Martial Arts, HIstory and Evolution

[disgruntled]

the russian sambo discussion got me thinking....

how much should a instructor change the MA they teach to match the demands of the time?

the example on the other thread was should you stay true to the teaching of a combat MA that teaches you to slit the throat of the enemy, or teach the SD without the brutality because it is not needed in present day north american.

but this could extend beyond that.

i know if Bruce Lee were here he would say that MAs must evolve and we should develop them not constrain them by history.

but by doing that there is some danger in loosing the history of the MA and the original practice

is there a way to balance this?

[tntma12]

First off, let me start by saying that I havent had access to the internet for a while, so I havent had the chance to post, sorry about the delay.

Second as far as the evolution of martial arts goes, I think things will always change. I dont feel that any instructor teaches the exact same as anyone else including their instructor. This is mainly due to the fact that we are all different and have different perceptions of how techniques are performed and/or executed. We all bring a different aspect of the art we study, and I think that is the way it should be, we should all bring a bit of ourselves into the heritage of the art we practise. As long as the history, origins, and respect for the founders stay in tact, I dont feel there should be anything wrong with arts evolving. After all, a major reason we have some of the arts we have now is from evolution.

Would love to hear some opinions on this subject

[disgruntled]

that was an excellent post.... mostly because i agree with you

the MAs do evolve whether we like it or not, and i was really glad that you pointed it out!

but what about larger aspects like dismissing an entire "finishing" move like slashing someones throat?

and what do we do about history? like you said, everyone changes history by their interpertation of it.... does that mean that our history of MAs, or rather our understanding of the history of MAs is therefore questionable?

[tntma12]

as far as the "finishing" moves go, I think that would greatly depend on views of the instructor teaching the style, and possibly what demographich they are teaching, ie: children, adults, problem youth, ect.

As far as the evolution and history go, that is a tough one, lol. It is quite possible, realistically speaking, that some of the histories we are taught have already changed. If you were to ask 2 different "masters" of the same art to tell you the histories behind the art, you would most likely hear two similar, yet somewhat different answers. Does it mean one is right and one is wrong? No, just two different interpretations. I guess all we can do as responsible MAists is to teach the histories as we were taught them, as the core values and teachings rarely seem to change, and hope that at least those aspects stay alive.

This is a very interesting topic!

[sirdarksol]

The history has definitely changed. In both China and Japan, there has been a massive purge of history (China's was a bigger attempted change, Japan's was more carefully attempted)

A martial art should always be growing to adjust to the needs of the practitioners. Kyudo nearly died because it had not grown. Someone grasped onto the last few practitioners and solidified what they had into an art that had meaning beyond its application in war.
The same thing has happened with other arts in Japan.

[disgruntled]

couldn't it go hand in hand... teach a very traditional style and then teach how to adapt the traditional style to the modern world? or is it already too late, is too much of the history and tradition lost?

[sirdarksol]

Depends on the art. Many karate teachers do either this, or they teach the "new" and then teach the "old" afterwards. In this way, the adaptation is what is turned to first, but the historical is passed on.

[disgruntled]

are they taught at the same time right after each other, or do you mean as you advance to higher levels you learn the more traditional things?

[sirdarksol]

(Sorry about the really late reply)
In our style, we are taught the adaptation long enough to make it more or less reflex, then we begin learning the older stuff.

[disgruntled]

that is probably the best approach