Tyrannies Gave Rise to Martial Arts, but Enlightened Martial Philosophies Reveal a Better Way

Authors

Michael Andregg, University of Minnesota and University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MinnesotaFollow

Keywords

martial arts, fundamentals of combat, philosophy

Abstract

Most of this brief review will be academic history, but one of the truisms of the martial arts is that it is never strictly “academic.” Words on paper cannot express some things at the heart of the art. Many of the most thoughtful masters of various schools have worried about how to cultivate students with the discipline and philosophical background to be “safe” for polite society. This is a similar problem for police departments and even armies. The best wish to train professionals in ways of being deadly, without empowering undisciplined people to harm innocents. Therefore, part of this paper will detail how that is done in real schools of martial arts, including aspects of the seven fundamentals of combat and how breaking boards can illustrate every one of those.

Recommended Citation

Andregg, Michael (2023) "Tyrannies Gave Rise to Martial Arts, but Enlightened Martial Philosophies Reveal a Better Way," Comparative Civilizations Review: Vol. 88: No. 88, Article 10.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/ccr/vol88/iss88/10