Of late there has been a lot of discussion about Lyoto Machida on various karate forums. Considering the bashing that the reputation of karatedo has taken in recent years, I think Machida could be just the breath of fresh air needed to give the art a renewed credibility and get more people interested in the practise, particularly the younger generation.
I myself have not followed the UFC or MMA in general for a few years, so I have not seen many of his previous fights, and have no idea of the current standard of fighters presently competing, but I took a look at the above link out of curiousity to see what all the fuss was about. I was pleasantly suprised at various things said during the clip, and am very happy that traditional concepts and values appear to be getting exposure to a wider audience through the medium of this competitive format. Values such as Shin, Gi, Tai and the importance of training the spirit. Waiting or creating an opening, and then striking with complete conviction that the strike will be successful. These matters concerning the spirit of a practitioner are things which rarely get a mention in this day and age.
Whilst it is very clear that Machidas’ success cannot be solely attributed to his karate training alone, the fact that he promotes karate as his primary practise can only be good for the art, especially if he continues to display the traditional values cultivated through the practise of budo, and remains distanced from the glitz, glamour, arrogance and egotism displayed by certain other fighters.
Why is the reputation of karatedo important? For the art to survive in a meaningful way it will always need new blood. 30 years ago, this was not a problem as a person interested in learning the martial arts would maybe have only a couple of different arts to choose from in their local area. These days, the world has become a much smaller place, and the choice avalible to the interested person is immense. Traditional arts, modern arts, competitive arts, urban survival guerilla warfare arts, stabbing people in the eyes with bayonet arts, handgrenading your opponents extended families arts, etc. The fact is that in the majority of cases, karate is viewed as something done by children, after all everybody knows about the 8 year old kid down the street who was in the paper this week for getting a black belt…..
The reputation of karatedo is damaged. This is the truth. How we go about distancing ourselves from the vast amounts of rubbish that make up the vast majority of dojo in the world is what may determine how karatedo is passed on to the future. There are still a number of excellent dojo around, with extremely serious and dedicated practitioners, however unfortunately the unaware public is unable to differentiate between the serious dojo, and the general crap. For those of you who have seen the movie ‘the foot fist way’ how much embarrassement was hidden behind your laughter at the realisation that this comedy actually isn’t too far removed from the truth?
I make no apologies about the arrogant tone of this post, but I suspect that most of you will be quite understanding of my views on this matter.
For karatedo to continue into the future as a serious budo, its reputation HAS to change. It has to become elitist, much like the classical bujutsu of Japan, and move away from how it is percieved by most people, as a babysitting service for their children while they do a bit of shopping. If Machida can help promote the art of karatedo as a serious pursuit, then his success in the competitive arena of the UFC should be supported by those of us who are concerned about the future of this great tradition.
I think you and I are on the same page as to where karate stands reputation-wise, and how Machida is affecting it.
Perhaps down the road there will be a split in karate as the watered down kids version goes one way and real karate goes another. As of right now, they are painfully entwined.
I agree with everything you say except for the “elitist” solution. I have nothing less than the utmost respect for the dedication and commitment that you have for your Goju training and style which I also practice. I know what you mean to say by this post but elitism has nothing to do with it. Sheer sweat and effort has brought you to this point. With all due respect, elitist for me means exclusion, usually beforehand, and generally ends up in cliques.
Don’t blame the kid or parent, blame the instructor, that is where the problem lies.Otherwise, I agree with the gist for your position.
However, professional fighting is a sport. I watched the video of the bout Evans v. Machida, and, honestly was not impressed by either one.
There is more to martial arts than a rumble in a ring, or even a scuffle on the street. Your blog is more than proof of this.
Arigato.
Well said about avoiding elitism, I think you make a valid point at least in the semantics of the term. I am curious though how you could watch that match and not be impressed by Machida. Evans is a world class fighter and Machida made him struggle utterly. Even from a traditional standpoint of fighting for life protection rather than sport, Machida’s skill was clear.
I enjoyed this article thanks for contributing
Cheers! Good job!