It seems to me as if much of the martial arts being taught these days is diluted and the people practicing it are delusional. There are no standards of excellence and anyone can claim rank without any accountability or repercussions. It is a sad state of affairs which weakens the over-all perception of martial arts masters.
It is true, an instructor can’t teach in the ways of the old masters, without fear of being sued or worrying about maintaining enough students to pay the bills, so part of the blame is on the society in which we live. There are also instructors who really don’t know what they are doing but want to capitalize on a naïve and easily impressed public.
But there is also the parents, who are more interested in awards, rewards, and accolades for their children, instead of insuring that they receive a proper education and acquisition of real skills and techniques. These over-eager parents have crippled the learning process. They care more about style than substance, praise instead of proof.
I remember a tournament I attended. A little boy (I‘ll call him Billy), a blue belt, was competing in fighting. The first competitor he faced, immediately hit the little boy with a beautiful round kick to the head as Billy stood there oblivious. No head contact was allowed (even though they had on head gear), so Billy won his firs fight by disqualification in a matter of about five seconds.
The next fight, the competition faked a high kick and punched Billy with a reverse punch to the stomach. Billy doubled over and hit the floor. His competitor got disqualified for excessive contact. Billy won and moved on to the finals after they got him to stop crying and breathe.
For the finals, Billy’s competitor danced around a little, threw a couple of feints, and then stuck a pretty side kick up which Billy ran straight into. As the blood trickled down Billy’s nose, the referees decided that they better disqualify this guy too (even though Billy ran into the kick). So Billy won first place by getting beat up and never throwing one punch or even blocking one technique.
The worst part of it all, was how Billy’s mother was so proud of her son. Billy, in reality, got a big 1st place trophy for not knowing how to defend himself. I was flabbergasted. What was the purpose of studying martial arts? To get a trophy? Billy was 1st place punching bag. Meanwhile, the students who displayed good technique probably felt cheated.
Martial arts should not be about trophies and belts. It should be about knowledge, skill, and character. Trophies and belts should be by-products not goals.
