Post by Mike Marshall on Aug 17, 2010 19:26:44 GMT -5
Just don't call MMA an 'art'
Morgan Duchesney, Citizen Special
Source: www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Just+call/3406362/story.html
As an experienced and licensed karate instructor and published author, the martial arts are a lifelong passion, and the spiritual precepts of karate continue to guide my business and personal affairs. I have followed the development of "Mixed Martial Arts" -- which will now be licensed in Ontario beginning as early as next year -- with a mixture of curiosity, admiration and occasional disappointment.
Before I write another word, I must say that I have great respect for the men (and women) who participate in this demanding sport. However, it isn't a martial art by established Oriental definitions, but instead a combat sport governed by a modern set of rules. While some claim that martial art can merely be an organized collection of techniques devoid of moral philosophy, this claim is contradicted by the MMA promoters' tactic of riding the traditional mystique to higher ticket sales.
My last MMA piece in 2007 earned me a litany of chat room insults and slurs from a host of strangers who probably didn't read past the headline. But I have not encountered a coherent justification for the consideration of MMA as a martial art; at least not among the practitioners to whom I've spoken. To avoid confusion in my writing, I will continue to use the term MMA in this article, although MFS (Mixed Fighting Systems) might be more accurate.
The competitive and recreational activity popularly called MMA is a rule-bound sport based on combining the techniques of martial arts such as ju-jitsu, karate, judo, Sambo, ancient Greco-Roman fighting systems, and sports like western boxing and various wrestling styles. While many MMA competitors are experienced and introspective martial artists, I have not witnessed much martial arts philosophy in MMA beyond good sportsmanship and camaraderie among the athletes. Winning and earning money and glory seem to be the ultimate goals, not following an inner journey of introspection towards personal enlightenment or satori.
The elimination or reduction of ego-related distractions is referred to as satori by devotees of Buddhism and such Buddhist concepts are integral to the practice of martial arts. The lessons learned along the road to satori are more important than the nearly impossible task of actually achieving the perfection of such a rarified condition. The path to satori generally involves a monastic renunciation of material desire combined with martial training and intense meditation.
The samurai, not quite so selfless, were generally content with achieving a practical state of mind referred to as mushin or empty mind. A person who achieves a state of mushin is perfectly aware of his or her environment and responds at all times without conscious effort. Like satori, mushin can only be achieved after years of austere training and daily meditation.
MMA has become hugely popular largely because of the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) and the popular perception that MMA is the supreme reality-based fighting experience. As well, there are hordes of people who just love to watch a good fight, if my painful schoolyard memories are any guide.
MMA does embrace all elements of hand-to-hand fighting with the sensible prohibition of biting, eye gouging, and testicle-squeezing, and this does create the conditions for a sporting contest that closely resembles the reality of a one-on-one street fight. However, many observers fail to realize that the majority of the techniques will only work for highly-trained professionals who dedicate long, grueling hours to their perfection. As well, these professionals, with their fore-knowledge and high pain threshold can effectively resist techniques that would decimate an untrained person. I suspect that the medical future of many MMA athletes may resemble the outcomes of those professional football players who endured a career of crushing impacts.
My objection to the use of the term "martial art" in this context is based on my strong suspicion that it is an intentional marketing ploy designed to exploit the mystique of traditional Oriental martial arts such as ju-jitsu, gong fu and karate. Employing the term "art" misleads the public, who understandably are not privy to the history and anthropology of martial arts.
As a serious martial artist with an interest in reality-based self-defence, I care deeply about public perceptions of martial arts and martial artists. I have spent the last 16 years studying and teaching the techniques, moral philosophy and history/anthropology of karate and I enjoy a reasonable amount of respect in my small circle of like-minded peers. Concerning the morality/philosophy of martial arts, noted Canadian karate teacher and researcher Patrick McCarthy said in 2003, "For the same reason one would never trust a loaded weapon to immoral hands, so too did the early pioneers of this (karate) tradition believe that embracing a body of moral philosophy to govern the ethical behaviour of those who mastered its brutal secrets superseded learning to fight." This lesson has been one of the many casualties in the mass-commercialization of martial arts.
As previously stated, I deeply respect MMA athletes and I admire their rigorous training methods and dedication. By all means, participate in and watch MMA, but do so with an educated perspective and a healthy dose of skepticism about what you are doing and seeing when MMA comes to your town.
Morgan Duchesney is chief instructor at Ottawa Karate Jutsu and a senior instructor at Ouellette's Karate and Self-Defence.
