Martial Arts Philosiphy

[Zen]

Here is where i want too hear all your philosyphys on life, love, relegion, and of course, martial arts.

My philosyphy onm most fo these is what Bruce Lee let out. Read my sig, and you'll see a few of his martial arts philosphy.

My other philosphys include. I do not beleive that there is a true answer too what is right or wrong. You may ask 100 people the difference between right and wrong and you'll get 100 answers. I got that from Kikaider. *blush*. But it si still very true and deep.

I also have a long philosphy on God and Jesus and the Bible. I beleive some, i disbelieve others. But this is very long and hard too wexplain, so i'll spair you.

I want too know what you guys think on these phylosphy and what your own phyloshys are. But, like i said, read my signature too see some off the things that i beleive in.

[Kenshin_K]

As you know by my signature, I question a lot of things. I don't really have any philosophies...I just question stuff and let it fall into place. I do have a few philosophies though.

[Zen]

Yes, i see your point. But, hey do you all agree with the Bible. the Bible says that it is a sin for men too have long hair and women too have short hair. But that is vanity and a True God would not care about outside appearnece. God wouldn't care if you married out side of your race if he crearted us all equal. I don't beleive that blacks are cursed as it sadi somewhere in the bible. If this were true, why aren't there any stories on why the asian, hispanic, and arabic look different from caucasians? I beleive that who ever wrote the bible, didn't get a few things straight, because its hipocritcallin a few points. Thats another one of my Philosophys.

And in martial arts. Traditional martial arts are today too flowerey and overly complex. There are opnly three martial arts that truly show nothing other than combat: Jeet Kune Do (Bruce Lee's ,martial art), Tae Kwon Do, and Muay Thai. Every thing elser is almost alwyas too complex. Fighting with them in a true street fight, is like fighting a routine against broken rythm, which doesn't work. This is another one of my thoughts.

[Kenshin_K]

Yes, very well put! I don't read the bible but I should start....(I should start going to church and praying too...)*looks down like she's examining the ring she has on*

[Raiha]

[color=royalblue]I study Taoism, and tai chi, but practice neither. I like to look at all religions and philosophies with an open mind.

Taoism teaches you to not make waves, to go with the flow of life without pushing against it. Similar to Bruce Lee's whole thingy. Which he borrowed from Taoism.

Tai chi is a study of wind and water. To flow and be free, fill the space around you. To have quiet strength like bamboo. Avoid the attacks with supple strength, then strike back with an unbreakable hand. Simple enough.[/color]

[The Harlequin]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Double_B_Daigo [/i]
[B]
And in martial arts. Traditional martial arts are today too flowerey and overly complex. There are opnly three martial arts that truly show nothing other than combat: Jeet Kune Do (Bruce Lee's ,martial art), Tae Kwon Do, and Muay Thai. Every thing elser is almost alwyas too complex. Fighting with them in a true street fight, is like fighting a routine against broken rythm, which doesn't work. This is another one of my thoughts. [/B][/QUOTE]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]Excepting Ishiryoku Jutsu, Wing Chun, and the countless other ones that are based on combat.... Most people just don't know about them. Street fighters go down against martial artists....decent ones anyway. The style doesn't really matter.

As for philosophies...I'm an athiestic existentialist, and I'm also a nihilist (I don't believe there is such a thing as a fundamental morality), so my philosophies tend to be based on the notion that no matter what anyone else thinks, what I believe is the best bet for me...Doesn't go down well with most people.[/font][/color]

[Braidless Baka]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Double_B_Daigo [/i]
[B]the Bible says that it is a sin for men too have long hair and women too have short hair. But that is vanity and a True God would not care about outside appearnece.[/B][/QUOTE]

[size=1][color=red]The whole point of the vanity thing (if it's even there O_o I'm not really Christian, so I can't swear I'm assessing this accurately) is that you care more about your God and your faith than your appearance. God doesn't care what you look like, and you shouldn't feel you have to change to please him.[/color][/size]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Double_B_Daigo [/i]
[B]God wouldn't care if you married out side of your race if he crearted us all equal.[/B][/QUOTE]

