The Art Never Fails

I was pondering today upon what makes up martial arts. Soldiers get hand to hand combat training in their Basic Training regimen. Some basic self defense can be taught in an good 8 week course. Cardio Kickboxing is a great way to get out your aggression and get some cardio done. But martial artists spend years learning and practicing. Contemplating this has led me to the conclusion that the purpose of the martial arts is the pursuit of excellence.

Military training, self defense, and exercise are worthy goals but they are not actually martial arts. They are activities. A true martial artist falls in love with the martial arts and works hard to perfect his or her skills. Whether it is kung fu, Tai Chi, Karate, MMA, Aikido, or anything else we work hard to perfect the techniques, the fundamentals. In MMA that would be learning proper techniques and conditioning so that one excels at ring fighting. In Karate one practices mainly blocking and punching. In Tai Chi we practice producing effortless power and neutralizing an opponent.

The problem is that when we fail to stop an MMA player or a karate-ka we get the idea that we need to focus on studying the art that defeated us. That is just silly and is a waste of time. You need to focus on the art you love and work harder. Condition yourself practice until the art works to stop your opponent no matter what they happen to do. If a Brazilian Jujitsu player takes you down then work on neutralizing his grab and beating the snot out of him before he can use his techniques. If that pesky Tai Chi guy trounced the BJJ player then the BJJ player needs to work harder on perfecting his techniques.

If a Karate-ka claims that his or her system is about one hit, one kill then he or she needs to prove that by simply taking out an opponent carrying a pad with one swift punch. If you cannot knock someone holding a pad off of their feet then you have failed in the objective you were training for.

Most often this failure comes from the refusal to work hard enough. A martial artist is like any other artist. You must practice the art until you become a master of it. You may be talented but without practice your talent will never blossom. Choose your martial art and practice hard. Repeat the moves and techniques thousands of times, spar with all opponents, learn how the techniques work. Eat, breathe, and sleep your art. This is how Martial Artists are made and there are no shortcuts. Remember we as people fail but the arts never fail. You either practice hard or you don't.