So earlier last month I was talking to alot of instructors at National up in Madison and the decussion came up whether MA is good or bad in today world.
Here is what alot of folks agree upon too many Mc daycares out there, BB are on every square inch of the towns Everybody and there mama has a system.
Here was some of the positive, better health, physical fitness, build confidence, brings people together.
What I found funny was not one single person mention SD until I did and they looked at me and said why would I teach SD if we do tournaments, that all our concentration to be towards tournament sparring. When did the concept change withen MA?
Here's my take on this...
#1:
When did the concept change withen MA?
THAT totally depends on what You thought the original 'concept' in martial arts WAS. ...and THAT depends on how far back you want to go.
the Original Concept? Killing the enemy on the battlefield. Not gonna get very far in a commercial martial arts school with the
Original concept.
Later, other concepts entered in during times of relative peace, but they are totally secondary.......and a focus on "Competition" didn't even exist until the very end of the 19th Century...and even then......on a totally limited basis. The HEAVY shift in the 20th Century toward competition and the more 'romanticized' aspects (additions) to the martial ways draws in a direct line away from it's Origins.
#2:
What I found funny was not one single person mention SD until I did and they looked at me and said why would I teach SD if we do tournaments
In all honesty, I don't find their presumption odd or funny at all. There's a huge difference between martial arts and martial sports. from the early 60's through today there's been an ever widening gap between the two. A martial art cannot be "All things to all people...", so their presumption that a school that has any kind of a focus on 'tournaments" would have much to do with real self defense (fighting) skills is very reasonable. Now I'm not saying that a school that spars and attends tournaments cannot ALSO do adequate "Self-Defense" work; but I'm in like manner I'm not saying that a they can't also do flower arranging as well. In other words, they have nothing to do with one another! So...any time that a school spends working toward tournaments is time that they're NOT working toward self defense skills/ability, and vice versa! That's why so many schools that make a killing at tournaments don't 'waste' their time working with real fighting skills....when they could be improving their
game. It's also why SO many "Black Belts" who's schools focus on tournaments get their clocks Cleaned on the streets if they're ever forced to try to FIGHT. It's not the same game.
...heck....
it's NOT a game.
#3:
Here was some of the positive, better health, physical fitness, build confidence, brings people together.
Those things are TRUE as well as praise-worthy! But they can also be said of little league baseball. Those elements don't require anything beyond sport or athletic achievement, which is what tournament endeavors are. Why would someone need to work on actual self-defense skills to achieve those things??
...I think that their responses to your questions are pretty predictable honestly. You were speaking to instructors at a 'tournament' and they had a 'tournament school mindset'.
Your Brother
John