[size=1][color=red]I believe for the Jewish (who follow the Old Testament where that's undoubtedly from) it's a matter of a race, as well as a religion. They aren't allowed to marry outside of their religion because it's... well... against their religion... And it's fairly rare (from what I've been told in Religious Studies lessons O_o) for anyone from another religion to convert to Judaism. So, that part has actually got a purpose, as does most of it. The Jewish need to marry within their religion, otherwise it'll fade out eventually. It's just the way it is.[/color][/size]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by The Harlequin [/i]
[B][font=gothic][color=indigo]my philosophies tend to be based on the notion that no matter what anyone else thinks, what I believe is the best bet for me...Doesn't go down well with most people.[/font][/color] [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=red][size=1]Go you! Personally I don't have a solid belief as far as religion goes... I'm interested in other religions at what their philosiphies are, then I take from them what suits me, and build up my own belief of what's going on around me, senusally and spiritually. I'm convinced there is "something"... but what that actually is, that remains to be seen... at least by me. ^_^;;[/color][/size]

[Zen]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by The Harlequin [/i]
[B][font=gothic][color=indigo]Excepting Ishiryoku Jutsu, Wing Chun, and the countless other ones that are based on combat.... Most people just don't know about them. Street fighters go down against martial artists....decent ones anyway. The style doesn't really matter.


Note how i said "almost" always. Out 1000s of martial arts styles out there, many are overly flowery and are straining away from combat. There are too many steps too get out of a simple or common situation and that exact situation might not happen the same every time, so you must adapt too what the situation calls for with a very quick, evective, and simple reply. Many martial arts have 5 steps too get out of a simple situation, while some of the more sceintific ones like Jeet Kune Do and Tae Kwon Do, have 2-1 steps in almost anygiven situation.

[rokas]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Double_B_Daigo [/i]
[B]. Traditional martial arts are today too flowerey and overly complex. [/B][/QUOTE]
[b][i][font=comic sans ms] Bruce Lee also said something about "truly expressing yourself". That's one point I realy picked out from his philosophy(even though it probably didn't matter that much to Bruce himself). Martial arts are ARTs (if you want something effective in combat, get a gun) and arts are all about expresing yourself. They might look flowery and stuff, but I think that they are supposed to look that way. Martial arts are simply a ballet that can be applied in combat. In the end, violance is bad anyway.[/b][/i][/font]

[Zen]

Martial Arts were created from combat and are suppodes too reprsent nothing more than self defense and self preservation. Yes, you may want too express yourself in your fighting, but as an art, it has lost its combative roots. Shoalin Boxing was the standard and most powerful martial art long ago. It had simplicicty, but still great complexity. It had practical attacks, but they were hard too pull off right. Now, Shoalin Boxing is still one of the most powerful martaial arts.

What Bruce Lee ment is that he wanted too express himself, threw his formeless, shapeless art. Jeet Kune Do, was not really a fighting style, but a way for the martial artist too look at the martial arts.
YOu can express your self by doing an attack from one of your martial arts. Bruce Lee had four main martial arts. Wing Chun, Boxing, and TaeKwon Do and Hapkido. He took what attacks he found practical and usefull from these martial arts, and implyed them with Jeet Kune Do. YOu could express yourself with a Muay Thai flying knee attack, or a Coepeira back flip attack, or even a karate punch. Jeet Kune Do was nothing more than a philosphy and a way of thinking. And Bruce Lee said that on many occasions.

[Justin]

The commands about tattoos, long hair, and generally anything physical are all in the OT, and all a part of God's convenant with Isreal to seperate them from the heathen nations surrounding them. You don't have to live by those laws unless they are restated in the NT.

Now, Paul does make a remark about how long hair is dishonorable(this almost 100% proves the Jesus [i]did not[/i] have long hair)--but he does not mark it a sin.

As for martial arts, I rarely tie martial arts philosophies in with my daily life anymore--I've found a better way. Bruce Lee was a smart man, worthy of respect, but there were questions even he could not answer.

Now, since I know where this topic is headed, please keep it civil.

