latinojazz
Well-Known Member
Steven Seagal teaching Kotegaeshi
Australia 2019
Australia 2019
Tenshin Dojo Europe News
- Thread starter latinojazz
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latinojazz
Well-Known Member
From Black Belt Magazine September 1992
" There is a difference between learning how to fight, learning self-defense. and truly learning a martial art. In one of Seagal's movies, he is heard speaking Japanese. In another, he is seen writing Japanese characters. To truly learn a martial art is to aspire to a certain level of literacy, in much the same way a child is expected to learn how to write. Learning how to defend yourself is only a by-product of this literacy. For example, the samurai, for all their fighting skill, were an extremely literate class in Japan and com- posed many poems and philosophical treatises. It doesn't matter how Seagal stacks up against other martial artists in a fight because it is the principles of the arts he has learned that really matter, not the actual physical techniques. Literacy, language skills, tradition and healing powers learned during the course of martial arts study are in fact all forms of self-defense. Literacy promotes the self-aware- ness needed to facilitate personal development so practitioners will not be insecure and feel a need to resort to vio- lence. The healing arts teach practitioners to protect their bodies from sickness. Moreover, the self-defense scenarios taught to most martial artists are inconsistent with reality. "
