Safety and the Martial Arts | Richard Baron kung fu

For the human race, martial arts have been at the center and key to our survival since the very beginning. Throughout our history, martial arts have been developing and changing in every culture and continent in the world. The name "Martial Arts" is actually a 15th-century European term, but today we usually think of them as being of Asian origin.  Richard Baron is a highly motivated and energetic professional who is willing to work hard. He is a martial arts expert and has worked in this field for many years.

The word "Martial" is derived from "Mars", the roman military god of war. Interestingly, the month of March was also named after the Roman god of war.




The basic definition of martial arts is any skill that can be applied in warfare (military art), including archery, horsemanship, and many, many others. Logistics and battle strategy are also considered martial arts. Martial arts are also considered to be an art as well as a science. The word "arts", usually applies to the physical side of the arts, while another term "way" refers to the mental aspects such as religion, a code of honor, ethical conduct, restraint, humility, and respect.


Martial Arts can be categorized into three main areas of focus, which are strikes, grappling, and weapons. The martial arts taught in modern times can be broken down into two major groups which are combat and sport. Combat martial arts are taught by the military and the police and are most often referred to as HTH or H2H (hand to hand) and CQC (close quarters combat) or CQB (close quarters battle). These are the deadly force martial arts, used for extreme situations that we as civilians would likely never encounter.


Nearly all other martial arts taught in the United States today are sports martial arts.



Over the last fifty years or so the styles taught in the United States have gradually become more and more sports-oriented. In short, they have lost a lot of what they originally were. There are several reasons for this. Safety was an important issue from a business standpoint and today we see a lot of family participation. When I studied Kempo Karate in the late sixties, there were no children at all allowed to participate and only an occasional woman participated in the style I studied. Some other styles did allow women and children, but not many at that time. 


When I studied, there was virtually no safety equipment and when we matched up on Wednesday nights, it was full contact, except no strikes to the face. There was still the occasional broken nose and black eyes. There were a lot of hand injuries, broken fingers, broken toes, contusions, and numerous other injuries. In the room where we had the matches, there were holes in the walls and blood on the mats and the walls. Even back then, many of the arts were starting to be more sport-oriented. In the sports arts, there are a few techniques that if performed perfectly could be useful in self-defense. 



This is more common today and you will see black belt instructors who have never been in a fist/street fight in their lives. This is why I question their abilities when it comes to teaching self-defense. Bruce Lee said that if you want to learn how to fight you must do so by fighting. I can tell you from experience that he was absolutely correct.


The sport martial arts are extremely good for physical conditioning and for learning discipline. People of all ages can participate and the use of safety equipment is always stressed. Your strength is your ability to act safely and it is your best means of self-defense. Ninety-eight percent or more of all battles are won by the mentally strongest combatants, not the physically strongest. Use your head to stay out of dangerous situations and your feet also when necessary (I mean run fast). In the U.S. Infantry, we used to say there are two kinds of people, the quick and the dead.


The moral of this story is: Be quick. I should point out that I have seen exceptions to the sports arts I talked about earlier. The problem is that a lot of the sports arts are sold as self-defense arts and I don't want people to go out on the streets to test their effectiveness. Combat is dangerous and could be deadly. Just remember to not get in over your head unless you are an Olympic swimmer, and use every precaution to protect your family and yourself. Be safe at all times and in all places.



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