April 30, 2008
True martial arts are dying!
We spend a great deal of time advertising and marketing the benefits of the martial arts – discipline, confidence, self-defense, courtesy, integrity, perseverance – but is it all hype?
I think this is due, largely, to our focus on “sport” & “competition” and making money in our society. There is a great deal of emphasis placed on what someone has “won”. It is often used as a measure of their success. Sadly, their technical abilities don’t translate to daily life success.
Now, I’m NOT saying that sport or competition is bad. I am saying that the by-products are often negative. I remember back to when “Full Contact” was the name used and martial artists fought hard to win the fight. At that time, martial arts spoke respectfully about their opponent and showed their respect at the start of each round.
Today’s martial sport seems to have more trash talking and peacock strutting than respect and integrity. I’ve heard the comment several times from more sport-oriented peers that “The mat doesn’t lie.” The problem with that is the lack of insight into the rest of the world. If everything can only be settled “on the mat” then I don’t think you’ve learned your art very well. I wouldn’t deny that some of them are very good and talented fighters but is the world only about the fight?
I know there are all kinds of analogies using sports to compare how business is done and how to be successful. That’s a very superficial viewpoint though. Yes, there is competition between businesses for clients/customers. That’s not the point. If it’s only about the competition, send your best fighter over there and beat them up. That doesn’t really happen, right? Here’s where the real benefits of martial arts training comes in.
Businesses survive and grow based on their ability to problem solve. This is either for their clients/customers or in their processes to operate more effectively. This is based on martial arts (even combat) principles and strategies… but NOT the physical techniques.
I won’t limit this to just the martial arts though. How many NFL players have spent time planning out their touchdown “celebration”? How often are players strutting around after making a great play? Isn’t that what they’re paid to do anyway? If you really look at it, the true competitors are the ones who were not only greatly successful but understated. How often did you see Emmett Smith spike the ball after a touchdown? I don’t recall any. He’d hand the ball to an official or just drop it, then head back the huddle. You can see similar examples in the NHL with Wayne Gretsky and Mario Lemieux. Their outstanding knowledge of the game allowed them to utilize their physical skills. This understanding of the “real” game has made them successful in business as well.
