‘Central to the concept of our evolution as martial artists is the idea of continually re-inventing ourselves – looking at our practice through a new set of eyes – and a re-examination of who we are and what it is that we do. AD 2002 – a new year – a new appraisal. Don’t wait -act!’ A new year – time for all shakers and movers to re-invent themselves – yep, martial artists too! So what’s in store for this New Year?
Well, there are many aspects to the martial arts and I think that there will be significant shifts in many of these aspects. Firstly, I feel the ‘business’ aspects of running a martial arts school will improve out of sight; in the same way that the gyms of yesteryear have moved toward a newer and more effective culture today. People want results, they do not have lots of time; school owners will become more professional at marketing to and managing their student base. There will be more of a shift toward customer service and more ‘products’ will be made available to the public.
Secondly, there will be more emphasis placed on marketing the differences between the ’sporting aspects’ and the ’self defence’ aspects of the martial arts. As far as realistic self defence is concerned, schools will have to cover pre-fight tactics (for an overview I suggest people check out Geoff Thompson’s ideas – www.geoffthompson.com), post-fight stand-up skills (for example: kickboxing, karate, kung fu, etc) and post-clinch grappling skills (for example: BJJ, Judo, wrestling) if they hope to offer a complete package! Anything less would simply be less than honest.
Thirdly, I believe the approach to professional fighting, particularly, the mixed martial arts or NHB events, will develop dramatically. If we look at kickboxing for example; in the 70’s it was basically driven by martial artists who did a little boxing to supplement their kicking techniques; this is how it started out. Over time, it changed from this idea into the more fully integrated art-form we see today. The legwork and handwork are worked in conjunction with one another, interwoven until they are almost inseparable. The same thing will happen with ‘reality fighting’ or MMA training.
Presently, most of these fighters are for example, people with stand-up fighting skills doing some supplementary grappling, or grapplers doing some supplementary kickboxing. This will change. Give it three to five years, these two aspects will become more fully integrated and one will not be worked to the exclusion of the other. In other words, the two aspects of striking and grappling will be interwoven to the point of becoming one inseparable identity. There will always be the specialists, ie: the pure boxer, the pure grappler, the pure kickboxer; but the biggest development will be in the area of integration. It is an exciting time!
