Feadin wrote:I agree that evolution is natural, but (as always, just my opinion) I feel that most modern "martial arts" are way too stripped down from their original sources.
For sure! Take American TKD for instance...
Don't get Henke going on that one!
Modern civilization wants everything right away, results in no time, so most modern or modernized martial arts (or sports) give them what they want: Apparent results in no time.
I would certainly agree to that as well, it's what I call The McDonalds effect, if you know what I mean. No one wants to take the time to develop discepline. Though, I do notice that those who 'stick with it' are more prone to develop that discipline. Maybe we ought to teach martial arts in elementary schools
Quite a lot of people thinks there's no use on learning to use traditional weapons like katana, daito, boken, wakisashi, hambo, jo, bo, naginata, shuko, shuriken, and so on. Also things like aruki (walking techniques), kaiten (rolling), tobi (jumping), ukemi (falling), ... But IMO all these techniques will give you different points of view of the same thing, let's call it taijutsu in this case (as an example). i.e. if we practise only jujutsu we won't ever understand real taijutsu because we'll only see one side of it, a "2D view".
The "whole picture" definately results in a more well-rounded martial education. I also think, though, that the degeneration of certain styles is also principally due to people searching for one certain aspect of technique. The current state of Martial Arts is a good economics lesson in consumer demand; over the decades, the students (consumers) want certain particles of certain styles faster than others that they don't see being neccesary. The result is the aforementioned pruning of an art to meet the demand. Like Henke was commenting earlier in the thread, he enjoys the philosophical teachings of his arts, so he rather gravitates to the Korean arts he's chosen.
I would venture a guess that, like all consumer goods, it's a matter of taste, and tastes change, not always for the better.
Having said that, considering society's general lack of taste, it's no bloody wonder there are so many pruned martial arts!
OT: No acostumbro tomar mate, estoy mas acostumbrado (extrañamente) al te verde (green tea)
Que lastima!
Pregunto porque mi linaje es de Gales y tengo familia en Argentina, pero no se mucho de ellos. Es la razon que aprendi Espanol (lo siento, las claves combinados para los accentos y tildes no sirven), para que algun dia podria viajar hacia Argentina y buscarlos los miembros de mi linaje alli.
Por mi parte, tomo mate todo los dias, de hecho estoy tomando mate ahora mismo. He pasado el bisio a muchos de mis amigos, y ahora tenemos mas que diez o once personas en mi ofecina que toman mate!
“First lesson: money is not wealth; Second lesson: experiences are more valuable than possessions; Third lesson: by the time you arrive at your goal it’s never what you imagined it would be so learn to enjoy the process” - unknown