POLISH AND PERFECTION

 by Phillip Starr

There's often a lot of talk about being a good fighter and a good martial artist, and there's a qualitative difference that I think many people miss. Fighters train to be better fighters; to win the prize (in the case of competitive fighting), or to defeat their opponents. Period. A traditionally trained martial artist trains to “not lose”, which is different from “winning.” Moreover, he strives to perfect his movements and technique for purposes of self-perfection, which cannot be achieved in a single lifetime but he strives for it anyway.

In martial arts, the idea is to perfect the technique and everything associated with it (ie., body movement, stance, posture, and so on). The idea is to do more with less. This isn't necessarily the case with “fighters.” My experience has been that they tend to have a different mindset.

Traditional martial arts involve much more than just practicing certain techniques, movements, and squaring off against a training partner or an opponent in a competition. Certain traditions, which have been maintained for centuries, must be followed (and that often involves some considerable practice) and (and this is vitally important) understood very thoroughly. Without understanding, they become meaningless caricatures. There are those who say that “This is America (or any other Western nation). Why should we have to follow meaningless, pointless, Oriental traditions?”

Such statements are made by those who haven't taken the time to deeply study these traditions and they don't understand them or the need for them. Sadly, one of the things they fail to grasp is that the understanding and continued practice (still seeking perfection) of these arcane traditions actually impacts one's overall martial skill.

The true martial artist is never satisfied with his skill. In that regard, he lives outside of a “comfort zone.” He is constantly polishing various aspects of the art that he practices. Like a mirror...