Are you a MARTIAL ARTIST?
some one that trains the Martial and the Art side of the Art you do.

OR A martial ARTIST,
someone that just looks at the artistic side of martial arts ( musical forms)

Or a MARTIAL artist
Some one that just thinks about the fighting and gives no thought to the artistic side of what you do?

How would you apply the term or concept of 'art' to soemthing like judo or boxing Dave? just curious before i think about answering!

the same all the others
a top boxer to me is some one that is not just a Bruiser but a artist thinks of how, what and why he is doing somthing. (playing the game)
Judo to me is also the same its more on the technical side but you do get some that don’t think or worry about that side and just want to use there aggression and body size to get the gob sorted.

Interesting thread. Glad I saw it before I logged off.

I think it's probably one of those things that peole are generally quite ignorant about. (And by ignorant, I don't mean that as an overly negative term as sometimes only certain aspects of an art are taught in clubs or from instructors depending on their experience or their own personal development. It'll differ from place to place and from person to person.) The difference to me is whether or not a person is mindful in their practice of those different aspects you described. Sometimes those who dwell on the 'art' side go too far and what they practice looks like a dance of some sort or techniques with little or no realism, although it may contain good properties that go beyond what is 'seen'. On the other hand an overly 'Martial' person may just want the pure physical practice without wishing to develop other areas. It's not that it's wrong to go either way, but it is wrong to kid yourself that you're practicing the whole package when you're not.

Personally, I try to encompass both sides of being 'Martial' and being an 'Artist'. Sometimes I fail, othertimes I succeed. But that's the jourrney; learning from mistakes, turning them to strengths and moving on. Just keeping in mind what, how and why you practice seems to be the best answer here... (YMMV)

Er, I'll get off my soapbox now I s'pose :D

Mushin

Just a quick question. I always thought that disciplines like kung fu / karate were martial arts and kickboxing is a sport since it is not exactly steeped in cultural tradition and from what I understand (I'm probably wrong) it doesn't concern itself with anything spiritual (this is certainly not a dig at kickboxing as I think kickboxing is amazing and even though I’m from a boxing background, I thoroughly enjoy watching it)

Interesting thread. Glad I saw it before I logged off.

I think it's probably one of those things that peole are generally quite ignorant about. (And by ignorant, I don't mean that as an overly negative term as sometimes only certain aspects of an art are taught in clubs or from instructors depending on their experience or their own personal development. It'll differ from place to place and from person to person.) The difference to me is whether or not a person is mindful in their practice of those different aspects you described. Sometimes those who dwell on the 'art' side go too far and what they practice looks like a dance of some sort or techniques with little or no realism, although it may contain good properties that go beyond what is 'seen'. On the other hand an overly 'Martial' person may just want the pure physical practice without wishing to develop other areas. It's not that it's wrong to go either way, but it is wrong to kid yourself that you're practicing the whole package when you're not.

Personally, I try to encompass both sides of being 'Martial' and being an 'Artist'. Sometimes I fail, othertimes I succeed. But that's the jourrney; learning from mistakes, turning them to strengths and moving on. Just keeping in mind what, how and why you practice seems to be the best answer here... (YMMV)

Er, I'll get off my soapbox now I s'pose :D

Mushin

good answer! i'll second that :thumbsup:

I always thought that disciplines like kung fu / karate were martial arts and kickboxing is a sport

You'll probably get people arguing both sides of this one depending on their background or knowledge. For me it's important to distinguish from a Martial 'Art' and a Martial 'Sport'. They have different goals and methods of training/learning. Both are good but for very different reasons.

As a gross simplification, a martial art is about improving yourself by 'beating' or bettering yourself and a martial sport is about improving your skillset by beating another person. Of course there'll the odd one that fits both catagories. Sometimes.

Mushin

Are you a MARTIAL ARTIST?
some one that trains the Martial and the Art side of the Art you do.

OR A martial ARTIST,
someone that just looks at the artistic side of martial arts ( musical forms)

Or a MARTIAL artist
Some one that just thinks about the fighting and gives no thought to the artistic side of what you do?

HI Dave, Thanks for the visit last week, I hope you had some clarity on your next move etc. By the way I love this question, is there a full answer or an answer that all kinds of different Martial Artists interpret? ha ha.
Regards.

To me things like boxing and kickboxing have just as much art to it as say Karate or kung fu, its all in the training some clubs teach the Technique.

Dave, in answer to your original question yes, no and no.

so it will just be a YES then the_rage lol

yes dave, lol