyzing the martial arts I was struck by one simple fact: the randomness of it all. When I developed the science of Matrixing I found that randomness increased with the age of an art. The longer an art had been around, the more random it appeared.
The point here is that when an art is 'invented,' it is usually developed along certain logical lines. As times pass, and the art is no longer used in combat, these lines tend to blur. Logic begins to disappear.
Karate, a very fine example of this, is at least used in tournaments, and so retains, in some manner, a degree of workability. It is too bad that this workability is not in evidence in the forms. Students of Karate are usually studying two arts, one of fomr, and one of freestyle.
Interestingly, form has the most benefit in an art. Form develops patience and calm and strong bodies, without the danger of getting beaten up. Unfortunately, form doesn't always look like combat.
Combat, on the other hand, endangers the student when taken to an extreme. Also, the 'joy of combat' excites the student, and causes a reduction in discipline and calm. Thus, while combat is fun, form is probably more important to learn.
The ideal, of course, would be a perfect blend of a form which retains the elements of real combat, and yet does not cause the student to lapse into excitability which obscures true learning. This, when one inspects the current martial arts forms , is almost an impossibility. It is not even possible when one dedicates oneself to a system concerned mostly with application.
A system that specializes in application only is a system that encourages the memorizing of strings of data, and the student never gets the whole picture of the martial arts. This is going to be a system which takes too long to learn. A system based on application solely is going to be a system based on memorizing tricks.
The above having been noted, one reaches the conclusion that the ideal system would have a blend of form and freestyle. Furthermore, the system must be tied together by a step by step, logical arrangement of application. Thus, a three sided balance of the martial arts is achieved by the intelligent arrangement of form, freestyle and application.
The point here is that when an art is 'invented,' it is usually developed along certain logical lines. As times pass, and the art is no longer used in combat, these lines tend to blur. Logic begins to disappear.
Karate, a very fine example of this, is at least used in tournaments, and so retains, in some manner, a degree of workability. It is too bad that this workability is not in evidence in the forms. Students of Karate are usually studying two arts, one of fomr, and one of freestyle.
Interestingly, form has the most benefit in an art. Form develops patience and calm and strong bodies, without the danger of getting beaten up. Unfortunately, form doesn't always look like combat.
Combat, on the other hand, endangers the student when taken to an extreme. Also, the 'joy of combat' excites the student, and causes a reduction in discipline and calm. Thus, while combat is fun, form is probably more important to learn.
The ideal, of course, would be a perfect blend of a form which retains the elements of real combat, and yet does not cause the student to lapse into excitability which obscures true learning. This, when one inspects the current martial arts forms , is almost an impossibility. It is not even possible when one dedicates oneself to a system concerned mostly with application.
A system that specializes in application only is a system that encourages the memorizing of strings of data, and the student never gets the whole picture of the martial arts. This is going to be a system which takes too long to learn. A system based on application solely is going to be a system based on memorizing tricks.
The above having been noted, one reaches the conclusion that the ideal system would have a blend of form and freestyle. Furthermore, the system must be tied together by a step by step, logical arrangement of application. Thus, a three sided balance of the martial arts is achieved by the intelligent arrangement of form, freestyle and application.
About the Author:
Al Case has been researching martial arts for over 40 years. Inspect his logic at Monster Martial Arts. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service
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