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Open Minded Martial Arts
I was asked recently if I ever came across a "useless" martial arts style. My answer to this question is "no." I honestly believe that every style I've encountered has made a rich contribution to the world of martial arts and to my personal evolution. As I've said in previous articles, I tend to focus more on the practitioner than the art itself. With that said, while I don't think there are any useless styles, I do believe there are useless practitioners.
What I mean by "useless" is that they are closed minded, believing their style of martial arts is the best and others have nothing to offer. They are so boxed into their style that they fail to understand that other fighting arts are as useful in supplementing some of the techniques that may be lacking in their system.
For example, the Dutch are internationally revered as exceptional Muay Thai fighters, an honor which we could assume belong to practitioners from Thailand since this is where the art of kickboxing originated. One thing you'll notice however when you watch a Muay Thai kick boxer from Thailand is that all he throws is kicks. He fails to use his upper limbs as efficiently as he should. The Dutch fighters saw the need for developing better hand techniques and were open minded enough to incorporate Western boxing along with its stances into their traditional Muay Thai kickboxing. Their willingness to expand their martial arts repertoire has obviously paid off.
If we arrogantly hold on to our traditional styles for the sake of our egos, then we are missing out on other ways to enhance our training. Don't get me wrong, I am a strong proponent of traditional martial arts training and I respect the foundation that a good traditional art can create in a student. What I mean is that we can still respect our traditional styles while exploring what else is out there.
No style is better than another and no style is totally useless. Bruce Lee trained traditionally in the early days of his martial arts education. It was his vision and open mindedness that made him a legend in the martial arts. He had his critics both in the East and the West, but ultimately, none of us can remember any of their names while his has endured and will go down in martial arts history.
So, learn your traditional style and master its techniques, forms and philosophies. This way you'll have a strong foundation. Keep your ego out of the way and your mind open to new ideas. There were those who thought Thomas Edison was a quack. If they had their way, we would still be sitting in the dark!
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