Importance of martial arts
When i was young i thought that all the teaching properties was just an fantasysation by the perspective of western world. I thought that the only thing that is in martial arts was to subdue or kill your opponnent.
However now i think that almost the only important quality that is within martial arts ( i count combat sports as martial arts too) is its teaching value. One can learn a lot from martial arts. It can really teach someone how to live. Yet i still do think that this teaching property only exists in the martial arts that compete and have a realistic end goal such as either subduing your opponent or killing them. Because that is the way to foster good techniques, strategies and mindsets. Otherwise it is all pretend play and nothing will be learned.
This might be a little weird to put it here but here is what can one learn from martial arts, i wrote this article on medium some time ago now:
"One cannot keep avoiding punches forever. Everytime one avoids punches they lose momentum while the attacker gains momentum which means avoider’s chance of making a counter attack gets slimmer and slimmer each time he avoids. It is not possible to run away from punches forever. Avoiding is a buffer, it cannot be used as a complete system to depend and rely on. Avoiding is mostly used as a strategy where one can gain enough time to initiate their own attack afterwards. However this is a passive way of avoiding. A better usage of avoiding strategy would be getting in a more dominant position while avoiding to initiate a new attack where the opponent will have less chance to counter or avoid. This is an active way of avoiding. In life just like how it is in fighting the more we avoid the problems the more powerful they become with more momentum they gain. In the end we would wish not to avoid at the first place and just take the way smaller shot at the first time it happened rather than now taking a great and unstoppable blow. However it is not smart to keep on fighting without avoiding at all. All those blows that can be taken during fighting can be life ending if not cared and responded. For that reason one must use avoiding in the way that it will carry the person forward while not depending on it completely. One should only use it as a safe and efficient way to march forward or in some cases side to side. Not to run backwards.
Sometimes you do not have a chance to avoid while fighting. The only thing that can be done in these situations is to just take the shot and keep going forward. We must endure those shots to at least to a moment where we can catch up our breath or find or create a chance where we can counter attack or end the fight completely.
Just like how one cannot efficiently deal damage to an opponent with what technique they use when they lack the required physical strenght we must constantly improve our minds and brains to be efficient and durable against the punches of life and to also make comebacks by ourselves. To not be dependent on cheap and one way out strategies and gadgets or simple thought mechanics."
Have a good day.