Practical Martial Arts

Hi!

There's a lot of talk these days about making martial arts more "practical;" this is as opposed to "traditional." Most people define "practical" as "will help me win a street fight" as if those who practiced "traditional" martial arts in feudal Japan never had to worry about fighting... It's really quite ironic. Most martial arts schools cater to ordinary U.S. citizens, who live in one of the safest countries in one of the safest times. In this case, why is it "practical" for ordinary citizens to train as if street fights were a typical part of their day?

Maybe it's the fantasy that their martial arts training will turn them into the kind of bada$$ that they've always wanted to be. Most of us have jobs where any kind of fighting will get us fired, so what's the point? True self-defense isn't being the last one standing after every fight, it's not getting hurt. I wrote a post in January titled "Getting Hit On the Head Lessons" in which I question the wisdom of being beat up during training when the real goal of training is not to get beat up. Why, then, do we act as if martial arts is only "practical" if it covers really efficient ways of hurting others?

I know there are some jobs that actually require people to use martial arts training. I've trained with police officers who have stressed the "practicality" of their training. They didn't, however, focus on inflicting damage. They focused on control. It wasn't about hurting the other guy, it was about getting compliance WITHOUT hurting the other guy. Even the ex-military folks I know never talk about using their martial arts training in actual combat. They talk about training and "friendly fire" situation with fellow soldiers. Actual fighting, therefore, is VERY rare.

Here's what I consider "practical" martial arts training: Practical training is that which will help you in your daily life. For me, that's the discipline and self-control; that's flexibility and conditioning; that's practicing effective communication and teamwork. These are VERY practical skills in my world. These are skills that I developed through martial arts training and teaching, and these are skills that I try to help those I teach develop in themselves. This list may be different had I lived in feudal Japan, so I'm glad I live in the U.S.A. in 2009. I like the way I train and think it's VERY practical just the way it is...

Thanks,
Matt