Black Belts for Sale

This is a call to all Traditional Martial Arts: we need to wake up!

This image was shared by our teacher in our whatsapp group and it was quite impactful to me.

Although it looks AI generated and I do not who created it, it does show the sad state of affairs for martial arts, especially traditional martial arts.

More “moderm arts” such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, MMA styles arts, wrestling, etc seem to be in their prime. Academies full of eager students who wants to learn how to tie another human being into a pretzel.

And yet, more traditional arts seem to be on the decline. We feel this in our karate organization. We were once a relatively large group and now, only the loyal are sticking around.

If other organizations feel the same, then it’s quite logical that many turn to marketing schemes to entice and bring in students, especially those who make a living out of their academy.

I have my theories about why that is: traditional martial arts take time to learn and include odd activities such as doing katas and solo drills. I also suspect that there is less tolerance to the discipline imposed in the school.

In comes in the new kid, the style that proclaims immediate effectiveness (and they are not wrong at all), they laid back / surfer attitude where you can literally just roll in and start training, attract the masses in the full. They are doing something right.

By not imposing discipline and have a more enjoyable friendly attitude has an opposite effect: students become disciplined because they are interested and want to progress.

There is something to that philosophy I think traditional arts should look at and adapt. Martial Arts training is no longer a priviledge but a business, where the student is the customer. And unless we all become black belt factories, then we need to re-assess and adjust accordingly.

Osu