 What defines a martial art? What is the difference between an art, style or system? At what point does a spin-off or hybrid system become its own entity? And if there is such a specific designation, how do we go about defining that? We recently did a live stream discussing this exact topic. If you're interested in watching the full stream, you can find a link to it in the description or click on the card that should be popping up somewhere around here. I presented my personal perceptions and I welcomed a lot of input from our audience and I think that together we were able to assemble a reasonable guide for determining when a martial art takes on its own identity. Now, I can already hear the comments typing as we speak. What does it matter? We all have two hands and two feet, it's just personal preference. Yes, that is 100% correct and in all honesty, this was just a good thought exercise for a healthy discussion. And I think it's a subject worth broaching because I feel that a lot of the toxicity and politics that we see in the martial arts today stem significantly from this ambiguity. Far too often, we come across arguments about which art is better, what works in the ring, what techniques are useless, mixed martial arts versus traditional martial arts and a lot of other heated debates that act more to divide than unite the martial arts community. Okay, so trying to settle this is a tall order. Where do we even begin? So I'm going to try to summarize the entire live stream into a concise overview here and if you disagree with me or think we left anything out then by all means please add it to the discussion below in the comments. So we started by addressing three main areas of focus. First, we addressed the ideas of content versus context. Secondly, we attempted to designate the difference between an art, style and system. And finally, we came up with a list of five criteria to meet in order to be designated an individual martial art. Now after the chat, we gave it a little thought and we decided to add a sixth item to that list, but we'll come back to that. Right now, let's dig into the first one. I personally think that this topic is critical. It's hard to argue any side of the debate without understanding the parameters and variables that can affect the outcome. The value of content is entirely dependent on the context in which it resides. If the argument is to look at any given art and argue whether it's any good or not, we have to ask, what's the context? What criteria are we using to judge whether it's good or not? Now, I know we've all heard it before. If it doesn't work in the octagon, then it's useless and it sucks. And that answer is both right and wrong. The only way to answer it properly is to define the context in which we are comparing it. Let's use Taekwondo for example. It gets a lot of flak by the MMA community. They say if it's so good, then why don't we see it in the ring? We do. How many knockouts have been delivered by spectacular spinning or elaborate kicks? A significant amount. So if you take someone who only trains the Taekwondo and put them in a UFC ring, chances are it won't work very well enough to win. So in that context, the argument is correct. But what if Taekwondo is just one of three arts that that particular fighter has trained in, saw an opportunity and delivered a move that he or she felt was appropriate at that time and it landed? In that context, the answer is, it does work in the ring. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is another great example. It is a fantastic discipline and highly effective in the right context. To ask if BJJ is good depends on the lot. Good where? Is it a good art on an armed battlefield? Not likely. Is it suited for a situation on a rough terrain against multiple people? Probably not. Is it good to defend yourself from a person attacking you? Oh yeah. Is it good in high intensity competition against other skilled martial artists? Oh, you betcha. It might seem silly to put it in that perspective, but I think it points out how silly it is to use a blanket statement that a particular martial art is no good. It might not be good for your standards or purpose, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have value in other ways. There are many arts that have had combat roots that were fighting systems but serve primarily to rebuild health, focus, and relaxation today. We've said this a thousand times and I'm not going to harp on it too much today, but people train for various reasons. Some for fighting in self-defense, some for competition, some for rehab, some for focus, some for strength building, and some people just simply enjoy it. So in the context of the octagon, we have fighters with vastly different skills and backgrounds. We see the most common, such as boxing, Muay Thai, Judo, BJJ, but we also see a lot of fighters with Kiyokushin, Shotokan, Kempo, Tekwondo, Kapoeira, Wing Chun, and other Chinese arts. The difference in making it work or not is knowing how to blend it and when it's applicable. Every art exists because it was useful for someone, somewhere. The only true way to answer if it's good or not is to compare it with your own particular goals and application. The relevance to this comes back into play at the end of the discussion when we consider how to define a unique martial art and how MMA plays into that determination. But let's first talk about whether martial art actually is, or more specifically, what is the difference between an art, style, and system. I'm going to keep this as concise as possible because this was a big part of our discussion in the stream. First, let's define the term martial art. Now, I really, really hate to use Wikipedia as a source, but to be perfectly honest, I like the way they phrase the definition. Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons, such as self-defense, military and law enforcement applications, competition, physical, mental, and spiritual development, entertainment, and the preservation of a nation's intangible cultural heritage. So, quite literally, the definition of a martial art is a combat system that has gone through various historical, cultural, and personal expressions. Now, as we talk about definitions, here is where we start to step into a lot of gray area. The terms art, style, and system are often used in many different ways across different languages and definitions. Some people feel they're interchangeable, others feel that they are three very different things. Again, this is my personal interpretation for me to use as a reference on this channel and not gospel law, so feel free to disagree. The word system refers to the specific art in question and stems from what the Wikiverse said, a codified system of traditions and combat. Codified system, Shatokan, Taekwondo, Wing Chun, Brazilian Jujitsu, Judo, Muay Thai, American Kempo, etc. These are systems that have been established within their own cultural, rules, ethics, philosophy, and are uniquely identifiable by their own characteristics. System. This is the context of the discussion, the empty glass. It is a structure and purpose, but there are different types of glasses, wine glasses, drinking glasses, beer steins, juice glasses, and so on. They are uniquely identifiable and you choose them when based on your particular needs. Style, we can define as the particular flavor or version of the system you want to practice. Gojiru Karate is the system, but what styles are you practicing? Okinawan, Japanese, American, Muay Thai is a system, but are you practicing traditional style with the rituals and cultural influences or the competitive style we see in UFC? Taekwondo, what style? ITF, WTF, South Defense, Tournament, American Kempo, which branch? IKKA, Speakman Kempo 5.0, Paul Mills, AKKI, the list can go on and I think it's fair to say that the system is the main martial art and the style is the particular version you choose to train in, but I know what some of you are about to say. Art and style can be used interchangeably. System is what you train, style is how you train it. Fair enough, but that is how you train it. The definition of art is, the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as a painting or sculpture. Producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power, expression or application of human creative skill. Your martial art, as in how you choose to express yourself through your training. You pick a system, you learn a style, and over time you begin to infuse your own influence onto it. Your art is your expression and application, your strategy, your favorite moves, your composure, your flair, and who can argue that the concept of winning or losing an altercation won't invoke an incredible emotional response. We can further distinguish that martial art in a general term is a system of interpreted combat while your art is how you express it. To go back to the glass analogy, the system is the wine glass. The style is the type of wine you pour in it and your art is how you drink it. Are you a sipper or a guzzler? Y'all know who you are. Bill Superfoot Wallace, he trained in the systems of show and rule karate and kickboxing among others. His style was competitive tournament style, focusing on speed, quick points, and one-on-one full contact fighting. His art is how he performed it, adapting to an injury, taking on the sideways fighting stance, his speed, deception strategy, right down to his personality and psychological warfare that he brings to the table. And anyone who's ever stood in front of him for a demonstration, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Art is individually unique. There are a lot of tournament style kickboxing in Karateka, but there's only one Bill Wallace. So we ended our stream by picking the top five criteria we can use to determine if a method of training is a full unique system or a hybrid of multiple systems are just an incomplete collection of skills. And there is a lot of flex here, but we see this as a pretty good starting point of reference. In order for a martial system to be its own identifiable system, it first needs to have a codified structure. This is the essential spirit of the art. It could be a foundation of philosophy, historical reference, or an established set of rules, regulations, and expectations. Every art has its own internal culture. Students understand what it is and what is not appropriate within the school. Expectations went on the training floor and an established level of interaction between teachers and peers. Next, a martial art will have a curriculum. Now there's some gray area here too because not every art approaches this the same way. Some arts, like Jeet Kune Do, may not have a specific curriculum or syllabus that they follow, but there's still a general structure and lesson plan within the classes. BJJ may teach a variety of grappling techniques in any given order, but at certain levels, students are expected to be able to perform a very specific set of skills. Whether the curriculum is flexible or carved on the wall, when a new student walks in the front door, the teachers don't just scratch their head and wonder what they're going to teach them. There is a clear lesson plan for students. In regards to any ranking systems, I feel that that falls within the structure of curriculum. Specialized focus. Every martial art focuses on a