Short and simple and just as the header asks, in your opinion, what is the purpose of martial arts?
As I'm seeking your own personal opinion there's really no right or wrong answer (that is if you actually answer it), so I encourage everyone to not be quick with any negative ratings (i.e. thumbs down).
What is the purpose of martial arts?
ironmongoose
Favorite Answer
To say that "the purpose of martial art is to fight", is like saying that the purpose of dancing is to move around, or that the purpose of painting is to put paint onto a canvas, or that the purpose of cuisine is to make food.
You can say that it's true, that it's tautological, that it's trivially true, and that it's dead wrong... and you'd be right whichever you say.
If your martial art isn't teaching you to fight, it's not martial, and for that reason, it's a load of bull in that it's pretending to be something it's not. A martial art has to be "martial", or it's not a martial art.
But it doesn't end there: the purposes of martial arts are many, just like the purposes of cuisine are many: people train in cuisine in order to provide for the well-being of your loved ones, to make a living from it, for health, to preserve an ancient culture, for personal enjoyment, to refine skill through competition, to share enjoyment with others, to impress women, and so on. And all those apply for martial art as well.
As well, martial art, because it's about fighting, has its own particular benefits: to overcome fear or anxiety, to cultivate character and personal maturity. Because it involves intense physical activity, it obviously has all of the same benefits of exercise: developing strength, flexibility, agility, reflexes, endurance, and so on and so on.
"Martial arts" is not a sentient being. It doesn't have a purpose other than the self-evident, "by-definition" answer: "to train people to fight". People have purposes for CREATING, DOING, or TEACHING martial arts.
Yamakage
My general opinion is that the purpose of a martial art is the preservation of the technical and strategic elements of an ancient artform. Without this, then these artforms, some of which have been passed on for centuries, would be lost forever. The original intent, obviously, was training in both self-defense and the way of war, but I think these arts have enormous cultural and historical value.
Of course I think there is value in the practice of these artforms outside of just self-defense, in much the same way as there is value in painting, playing music, etc. which is why even arts that have little practical self-defense value in modern society are still practiced. However, I think that just because we get something out of an art, doesn't mean that that is it's purpose. Therefore, I think there is a distinction between the purpose for which we start and/or continue to practice an art, and the purpose for which the art itself continues to exist.
iBoy2Dxtreame
Martial arts is not made for fighting. It's actually for self defense. Because of Bullying some people decided to learn in order to defend them selves. Some people think that just because you know martial arts it gives you the right to look for fights and take advantage of others.. Martial Arts to my knowledge is made so that you Don't have to fight.
Anonymous
I feel like he read bunch of aikido books and decided he knows enough to open a school. I think if he had even seen a single video or an actual person practicing Aikido he would know how off he is. Or maybe he really doesn’t care. Either way I think putting this kind of stuff out there is just financial decision and someone who really doesn’t have any care for the martial art they profess to teach.
Jim R
I guess it means that some creep called bobo can just insult everybody!
Seriously, martial art has a few purposes in today's world. I began goju-ryu very early in my bouncing career. After 6 months I moved to a different city, found a good shotokan instructor, and carried on. My main purpose was to be safe at work. I thought I was tough, beat up plenty of guys to prove that, then ran into sensei! Ouch, and he was only "showing" me something. I only wanted to be the winner of any ************ contest I got in. Karate proved to be much more than that. It is now more of a 'stay healthy and active' thing, but I can also protect, and avoid most trouble. I have found that the purpose of martial art is as individual as the person doing it.