Redefinition

The martial arts business is volatile at best. Just try to get a business loan for your first school if you don’t believe me. Historical data forces banks to rank us as a high risk to fail because while most of us who venture into this market may be skilled martial artists, we’re not always qualified teachers or business people. The business aspect of running a school can become such a distraction that it can be easy to lose one’s way and forget what value we contribute to our society. After reading Jason’s post this week and Tom’s comments on an MMA blog, I have been thinking about the disservice we as martial artists do to ourselves and our art.

Look at how the popularity of mixed martial arts competition has polarized the martial arts community. While half of us feel that the UFC is damaging our reputation, the other half are retooling their programs to cash in on this latest craze. Do either of these approaches reflect well on ourselves? If the UFC is damaging the reputation of the martial arts, we have to consider who is responsible. It is not Dana White, it is us. If we had been taking the time and care to continually define our art ourselves we wouldn’t be in the present situation where our arts’ value and relevance can be challenged by something so new.

How do we want the martial arts defined? If we really want our students to take what they are learning from us and apply it to the world at large, we need to decide what type of world we wish to live in. If MMA is able to redefine martial arts as being all about fighting, shame on us.

“The Way of a Warrior is based on humanity, love, and sincerity; the heart of martial valor is true bravery, wisdom, love, and friendship. Emphasis on the physical aspects of warriorship is futile, for the power of the body is always limited.”
- Morihei Ueshiba (1883 - 1969)