The difference between Martial Arts and Self Defense

First off, for your benefit, I must tell you that this subject is covered much better, more thoroughly, and with more research and experience behind it, by Marc "Animal" MacYoung on his website, and reading what he has to say on the issue will be more than worth your time.

And now without further ado...

Although there can be very many similarities, and they can cover many of the same subjects, there are some very real and definite differences between Martial Arts and Self Defense.

To delineate the two more clearly, they can be described as "Self Perfection" (Martial Arts), and "Self Preservation" (Self Defense), which I think immediately clarifies how the two are different.

In Martial Arts the purpose of practice has become to cultivate and develop ones mind, body, and spirit. It is meant to help make you a better person and help you help make the world a better place because you are in it. There can be a definite spiritual element to Martial Arts.

Very often I have heard that a martial art is "not very effective" or, "It takes SO long to to become good at it". This is because so much time is spent on the development of the person as a whole, rather than on developing the effectiveness of the techniques or principals taught. It really is not true that there are ineffective martial arts. All Martial Arts will teach you to defend yourself (remember Bruce Lee's quote of "there are no superior Martial Arts, only superior Martial Artists). The issue is more one of how long it takes you to learn self defense from a Martial Art. Two Martial arts that are an example of this are Aikido and Tai Chi. Contrary to popular belief, these are both VERY effective and powerful Martial Arts. Watch a class of either one and you sill see them literally throwing each other across the room. The problem is it may take you 25 or more years of practice to be at a level where you would be able do this to a person who experienced and knows what he/ she is doing.

There was however a very good reason, traditionally, to make students study for a long time before they learned "the good stuff". It was meant as a safety protocol to keep a dishonest or thoughtless student from abusing what they were taught. If a person had to study for ten or more years before they learned anything that could actually hurt someone, they were probably committed to the program and could be trusted.

In Self Defense on the other hand, the purpose of practice is to develop ones ability in a short amount of time in order to apply the techniques and principals taught in a class as immediately as possible. This is why we have seen the development of Self Defense oriented Martial Arts such as Jeet Kune Do and Krav Maga (along with it's variations), and Self Defense programs such as FAST Defense and Model Mugging, and R.A.D. People have noticed the deficiency in the amount of time it takes to learn Self Defense from Martial Arts and attempted to remedy the problem.

Another difference between Self Defense and Martial Arts is the scenarios one is taught to deal with. In a traditional Martial Arts, the scenarios you are most likely to be trained in will not be terribly varied and be of a "flash attack" nature against a stranger. In a good self defense program (at least those for civilians) the scenarios that you train should be those you will be most likely to encounter in real life, namely those dealing with violence perpetrated against you by someone you know and are familiar with (i.e. domestic violence or "intimate partner abuse").

There have been some Martial Arts that have effectively combined the two elements of the disciplines such as the above mentioned Jeet Kune Do and Krav Maga. The genius and beauty of what Bruce Lee developed in JKD is that there is definitely two, yet interdependent, sides to it: you can learn, in a very condensed period of time, how to effectively defend yourself against a physical threat using the principles of interception, destruction, and footwork drawn from Fencing, Filipino Martial Arts, and Boxing, or you can spend a lifetime practicing and developing the principals of timing, distance, and tactile and spacial awareness drawn from, Wing Chung, Tai chi, Brazilian Ju-Jitsu, and Kali.

Although Krav Maga, from the outside, looks like a purely "practical" system, it has a very deep and rich spiritual tradition drawn from it's Jewish and Kabbalist roots that can keep one interested and active in the art for life. In fact learning and practicing the principals of from these traditions is required at the higher level of the art.

Please let me know if this post was helpfull to you or not.