Why The Traditional Martial Arts Are Good

Since the last couple of posts have been so MMA/Grappling focused I figured that I would take a step back and talk about the Traditional Martial Arts and why I think they offer so much. A really good comparison would be buying a house versus building a house. When you buy a house you look for one you like and then you buy it. It might not be perfect, there might be things about it you even hate but you end up with a house that for the most part you like. When you build a house you can make sure that your new home will fulfill every single thing you could ever want. However there is a lot of work, stress and grief associated with building a home. If you’re a new homeowner it’s probably a much better idea just to purchase a house and work with it until you understand the ins and outs of having a house at that point if you are so inclined you are in a position to build your dream home. The traditional martial arts are like buying a house. They aren’t perfect in fact no martial art (or house for that matter) is but they have a foundation, a bathroom, etc. For the most part they are package and you get everything you need to get your toe into the martial ocean. Once you learn the basics you can move onto adding techniques and principles of your own or from other martial arts to your repertoire and start to develop your own style. On the other hand if you begin by taking a very informal and overly open martial art you run a very high risk of becoming an incoherent mess. You have no guiding principles and just know a random assortment of techniques. If you happen to be an advanced martial artist then you don’t really run the risk of becoming a martial mess just as a experienced home owner doesn’t run the risk of ending up with a house without a key feature.