What defines "Traditional"?

[Steel Tiger]

In looking at several different arts, I'm actually seeing more than 2 designations.

You have the "dead" arts. These are the ones that people do, simply to preserve the knowledge. They are done with the intent to be as close as humanly possible to the instructor, and personal innovation is not allowed or discouraged. These often include obsolete weapons and training for concepts very unlikely to ever happen today. (ie mounted samurai). These tend to be the strictest, with elaborate traditions, ceremony and costumes (uniforms), with strict ranking structures and students knowing their place in things.

You have "transitional" arts. These are arts which have their roots in the "dead" but rather than seeking to be exactly as was, look at things today and modify techniques to be more applicable today. These are a bit more relaxed than the "dead", but most will still follow traditions and rules of the older lines.

You have "modern" or what most consider "mixed" arts, where old techniques are often experimented with, and modified or discarded as needed. They tend to be more technique oriented and often will focus on a specific issue in a problem-solution methodology. You will not find techniques done for the sake of doing them. Training here one will often wear whatever works, as they will often focus either on sport fighting, or street fighting concepts.

Then there are the ones that fit between the cracks of these 3.

The one truth I see here, is that whatever is 'modern' today, will evolve to a more organized structure tomorrow, and 50 years from now be listed as "old" and "traditional" as a new generation seeks to make their mark and find that "right thing" we are all searching for.

It is interesting that you mention these 'dead' arts. I think a lot of the animosity directed at 'traditional' martial arts actually stems from these. Here we have the performance of techniques and methods that are obsolete but are maintained as a connection to the history of something important. Many modern viewers see them and think they are being practiced for use in the modern world. A moments thought would stave off these conclusions. Mounted archery is not that useful these days, neither is Iaido given nobody carries swords anymore (at least they shouldn't).

Even traditional MAs evolve. Those that do not are left behind and usually forgotten. For instance, it is now accepted that the art that Zhang San Feng (we can get into whether he was real or not at another time) created was not the same as the Taiji developed by the Chen family, though it is often called Taiji. For that matter, Chen Taiji has become Yang Taiji, and Sun, and Wu, and a few others. It is a very good example of a traditional art that has changed through the ages. And it might be the archetype for the traditional martial art.