-Justin

[Zen]

Okay, no more relegious philosophy unless there toaist or whatever.
But as i said before, if you want too understand my philosophy on life and martial arts, look at my signature.

[eleanor]

[size=1] Martial Arts is a form of self-defense, and people who really follow the martial arts philosophy will never attack someone unless it is imperative. And I don't think it matters whether it's too 'fowery' or anything. All forms of martial arts still have a way of self defense, and fighting people isn't really the main point.[/size]

[Zen]

Martial Arts were created for the purpose of war and self-defence, like it or not. It was created so that you would be able too defend your self when unarmed. Likw it or not, thats the truth. But sunce ancient times martial arts have strayed away from combat purposes and begain too be overly complictted and thats what i beleive.

[eleanor]

[size=1] Um, yeah. That's basically what I said.[/size]

[Zen]

You said it didnt matter if they were flowery or not. It is a matter at hand, because the martial arts are now only used as exercise and some masters are making money by giving the students bad or false lessons. The spirit of the martial artist is dying out.

[Justin]

I hate to correct you--but if you're going to ask for religious philosophy, you should leave the topic open to [i]all[/i] of it. I don't mind a religious debate, all I ask is that it remain civil.

The martial arts you see in the movies aren't the basic form you'll learn in a good dojo. They're made more flashy for the camera. I've found in my time that, when it comes to boxing, Bruce Lee's teaching are the best. The principle of momentum is the most essential physical principle to a good boxer; this is partially reflected in Diago's quote about water.

You don't need to go meditate alone in the woods to be a good boxer...you don't have to have a certain set of codes. All martial arts is is intelligent fighting. No more, no less. It's the fighter who makes it anything more than that.


-Justin

[Zen]

Thats what i've pretty much been saying this entire time. But, oh well, but your right. Martial Arts don't have real codes outside of the samurai arts and the militairy like International TaeKwon Do Federation style of TKD. Martial Arts do have philisophys though. No, you don't have too meditate for hours too be a good martial artist, like Justin just said. You have too have good physical ability and knowledge of fighting. Medidtaion is only used to get in touch with your spirit, which is used in tai-chi and various other chinese martial arts. ITF Taekwon Do meditated, but its mostly just a breathing exercise and too clear your mind before class.

[Kent]

I have neglected to wiegh in on this for too long now.

Martial arts is awesome and I very much love the study of these arts as well as the philosophies behind them.

I think my opinion can best be sum'd up by Lee.

An underlying concept of his martial arts philosopy (imo) was the idea of being able to exploit your own advantages.
(I dont know if he ever said that idea exactly, so dont get upset if this is a mistake. :D )

This would mean to me, that you should adapt your practices of fighting to strengthen your faults, and take advantage of your unique, individual abilities.

In other words...

The way of the intercepting fist would be perfect for the small quick fellow who can strike before his opponent, but a large man would be better off striking in a different fashion.

[Zen]

That is very true, but Lee also beleived in perfecting your imperfections. Although, yes he did take advantage of his size. He was faster and in some cases stronger than his opponent. And if you have seen his autobiography, you know that his students were took advatage of there physica lform. KAreem Abdul-Jabaar in Lee's auto biography was seen using his great height and reach too his advantage, but he would have had trouble dealing with short range fights, so he would imploy his knee or elbow.

Lee had very deep yet simple philosphys.

[Skyrose]

I believe that people who rev up their motorcycles in their backyard daily should burn in hell. Damn my neighbors.

Haha, on a more serious note...

I guess I only have one philosophy: Everything is a balance. To gain, you have to lose. And when you lose something, you also gain something else. Example, for one to live another has to die. We have to eat, and plants *do* count as living things (Although anymore, I wouldn't be surprised if half of what we eat is plastic...). In a plant's case, it's a matter of space. For saplings to survive, the old tree blocking out the sunlight has to fall.

