Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Special Edition

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Two Sides of the Same Martial Arts Coin:
Tradition and Progress
Many practitioners as well as Instructors take pride in the phrase
“Traditional Martial Arts” as the kind of training and style they
practice and teach. Others are just as eager to express that they
“absorb what is useful” in lieu of wasting their time with what might
be referred to as “The Classical Mess.” The thought being presented
here is that these are two sides of the martial arts coin.
Can we at least agree that today’s tradition at some point was
yesterday’s progress. There is no written or unwritten standard for how
long something must be done before it becomes a tradition, is there?
It” more than likely, and demonstrated in history, that today’s “Traditional
Martial Arts” were considered heterodox in the name of progress.
Aikido has in its foundation many styles of Jujitsu and was considered
an innovation when Morihei Ueshiba created it, but today it
receives the traditional label. Jeet Kune Do on the other hand met
much opposition initially even though its foundation is in classical
Wing Chun and incorporated techniques from other Traditional
Martial Arts. Surely the practitioners of each are practicing martial
arts in the traditional sense (sarcasm intended).
Today, we have Mixed Martial Arts which most systems are
based in Jujitsu and includes tactics from other styles that also fall
under the so-called Traditional Martial Arts Umbrella. Finding the
balance is the key between tradition and progress not division. Many
schools today might call themselves sharing Traditional Martial Arts
but have classes that include TaeKwondo, Tai Chi, and Grappling.
Think about it. Did it become Tradition to have Korean, Chinese,
Japanese or Brazilian styles in one Dojang, Kwoon, Dojo or School?
International TaeKwonDo Day –
September 4, 2022
Annually, September 4 is celebrated as International Taekwondo
Day. The international community observes this
day to commemorate Taekwondo becoming a medal sport in the
Olympics. In 2006, the first International Taekwondo Day was held
in South Korea after being initiated by the ruling body of the style,
formerly known as the World Taekwondo Federation.
As a relatively recent development, Taekwondo doesn’t
have a long history, but it has had great growth as a practice
throughout the world. It’s popularity is proven just in having this
kind of celebration when so many other older and well established
martial arts have no such event. It was on September 4,
1996 that the International Olympic Committee officially adopted
Taekwondo as an Olympic competition. In the 2000 Summer
Olympics in Sydney, Australia Taekwondo had it inaugural Olympic
competitive debut.
From the initial celebration of International Taekwondo Day
in Seoul, South Korea to present times, there has been a huge
spread of participants celebrating the day globally. More than 70
million people practice Taekwondo throughout the world, in more
than 188 other countries around the world. This is a great opportunity
to promote your school with community events, media
opportunities and internal promotions.
Do You Have Energizer Bunny
Syndrome?
As a martial artist, you probably pride yourself on being
tireless and always full of energy. Like the Energizer
Bunny for the Energizer
Battery, try to “keep
going and going and
going”. But just like that
battery runs out of juice,
you will too, if you keep
burning the candle from
both ends.
You surely tell your
students, daily exercise,
proper eating, and quality
rest is necessary for being
your best. With this in mind
be sure to manage YOUR
energy and rest well to
optimize your performance
and care for yourself. Your
students deserve to have
you at your ‘best’, not a
drained shell of yourself!
14 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | SPECIAL EDITION
Photography by Artur Didyk (top left) and Prostock-Studio (bottom right)