Martial Arts in Sci-Fi and Fantasy #4: Learning

[skribs]

I'm putting this in sci-fi and fantasy, because I think some of the answers might require the person to be immortal. It's a simple question - how long would it take for someone to learn ALL the martial arts?

Now, on the surface, this can mean learning Kung Fu, Muay Thai, Karate, Jiu-Jitsu, Hapkido, Boxing, Wrestling, and Krav Maga. It could also mean learning every lineage of Karate, every style of Kung Fu, learning every single form that exists for Taekwondo.

What I really mean it to mean, is how long would it take for someone to become proficient in every single aspect of martial arts? To learn one art in it's entirety, and then to learn from the next art what isn't covered in theirs, and then from the next art to start filling in the gaps, until eventually they're just getting little pieces of advice from every new master they come across. How long would it take to get to that point?

 

[Anarax]

Hard to say. By immortal you mean he won't age? Can he get injured? Is he training full-time? There is definitely a lot of overlap between all the styles. If he trains in Japanese Jujitsu does he need to train Judo? Same goes for Aikijisu and Aikido.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I'd say forever.
First, because there are soooooooo many "variations of" that you'd have to learn.
Second, because there is always something new to learn. I mean, just about the time you mastered the katana, you'd have to learn the light sabre. And the plasma rifle. And just learning to disengage the safety catch and then engage the Extreme Danger Catch on the Kill-O-Zap pistol is going to be significant. And if you have to do it while wearing your Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses, it gets even more complicated.

 

[Ryan_]

There will always be more adaptions, more evolutions in martial arts and I expect by the time the person learns one, there will be several more. So even if the person was ageless, then I still don't think it would be possible regardless of commitment.

 

[Flying Crane]

It isn’t just about filling in “gaps”. Different systems can be built upon different foundations and methodologies. These things can actually conflict from one system to another, making them incompatible and a detriment to study them together. So one system can have solutions that differ from another system, but in their own way they are complete. There are no gaps there, even though they don’t use every technique that exists.

So that brings us to simply learning every system, for the sake of learning them. I say it takes a hundred thousand years to learn what exists right now. But what exists is a constantly moving target. New systems come and go. Some perpetuate for generations, others die with their founders. There are probably thousands of local village kung Fu systems that we in the West have simply never seen and do not even know they exist.

So really, the very notion is impossible to realistically contemplate.

 

[skribs]

It isn’t just about filling in “gaps”. Different systems can be built upon different foundations and methodologies. These things can actually conflict from one system to another, making them incompatible and a detriment to study them together. So one system can have solutions that differ from another system, but in their own way they are complete. There are no gaps there, even though they don’t use every technique that exists.

So that brings us to simply learning every system, for the sake of learning them. I say it takes a hundred thousand years to learn what exists right now. But what exists is a constantly moving target. New systems come and go. Some perpetuate for generations, others die with their founders. There are probably thousands of local village kung Fu systems that we in the West have simply never seen and do not even know they exist.

So really, the very notion is impossible to realistically contemplate.

I will agree that some arts have different internal philosophies. I will also agree that some styles are incongruent with each other.

However, I don't agree that you need to learn every art in it's entirety.

For example, boxing won't have anything to deal with kicks or grappling. So even though it is complete for what it is (a punching sport), it is incomplete in the situations it might prepare you for. However, if you've taken boxing, then there's a lot in kickboxing or muay thai that you may already know. You can apply those in new combinations, but my guess is someone who has spent 20 years boxing probably doesn't need a muay thai instructor to show him how to throw a hook punch.

 

[Buka]

A lot of time would pass as you learned all kinds of things in all the different Arts. And what a great journey that would be. If you love the Arts, how much fun would that be? It would be so the balls.

But, then, I think there would come a point where you stopped short and realized something.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Even if what you're suggesting were possible, I dont think whomever made that journey would stop. He would, while learning, probably be making advances no one else would be capable of, and have to perfect what those advances were while continuing. It would be an ongoing, evolutionary process (so long as he always has people willing to work with him)

 

[jks9199]

Gonna be lazy... Steve Perry already answered this in his Matador series, especially The Musashi Flex.