Martial Arts Professional Magazine

Dear Rob:

My husband and I have been a lifetime member of NAPMA and have run a professional martial arts school for more than 30 years. We have spent literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on marketing and sweat equity to educate our community about the wonderful benefits of martial arts.

Twelve years ago I retired from the full-time practice of law to run our school because I truly believed that I could make much more of a difference in my community through martial arts education than obtaining divorce judgments and negotiating child-custody disputes and property settlements.

Imagine my horror, when I viewed a recent Top Story of the Day on Fox TV, “Two six-year-olds fighting in a cage, practicing MIXED Martial Arts.”  What has this MMA craze come to? Within in the same story, both newscasters discussed martial arts, karate and MMA, stating how most of them promote discipline. They sounded and looked very confused because, in the same sentence, they discussed that millions of parents take their children to karate lessons each day and MMA. During this conversation, the female host expressed apprehension about whether she would want her 6-year-old son to participate in MMA.

Isn’t there enough misinformation about martial arts? I have spent many years trying to educate our school systems, teachers and parents that martial arts isn’t about fighting and violence.  Recently, I read that a school owner in Dallas, Texas, has asked Matt Hughes to teach at his martial arts summer camp for children! Is that where we are headed? Give me a break.

My husband describes the current MMA craze, as “Mixed up Martial Arts.” I agree. Let’s delete the words, “Martial Arts,” PLEASE! Let’s call it “blood sport, cage fighting or fight till you drop or die.” It’s a free country, so school owners can teach what they like, but please don’t pigeonhole me and other successful martial artists, as proponents of this latest fad. Moreover, I am concerned how this will negatively affect the insurance rates in our industry. 

When the UFC began, quality martial artists, such as the Gracie brothers showcased their techniques. It was semi-enjoyable to watch because we could observe two very well trained martial artists compete and illustrate their unbelievable knowledge of their expertise, technique and craft. Now, we have ring girls, tattoos, alcohol sales and marketing, piercings and Tito Ortiz saying at the end of his fight, “IF you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.” Should our industry be associated with these events? Are these fighters role models for our children? Where is the art?  Jhonn Rhee said it best, “Martial arts without philosophy is just another street fight.”

Now, you don’t even have to be a martial artist to be a contestant; you just need to be a street brawler, wrestler, half boxer or grappler. Where is the philosophy? If you really want a street fight, then let’s allow biting, eye gouging, guns, knives and sticks. That would be impressive! More violence would probably be more profitable for the MMA industry. People would really flock to see that spectacle (A free business tip for Dana White).

Here’s a novel idea: if you really want to know if you can survive a true street fight or how tough you are, then go to any local bar on a Saturday night, with no cage and no padded floors and plenty of inebriated people, furniture and small spaces…or maybe a back alley with a concrete parking lot. See how long your fight will last in those environments.

In addition to that “wonderful” news story on Fox TV, on the same day, I received the April issue of Martial Arts Professional, with Tom Callos’ anti-war message vs. MMA. Tom finally decided to endorse cage fighting because it is more “noble” than our president sending innocent soldiers to fight in Iraq. I love you Tom. You are a great martial artist and mentor and you are one of the great leaders of our industry, but please don’t preach your anti-war messages and politics to me. Moreover, please don’t feel compelled to say that cage fighting is a noble art. I happened to believe that fighting terrorists in Iraq is a noble cause, even though some people strongly disagree. Can’t we agree that religion and politics are two topics we shouldn’t discuss in our business or our professional trade magazines?

We, as a professional martial arts community, must band together and distinguish ourselves from this MIXED UP marital arts craze. Can we continue to teach quality self-defense, with hard-core physical training and good values, philosophy and discipline, which our school has done for the past 30 years? You betcha, but give me a break. If you tuned to Spike TV or a UFC fight recently, you would note that MMA now resembles a WWF match…smoke, stripper girls, bad music and sensational commentators. Anyone running a successful martial arts school during the past 10 years knows that our core market is not 18- to 30-year-olds. Am I saying you shouldn’t teach MMA in your school? NO! There are many professional schools offering MMA with the philosophy of traditional martial arts curriculum as its foundation, and they are very successful.

Beating the living Hell out of someone has and will never be a part of the true meaning of what our ancestors taught us nor is it the fundamental core of what we teach…SELF CONTROL. If it was, then why didn’t our ancestors practice it until they died? MMA training is limited to the physical elite. You won’t see 50- and 60-year-olds practicing MMA for any length of time or is it an art form that can be practiced by all ages for any length of time. Moreover, the jury is still out on what effect or damage the top MMA fighters will have sustained in the long run. What has sustained our industry is the art, character and life lessons we have practiced and learned through our longevity of training. It’s all about the journey. We must keep that message in the forefront and not support this” mixed up martial arts” craze with guest speakers at our seminars and national conventions touted as “leaders of our industry.” 

Appalled and Disgusted in Louisiana,

Stacey Knight Mejia
Acadiana Karate
acadianakarate.com