I might be just a beginner is martial arts . But that does not hinder my will to share my thoughts and pen down my opinions . In this era of cage fighting , MMA and UFC , it is almost difficult not to view them and traditional arts parallel to each other. It is like we are exposed to cage fighting no matter how hard we try not to view it . It is the most popular sport now on earth . Every country is picking up the trend and producing fighters to be the best . Even countries like India is having their own local MMA fights .
It is everyone's destiny to be an MMA fighter or to learn how to fight now . With the popularity of UFC , youths are becoming interested in this at a very young age . I saw this is my school every time . Guys talking about cage fighting and MMA every time . Trying to challenge each other and fight each other to prove who is the best . Meanwhile , the traditional guys are in one corner just being quite and training .
One many wonder how these traditional guys would do in the cage or against a UFC fighter . To be honest , MMA fighters are mostly well rounded and conditioned . A don't see a sloppy fat person in the cage don't we ? Except for butterbean . MMA fighters train to fight from day one ! I had a friend who tried MMA training for a short time . Within a few days , he was sharing with me fighting techniques . In contrast , a school that teaches a traditional art may teach the very basics , which may include breathing , kamae ( stance ) , posture and many others . Take two guys and put them in a traditional and MMA school . Within a week , the MMA guy would be able to mop the floor with the traditional guy . MMA trains both standup and groundwork . Compared to a traditional art which is unique on its own .
In many arts like Silat , Kali , Aikido etc . The tradition and culture has been passed on for years and years . From the old warriors to the founders of the art , to his students and this current generation . In a sense , traditional guys have a crucial role to do as they are one in a thousand currently learning the traditions and culture , only to be preserved and passed on to the next generation . This is now becoming lost in this age of fighting. MMA in my opinion does not focus on the weapons , culture , tradition , breathing exercises etc . But only on the fighting aspects of the art . If this were to continue , i just see every single art putting on gloves and hitting each other in the future . I think it is important that we preserve the culture and tradition of the art that we are training in .
MMA and cage fighting has also woken us up to the reality . We saw many fighters get demolished in the early UFC . This gave the wake up call to many practitioners to refine their training methods . This brings me to another point which is practicality. In my opinion , i believe that every single art is born out of warfare and combat . With that in mind , to train in a martial art without the essence of fighting does not make it a martial art anymore . It just becomes an art , even a dance . So to train in a practical way without losing the tradition is something important to do .
When you look at many chinese , japanese masters or even a famous silat master like Dato Meor Abdul Rahman , you will find that they have reached a level of mastery . Such that they are able to do things at a high level . This is something that i find MMA does not reach , or will never reach . Like a said , this is because MMA focuses just on the fighting aspects .
If you look at history , we find that it was traditional arts that gave birth to MMA . So to say that traditional arts are useless is not right . I think it is the fighter that picks up elements from each art to make it work for him .
Along with our traditional training , i believe we have to evolve to fit the modern times . In this way , there is a balance between keeping the tradition and spirit alive , and being realistic and practical .
Thank you
It is everyone's destiny to be an MMA fighter or to learn how to fight now . With the popularity of UFC , youths are becoming interested in this at a very young age . I saw this is my school every time . Guys talking about cage fighting and MMA every time . Trying to challenge each other and fight each other to prove who is the best . Meanwhile , the traditional guys are in one corner just being quite and training .
One many wonder how these traditional guys would do in the cage or against a UFC fighter . To be honest , MMA fighters are mostly well rounded and conditioned . A don't see a sloppy fat person in the cage don't we ? Except for butterbean . MMA fighters train to fight from day one ! I had a friend who tried MMA training for a short time . Within a few days , he was sharing with me fighting techniques . In contrast , a school that teaches a traditional art may teach the very basics , which may include breathing , kamae ( stance ) , posture and many others . Take two guys and put them in a traditional and MMA school . Within a week , the MMA guy would be able to mop the floor with the traditional guy . MMA trains both standup and groundwork . Compared to a traditional art which is unique on its own .
In many arts like Silat , Kali , Aikido etc . The tradition and culture has been passed on for years and years . From the old warriors to the founders of the art , to his students and this current generation . In a sense , traditional guys have a crucial role to do as they are one in a thousand currently learning the traditions and culture , only to be preserved and passed on to the next generation . This is now becoming lost in this age of fighting. MMA in my opinion does not focus on the weapons , culture , tradition , breathing exercises etc . But only on the fighting aspects of the art . If this were to continue , i just see every single art putting on gloves and hitting each other in the future . I think it is important that we preserve the culture and tradition of the art that we are training in .
MMA and cage fighting has also woken us up to the reality . We saw many fighters get demolished in the early UFC . This gave the wake up call to many practitioners to refine their training methods . This brings me to another point which is practicality. In my opinion , i believe that every single art is born out of warfare and combat . With that in mind , to train in a martial art without the essence of fighting does not make it a martial art anymore . It just becomes an art , even a dance . So to train in a practical way without losing the tradition is something important to do .
When you look at many chinese , japanese masters or even a famous silat master like Dato Meor Abdul Rahman , you will find that they have reached a level of mastery . Such that they are able to do things at a high level . This is something that i find MMA does not reach , or will never reach . Like a said , this is because MMA focuses just on the fighting aspects .
If you look at history , we find that it was traditional arts that gave birth to MMA . So to say that traditional arts are useless is not right . I think it is the fighter that picks up elements from each art to make it work for him .
Along with our traditional training , i believe we have to evolve to fit the modern times . In this way , there is a balance between keeping the tradition and spirit alive , and being realistic and practical .
Thank you