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Why are all martial arts endeavors listed as, “Sports?” What is a sport? It is an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. It is also about how one might amuse themselves or play in a lively and energetic way.
A key word here is, “Entertainment.” Sports are all “forms of usually competitive physical activity which, through casual or organized participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing entertainment to participants, and in some cases, spectators.[2] Usually the contest or game is between two sides, each attempting to exceed the other.”
Martial Arts of all kinds tend to be classified and listed under the heading of, “Sport(s).” Just to give some additional credence to the definition provided above take the word, “Sport,” as its origins come from an old French word, “Desport,” meaning “leisure.” Add in the oldest definition in English that can be traced back as far as the 1300’s as, “Anything humans find amusing or entertaining.”
According to “SportAccord” the following determines what a sport should have:
- have an element of competition
- be in no way harmful to any living creature
- not rely on equipment provided by a single supplier (excluding proprietary games such as arena football)
- not rely on any "luck" element specifically designed into the sport
the various ways a sport is participated in is also about being a physical, mental, primarily co-ordination, or motorized and/or animal supported endevor.
It does not say that as a philosophy driven practice that it is a sport nor does the enlightenment, self-improvement and self-disciplined benefits of the practice of martial disciplines that it is a sport and so on. All benefits of practice, training and applications yet every single one is thought of, considered a part of and listed under the heading of, “Sport(s).”
Once our society was exposed to the practice of martial arts where perceptions were influenced by our enthusiasm of sports such as football, basketball and rugby, etc., it is easy to see when folks participated in a competitive manner with trophies and other such accolades and awards one can see how easy it is to find martial arts or disciplines being lumped up in sport along with all other sports already a part of our society.
I will go one further in admitting that, “Martial Arts are Sports Oriented Disciplines.” I will go another step to also say that, “Martial Arts are NOT Sport Oriented Disciplines” when considering their true nature and origins, i.e., what some might refer to as “Classical or Traditional” disciplines. In essence origins indicate that martial arts are combative (using a generic all encompassing term that would include fighting as well as modern self-defense) in nature where grave bodily harm or even death are the objectives when encountering enemies and adversary’s.
Yes, martial disciplines use a certain competitiveness in training and practice. Yes, martial disciplines involve physical activities to practice, train and apply. Do martial disciplines provide entertainment to its participants? Yes, but not as a primary means of practice and training but rather as a way to train and practice whereby the participants have “Fun” so that the training has a greater chance of being absorbed, encoded and finally utilized in a combative way.
Are the training models of drills and sparring about competition? No, such endeavors are about an exchange of experiences, knowledge and understanding that is meant to transcend competitiveness because in a fight, in self-defense and especially in combatives one does not compete, one must reach a goal of stopping damage and the threat from an enemy and adversary. An enemy has a sole goal of causing grave bodily harm thereby removing your ability to continue the fight or causing your death thereby removing you from combat utterly and completely. It is not about dominance, status and ego but achieving a tactical and strategic goal in a fight and combat. If combat were a sport it would not refer to combat as war but as a competition where no one gets hurt.
Are martial arts or disciplines about not harming any other living creature? No, in essence the goal to martial disciplines are to hurt, damage and disable or kill another human being. In sport the objective is to avoid such damage as much as any physical endeavor can, where injuries occur but accidentally but true martial discipline application is about causing injuries, damage and harm in stopping the enemy or adversary from causing you grave bodily harm or death.
Yet, martial disciplines are thought of as and are practiced as and are often applied as “Sport.” Yes, martial arts can be trained, taught, practiced and applied as a sport. They can be trained, taught, practiced and applied as any number of different and distinct disciplines such as, “Sport or Combative or Fighting or Self-defense or Enlightenment or Improvement or Exercise Program for health and well-being or a philosophical mental and physical conditioning program and so on. It can and does span a wide range of disciplines … yet, it still gets lumped under one heading, “Sport(s).”
Herein lies my constant struggle to convey a need to determine the distinctions you may or may not use when training, practicing, teaching and applying martial disciplines. In most cases that distinction matters only as to defining what you do but in a very few cases it actually matters as to either receiving or giving damage, grave bodily harm or even death to another human being for defense, civil and combative (also two distinctly different applications, etc.).
When taking up martial disciplines it is best to ask yourself what your goals are, “Is it sport? or Is it not sport?” Once you determine this and other questions of distinction (i.e., what are your goals in the study of martial arts?), then and only then can you search out and find appropriate training for your intent in the study of martial disciplines.
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