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... is a superb instructional tool for beginners because it teaches students the significance of position and places a value on each movement. It will also encourage safe daily practice that allows them to train more and get better quicker. This sport is a nice medium between going nuts and idealistic supportive training.
Although participation in Asian martial arts has gained a measure of fame in North America (Cox, 1993), the meaning of these arts in North American contexts is unclear (Columbus & Rice, 1991; Dann, 1977; Forster, 1986; Keenan, 1989; Wagner, 1990). While martial arts exemplify residual cultural beliefs, values, and practices (Back & Kim, 1984; James & Jones, 1982), sports of alien cultures are incorporated rather than accommodated such that values and meanings of foreign sports are distorted for consistency with identities of native participants (Allison, 1988; Duda & Allison, 1990). Forster (1986), for example, identifies a greater public acceptance of full-contact karate in North America relative to Asia. Likewise, form and content of martial arts training may be altered toward adaptation to new cultural situations (Dann, 1977; Staley, 1983). What an explicitly anthropological perspective can contribute to our understanding of the martial arts and the people who study them in the United States is a change in our understanding of what these arts are really about and the roles they play in peoples' lives.
Observation and training in the martial arts in modern America has led us to the conclusion that these conducts are more than quasi-combat techniques, sports, or forms of physical recreation. In short, the significance of the martial arts in America is quite good. In broad-spectrum, the martial arts are inferred in one of two ways. One standpoint is to treat them as exclusively physical activities. By this, any martial art is considered as a technical body of knowledge oriented around the achievement of well-defined effects. A martial art is analyzed as a fighting system, the elements of which can be broken down for mechanical analysis.
It is an observable fact to be considered in isolation from social or cultural elements. Scrutinized in this way, a martial art is subject to validation, analysis and adaptation based solely upon the criterion of contest effectiveness. A second perspective is to spot the martial arts as fundamentally cultural systems. The elements of such a system are multifaceted, and may include physical effectiveness, but ultimately a martial art is perceived as a medium utilized to embody and maintain a particular culture, philosophy, or ideology. Certainly the particularly dense system of symbol and ritual embedded within the practice of the martial arts, which has inclined this interpretation (Donohue 1991). This standpoint is practical, but it brings with it the danger to describe martial arts systems as a category of cultural remnant which has only significance in the conservation of an archaic worldview.
I would maintain that there are aspects of each view that are accurate, but that ultimately they serve to divorce the martial arts from their contemporary settings. Viewed as cultural systems, the martial arts are about more than physical worth. As institutions that thrive in the modern era, these same arts are more than quaint efforts of historic preservation. Contrary to popular understanding, these arts are not merely about the ability to defend oneself or to engage in feats like breaking boards and bricks with the hands or feet. Most martial artists are comparatively peaceful people outside of the training hall.
Martial artists persist in their studies with a firmness and enthusiasm that surpass a solitary concern with combat skill, and draw attention to the fact that fighting cannot be the main purpose of martial arts training. These factual bases may encounter the opponents argument. There are other "sports" which induce much less wear and tear on the practitioner, are easier to learn, and are less dangerous to participate in. The positive fact about martial arts is that they serve social functions beyond those associated with cultural preservation. Martial arts training halls are more than just museums of motion. Looking at anthropological perspective, the psychic allure of the martial arts is due to the fact that they are ritual performances which symbolically deal with fundamental questions of human existence.
These arts are not only about human physical potential but about the human great effort to generate a consistent worldview, to invest life with meaning and develop mechanisms for relating to both their fellow human beings and the world they inhabit. These arts are subject to change, adaptation, and reinterpretation in ways more intricate and philosophical than the mere alteration of physical technique. There is solid reason why most people in America dream of the martial arts, create identities with it, express themselves through it, and discuss their achievements to one another about it. There are many evidences to prove that martial art is very popular among teenagers, youngsters and people. In current years many elementary and secondary school physical educators have integrated a variety of lifelong fitness activities into their curriculum. These independently oriented activities are thrilling and inspiring for their students.
