This particular blog in this series is no longer about my involvement with but actually about what is meant by martial arts in general.
In the martial arts, a distinction is sometimes made between internal and external systems or styles also referred to as soft and hard styles. A distinction that is of particular importance to me personally.
But what distinguishes a martial art from any other sport or pursuit? At first glance, it seems pretty clear what a martial art or a martial art would be about, namely the mutual measurement of each other's strength and the ability to win a fight. In the first instance, strength and muscular and well-trained bodies will come to mind and then perhaps things such as flexibility, agility and timing. But psychological factors and/or character traits can also carry considerable weight and may determine the outcome of a fight.
Struggle and winning a fight are likely to take central stage. Duels are probably of all times or certainly go very far back in time. How we look at it and what meanings we attribute to it may differ quite a bit per culture and era. In our culture, we don't think it's kosher anymore to kill each other (although?; see the struggles and wars raging all around us) and it's forbidden by law.
Since blood is thicker than water and the people have a need for games in addition to bread, almost every culture has forms of regulated and/or ritualized or played fights. In our culture, for example, these are wrestling or boxing matches and more recently Eastern martial arts such as those from Japan and China. And after all, every sporting match is an expression of the need to measure strength and skill among one another in some sort of battle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses
Now, of course, the whole of life is not always just sports and games and for some such as soldiers, police officers and other law enforcement officers as well as for some criminals, mastering certain fighting techniques, and thus being able to stand your ground, may therefore considered a professional skill.
And what do we mean by struggle or a fight? Do you need at least two to tango for that or can you also just struggle with yourself or life in general? Does it have to express itself physically or do we also count a battle of words or ideas as a fight? (think of the well-known saying that war is nothing more than a continuation of politics but by different means) Now, by definition, any form of competition is also a match and thus some sort of battle or fight. In that context, I would like to to quote Arnon Grunberg from De Groene Amsterdammer nr 35 from 2018. He concludes the essay 'Life as a struggle' in response to the Dutch translation of Adolf Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' with: There is much to be said for the fact that life is indeed a struggle. It is nonsensical to claim that this is not the case because people can also work well together; Competition requires cooperation. The crucial question is how we shape this struggle, what rules of the game we apply, so that decent family men and kind mothers, with all their prejudices, whether repulsive or not, do not have to become murderers, executioners and accomplices of murderers.
In the case of martial arts, we will usually assume a physical component involved that will actually determine the course and outcome of a fight.
Martial arts and/or martial arts can be practiced in all kinds of forms, at various levels and for many reasons. Self-defense, to stay fit and healthy, recreation or character building to name just a few of those reasons.
According to the NOC*NSF, the number of practitioners in the Netherlands would be around 250,000 in 2019 and worldwide, according to Wikipedia, there are hundreds of millions practioners. So if you should feel challenged to play your part; You won’t certainly be the only one and there is a lot to choose from.
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