Is it me or the "ART" in "Most" Martial Arts disappearing or not as common?

Yes

I see it all the time. I will be speaking to somebody about karate and its benefits. They will only want to know about sparring and "how tough you will become." The mention of kata or karate history isn't met with any reaction at all.
Now as a middle aged man I am very thankful for the "art" in martial arts.The spirit is still there but the body can't answer the bell like in years past.If not for the art in martial arts I probably would have quit.



Mark

To me Kata is the Core, and although we practice Full Contact Knockdown Karate, I put more emphasis on the kata and the application of each kata as a Rule

I don't think it's disappearing at any greater rate than it ever was. Some examples:

Masahiko Kimura entered various professional grappling tournaments in the 1940's and 1950's, much to the horror of Judo purists, who felt he was offending the noble art of Judo.

Chotoku Kyan, Okinawan Karate teacher, who by many accounts would brawl with anyone who looked at him cross-eyed and brought his students to dens of ill repute on a frequent basis.


Certain yoga moves to certain people are about opening chakras and finding a higher consciousness. The same moves are done in Pilates, where the only concern is strengthening the body. Now who has the right persepective? No one really. The individual will see what they want to see.

There will always be people in Martial Arts who see them as nothing more than a way to beat people up. There are other people who will attach a greater to meaning to what they are doing. You can't tell people what to think, they will make up their own minds on it eventually.

I couldn't care a less about the heritage or doing forms/kata/patters; I just want to know the application and have live training to help perfect their useability. If that means less "art" than I'm all for it. But for others the art is important and that is what they should seek. We each seek a different path.

Well said. There's plenty of paths to take and we all have our own journey.

I consider that sort of ''art'' (without direct uses) to be devoid of any form thus it isn't martial art just theoretics fooling themselves.

I think it isn't so much that it is disappearing as much as it is continually being redefined. An art is merely the product of great skill, and being a great fighter still requires great skill. Spirituality and/or meaning don't have to be involved for something to be an art.

I agree to some degree.I guess I would say that one is a great fighter, who uses the techniques found in karate. I guess I have a little different narrowing down of the definition of art.Redefined or deluted?

Mark