Steve Sweetlove seems to have caused quite a stir with his remarks regarding to Boneheads in the Martial Arts. I think the problem both myself and Steve have is that we see a difference between a Martial Art and Fighting. Both Steve and myself started our Martial Careers in Judo and both believe in the philosophy of Jigaro Kano (Judo is more than a Martial Art or Sport, it is a means of physical and cultural attainment). Therefore we believe that Martial Arts can be a vehicle to produce better human being’s. Steve has the added responsibility of being a Policeman.
After saying this we both realize that there is a place for Self Defense and I emphasize the SELF DEFENCE. The training with weapons will always be a topic for discussion. I have tried most of the Japanese weapons not any level I might add, because things like Iaido, Jodo etc have that philosophical element; I have also tried various forms of fencing and enjoyed myself trying out some of the medieval weaponry. I find it hard to justify teaching ordinary Joe Public how to use a knife of any description. There may be certain sections of our society that need to know how to use these deadly weapons and how to kill people for instance the armed forces but the ordinary citizen I do not think so.
Should the Martial Arts be there to develop people into Barbarians NO. What do I mean by Barbarian, here is an example a local Jiu Jitsu instructor moved to a small village in England he decided to teach Jiu Jitsu. Remember we are in a village where the majority of the inhabitants have never seen an act of real violence apart from what is on their TV. With in 2 weeks he has taught his students how to poke some one in the eye, kick at the knee to break it, he then goes on to promise that if they train hard they will learn how to break many other bones and be able to use various sorts of weapons!!!!!!!
To say we live in a more violent society is a very hard thing to prove I do not think living in the 1930, or through the war years was a harmonies experience. Of course if you live in places like Kosovo etc there may be a need to learn how to preserve your life but for the great majority of us those dangers are just not there.
I believe that Martial Arts is more then fighting and I also believe a lot of what people call Martial Arts in reality is only Fighting or shall we call it the Barbaric Arts
I await for the response who wish to justify there existence.