Are The Martial Arts Still Under Development?

By P.Sundbye

What is a martial art?

A martial art can be defined as any skill that can be applied inwarfare. The word martial means "military." So traditionally, amartial art is a military art. The first things that usuallycome to mind when discussing modern martial arts are leaping,kicking, punching, blocking, inverting elbows, twisting necks,throwing, and weapon fighting. But also horsemanship, javelinthrowing, archery, spear fighting, halberd fighting, wrestling,knife fighting, rifle, shotgun and pistol shooting, demolitions,logistics, and battle strategy can all be described as the fieldof martial arts. Anything that a soldier might do in battle is amartial art.

By martial art usually it is meant aikido, arnis, boxing,capoeria, chow gar, choy la fut, hapkido, hsing'i, hun gar, jeetkune do, jow gar, judo, jujitsu, karate, kempo, kick boxing,krav maga, kung fu, pa kua, penjak silat, praying mantis,savate, shaolin, tae kwon do, tai chi, white crane, wing chun,wu shu and more! As you can see the list is quite long and it isactually quite amazing how many martial arts systems there areand how many methods of self defense can be formulated.

Often within a martial arts school it is taught that 'thisparticular system is the best system and it was created to beatall the others'. Of course every martial artist would have theviewpoint their style is the best because that is the style theyhave chosen to do, but in reality what they are saying is 'thisis the best style for me as it suits my temperment and I likethe teaching environment'.

The changing of the arts

Throughout this history and development of the martial arts andall the combat systems of man our training tools have played avital part in evolving and perfecting these systems andtechniques.

All the martial arts have been effected by the role thatmechanical



devices play whether it be weapons, dojo mats,breaking boards or even the uniforms we wear - all theseparaphanialia indentify the martial arts into their systems andstyle.

The main players in shaping our new martial arts would be thetraditional wooden dummy, wing chun rings, iron palm ointmentsand even the system of using forms and karta have developed themartial arts into their current form.

Even today modern training tools are common and again themartial arts are under development with new training productssuch as the Wavemaster, the BOB training dummy, the FocusMaster. All with one thing in common, to create a well roundedcombat system. Ideally a martial arts solo training tool shouldbe workable for all and based on sound theory and throughconstant practice develop into sound physical application. Theideology and theory would have to take into account all thehistory of the combat technology of man and give thiscompetition and street application.

The Martialarm Combat Training Partner

In a martial arts career you can occationally find your selfwith no school to go to or no one to train with and so out ofneccessity the martialarm solo training partner was born. TheMartialarm is a Martial Arts training machine used to developthe entry and trapping skills of any martial arts system. It isdesigned to actually test any techniques so to improve theability to trap and control your opponents hands and arms. Thiscan be done because the Martialarm moves and reacts like a realopponent. The Martialarm moves and twists up, down, left andright just like a real opponent would - so it can spring forwardand it does strike back!.

The Martialarm Combat Training Partner was designed anddeveloped on the following theories

Martialarm Theory

#1) Safety - You must maintain 100% safety when entering intothe opponents attack range, this means to limit any variablesthat could occur by covering them. (Methods of entry must besophisticated yet simple, fast as well as safe!)

#2) Attack - You must have the ability to attack at will, withno concern or hesitation. The attack should incorporate a totalcontrol of the opponents weapons. (Attacks must be structured tohave within them a 100% defense!)

#3) Adaptability - Techniques, attacks and defenses must flowbut not necessarily at a constant pace. Adaptability to choosewhat's next is key!

Whatever martial arts you choose just be sure you do look at afew before you decide and enqire with the school what martialarts equipment they utilize to get the best from your training.

http://www.martialarm.com

About the author:This article was written by P. Sundbye who has been training invarious martialarts for the last 11 years including Wing ChunKung Fu, Aikido, Tong Long and the Lee Total Control system. Formore information and martial arts news visithttp://www.martialarm.com