lklawson
Grandmaster
There are "issues" all right. But not where you seem to think.
Your first post, the OP, you specifically wrote "the point of this post is the following, a true martial artist should keep an open mind..." You're deciding what is a "true martial artist" and you don't get to. Other people believe "true" martial arts is about fighting. Other's believe it is about experiencing the history of the art. One person might think the true essence of being a martial artist is Aikido style "bunnies and light" blending, while another might think it is Silat style "stab them in the back while they're peeing." What is the definition of a "true martial artist?" There is none. Personally, I reject bunnies and light, open mind, and most "higher" philosophic ideas about what a martial art/artist is. Martial comes from "Mars," the Roman god of war and fighting. Not all goals of fighting is the same across all regions and time periods. Civilian self defense in the U.S. from the early 20th Century was different from 18th Century dueling in the Carpathian mountains, which was different from ceremonial Swahili fighting from mid-19th Century, which was different from 11th Century Chinese military combat, which was different from 12-th Dynasty Egyptian wrestling. They had different goals and therefore different vehicles to achieve those goals. So while the mechanics and basic foundations of fighting are generally pretty much the same, balance, timing, etc., the goals, expression, vehicle, the whole point of what is a martial artist vary wildly even in the same time and place.
