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Martial Arts and the World of Sports

I feel as though I should be writing an article in the sports section here. Partly because I am attending a greatly sports-oriented college, but mostly because it’s the section where I feel most qualified. Ironically enough, I don’t do any sports. However, I do take martial arts and I believe that they belong here.

The only time that people would disagree with the idea of martial arts being a sport is when they are thinking of a specific martial art which they believe is different from the generality. In light of this, I feel that an explanation is required for these people. The explanation is that there are, in actuality, several different divisions of the martial arts. Martial arts as a whole are generally separated into traditional martial arts and sport martial arts. There are other classifications, which will be discussed later.

Traditional martial arts, as the name implies, are the classical and ancient arts passed down through the ages. They are often unarmed, but also include melee weapons in later training. Some examples of traditional martial arts include: jujutsu (sometimes seen as jujitsu), tai chi quan (also taiji chuan), pankration, aikido, and karate. Keep in mind that this is a microscopic list and that the amount of traditional martial arts is immeasurable. These are just some popular arts to show the example.

Sport martial arts usually started as traditional martial arts, but the competitions using them became so popular that they became the main focus of the art. Some of these sports martial arts were created strictly as sports. Sport martial arts generally have a true combative effectiveness, but it is usually more of a byproduct of learning to be good at the competition. Some sport martial arts include: boxing, fencing, judo, sumo, and tae kwon do.

Now, some people may be thinking that arts such as karate and other traditional martial arts should be considered sport martial arts because they are seen in competitions. Well, it’s an understandable thought, but not quite right. There are several organizations that hold tournaments and other competitions for traditional martial arts, but these are supplementary to the training of those martial arts, not the primary purpose.

Generally in a discussion of martial arts, a smart-aleck likes to bring up “gun jitsu” or “bomb fu.” While they are stale jokes, they are perfectly legitimate martial arts to think about. Since a martial art is literally an art of war, it is foolish to ignore our modern methods. Modern, or contemporary, martial arts are the ones used in the present day, generally by the national military. Now, these arts being used for war are generally not considered a sport, mainly because they are not being done leisurely like other sports, but the average citizen who trains in contemporary martial arts the same way one trains in traditional martial arts gives the quality of a sport to them.

The other person to come into a conversation is usually one of the ever-growing number of professional fighting fans. Those who have seen shows like Ultimate Fighting Championship or Pride Fighting Championship are generally noted to say things like, “I’ve seen the UFC, what kind of martial art is that?” The short answer is that it isn’t. The long answer is that it is a competition whose rules are under those of mixed martial arts. These fighters have studied several martial arts and compete under a rule set created by the organization. The term “mixed martial arts” is not actually a martial art of any kind, but more of a broad description of the rules that are allowed in the competition. Since mixed martial arts are only competitions, a mixed martial artist would thus be a sport fighter like a boxer.

For a sense of validation, I’ve asked several of my friends what they think a sport is and if they consider martial arts as part of them. The results were three groups of varying rigidity. The narrowest group acknowledged only adversarial games. One person or team plays against another person or team and the winner is the one who beats the other. This includes baseball, football, and basketball. The middle group expanded to include point competitions where a single person goes for the best score or stat such as pole vaulting, javelin throwing, and running. The broadest group added on competitions of style such as gymnastics and ice skating. The interesting thing is that the majority of people asked didn’t consider martial arts as a whole a sport. Several people cited sport martial arts, but did not consider the traditional martial arts as a sport

Most people see martial arts as just a system of fighting or learning flashy moves, but not a sport. Out of curiosity, I checked dictionary.reference.com and searched for the definition of “sport.” The first three definitions were:

1. “Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.”
2. “An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.”
3. “An active pastime; recreation.”

With these definitions, I believe that all martial arts can be considered a sport in the literal sense. All arts are governed by a set of rules or customs; there are techniques that are in the art and techniques that are not and sparring has predetermined rules for safety of fighters. For definition number two, one can obviously see martial arts being physically exerting and realize that fighting is always competitive. The third definition is the broadest one and certainly applies to any martial art as well.

In the end, it seems to come down to a matter of opinion. People tend to live by their own definition of a word more than the one fund in the dictionary. Some martial arts will always be seen as sports, which is a good start. I hope that the whole world will see all martial arts as a sport and a practical activity with beneficial skills that are learned. When the ideas of superhero warriors, flashy gimmicks, and bad movies from the 1970’s are eliminated from the minds of the populace, true martial arts can be seen and appreciated in every form and not just televised tournaments.

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=sport