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Traditional Martial Arts
Traditional martial arts are an essential pillar of natural health maintenance. There is a modern day persona that martial arts are equated with violence. In the long history of martial arts, there is indeed the element of violence as the nature of human development influences violence in the world. This persona does not and should not overlook the true nature of martial arts. Martial arts promote health of mind and body. True martial arts teach and develop attributes such as discipline, wisdom, integrity, morality, courtesy, respect for self and others and a positive attitude. It is true that specific techniques of martial arts may effectively kill and were developed for that sole purpose. However, those techniques represent a very small circle of skills in the realm of traditional martial arts. Traditional martial arts teach one to respect life, not destroy life. Promote health not violence.
Doh "The Way"
What are traditional martial arts? Traditional martial arts are descended from one original martial art called Jung Do. Jung Do translates from Korean as “Way of Life”. Traditional martial arts are a way of life. This way of life develops the mind and body. The result is the balance and harmony that develops a good life practitioner. The development of traditional martial arts can be traced back thousands of years in recorded history. What are the true origins of traditional martial arts? Natural human instinct is the root of traditional martial arts. Nature is the root. Human instinct is engrained with a natural instinct to avoid danger and naturally protect the body. If danger persist, then natural instinct is to push away and eliminate the danger. If danger persists even further, then instinct develops into the use of objects as defense mechanisms against danger. These primitive objects originally consisted of stone or wood and became the first weapons. Ultimately, the most basic human instinct is to avoid any unhealthy environment and maintain a healthy life of wisdom and balance. This lesson of traditional martial arts still remains the very core of proper martial arts teachings.
A key element of traditional martial arts is the Master. Traditionally, the Master sought out the disciple or a disciple would search long and far for a great Master. Primarily, a Master searched for a qualified disciple. Too study under the Master, the student would first go through a series of steps. First the individual would beg the Master to be accepted as a student. This act demonstrates humbleness. Secondly, a potential disciple would wait outside the gate of the Master's house for weeks and sometimes months. Time did not matter in regards to the opportunity to study under a true Master of the martial arts. The potential student would wait however long it took until the Master invited them into their home. This act demonstrated the discipline of the potential disciple. If accepted into the Master’s house, the disciple would work for months, maybe even years, doing chores such as cleaning, carrying water, cooking, etc, until the time arrived when the Master would accept the person as a disciple. These acts displayed the dedication of the student and ensured the overall character was to the Master’s standard. The Master, after time, would accept a disciple in such a way that a father adopts a son or daughter. The disciple would be considered family. As time passed, the disciples actually support the Master the same way that children support their parents. This is the tradition of the martial arts. In traditional martial arts, the Master is considered a "Father Figure" to his disciples. Health, not violence, is the true teaching of traditional martial arts. Live close to nature and develop the teachings of nature. Become a good life practitioner.
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