These days, climbing handholds are covering gym walls, kids are walking to school with roller blades draped over their shoulders, and field trips are utilizing mountain bikes and canoes. Although martial art is one such activity that is often mentioned as a potential curriculum addition (By cura & Days, 2001; Kulinna & Krause, 2001), it is offered less frequently than many other activities. An important point to be noted, Martial art techniques improve students health-related fitness, performance-related fitness, self-concept and esteem, and cognitive abilities. Although, many physical education professionals would include martial arts in their set of courses but feel inadequate to instruct the activity (Jason M.
Winkle, 2003). Many students seem to stay in martial arts because they take pleasure in a certain level of power or authority. Others enjoy various responsibilities in institutional management. If one look at the traditional Asian martial arts, it emphasizes to allow ki (cosmic energy) to flow through one's body. This belief in ki unites the martial arts with t'ai chi ch " us, a meditation like discipline that emphasizes slow, graceful body movements. The most admired form of individual exercise in China, t'ai chi is often performed publicly in large groups; it has been claimed to reduce stress and lower blood pressure.
Martial art is best technique to maintain good health as well as for self defense. It protect us for unknown fear and enhance self confidence and to face the challenges of life. If the practice is to wreak pain or harm to another human, the Christian must reconsider his or her principals. If the goal for studying the art is to improve ones physical health, the martial art can be compatible with Christianity.
American people must keep some important factors in mind. At first; they must become conscious that this is a controversial area. They must be careful not to cause a weaker Christian to stumble by the practice of martial arts. Second, the Christian must guard against the temptation of starting fights. Third, the Christian should not allow a martial art to overshadow or detract from his Christian commitments. Finally, the Christian should pray, and examine their conscience and motives.
These steps will insure that one's involvement in a martial art will be based not on unworthy motives but on reflective thought. If one is a martial artist first, he will view sports as training tools for specific types of fighting. Simply practicing in that sportive manner at the school will be enough for anyone to enhance his training. A True Martial Artist is modest and without ego, does into boast or brag and is generally unassuming. In an ideal and perfect world, a true participant should have some of these qualities, but the reality is that most do not and it is the nature of sports in general to be associated with just the opposite. This has always been the problem with sports and martial arts; getting oil and water to mix.
It is proposed that customarily taught martial arts can provide a useful alternative for such dysfunctional adolescents. Limited access to mental health coverage, capitation, and sub-capitation has all but eliminated long-term, one-to-one care for most psychiatric disorders. This has forced greater numbers of adolescents who would benefit from outpatient treatment into the juvenile justice and psychiatric hospital systems. Psychotherapy is therefore challenged to design interventions that are intensive enough to reach delinquent, aggressive adolescents while still being affordable. Martial arts, integrated into a coherent treatment program, show promise in this regard (Frank C.
Sacco, 2002). All martial artists are or should be concerned with the status of skill and knowledge in martial arts. Whether or not our training and education in martial arts is correct and legitimate is very important in our self-respect and in achieving our goals. Work- Cited 1) Frank C. Sacco, Stuart W. Twemlow; The Application of Traditional Martial Arts Practice and Theory to the Treatment of Violent Adolescents, Journal Title: Adolescence.
Volume: 33. Issue: 131. Publication Year: 1998. Page Number: 505. COPYRIGHT 1998 Libra Publishers, Inc. ; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group. 2) John C.
Ozmun, Jason M. ; Winkle An Exciting Addition to the Physical Education Curriculum, -Journal Title: JOPERD -- The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. Volume: 74. Issue: 4. Publication Year: 2003.
Page Number: 29 +. COPYRIGHT 2003 American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD); COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group 3) Peter J. Columbus, Don Rice; Phenomenological Meanings of Martial Arts Participation. Journal Title: Journal of Sport Behavior.
Volume: 21. Issue: 1. Publication Year: 1998. Page Number: 16 +.
COPYRIGHT 1998 University of South Alabama; COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group 4) Encyclopedia Article Title: Martial Arts. Encyclopedia Title: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Publisher: Columbia University Press. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 2004. 5) Jon J. Donohue, Bergin & Garvey; Warrior Dreams: The Martial Arts and the American Imagination.
Publisher: . Place of Publication: Westport, CT. Publication Year: 1994. Page Number: 3.
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Research essay sample on Martial Arts Martial Artists
