Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Special Edition

MASTER THE BASICS
Has Traditional Martial Arts
Philosophy Become Obsolete
by Master Tina Bane
We are standing at a crossroads. The direction we choose will determine the future of
the martial arts for the next generation. That is a pretty heavy responsibility, when you
think about it.
One road is the way of the UFC. The other road is the way of
traditional martial arts. Which path should we, as the leaders of the
martial arts industry, follow?
Unquestionably, the way of traditional martial arts. If we want to
preserve our 5,000 year tradition, we should respect that tradition.
If we want to preserve the business that feeds our families,
we should go home with the partner that brought us
to the dance.
Sure, the UFC is exciting. It has great ratings
and a powerful promotional machine behind it.
It’s tempting to jump on the bandwagon, but
how many students do you think want to get
grounded and pounded? How many students do
you need to support a successful martial
arts school? Do you really believe a UFC
style school can be financially secure?
How many successful boxing
gyms do you see in your city?
How many successful wrestling
schools do you see
in your city? These are
Olympic sports with
long histories, but
they do not represent
a viable business plan.
On the other hand,
there are probably several
successful martial arts schools in
your city . . . hopefully yours is one
of them.
What is the difference? When you
focus on winning
championships,
whether that
championship is
represented by a
belt or a medal,
you can only have
one champion. On
the other hand,
when you focus
on self-development, everyone can be a champion. Only one
person can become the Olympic Champion or the UFC Champion,
but every student can become a life champion.
The physical techniques are important, but only as a means to
develop the internal person. Traditional martial arts schools that
focus on the philosophy of the martial arts will be more successful
than schools that focus on only the physical techniques. When we
find simple ways to incorporate philosophy into the classroom our
martial arts training is truly practical and relevant for everyday use
and not merely emergencies.
Can we create a martial arts competition that is more in line
with traditional martial arts values? We hope so. One possibility
is to have exhibition competitions, which show all the beauty and
excitement of the martial arts without the violence. Another is to
create team sparring competitions, possibly tag-team competitions
to increase the action.
We are the current leaders of the martial arts. We are standing
at the crossroads. It is up to us which road we follow. It just makes
sense that we follow the path that brought us here, the way of
traditional martial arts. Both economically and philosophically, it is
the right choice.
MASTER TINA BANE is a 6th degree master instructor and owner of a Top Ten martial arts school
with successful after school and summer camp programs.
88 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | SPECIAL EDITION
Photograph by ia_64