While maturing throughout the 1980's, I was fascinated by just about all the mind-blowing martial artists I experienced on TV programs and in the movies. Since I was born in 1979, the time of Bruce Lee had ended and the most famous martial artists on the big screen were Norris, Seagal, and Van Damme. These action heros were so exciting to sit down and watch simply because of their great explosiveness, power, and their ability to show us combat maneuvers that we had never even imagined achievable. It could have been the special effects, but there was a mysticism about the manner by which they fought and moved that helped you to believe that they were indestructible. Personally, these were absolutely the best years of the martial arts.
I started off taking Kung fu classes in the mid 80’s. Just after viewing the 1984 classic movie “The Karate Kid”, my dad and mom signed me up at the nearby karate school in town and I immediately fell in love with the sessions. Even while I did read and learn a great deal about defensive strategies, the most beneficial items that Taekwondo taught me were respect and discipline. As I grew much older and far better at the martial arts, my self confidence increased, but I was taught to be very humble and not attack except if in self-defense. While I watched some of my teenage friends participate in illegal drugs and alcohol, my commitment to karate kept me free from trouble with the police. I am a strong believer that kung fu is a good recreation to get your teens involved in.
Skip ahead to November 12, 1993, the night the Ultimate Fighting Championships hit pay-per-view for the first time. The UFC was intended to be a competition of people from a range of martial arts in an endeavor to help determine which martial arts style or teacher was the greatest. From this event, something had become clear....ground fighting is a thing not to be sneezed at. Before this tournament, the martial arts were characterized by individuals punching, kicking, and karate chopping to win a fight. Upon seeing Gracie triumph fight after fight by choke or submission, it grew to become obvious that the martial arts would never be the same.
Because of the 1st UFC, everything has evolved extremely. Despite the fact that there are actually still martial arts dojos that primarily teach kicking and punching techniques, most karate dojos that I tour presently instruct wrestling or ground combat skills along with their conventional ritual. Martial arts are entirely about adapting to your competition, and I feel it is awesome how many of the conventional martial art dojos have accepted these techniques. We only need to be careful that we do not drop the integral values presented when gaining knowledge of the martial arts disciplines in a traditional karate class.
Today at age 31, I’ve invested lots of years training in mixed martial arts dojos, and although I love the informal setting a good number of Mma schools adopt, I miss many of the past traditions like bowing to your instructor and memorizing the philosophies of the martial arts style you are pursuing. Although the mixed martial arts may appear to be the course everything is changing to, I will forever have a huge respect for the conventional martial arts I grew up with.
Author Resource:-
Resulting from his fondness of martial arts of all variations, article author Kyle Keniston now manages a karate supplies corporation where he carries a very big variety of martial arts books. Stop by his website at http://www.karatemart.com
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