Be Your Own Master – The Ultimate Martial Art

“Knowledge in martial arts actually means self-knowledge. A martial artist has to take responsibility for himself and accept the consequences of his own doing.” –Bruce Lee

The biggest problem with almost every Martial Arts school is actually the Master.  All too often you find Martial Artists discussing with great reverence and pride who their Master is as if that defines what kind of Martial Artist they are! The reasons for this are two-fold: the student lacks confidence in his own abilities, and there has been no other way to learn Martial Arts other than by being taught by someone who claims to be an authority.  Although this can be a valid way to learn something, especially if the instructor is a good teacher, there is one fatal flaw.  What happens when the Master dies?  Where does all his knowledge go?  To the grave with him, that’s where!

You see, the Master has been the downfall of every Martial Art to date.  The master was the only one who knew everything.  He was the “authority” who imparted his knowledge upon the students, and the role model by which every student defined everything they were doing.  And while the students were all busy trying to duplicate what the Master was showing, their execution was imperfect because they lacked his breadth of experience.  They tried to remember what they were told, but they were only told a fraction of what the Master knew.  Then the Master past away, as all masters eventually do.  And in order to keep the spirit of the Master alive, the students began to tell stories of how great he was, and how mystical were his abilities.  Because, to them it really was a mystery how he did what he was able to do.

Then, one of the students, hopefully the one with the most teaching ability, picks up the torch and continues to instruct the other students in what he was taught.  The problem is that his knowledge is incomplete.  And there is a good chance that he never really understood the art to begin with.  So what does he do?  He begins to alter it, to add to it his own techniques, etc., in order to “complete” it or “improve” it.  And if he happens to be worried about his own self-importance, he’ll do this just so that he can be unique or stand out.

Multiply this by many generations and you can see how Martial Arts, as is was originally intended, has almost become lost to the ken of man.  This has led us to such things as Tae Bo and Mixed Martial Arts.  Don’t get me wrong, Tae Bo has its value for cardiovascular training, and many MMA practitioners are excellent fighters, but these endeavors are not really Martial Arts.  They are exercise systems or sports.  There’s a big difference!

So what is a Martial Art?  According to Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary the definition of “art” that would be applicable to Martial Arts is: “the systematic application of knowledge or skill in effecting a desired result.”  The result we are trying to achieve in Martial Arts is a resolution of conflict.  [See “The Art of War“]  Therefore, the technology of Martial Arts would encompass all of the techniques for resolving conflict.

It is not something mystical.  That is to say that as a technology it is something that can be observed and understood and applied to real life. It is only the ignorance of the self-proclaimed “masters” that make it not seem so.  For, I guarantee you that it will not be mystical when a punch is flying toward your face and you do not absolutely KNOW what to do.  It will be very real indeed.

So, Martial Arts must first be based in reality.  Because, so long as we live on this same earth, and have these same bodies that are all affected by the same laws of the universe, all Martial Arts will also be based on the same fundamentals as Physics.  That’s the key.  Feet are feet, and hands are hands, and motion is motion.  There may be infinite ways of manipulating these things, but the fundamentals remain the same.

Without these fundamentals, Martial Arts may seem like a giant jig saw puzzle, too vast to ever piece together.  The truth however is that you don’t have to.  There are only a few pieces that are of senior importance.  And if known, the rest of the pieces all fall into place by themselves.  There will be no missing piece in what you know, and there will be nothing you cannot instantly understand and use.   Because you will now be able to see the whole picture.

These are the truths that any real master absolutely knows.  He has honestly studied and practiced these fundamentals until they have become a part of him.  They are the keys that unlock everything else in which he chooses to study.  And I’m not talking about anything mysterious, I’m simply talking about the basic laws that underlie all of Martial Arts.  Sure, the Old Masters may have called them by by different names.  But, they do exist, and they can be codified, and understood, and practiced.  These basic truths would be The Ultimate Martial Art.

It is with the knowledge of these that a true master creates and perfects his own Art.  For, on observation, that is what separates a true master from one who is merely pretending.  He is able to create.  He is able to adapt.  He is not restricted by what he has been taught.  He is his own master.

And you can be your own master too.  You can have the utter and total confidence of knowing how to resolve any conflict.

THERE WILL BE NO MYSTERIES, NO HOLES IN YOUR KNOWLEDGE!

Karate and Kung Fu are great, and so are Aikido and Jujutsu, and every other Martial Arts system. But they are all just pieces of the greater pie!

You want the whole pie?

Learn The Ultimate Martial Art.

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Mr. Nagano has studied martial arts for over thirty years.  He is the founder of Kyokudo Bujutsu – The Ultimate Martial Art. However, he does not nor will he ever claim to be the Master.