Martial arts - A study in contradiction?

I have two requirements of martial arts, and although not exactly Yin and Yang, they often seem at odds with each other.

#1. They must have real and true combat applications.

#2. They must encourage and stress perfection of character and improvement of self.

On one hand, what you learn must be effective. It must be capable of causing injury and pain to another human being.

On the other, the very act of gaining this knowledge should reduce the chance of you ever having to use it.

"Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum"?

-If you wish for peace, prepare for war

Food for thought.

What is the best martial art?

This question gets asked over and over again. What is the best martial art? What is the most effective? What's the easiest to learn? What's the toughest? The fastest? The list of questions goes on and on.

The answer? Well, that's easy. I can honestly and with confidence answer that the best and most effective martial art is Japanese Jiu Jitsu. Bar none...

For me, that is.

The best martial art is the one that you enjoy studying. It's the one where you make a connection with the teacher and the other students. The best martial art is the one you keep showing up for. The one that makes you feel good, improve as a person, gain confidence and self discipline.

For me that is Japanese Jiu Jitsu. It fascinated me from the first time I met my first Sensei and he gave me a demonstration. Truth be told, it was likely more my Sensei than the style, but I didn't know that at the time (more on this to follow).

Martial Musings

Future posts will discuss a variety of martial arts related topics. Martial arts have been a big part of my life for nearly 20 years. I have had the opportunity to study several different arts under a variety of great and talented people.

I have made discoveries, made friends and made sacrifices for my study. I have been lost, I have been humble, I have been full of myself and I have been humbled. My study of martial arts has been one of the most consistent positive influences in my life and it has in no small way shaped the person I am today.

There are brief periods in my life in which I was not studying the martial arts, but even during those times, they were never far from my thoughts.

This blog will bounce back and forth between my current training and other topics of interest to martial artists.

A beginning...sort of

This blog will be many things. It is foremost an account of a long, satisfying, and often frustrating journey in the world of Japanese Jiu Jitsu. Around 3 years ago, I threw pride, ego and (to the best of my ability) any preconceived ideas about martial arts out the window. I set aside various belts of various colours from various styles and donned a white belt for the first time in many years.

I started again.

This is my journey.