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Thursday, April 23, 2015

Commercialism: The Bane of the Traditional MA World

Caveat: This article is mine and mine alone. I the author of this article assure you, the reader, that any of the opinions expressed here are my own and are a result of the way in which my meandering mind interprets a particular situation and/or concept. The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of other martial arts and/or conflict/violence professionals or authors of source materials. It should be quite obvious that the sources I used herein have not approved, endorsed, embraced, friended, liked, tweeted or authorized this article. (Everything I think and write is true, within the limits of my knowledge and understanding. Oh, and just because I wrote it and just because it sounds reasonable and just because it makes sense, does not mean it is true.) 

Please make note that this article/post is my personal analysis of the subject and the information used was chosen or picked by me. It is not an analysis piece because it lacks complete and comprehensive research, it was not adequately and completely investigated and it is not balanced, i.e., it is my personal view without the views of others including subject experts, etc. Look at this as “Infotainment rather then expert research.” This is an opinion/editorial article/post meant to persuade the reader to think, decide and accept or reject my premise. It is an attempt to cause change or reinforce attitudes, beliefs and values as they apply to martial arts and/or self-defense. It is merely a commentary on the subject in the particular article presented

I was reading an old Black Belt article that was scanned and shared on a Facebook wall. It reminded me that commercialism has been and may always be a bane to the traditional practice of martial arts but I am going to step on the line because I now believe that for many reasons that excuse is just not valid. 

The article simply begins by saing that going commercial to make a living from teaching martial arts was wrong because it left out many of the aspects that made a martial art a martial art such as, “black-marketing budo,” and that commercial dojo failed to teach, “the philosophy and moral principles of the oriental arts.” 

Let me address these two quotes first before I continue my viewpoint, black-marketing budo is impossible since that term or expression actually says that it must be sold to customers to circumvent the law that states budo is illegal, such hogwash. This is merely a sound bite to inflame and trigger an emotional reaction toward some loss we might encounter when budo as a concept and philosophical teaching is not something you can put in a wheel barrow. Get over it, your reacting to your emotionally driven monkey brain and that is illogical to say the least.

The second quote says that a commercial dojo is not conveying and teaching the Oriental Arts philosophy and moral principles. Again, that is an emotionally charged sound bite that also triggers our monkey brains emotional brain thereby blocking any type of logical human brain thinking just to sell a point of view. A point of view that I personally feel is ludicrous, stupid and defeatist. In this and the other instance it comes more from those professing such dribble as a lack of self-esteem both personally and martially that if they don’t do the same, go commercial, that they may somehow lose that connection to the traditions of the art or system or discipline, poppy-cock.

Here is the first rub that refutes such ludicrous claims, no one or at least hardly any one in the martial arts communities know, let alone practice, either an Asian Philosophy or know how to apply, teach and practice toward fundamental principles of oriental arts. Most traditionalists of that time and even today teach a sport and give lip service to philosophies and principles over competitions, etc., with trophies and accolades to provide instant gratifications over the more esoteric teachings that some believe are traditional. In other words, those traditionalists who scream such things are not traditional as traditional philosophies and principles would not even give a moments thought to the commercialism issue let alone comment. 

I will say that there has been a concerted effort in the last decade or so to acquire a more Asian related philosophical view and practice of martial arts. There is also a more concerted effort to bring back a more reality based teaching so that today’s martial arts would be more appropriately taught for self-defense, combatives, etc., while holding on to the sport aspects as well.

Except for the “Koryu Based” efforts most martial arts of today are more about a Western/American (in my view and perspective) philosophy and principles that suit modern times in lieu of ancient teachings for prosperity and historical reasons and beliefs, i.e., a traditional/classic perspective.

Now, as to commercialism directly. What most cry loudest about is already mentioned above but I will add in things like, “If it were possible for those crying the tune of commercialism bad, traditional good may be from their fear of failure and loss of followers (notice I say followers vs. students or practitioners) that would hit that emotional monkey who fears change, etc. 

Don’t get me wrong, there are those charlatans who will skew and use a commercial aspect for money but they usually fail after they fleece the unexpected and move on to the next thing. These unscrupulous folks are in every discipline and like spammers of todays electronic age will be there in the years to follow as long as they can sucker someone into falling for their crap. That does not mean that a traditional oriented martial discipline cannot earn a living with their teachings. 

The proof is in the pudding because there are far more commercial oriented dojo, etc., than traditional non-commercial venues to teach and learn martial arts. In fact, if not for commercialism karate, in all probability, or martial arts would have gone the way of the do-do bird long ago yet it has survived and survived in many unique ways and forms. 

I also believe to adhere dogmatically to a non-commercial traditional/classical form without change and growth for the times in which we live is actually going against those same Asian philosophical and principled teachings. There has been and always will be a blending as the discipline is passed down from generation to generation.

I can say that what I have learned and understand today for martial arts, disciplines and practices comes from all forms of teachings to include a commercialized perspective. 

Fear is a mind killer and in this case also contributes to the death of any discipline for to ignore and resist change is to kill that which has value because stagnation always results in death and loss. This fear of commercialism, thankfully, died (mostly, although it does rear its ugly head every once in a while) and we still have karate and other MA today, yeah!


Note: The scrupulous practitioners and teachers have the skills necessary to remain true to their system, dojo, style and origins so commercialism is not a bane but an opportunity, an opportunity to achieve a goal, success and still remain true to their art, style and discipline. Only those less capable will resort to the tactics and strategies that would subvert and degrade the system, style or discipline. Isn’t that the true way, the philosophy and principles that drive a traditional/classical teaching?

There are and always will be McDojo, get over it. 

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