Thursday, March 26, 2009

Martial Art & Self Defense Part 1

Some martial arts have become sports or mostly sports. Judo, Tae Kwon Do, Western Fencing, Sumo, and Kendo and prime examples of martial arts turned mostly into sports.

My first martial art was Tae Kwon Do but I converted to its Korean cousin Tang Soo Do before I earned my 1st black belt. As a senior Tae Kwon Do “gup” I attended a referee seminar and earned an initial certification so I could referee sport Tae Kwon Do contests.

When I fought in my first Tang Soo Do tournament I was beaten easily because I was not used to defending my head. The Tae Kwon Do sport rules at the time (I’ve no idea what they are today) allowed kicks to the head but disallowed even feints to the head using hand techniques. I was used to seeing those kicks coming from far away and having plenty of time to defend against them. I was not used to quick jabs - I got clobbered.

As a Tae Kwon Do student I always wondered why they specifically taught techniques that were called “self-defense techniques”. The reason became clear later.

Some martial arts emphasize philosophy and some few even incorporate religion.

Some “fighting systems” decline to be called a martial art because of the sport, philosophy, & religion connections.

“Combat” followed by the label of any standard martial art style usually indicates a system based on the original martial of that name but stripped of the sport, philosophy, & religion elements and perhaps enhanced by techniques borrowed from other styles

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