Morgan Duchesney, Citizen Special
Source: www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Just+call/3406362/story.html
As an experienced and licensed karate instructor and published author, the martial arts are a lifelong passion, and the spiritual precepts of karate continue to guide my business and personal affairs. I have followed the development of "Mixed Martial Arts" -- which will now be licensed in Ontario beginning as early as next year -- with a mixture of curiosity, admiration and occasional disappointment.
Before I write another word, I must say that I have great respect for the men (and women) who participate in this demanding sport. However, it isn't a martial art by established Oriental definitions, but instead a combat sport governed by a modern set of rules. While some claim that martial art can merely be an organized collection of techniques devoid of moral philosophy, this claim is contradicted by the MMA promoters' tactic of riding the traditional mystique to higher ticket sales.
My last MMA piece in 2007 earned me a litany of chat room insults and slurs from a host of strangers who probably didn't read past the headline. But I have not encountered a coherent justification for the consideration of MMA as a martial art; at least not among the practitioners to whom I've spoken. To avoid confusion in my writing, I will continue to use the term MMA in this article, although MFS (Mixed Fighting Systems) might be more accurate.
The competitive and recreational activity popularly called MMA is a rule-bound sport based on combining the techniques of martial arts such as ju-jitsu, karate, judo, Sambo, ancient Greco-Roman fighting systems, and sports like western boxing and various wrestling styles. While many MMA competitors are experienced and introspective martial artists, I have not witnessed much martial arts philosophy in MMA beyond good sportsmanship and camaraderie among the athletes. Winning and earning money and glory seem to be the ultimate goals, not following an inner journey of introspection towards personal enlightenment or satori.
The elimination or reduction of ego-related distractions is referred to as satori by devotees of Buddhism and such Buddhist concepts are integral to the practice of martial arts. The lessons learned along the road to satori are more important than the nearly impossible task of actually achieving the perfection of such a rarified condition. The path to satori generally involves a monastic renunciation of material desire combined with martial training and intense meditation.
The samurai, not quite so selfless, were generally content with achieving a practical state of mind referred to as mushin or empty mind. A person who achieves a state of mushin is perfectly aware of his or her environment and responds at all times without conscious effort. Like satori, mushin can only be achieved after years of austere training and daily meditation.
MMA has become hugely popular largely because of the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) and the popular perception that MMA is the supreme reality-based fighting experience. As well, there are hordes of people who just love to watch a good fight, if my painful schoolyard memories are any guide.
MMA does embrace all elements of hand-to-hand fighting with the sensible prohibition of biting, eye gouging, and testicle-squeezing, and this does create the conditions for a sporting contest that closely resembles the reality of a one-on-one street fight. However, many observers fail to realize that the majority of the techniques will only work for highly-trained professionals who dedicate long, grueling hours to their perfection. As well, these professionals, with their fore-knowledge and high pain threshold can effectively resist techniques that would decimate an untrained person. I suspect that the medical future of many MMA athletes may resemble the outcomes of those professional football players who endured a career of crushing impacts.
My objection to the use of the term "martial art" in this context is based on my strong suspicion that it is an intentional marketing ploy designed to exploit the mystique of traditional Oriental martial arts such as ju-jitsu, gong fu and karate. Employing the term "art" misleads the public, who understandably are not privy to the history and anthropology of martial arts.
As a serious martial artist with an interest in reality-based self-defence, I care deeply about public perceptions of martial arts and martial artists. I have spent the last 16 years studying and teaching the techniques, moral philosophy and history/anthropology of karate and I enjoy a reasonable amount of respect in my small circle of like-minded peers. Concerning the morality/philosophy of martial arts, noted Canadian karate teacher and researcher Patrick McCarthy said in 2003, "For the same reason one would never trust a loaded weapon to immoral hands, so too did the early pioneers of this (karate) tradition believe that embracing a body of moral philosophy to govern the ethical behaviour of those who mastered its brutal secrets superseded learning to fight." This lesson has been one of the many casualties in the mass-commercialization of martial arts.
As previously stated, I deeply respect MMA athletes and I admire their rigorous training methods and dedication. By all means, participate in and watch MMA, but do so with an educated perspective and a healthy dose of skepticism about what you are doing and seeing when MMA comes to your town.
Morgan Duchesney is chief instructor at Ottawa Karate Jutsu and a senior instructor at Ouellette's Karate and Self-Defence.