G Begins to Answer "The Question"

When I first began this e-column, I opened with an article called "The Question". If you missed it, the full text is available here.

I'd like to offer the beginnings of my answer today.

In his article, Forgetting the 'Martial' in 'Martial Artist', Phil Elmore, editor of The Martialist, once wrote that "...for a martial art to be a martial art, its focus must remain on fighting. A true master may renounce violence, but only his mastery of violence makes this possible."

Elmore's article was a call to the martial arts world: stick to your roots. Defend yourselves and defend yourselves well. It was the launching point of his writings on assertive living, the right to bear arms, and the self-defense industry....along with lots of knife and gun product reviews.

I hold the belief that Elmore is pretty much right on....with regard to less than 1% of what self-defense and martial arts is.

My focus IS on fighting, but what matters most is what I fight, when I fight, why I fight, and how I fight it.

I would suggest that for a martial art to be a martial art, its focus must also remain on art.

What we practice is the art of protecting ourselves from ANY harm in our lives, extending to those in our care and the world around us. This involves FAR more than just practicing for demonstrations, board breaking, and point fighting...and it's far more artful and beautiful in practice.

I can side kick diabetes all I want, but it can't break its hold if it grabs me.
I can punch racists all I want and they will still hate me...more.
I can't make global climate change tap out.
However, our oil-driven world may someday tap out.
Negative feelings cannot be cut away.
Cruel thoughts cannot be shot.
Suffering cannot be ended with weapons, only transferred.

I am not training you for the proverbial "fight of your life".

I am training you for all of the fights of your life.

If you're reading this, you are (or can be) part of a revolution in the martial arts: a time where martial artists saying "Respect, Discipline, Honor - this stuff is useful in real life" is insufficient against the challenges of a 21st century world. I'm not saying that we stop practicing martial techniques or studying martial ways - they are the root of our practice, but it's time for that proverbial tree to grow and bear fruit. It's time for our training to transform our lifestyles in a manner which is consistent with our goals, beliefs, and practice...so that we produce good fighters (trained to handle every fight which matters, or at least as many as possible), and even better people.

Train hard. Train always. Life awaits you.