THE MARTIAL ART AND POSIBLE SOCIAL REALITY... MAESTRO Javier Acosta Serrano

The martial art and a possible social reality ...

SBN Javier Acosta Serrano

The martial art and a possible social reality ...

Why in a modern society, in which we are supposed to be more civilized, are we interested in training something that is aggressive and even violent? Why? Is it that violence is in our nature? As a self-taught researcher in the area of sociology, I have often asked myself: How do martial arts contribute to society? Could it be that they encourage violence? Do we really need as a society, that children learn to hit and kick? Why are they so popular? Why do we keep training them? The word Martial means war. In fact, the origin of all martial arts systems dates back to war. So no matter what system is practiced, martial arts are a branch of what was in ancient times The Art of War. Another thing that caught my attention when studying ancient cultures is that spiritual disciplines were almost always related to warrior cultures: The monks trained martial arts, and the warriors performed spiritual practices. Why? Doesn't this seem like an incongruity? Can a man who is dedicated to the art of killing or hurting another human being be spiritual at the same time? And vice versa. Can a man who proclaims himself spiritual learn to hurt another human being, and still be consistent with his spiritual beliefs? Of course, I do not intend here to get into a debate about spirituality or the morals of warriors, I simply asked myself because, as a martial arts teacher and as a spiritual student, my moral conscience told me that I did not want to dedicate myself an activity That it contributed to the wrong paradigms, I was worried that I was fomenting violence, especially in the youth. So let's go back to the question: How do martial arts contribute to society?

Self defend Many applicants tell me that they want to train martial arts because they want to learn to defend themselves, and I answer them that ... Defending themselves is something very dangerous! ... they better try to implement security measures in their lives, to avoid having to face a criminal because it could be tragic, because even if you are Khabib, you will always run the risk of things going wrong. Still, it is for this reason that I have developed programs to properly inform people about the risks of selfdefense in real situations. Martial arts do help you to defend yourself, but if it is so dangerous to defend yourself and it is better that you learn to prevent, why train martial arts anyway? Yes, it's true, martial arts are not a sport, if they contribute to health, but why not go for a run? Why not practice dancing or any other sport? Why do this physical activity beating someone else? Well, here I have to start to defend a little my passion for martial arts, and all those who have practiced them with passion will not let me lie: I have practiced several sports, but the feeling of adrenaline, inner energy and power that training gives me martial arts, no sport can give me. After a training session where I left my soul on the Tatami, I feel refreshed. My body is tired, but my spirit feels free, powerful, and renewed. As a physical activity, training martial arts makes me feel agile, strong, and elastic. I feel lighter and my mind is clear to think clearly Relieve stress When I've felt stressed, nothing has helped me release this negative energy from my being more than a good hitting and kicking session or holding and throwing. Each blow is for me like an explosion in which I get rid of the pressures and the problems… it is simply liberating. With the whipping and falling, I remind myself how fragile I am, and I reconnect with the feeling of humility, remembering that life can bring me down at any moment if I am not attentive, at the same time that I learn, that I must get up quickly

Inner force I constantly tell my students of all ages: Life is not easy for anyone, life is actually hard, and you have to make yourself harder than life. I believe that one of the great evils of the modern era is: Comfort Everything is too fast and easy! We have too many amenities! And it seems to me that this is why modern man has softened. Comfort has become a vice, for which we are willing to sacrifice our inner peace. We have become so spoiled that we spend our time complaining about everything. Achieving any goal that is really worthwhile requires great strength, physical strength and inner strength, determination, character and discipline, and above all, if we live in a society that encourages comfort and convenience as a goal.

Spiritual strength Buddha discovered that his monks lacked discipline, character, and the physical strength to withstand long hours of practice and meditation, so he established martial arts training as an official discipline for monks, and the Shaolin Monks emerged. Are martial arts really compatible with spirituality? True spirituality is an inner war. An Eastern saying goes: How do you fight an opponent who has armies staked on your own head? And those who have overcome some big problem in life, will be able to confirm that this is true, that many times you can become your own worst enemy. True spirituality lies in humbly understanding that we are fragmented, that we are full of incongruities, contradictions and mechanical attitudes and negative habits; and that we must work hard to eradicate all these things from our being, in order to feel true inner peace For me, martial arts are the perfect context to confront my own inner enemies in my mind. Martial arts in modern society … Martial arts are violent and aggressive… But life can be violent and aggressive for many people. There is another saying that says: If you want peace, prepare for war. I believe that we must take for granted that violence and aggressiveness are elements that exist in society. Perhaps, one day we will reach a model of society in which violence is completely emancipated, but we still do not live in such a world; and the fact that we do not deny the existence of violence helps us to be prepared to avoid it and to confront it with intelligence if it presents us

This brings us back to one of the questions we made at the beginning: Is it right for society to learn something violent and aggressive like martial arts? Is it a correct paradigm for anyone, for children? I have asked this same question to many psychologists and I myself have reflected a lot on the subject, and what I have concluded is: Yes, and no ... yes, indeed training martial arts may be a correct paradigm for some people, and for others not, and that learning them can be good for some children and not for others

Training martial arts, for certain people, infringes the dose of friction necessary to grow and develop as better human beings, while for others, it does encourage them to be more violent. I myself have stopped teaching or have rejected students because I have realized that hostility is deeply rooted in them, and they are not open to change. I have also had to witness people using what they have learned from martial arts to abuse others. So it is very important that both martial arts teachers, as well as parents, consult well to be able to define who to teach and who not to, or whether or not your child should train martial arts, consulting with a specialist. In conclusion Regardless of whether we train martial arts for physical activity, to learn to defend ourselves, or if we use them as a context to improve ourselves, one thing is a fact: Martial arts never go out of style. They were openly made known to the world in the 50's and our society has welcomed them quite well, so much so that more and more people are joining them in training them, and let's face it, they are beautiful! Who does not like to see the sophisticated movements that our favorite actor, the teachers, is capable of doing in exhibitions or in competitions? Mastering these movements denotes control, selfcontrol. Behind a practitioner and his performance, we can see that there are hours of passionate dedication, which arouse the envy of those who lead a sedentary and boring life Even if in the future we reach the model of society that I spoke about, in which violence has been completely extinguished ... even so, I believe that that day they will continue to train martial arts, as a way to achieve selfmastery. , self control; and because it is worth preserving an art that, although it flourished in the darkest times of humanity, in the midst of wars, also denotes the beauty that human beings can express through movement ...