Are There Superior/Inferior Martial Arts Styles?
First of all… You betcha.
Secondly, let’s answer another question: Are there martial arts styles that are neither superior nor inferior?
Yupper… That too, kiddo. Sort of.
Here’s the thing: a martial art style is neither good nor bad, until something is proven. There are many martial artists out there that don’t want to know if their art is good or bad, so they never test it. You know the type… the kind of guy who says, “I don’t compete in tournaments because they aren’t realistic enough”, but also says, “NHB is not realistic because there are too many rules”, and “Use control when you spar; we’re all here to learn!” It’s a good way to remain in a safe place–the safety of burying your head in the sand and staying in your familiar circle, hiding behind cliches and excuses.
This article is for those guys, the ones who say, “one loss doesn’t mean your skill is bad”, and “I lost the match, but won the fight”, and “maybe you beat me in a tournament but on the street I’d kill you”. These are the guys who like to swell up their chests and pad their resumes with friendly promotions (you know the kind, where your martial arts friends give you the next degree and the then next year YOU promote THEM to the next degree?) and easy seminar certifications. The same guys who swear that there are no such thing as a “good” fighting art, only “good fighters”? But at the same time, they will tell you that no matter how hard you train, you must train under a certified teacher to learn martial arts “properly” and you can’t create your own style if you’re not “experienced” enough. These are the “masters” who have, like, 10,000 posts on the martial arts forums who call you a troll if you disagree with them or speak your mind about who is legit and who isn’t, but when you have one-up on them in the argument, they say “to each his own… I’m going back into the training hall to train…” Yeah, but you’ll end up with 20,000 posts within the next 12 months!
Train my ass.
I am one of those guys who live in the real world. I believe in reality, and I will speak my mind. The only time I won’t is when I really don’t want you to know the truth. So, you tell me that Moe-Can-Do Kalitukan style is a great empty hand fighting art from the Philippines, that was taught to you by your Lolo and comes from blade fighting… and guess what? Thekuntawman kept his mouth shut (rarely). Why? Because sometimes I have better things to do than to rescue another FMA sheep from the clutches of commercial McGuros, like go home and let my 8 year old paint my toenails.
But then there are times, when I think the little lamb needs a dose of reality. And this is where superior and inferior martial arts styles are not necessarily made, but defined. You see, most FMA people hang with other FMA people, and almost all of them think and act alike. They certainly train alike, so they tend to pat each other on the back, and tell the same bullshit stories. But in the open martial arts world–where the assholes hang out–people size you up, stare you down, and think to themselves: I think I can take this guy… And poor McScrima student, can’t understand why I can’t have my way and he just have his. Can we all get along? Why do some people have to try you out? Aren’t we all practicing the ancient Filipino martial tradition of Lapu Lapu? Leave your ego at the door and just train! No, no. See, right there–where you said you did a tradition of the Filipino culture, mainly Filipino martial culture, this is a major part of our culture that you seem to have forgotten, pare. The Filipino arts came to be so, because one Master encountered another Master, and thought I can take this guy… then another Master encountered another Master, and he thought, I can take this guy… and so on. And each time a Master proved that he had the better fighting skills (or not), both men walked away with his art just a little bit better than it was before that fateful encounter. And this is the tradition of the Filipino Fighting Arts.
Now, the students of those Masters inherited their lessons learned, along with their curriculum. Then they encountered another guy who wanted to try them out. Then they passed those lessons–theirs as well as their teachers AND their curriculum–to their students, and as each generation failed to “get along”…. you got the Filipino martial arts. Not just that, but you got superior Filipino martial arts. How do I know those arts are superior? They proved it. Now prove that those arts aren’t superior.
But what of the so-called Master of yesterday’s generations who did not get out and prove themselves? Remember the saying, there are no superior fighting arts, just superior fighters? Well, those guys never really found out if their arts are superior or not, so they pass down to their puppies the saying that fighting isn’t everything, and sparring isn’t real fighting, and there are no superior arts. Those guys hid their arts in dances (whatever!) and taught their arts in secret… and one day taught those secret arts to their mga apo (grandkids), who already had Tae Kwon Do Black Belts and will one day argue with real fighters on the internet as a major part of their 10,000 posts.
Seriously, as martial artists we seek to improve the quality of the information we are passing down to our students. But how can you improve something when you don’t know where you need improvement? How do you guarantee to your students that you have a better way of fighting, when you haven’t tested it out against those other guys? Let me define two terms for you that will make this rather long post make better sense:
- Superior fighting art–a martial art that has been proven over the years to be a better, more effective way of fighting, if you use exactly what is in its curriculum. The fat has been trimmed, and the lessons are well defined
- Inferior fighting art–an art that has yet to be proven effective, or has been proven to be ineffective
Easy enough? So, where does your art fit? Can you point to actual combat experience (whether in streetfights or matches) that improved your art with each generation? Or are you still telling the story of some previous master’s 100 undefeated death matches? What have you done in this generation for the benefit of your students?
Or are you just comfortable believing that your art will back you when the attackers come a knocking?
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