Bulllshit Martial Arts?

Before I begin:

DISCLAIMER: I do not consider, I repeat, I do not consider myself to be the greatest authority on the subject. The following(like my entire blog) is an expression of my own views taking into account my own experiences and my perspective as it is on the date of this publication. This is in no way meant to reflect or represent the views or opinions of my teachers or schools I may refer to.

"That isn't a Martial Art!"
"Bullshit Martial Arts!"
"Your Martial art isn't effective!"

I hear these phrases ad nauseam in conversations during MMA boughts on TV, among practitioners of different disciplines and on YouTube channels and comments. It has always made me feel uncomfortable and not until I sat down and really tried to hash it out for myself that I came to an interesting question, "What are Martial Arts and are we using the term correctly?" It seems to me that the term "Martial Art" is a bit when one analyzes it's use in popular culture today.

Martial Art?

Before we can hope to have any fruitful conversation about anything, we must start with defining terms. According to encyclopedia.com:

"Martial arts cover a broad range of activities that involve fighting techniques, physical exercises, and methods of mental discipline, among other skills. Martial arts originated in the ancient cultures of Asia, and are used today around the world for self-defense, exercise, health, spiritual growth, law enforcement, and athletic competition."

However, given my limited experience in Martial Arts, I know enough to say that this definition is lacking and my brief surf through YouTube also generated virtually nothing other than deadliest arts/techniques when I typed said query into its search engine.

War and Oppression: the Rise of Warriors

If we look back on the genesis of the arts we know today we start to see a natural trend throughout history, regardless of the country or region. At the beginning we see fighting systems develop through times of war and oppression. These systems develop on the field through trial and error. Those who were the most successful in surviving and killing began passing down their knowledge. Usually these were integrated into military curriculum(India, Greece, Rome, China, Japan, etc...) and sometimes they were shared among families or clans. As is the nature of war and oppression, some fighting systems prevailed and others were lost to history.

War and Peace

In the case of countries like China, many warriors for various circumstances took refuge in Buddhist temples during these difficult times. The middle way of Buddhism and the wuwei of Daoist Philosophy/Religion transformed aggressive fight systems into defensive arts. The development of the mind and body, the relationship with nature and the understanding/expression of oneself came to the forefront and we saw fight systems evolve into Martial Arts. This happened throughout Asia. In the case of Japan, the warrior Samurai, in times of peace created bushido giving them a code of honor and morality.
Oppression had a similar effect on other arts. In Brazil, for example, Capoeira was born in the senzalas or slave houses the Portuguese used to hold African slaves in their new colony in the Americas. As they used their skills to flee they're enslavement, they created quilombos or free towns where Capoeira was further developed. The Yoruba traditions of western Africa and its manifestation in Brazil known as Candomble grew side by side with the art.

The Rise of Sport

Some countries had governments which recognized early on the cultural significance of these fighting arts and transformed some into sport or created sports out of certain arts. We see the clearest cases of this in Japan (Judo, Competition Karate, Sumo, etc), Korea (Olympic TaeKwonDo), Thailand(Muay Thai), France(Savate) and Britain(Boxing) where large scale competitions and tournaments are held to this day.

When Banned, Just Adapt and Disguise

However, some governments felt threatened by these arts and proceeded to ban them. This affected the evolution of these arts to manifest in more of a folkloric performance. In China, we saw Wushu develop to become a more flowery performance art than that of its more effective and direct predecessors. Now we must add that nothing has held China back for too long in its history and it remains one of the strongest proponents of Martial arts and Fight sports in the world. In Brazil, we saw Capoeira go to the brink of extinction reduced to very few movements and highly ritualized. If it weren't for the work of Manoel dos Reis Machado, also known as Mestre Bimba, the ban on Capoeira would have likely never been lifted and we wouldn't have seen this art reach all corners of the world like it has today.

The Resurgence of Fight Systems

Thanks to human nature, we love to be at war... Also thanks to this, we see fight systems come back periodically. In Russia, the military has developed a fight system called, conveniently enough, Systema. In the Phillipines we have Escrima, Kali, Silat, etc... and in Israel there is Krav Maga. These disciplines are purely martial and don't really dive into the philosophical aspects of traditional martial arts, if ever.

Thanks for the History Lesson Bruh, So What is it Then?

Martial arts have such a long and winding history that to put the term in a neat box is almost a disservice. It seems to me that it is more appropriate to use it as an umbrella term and identify its many offshoots:

Traditional Martial Arts put self defense, self knowledge and higher concepts at the pinnacle of their art.
Fight Sports have rules and regulations with the aim to test their skills through competition in tournament settings.
Fight Systems are more suited for battle with no other aim than to neutralize whomever is in their way.

Does This Mean They are Mutually Exclusive?

Obviously not. They all possess transferable qualities. After all, they are all combat arts, just with different intents. Their main difference is in what they prioritize or value: Deeper meaning of self and relation to nature, competition and entertainment or hardcore battle.
It is important for someone to ask themselves what they are looking for when approaching martial arts in order to choose wisely when considering a discipline to pursue. Some arts possese all three, some a combination of two or exclusively one.

Did You Just Insult my Art?

Also, it is important to note that I'm not saying one is better than another. If you are an athlete that is competitive, by all means go into a fight sport. If you are a soldier, go for a fight system. If you want to know how to defend yourself but also care about more esoteric properties that one gains through art, then go traditional.

I look forward to being pummeled in the comments section(if anyone ever bothers reading it). Allow me to offer a preemptive tap out.

Cheers.