I agree with Cord for the most part but am interested to hear from Kathryn (or anyone else)what philosophy, wisdom, morals etc.. you learned from martial arts training? Also, how was this transmitted to you (lectures, posters on the wall, etc..)? Could you have learned the same lessons from golf, cake-making, etc..? Are all TMAists in agreement on these morals and respect issues?

I don't see MA's as church. I just feel some basic morals should be taught. Arming people with knowledge to hurt others without giving them the facts about the consequences is just reckless. As far as MA being a tool for spirituality well I think it's a hit and miss for some. I think that's more personal. Whats right for some may not be for others. I agree just about anything discipline or activity could be used creatively to gain self confidence and self discipline.

Well i think that you should read or watch some interviews with Anderson Silva. What a top guy! he is an MMA champion and lives the Martial Arts philosphy.

I think you maybe letting the whole media pre fight hype cloud the real picture that allot of these guys live by.

Anyway, TMA have there fair share of crap as well. How many hundreds of hours did i spend doing katas that i was never shown any practical application from. Atleast with MMA it is real. The technic works or it doesnt. That is why people do MMA.

Also, Just because MMA is brutally honest doesnt mean that people dont have any traditions that they have been brought up in. I think that you will find that most MMA people have a good grounding in TMA to start with

Tek wrote:

I seriously doubt that anyone goes in to an MA class without having been given a moral compass by parents and the scholastic system. If they have not learned basic concepts of right and wrong by the time they hit a class, then they need psychiatric assessment, not kata.



A very good point. People like Baroni and Ortiz let themselves down as individuals, but for every one like that, you have a Couture, a Silva, a St.Pierre. etc., and as in boxing, the trash talk says more about what excites fans, than what motivates the fighters.



Again, a good point. BJJ is an evolution of JJ, a koryu art. Muay Thai has centuries of tradition as a TMA before being embraced by the MMA community as a default striking skillset. Then you have Chuck with his Kempo background, Machida, St. Pierre and Parisyan with Japanese TMA foundations.
And Lets not forget that Wrestling has a heritage that predates the New Testament.

There is a lot of talk of "warriors" but what some people forget is that warriors are not just fighters. They are members of a society in which they have a status and role. the society usually trains them for this role and they are subject to the laws of that society.

This is where a philosophy of some kind may create a society and, arguably restrain certain aspects of the 'beast within' the warrior.

Brief interview with Rickson Gracie, former MMAist and BJJ legend. He is pretty philosophical:

http://www.teamtooke.com/ricksonmaynardinterview.html

Sure. Not so much the techniques or kata, which is a matter of preference to some degree. But we've definitely had a few nominal high-ranked TMAer's here who were at least as arrogant and petulant as the stereotypical MMA bad-boys.

My teacher has only ever spoken once about anything remotely moral and it was quite simple... as you get stronger, you should do your best to be kinder to people. Being strong gives you more ability to be kind.

I don't think you need much more than this, but really, we all know this already and you you shouldn't need a gorilla like karate teacher to tell you so, especially when your in your 30s as I am....

This is in part what inspired me to do the website Modern Bushido. One of my senseis had a lot to say about budo and bushido (looooong lectures while we nursed our bruises), and over the years I've done a lot of reading and thinking about it. But how does it apply to the modern world? Who else is thinking about this issue? And so I collected together the classic works as well as works that bring the ancient ideas into various aspects of modern life. I will probably write something of my own someday as well, but right now I'm enjoying just finding out what others think about it.

I have Cleary's translation of the Code of Bushido, and it is a good read.

One can't disagree with the basic tenets it champions - live each day as your last, act honourably for yourself, and in so doing bring credit to all associated with you. Family loyalty, a sense of duty and pride in one's work, carry yourself in a way that is deserving of respect etc.

It is worth noting however, that the codification of Samurai ettiquette only really proliferated and became a taught mantra as the role of the Samurai became removed from that of the warrior.

It is also worth noting that samurai were a class in a cast system, to which you were born, so just following the code was not enough to be a samurai, and there was no way of being 'promoted' within the cast system based on merit.

To apply the code in a functional way, in western society, requires us only to not act like a d1ck, be polite, do an honest days work, and remember to call our mom's at the weekend, all the time not taking life for granted. Thats it.

Not only do I not need a Mr Miyagi to teach me this, I am not sure that an MA class could teach you this.