Manifesto

For the purposes of this manifesto, the following terms will be so defined:

  • Martial arts comprises the set of all currently or historically combat or self-defense oriented systems, which encourages the development of the mind and body. Since the lines that separate a martial art from a martial skill in one direction and from exercise in another are ill-defined at best, some example definitional categorizations are defined below, without seeking to impute any value judgements on any system not considered a martial art for the purposes of HMA, along with summary reasoning for the categorization, in order to help clarify the boundaries:
    • Systems classified as martial arts include:
      • Bajiquan (a trivial example, as it is a traditional art explicitly for the purposes of developing fighting skill)
      • Yang style tai chi chuan (as it is a traditional discipline with applications to self-defense, and an origin of such intent, despite its current trend in the focus of self-mastery and health).
      • MMA (as it is a blended art requiring the development of the body and skills for the purposes of combat)
      • Escrima knife fighting (as it incorporates broad use of physical development despite heavy use of weaponry)
      • HEMA (as it broadly encompasses arts that have a tradition including the development of the body for fighting purposes)
      • Boxing (as it expects the development of body and skill for the purposes of fighting prowess, which stands despite its amorphous historical definition and modern sporting use)
    • Systems classified strictly as martial skills (and therefore not martial arts for the purposes of HMA) include:
      • Archery (as despite the requirement of physical coordination, it is a narrowly confined skill [note that some martial arts may incorporate archery as a martial skill within the art, and this is valid, but archery will not be considered on its own as a martial art {this employment of skill into art applies to other martial skills as well}]).
      • Target shooting / firearms competency (for reasons similar to archery)
      • Field training / tactical training (as despite its natural development of the body over time, this is not its primary purpose)
    • Systems classified strictly as exercise of one form or another (and therefore not martial arts for the purposes of HMA) include:
      • Gymnastics (as it develops the body in an athletic way, but not for the purposes of fighting or self-defense)
      • Weight lifting (as despite its natural development of strength and coordination, and its potential applicability towards fighting, it does not typically involve instruction in any arts of combat)
      • Yoga (as despite its close connection to the martial arts, its goal is solely internal harmony and physical rigor for the purposes of health)
  • A martial arts variant, martial arts discipline, or simply variant represents the specific teachings of a martial art as conceived and taught by one particular school, instructor, or sect. In this way, several schools nominally teaching the same style of Shotokan Karate may be recognized as three distinct disciplines if the instruction varies in any significant way between one and another. The purpose of this definition is to allow the distinction of teachings and approaches in reality where not recognized literally.

Additional material coming soon to this section.

Statements:

Relative Value: No style stands inherently superior to any other. A style may be more applicable to one individual, or to one purpose or need, or more easily adjusted to a particular body type or physiology, or taught more coherently to a specific individual, group, or setting, or more fitting for the practical limitations of an environment, or modified by some other factor for pertinence to the place and time, but these factors and outcomes shall not be construed for judgment of fundamental relative value between arts. The absolute evaluation of an art in toto by one individual shall be understood as necessarily incomplete and shall not be recognized as pertinent, or accepted.

Quality of Instruction: That being said, a martial art may be taught poorly, or by using inappropriate means, and such instruction may justly be deemed inferior: Tradition without reflection, adaptation without comprehension, repetition without cognition — such paradigms as these run counter to the fundaments of HMA, and the HMA perspective views these acts as poor teaching, poor training, and distortion of both the artistic and martial natures of martial arts. In such a way the teaching of a style may become inferior to another. In such cases, a student of martial arts should recognize the errors of the instruction as being particular to that instruction, and not necessarily reflective of the art or style.

Individuality: As with all human endeavors, martial arts variants diffract down to the level of the individual, and the practice of no two individuals will ever be precisely the same; nor should it. While HMA respects, appreciates, and to some degree requires adherence to tradition, inflexibility for inflexibility’s sake in the face of true and honest reasons for variation results in practices that cannot truly be called martial arts, having abandoned the reasoning behind the art. Put another way, martial arts will always change and adapt with each generation and with each practitioner. HMA supports both the transmission and reception of tradition, and the natural evolution of martial arts over time. Historical validity and modern applicability are not mutually exclusive of one another. The only factor for determining legitimacy is the natural and organic progress driven by knowledgeable individuals. That is to say, as an example, an applied, adapted tai chi for street defense and traditional crane style tai chi may be equally legitimate if the teaching of each style is borne of an understanding of origin and maintains an honesty of purpose.

Non-Isolation of Discipline: HMA denies the presumption that any one martial art must be practiced in isolation from other arts.
Validity of the Practical: HMA denies the presumption that a martial arts variant is less valid if it focuses on the practicalities of self-defense rather than on the continuation of tradition, so long as the art maintains the recognition of its roots, and is taught in a manner honest to its own qualities, and makes no false comparisons to other arts based on incomparable qualities.

Validity of Tradition: HMA denies the presumption that a martial arts variant is less valid if it focuses on the promulgation of tradition rather than on the development of practical applications, so long as it maintains the fundamental purpose of teaching and enhancing a physical martially purposed skill, and is taught in a manner honest to its own qualities, and makes no false comparisons to other arts based on incomparable qualities.