Where Have All The Young Men Gone?
Grand Master Bob Chaney
Twenty Five years ago Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Don Wilson, Bill Wallace, Benny Urquidez, and Stephen Segal were household names. Tae Kwon Do (TKD) Jet Kwon Do (JKD) Karate, Kung Fu and many other forms of traditional martial arts dominated every action fighting sequence on television or the silver screen, entertaining the masses and propelling multitudes to martial arts studios.
Today our youths are watching K1, Dream, WCK, Strike Force, The Ultimate Fighter, Gladiator Cup or the UFC. Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Bill Wallace have been replaced by Tito Ortiz, Chuck Lidel, Dan Henderson, Anderson Silva, B.J. Penn, George St. Pierre, Lyota Machida and Alex Gong. Interestingly most of them started training with some form of traditional martial arts or wrestling.
An increasing number of studios teach mixed martial arts (MMA), Muay Thai (Thai Boxing) Boxing and Jiu Jitsu. Although many studios continue to focus on traditional TKD and Karate, it's mostly children taking these classes because of the character building attributes associated with the philosophy instilled in the classroom. Young men and woman ages 13 years and up flock to the Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu, MMA and Boxing studios.
I grew up in the traditional systems, which emphasized important traits and charachter building attributes such as discipline, integrity, respect, fortitude, honor, leadership, work ethics and commitment. These foster self-confidence and hone life skills. Do I see a problem with studios focusing on Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu, MMA, or Boxing? Those fighting systems are excellent if you are looking for functional fighting skills or are preparing for a career as an amateur or a professional fighter. However, only about one out of every 300 students/practitioners has what it takes:fortitude, discipline, commitment, toughness, and a love for contact, bruising and the extreme torturous conditioning necessary to compete at the amateur or the professional level.
One of my very close friends that runs one of California's 's top MMA training centers, recently told me their average student only lasts 17 classes before dropping out of the program. But resulting from the exposure television provides on the extreme fighting channels, everyone rushes to the nearest MMA or Muay Thai studio for a crash courses in Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu or MMA. That's great! The bad news is that they don't stick with the classes very long. The good news is that if students are protected for five or six months without contact while developing technique and than are protected for an additional six or eight months with light controlled sparring, they will mature and eventually be ready for harding sparring. If you try to make fighters out of people who don't want to fight, you will lose them. If you try to prevent people who want to fight from fighting you will lose them. It becomes a very delicate balance where mostly you have a responsibility in trying to protect the students from themselves and the quixotic image the mass media projects of the glory derived from extreme fighting.
I've spent 48 years of my life as a multifaceted martial artist. I see the mass media stoking the fires of extreme fighting to such a degree that it drives the masses to seek training in an area that will not provide them with the safety and the training they really want and deserve which for most adults is great conditioning, self-confidence, safety self-defense and the bonding with a peer group who encourage each other to push for success. Martial arts training is a form of group therapy.
I am saddened by the diminishing lack of interest in adult TKD/Karate classes. TKD/Karate and Jiu Jitsu are such wonderful sports, excellent forms of exercise, and are better then most people realize for self-defence. Adult TKD/Karate students typically stick with classes for between two and four years, In nontraditional martial arts such as Muay Thai, Boxing and MMA they generally last six to 9 months.
We recently started Jiu Jitsu classes instructed by Fabaino Silva who is a Brazilian Jiu Jitso Black belt that has more than impressive credentials and many national and world Jiu Jitsu titles. But Jiu Jitsu also a traditional martial art incorporates a strict ranking structure with focus on the character building attributes that fits nicely in with our family philosophy and traditional values.
We have a senior citizen program that enables students well into their eighties the ability to train in TKD. Most seniors write themselves off as being to old for, what is regarded as an olympic sport. However senior citizens still get their hair done regularly, their nails maintained and polished, apply make up and purchase flattering clothing while trying to maintain their weight and a want the best quality of life possible. Legendary Grand Master Joo Rhee in Washington D.C. trained many senior senators, congressmen and businessmen all well into their 70s and 80s. Many received their Black Belts.
The techniques have to be modified on an individual basis. I have yet to see an 86 year old perform a jump-spinning 360-degree flying kick to the top of an eight foot tall heavy bag. But increasing stamina, weight loss, and general being is an attainable goal for nearly all seniors.