Martial Arts in simple words is an art of learning to fight. This fight or we may call it a conflict is not only at a physical level but exist mainly at psychological and spiritual level. The real goal of Martial arts is to make oneself able to fight at all 3 levels. Over the years, since its inception Martial arts scope have got limited only to physical training of fighting. And with this limited emphasis, there are lot of wrong ideas, myths and perceptions which has been developed and has been reflected in our pop culture and modern idea of health & fitness. In this blog, we will list down 5 wrong notions we have about Martial Arts:
1) Martial Art is what I see in Hollywood Action Scenes
We all have grown up watching amazing fight scenes of Terminator, Matrix and numerous Hollywood and Bollywood movies which have given us this idea that Martial art is to learn to be able to do incredible fighting techniques. With the influence of Chinese and Japanese cinema, this idea has got even extreme to be able to fight 25 opponents at a time or to kick someone so hard that person fly few kilometres. In reality, Martial art is more humble and more serious about art of fighting and doesn’t involve use of cocky and flamboyant aerobic movements which might look interesting on screen but with respect to real fight have absolutely no value. A flying kick is not practical as the opponent gets ample time to move out of the way and to kick someone so hard that he moves kilometres is only a fantasy to say it in a direct way. Martial arts essentially helps a disciple to learn the nature of all sorts of conflicts and identify one’s strengths and weakness in order to fight real battle which are internal battles. And for that, one needs to engage with what is practical and not what is fantastical.
To be a Martial Artist is not same as being a Stuntman.
2) If I become a black belt, l will be fully prepared to overcome any kind of conflict.
We might think that learning some techniques and practicing it many times or getting a black belt will make me invincible. In reality, it doesn’t mean much. One should not fall in this trap of thinking that any form or knowledge of any art can make me perfect. Life is bigger than all of us and what conflict or challenge we face and how we respond at that moment depends on large range of factors which are more internal than relying on any external discipline to bail me out. Being a black belt is not the end but only the start of a beautiful adventure of self-realisation. One who truly is a Martial Artist is also the most humble person in the room as he/she very well knows the reality of combat and how easy it is to lose in face of a conflict then it is to win. And this humility keeps the person grounded, and continue to learn and to be alert and not over-confident in thinking that an external title or belt will make him calm in the face of conflict.
3) Traditional Martial Arts are better than Modern Martial Arts
When we speak of traditional martial arts like Kung fu, Karate, Aikido etc vs modern martial art forms like Muay thai, MMA, we should not conclude that traditional forms are better. In reality, traditional forms are more principle-oriented than practicality. So, learning kung fu techniques or Katas of Karate will not help you to fight 2 people on the road with knife in hand. Many traditional forms of Martial arts were meant for overall development where physical practicality of a technique was not given enough attention. The downside of this was that these martial arts forms though beautiful conceptually were practically redundant and slowly people started losing value in learning them or it became more fanatic and people preserved forms like a religion doctrine without inviting any change or modification in techniques.
4) Modern Martial Art forms are better than Traditional forms.
One should also not fall in this side of argument as it is not true at all. Modern martial arts came with better ability to execute a technique in a practical situation with stronger focus on strength and fitness but it lacked completely on the front of fighting inner conflict which needs more subtle tools. This higher and conceptual dimension is completely missed and as a result learning this kind of martial arts can become only about physical form of competition lacking artistic depth.
An art without depth is only exercises and hence we see Muay Thai and MMA in the world promoted as new age fitness routine which is a very small aspect from a larger treasure of learning Martial Arts.
5) Martial Art is difficult for me to learn, it is only for those who are Super fit.
This thought is very natural to come to us as what we see what Martial art has become in Cinema age and recently promoted as new age fitness routine. It is portrayed that you need to have an action hero physique to pursue an art like Martial Arts.I would say to pursue Martial art you don’t need physique but a heart of a hero. If you have resolve to become a hero, then martial art is for you. To have 6 pack abs or ability to kick above face level doesn’t make one a hero. What makes a hero is qualities like courage, compassion, resilience and ability to follow one’s heart and this lies within all of us. Martial art in true form can help us to recognise this aspect within us to fight our daily battles like a hero which has nothing to do with physical body.
To conclude, all these above points are only few major wrong ideas we might have about Martial arts which might limit us to not learn this beautiful art form. The more we come close to the principles and essence of what martial art can truly teach us about life, automatically wrong notions in our mind will disappear and we will not only get interested in this art but will fall in love with this art.
-Vineet Lalan