Mixed Martial Arts -Continued Sunday, April 20, 2008 So if you happen to be a fan of the UFC or any of the Mixed Martial Arts hype and have viewed it on television then you often hear things like "he is using his Ju Jitsu right now" or "he has great striking skills". Every time I hear these comments I get disgusted by the ignorance. I will admit that it is truly beneficial for fighters to train in many things, in fact, very beneficial if they want to make themselves well rounded. This missing ingredient is their true understanding that everything they are learning separately is actually interconnected and part of a bigger martial sciences picture they will never understand unless they are exposed to some very rare individuals.

You can hear it in the announcer's commentary. Saying things like "that is strong a Ju Jitsu move" is like saying a tomato is Italian because you are currently eating it in a pasta sauce. The popular labels of things presented in the media are over simplified, misguided and leading people to what they think is the answer to their deeper questions when in fact it is simply not.

So you might ask where the answers exist? How do you follow the pursuit of true martial sciences? First of all, stop watching TV and believing anything the media tells you. Second, start doing some research and finding the handful of people who know the truth and have the actual depth of knowledge you seek.

Visit www.senshinkan.com or www.seishinkan.com to get started.

Next Post: Building a Martial Sciences community in San Francisco soon. Mixed Martail Arts - Misconceptions Saturday, April 5, 2008

"Mixed Martial Arts" is hugely popular these days due to the UFC. Once again the media has convinced the public that this is something 'new' or 'fresh' and an innovative way to train that has been discovered or invented recently. The truth is that while some of the concepts MMA (mixed martial arts) are employing are healthy, the depth is still missing. And that makes me happy! I kind of enjoy the knowledge that the general public and popular figures are clueless.

But just for fun, lets look at what I mean here. So what is the problem with MMA? One would think intuitively that training in various disciplines such as Karate, Ju Jitsu, Boxing, etc. would create a well rounded fighter right? Well, yes, it does help but it is still just surface level. What is missing is the true depth and understanding of the connections, history and relationships among all arts for each application. The Japanese concept of "sogo" meaning well rounded or complete is a better and more scientific approach. For example, an MMA practitioner may learn a grappling technique in Ju Jitsu, a blocking or punching technique in karate and a cutting technique with a sword in Iaido but never understand how they are all actually the same technique put to a different application.

Even if they do see the similarities, they can never truly connect the dots universally unless they seek out the instruction of a select few individuals that exist in the world today.

More in next post.