The MMA lifestyle vs. traditional martial arts and discipline

The martial arts have so many different styles that a new student or parents who have a child student can become confused when searching for the right one. Mixed martial arts have become the all consuming news that most who think of martial arts now recognize as martial arts; however, mixed martial arts are not the real martial arts, it is a sport.

What is the difference between the two? The traditional martial art is a philosophy of mental discipline and physical training designed to become a lifestyle out of the ring; the mixed martial arts is a rigorous and harsh training system which transforms the student into a fighting machine, a gladiator if you will, for the sole purpose of fighting competitively.

I truly love the mixed martial arts champions who dominate the octagon in the UFC, and I enjoy the series on Spike TV, “The Ultimate Fighter,” which is a seasonal reality show about MMA training in the UFC. I love the heart and vigor with which these champions face each other in brutal unfettered combat within a ring which has few rules. I am, however, a true traditionalist at heart which is the motivation behind this writing.

I am a second degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do which is a Korean martial art. I am also a certified level 3 instructor within the ATA (American Tae Kwon Do Association) family and have taught Tae Kwon Do for over 10 years. I retired about two years ago due to an injury. For those parents who wish to put their children in a martial arts school, I would highly recommend the ATA program. I would also say to those parents, that putting your child into a traditional school rather than some MMA school has a huge benefit as I will explain further.

MMA schools train to fight and, as much as they may deny this statement, lack the important traditions of courtesy and discipline taught by more traditional arts. In an article I wrote for the Examiner.com last year, I pointed out the truly disgusting behavior the audience sees on the Ultimate Fighter reality series. These supposed up and coming champions use foul language, treat others with total disrespect, and brag about themselves and their abilities to name only a few things.

I for one love to see a champion in any field or endeavor, that is to say, I love to watch someone who is good at what they do. No matter how good they are, no matter how well trained they are, no matter how easily their skills get the job done; the moment they use foul language or display disrespectful behavior they have lost me as a fan.

The traditional arts, in this writing I promote ATA as such an art, have not left the ways of old and the wonderful disciplines that accompany those ancient ways. The ATA schools are fierce practitioners of discipline, courtesy, respect, and hard physical training. In my years as an instructor I saw hundreds of examples of troubled children and teenagers whose lives were changed by the discipline they learned in ATA Tae Kwon Do.

Traditional martial arts will instill these very important character traits into those students who have a will and a hunger to learn. Students will learn the habits of proper communication and respect for others especially parents and authority figures. For those parents who are unsure about martial arts, I would highly recommend that you give your child at least a one month trial; I believe you will see a difference in that short time span. I welcome your questions at scottbiddulph@yahoo.com or here in the comment section. I have placed hyperlinks in the text to lead the reader to further sources of information as well. Thanks, Scott