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Originally Posted by Andrew
That's like saying the only "real" auto racing is F1.
I would agree only if you define "true" martial arts as those techniques actually employed to kill, maim and injure the opponents. However, in a civilized society, we cannot kill, maim or injure our training partners and opponents. The only way to effectively practice these things is to stop short of the ultimate intended result...
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Not really. The SEALs (to pick one) routinely practice non-lethally. The problem I DO point to is that we assume that "martial" arts are now primarily about sports or self-defense in situations where guns are not involved. That's a very biased point of view. Should we perhaps blame judo and karate practitioners for promulgating it?
Certainly our society has martial arts and sciences at every scale, from sports to back alleys to nuclear war. Being an American, I just think it's hypocritical to ignore the modern military (the biggest the world has ever seen) in a discussion of martial arts, and to focus on any particular sport as the "best martial art." This isn't criticizing MMA--even the military uses it for non-lethal combatives. Rather, it's pointing out an enormous blind spot in any definition of "martial" that doesn't include the military.