Balance applies to many more aspects of life and death, but I'll spare you the boredom :)

[rokas]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Double_B_Daigo [/i]
[B]Thats what i've pretty much been saying this entire time. But, oh well, but your right. Martial Arts don't have real codes outside of the samurai arts and the militairy like International TaeKwon Do Federation style of TKD. Martial Arts do have philisophys though. No, you don't have too meditate for hours too be a good martial artist, like Justin just said. You have too have good physical ability and knowledge of fighting. Medidtaion is only used to get in touch with your spirit, which is used in tai-chi and various other chinese martial arts. ITF Taekwon Do meditated, but its mostly just a breathing exercise and too clear your mind before class. [/B][/QUOTE]
[font=comic sans ms][b][i]You don't need to meditate, you don't need any codes... but then again you don't even need knowledge of any fighting style to shoot that black belt in the head. I mean yeah Shaolins(though they are not the ones who came up with martial arts first) needed a way to defend themselves without any weponry, but they came in need of weponless fight becouse of their believes, so realy believes and martial arts are directly connected.
...Then the ages changed and the need for the self defence became less and less. Sure, people still get attacked, but they don't attack simply becouse you have strong believes, even if they do attack you, you can now get wepons. That's why martial arts changed and stayed that way for a long time, untill Bruce Lee came along and chalanged the olden believes and brought back the ancient ones, come to thin of it he didn't even do that, first form of martial arts was a mindless routine done by hundreds of emperors wariors, completely different from the "shapeless water" logick Bruce created. [/font][/b][/i]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]Also, I'd like to point out that many of your major martial arts were created as excersises or [i]discipline building[/i] activities. Judo, for example. If you've ever seen any footage of the guy who started it (who is truly amazing. There's this one shot where he simply sidles up to the guy, very slowly, and all of a sudden the guy has been thrown several feet away, simply through a redirection of momentum, which from a slow walk is pretty good), you'd realise that injuring people wasn't even intended.

And both martial arts I've participated in had codes to them. Sure, at the lower levels they seem like rules you have to obey, but reading over the grading forms for black belt gradings at any level above sixth dan, most of it is philosophical, with very few physical requirements at all.

Trying to overcome your physical imperfections and limitations is all well and good, but can only taken to a certain point. For the true movements of martial arts, you need to be doing what comes naturally, what flows, so attempting to force your body to perform feats it is not really suited to (like your two foot tall gnome-related person trying to kick a six foot person in the head) eventually fails the point of martial arts. You could learn to do it, but you would learn it as a form of doing damage than as part of what martial arts are truly about. Make no mistake, I have a lot of respect for Bruce Lee and his philosophies, but I believe that certain elements of them are suited more to a fully combat oriented mind rather than a martial artist.[/font][/color]

[Zen]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by rokas [/i]
[B][font=comic sans ms][b][i]You don't need to meditate, you don't need any codes... but then again you don't even need knowledge of any fighting style to shoot that black belt in the head. I mean yeah Shaolins(though they are not the ones who came up with martial arts first) needed a way to defend themselves without any weponry, but they came in need of weponless fight becouse of their believes, so realy believes and martial arts are directly connected.
...Then the ages changed and the need for the self defence became less and less. Sure, people still get attacked, but they don't attack simply becouse you have strong believes, even if they do attack you, you can now get wepons. That's why martial arts changed and stayed that way for a long time, untill Bruce Lee came along and chalanged the olden believes and brought back the ancient ones, come to thin of it he didn't even do that, first form of martial arts was a mindless routine done by hundreds of emperors wariors, completely different from the "shapeless water" logick Bruce created. [/font][/b][/i] [/B][/QUOTE]


This is exactly what i mean about the spirit of the martial artist dying. Now adys with all the guns and crap, if a guy challenges you to a fight, the guy will come around with a gun or knife. All honor and nobilty has been lost between fighters. :bawl:

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]There's nothing really wrong with a good knife fight, and if you train for it, you can treat the knife like a disadvantage anyway. Let's face it, you can block a knife with the ridge of your forearm with a much smaller amount of force than is required to deflect a solid punch. I'll give you the point of guns though...I personally detest them. But what would make for an interesting time is if instead of knives everyone carried kamas...That way, everything would be martial arts, and they'd be legal for me to buy....Damn Australia. I can dream damn it....[/font][/color]