Worth Reading

On this page every month will be different stories, history information or news worthy reading about martial arts.  I will be changing it at the beginning of every month starting in February.  If you have any comments about the articles please email me or if you have any suggestions too.!  Thanks for  reading and enjoy! 

Have you ever heard a martial art practictioner say "Fighting could be considered a form of art?"  Think about it...fighting as a form of artistic expression!?  Seemed rather absurd, or so I thought when I first heard it years ago. In light of the fact that no explantion was provided at the time in support of the claim, it was thought to be nothing than the ramblings of someone intent of glorifying violent behavior.

Several years have now passed, and what was once thought to be a rather daunting task to defend such a position has all but faded away.  I now  believe that fighting can indeed be elevated to a form of artistic expression.  That being said, I also believe that individuals whose behavior lends credence to such a claim are extremely rare and are limited to only the most passionate of martial artists.  These are the martial artists who are the most deepley committed in their pursuit to acquire "Martial Ability."

What is Martial Ability? Martial Ability is a term used to represent the ability of a martial artist to efficiently apply principles-of-engagement in a spontanious manner during combat-oriented situations.  Martial Ablitlty is a highly advanced phase of development to which many deeply committed martial artists aspire in their pursuit of achieving their full potential.  In order to genuinely understand how Martial Ability is acquired, there needs to be a willingness to look beyond the dictates associated with the various styles of marital art; a desire to look beneath the ego-laden facade that oft surrounds even the most venerate of martial artist and deep into the mind to discover the impetus for their actions.  By doing so, you are apt to be one of the fortunate few who have tapped into something of such enormous significance...something of such importance that it could dramatically alter you perspective on life for the better.

In addition to being in tremendous physical condition, there are two attributes of significance that are shared by all martial artists who are deeply committed in  their desire to acquire Martial Ablitlity.  Theses attributes are:  A heightned level of awareness of their surroundingdings.

The capacity to maintain a heightened level of awareness during the most extreme of situations.

Why is it so important for an aspiring martial artist to acquire a heightened level of awarenes of his surroundings?  The answer is:  there's an intrinsic relationship that always exists between your body positon/movements and those of an adversary's.  The effectivness of any martial art technique, regardless from which style it is derived, is highly dependent upon detecting and adapting to these ever-changing movements.

Such training exercises can play a major role in altering the way you view yourself and your relationship with your environment.  You'll eventually progress to a point where, rather than viewing yourself as though you are "separate from" the environment and resorting to elaborate means of forcing yourself onto situations, you'll perceive the environment as though it's something of which you are an integral part, and you'll willingly allow your awareness of each situation to dictate your actions.  You'll appreciate the value associated with being mentally and phyically pliable.  Such a change in perspective will manifest itself in terms of a dramatiic improvement in your ability to efficiently apply principles-of-engagment, when subjected to self-defense situations that stray from what you are typically accustomed.

Taken from WOSKKA Dojo News, vol. 7 issue 10, written by Renshi J. Smith