RULES?

 By Phillip Starr

Rules, rules, rules...they're the main reason why good traditional martial arts practitioners sometimes lose competitions against boxers and MMA devotees. I define “rules” as follows: “a convention which help to ensure fair play, so long as they are followed by all involved participants.” Of course, if one (or more) participants refuse to adhere to the rules, those who do strive to adhere to them are guaranteed to lose.

Imagine a boxing match wherein only one of the fighters had to follow the rules. Which one do you think stands the best chance of winning? Boxing, per se, was developed as a sport and all sports involved the enforcement of certain rules. So boxing evolved within that framework. The same is true of MMA.

Traditional forms of karate and gong-fu were never intended to be applied as sports and consequently. They didn't care much about rules. There weren't any. Survival was the only concern. But human nature being what it is, competitions were developed and this necessarily required the development of rules to ensure not only fairness, but to reduce the chances of injury or worse. Many martial forms became “sportified.”

Now, when a practitioner of one of those traditional disciplines competes against, say, a boxer – and he's required to adhere to boxing rules – who is most likely to win? Even with their rules in place, traditional martial arts allowed for wide variety of techniques, which are forbidden in boxing;

*In boxing one cannot strike with the edge of the glove in the manner of a sword-hand strike.

*Striking to targets on the back are also forbidden.

*No striking is permitted below the waist.

*NO kicking or foot-sweeping is allowed at all.

*You cannot strike with your elbows or knees...

And so on and on. Moreover, modern martial arts competitions forbid techniques directed to the eyes and other such things that can result in severe injury. The original martial forms had NO interest in following any sets of rules. The object was to end the conflict as quickly as possible. This sometimes meant that at least one of the participants wouldn't go home after the fight. Ever.

If a boxer who was required to stick to the rules was put up against a traditional martial arts practitioner who was allowed to do anything he wanted, who do you suppose would walk away?

Remember, rules work only if ALL participants adhere to them...