particular aspect of combat or training. There is no single art that I know of that is absolute best at all areas of combat. They are specialized based on what you want to learn. You could argue that Brazilian Jujitsu is the best grappling art. That's its specialty, but it lacks in striking, weapons, or tactical combat like other arts might. Karate focuses on self-defense. Judo focuses on stand-up grappling and takedowns. Kempo focuses on close-range destructive sequences and boxing specializes and knockout striking power. There are some outs out there that mix elements together to become more rounded. These are usually schools that are hybrids of multiple arts, or their specialty is to be a jack of all trades. Give the student a good understanding of multiple disciplines, but they won't go as deep into every aspect as a school that specializes in an aspect would. Resistance training is critical for any martial arts system, and I do mean every system, but not necessarily in the way we may assume. Resistance training is a term often used in a martial arts training for competition or self-defense, needing the techniques to be put to their test against a resisting partner. Now this is an accurate description for fighting arts, but as we said at the beginning that people join the martial arts for different reasons, and while martial arts stem from a fighting background, it doesn't mean that that's their focus today. So I want to redefine this a little bit. Instead of saying opponent, let's use the word obstacle instead. Everyone joins a martial art for their own specific purpose. Many times it is for self-defense, in which case the obstacle is an opponent. You are trained to learn to protect yourself from another aggressive human being. But what about the people who are trying to lose weight, or get stronger after an accident, or learn how to focus? Their current health, injury, or anxiety is their opponent. And in order to learn to overcome your opponent, you need pressure exposure to that obstacle. You need controlled contact with whatever it is you're trying to overcome. You want to be good at fighting? Then you need that partner who's going to apply pressure and fight you back. You want to lose weight? Then you can't stop at the first sign of getting tired, and you need to gradually increase your workouts to push that barrier. Have an injury? Then you need to hit the walls, and then do what you can do and figure out either how to heal yourself or how to work around it. Trying to focus? Then your attention needs to be tested so that you can learn to quiet down the background noise. If you want your training to be effective, then you need to encounter and feel that fist coming at you, feel that soreness, feel your limits, and then push past them, feel the resistance, and then train yourself to get through it. And the last thing on the list that the art needs is kata. Yeah, I said it, but before you rip me apart, let's define the role that kata plays. This is honestly a much larger topic that we're going to come back to another day, and we touched on this in our recent History of Gojiru episode. The simplest way to define a kata is a textbook written in motion, a reference manual. They started off as partner finding drills that were put together in thematic sequences for the students to practice on their own time. Kata is used to study and perfect your own technique. You can make an argument on if they are needed today, but when it comes to considering the times when students did not have access to written manuals, DVDs, or YouTube, then kata was their reference. It was a living textbook. So for the martial arts that don't have kata, they have similar drills that fulfill the same purpose. Boxing has shadow boxing, and there is a divide between those who feel that it's the same thing as kata and those who don't. But if you really look at it, they kind of serve the same goal. Individual drills, the boxer can practice on his own in order to perfect his technique. They could be the same set sequence of combinations, or they could be free flowing, but even then it's a combination of a specific set of moves. Same purpose. In individual drill, a student can use without a partner in order to sharpen or perfect their technique. So we'll consider this entry kata slash solo drills. So if we felt so inclined to determine if an art was complete and individual or what it would take to create a new art, then I think this criteria is a fair set of guidelines to start with. We need a codified structure, curriculum or lesson plan, specialized focus, resistance training or pressure contact with your obstacle, and kata or solo training drills. Now all that being said, I want to add one more entry to this list to stabilize this definition just a little bit better. Because technically this list can be applied to various art types, sports and exercises. So I think one more thing we need to specify in order for something to be in martial art is it needs to have combative roots. We have some art today such as tai chi that we don't think it was combative, but at one point it was. So if someone can find a way to weaponize soccer and use it as a combat system and apply this criteria to it, well then we'll just have to recognize football real as a new art. So I find myself wanting to continue this topic because there is just so much we can dig our teeth into, but I think I'm going to volume this back out to you guys to digest and analyze. And also let me know in the comments if you would like us to schedule another live stream. I would love to dig into this further with all of you. So thanks for watching, I am now going to go consider the bunkai of soccer kata.