Why Martial Arts???

Avid martial artists also get asked the same question as most ultra runners do. Why?? Why dedicate so much of one’s resources towards something so impractical, or likewise – where is the place in today’s society for something so inherently violent and dangerous. Certainly most long time practitioners have had to come up with their own answers to this, in order to justify their training. After all, the ancient martial artists were simply living their lives in a feudal society where the feudal warriors carried arms and defended their standard of living in a society where laws were scarce and human life underrated, quite often likened in the media to living in the ‘American Wild West’. This rationale is, in fact, not entirely that different from the modern day soldier who, ideally, acts in order to preserve and protect our customs and values against potential threats. In fact, the art of warfare and killing is best preserved and evolved in the modern armed forces and is the place to be if one wishes to be fluent in them. (Another source of information available, along similar line, at Japanese Sword Arts FAQ Version 2.7 tries to summarize the aim of Kendo and Iado training in contemporary society).

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