General Questions and Answers

What are some of the major reasons why people study the martial arts?
People take up instruction in the martial arts for many individual reasons. Some of the principal reasons are self defense, physical fitness, the relief of stress and achievement of mental calmness, philosophy, and the persuit of a tournament career in the sport.

Why do martial artists use meditation?
Meditation is part of the martial arts because the arts are mental as well as physical disciplines. One must learn to calm his mind. A person relaxed and calm will be a more capable fighter. It's a common fact that tenseness hinders speed. In the dojo, meditation is usually practiced both before and after class, first to calm the mind for the approaching training session and to dispel irrelevant thoughts, and then after the session to relax the body.

Why is discipline necessary in martial arts training?
Primarily because the martial arts can be mastered only by controlled obedience and repetitous training. It is extremely difficult for the average person to maintain enough self-discipline to face the exasperating grind required to perfect any athletic skill. Thus, martial arts instructors have always taught in a disciplinary fashion. Long befor the Asian fighting arts reached their current commercialized status, the training had developed an almost religious quality.

Why are stances important to karate?
Stances are very important to any martial art because foot positioning affects balance and the overall effectiveness of technique. Various stances in karate are utilized to promote balance, mobility, and/or stability for a compatible technique. For instance, many defensive techniques call for the use of a low, wide stance, while many offenseive maneuvers are best launched from a high, narrow position of the feet to gain explosive acceleration.

What do animals have to do with kung-fu?
The movements of animals have been the basis of many martial arts, most notably kung-fu. It is believed that ancient kung-fu masters studied not only the movements of animals, but more specifically, their reactions during battle with other animals. The masters then adapted and developed these movements to fit these studies. For example, it was noted that an aminal as small as a cat could easily defeat larger animals because of the cat's instinctive thrust of a claw to the eyes. This the masters developed as an open hand slash to the eyes using the points of the fingers. The movements of the bird, bear, monkey, tiger, and deer specifically, formed the basis of Hua To's exercise which he devised in the second century A.D. The noted surgeon developed these exercises to relieve emotional stress and to tone the body. They were later altered for combative purposes.