How to tell if a martial art is good

Master Kongling All, 6DKF philosophy, 6DKF School, Questions and answers 4

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What does it take to seriously evaluate a martial art?

In pure terms of combat, it must be stressed that there is only one way to truly assess:

If a martial art works
If it works only partially
If it does not work at all

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

To express a solid evaluation and assess (with true cognition of cause) whether a combat system is effective or not, we have simply to master it and to do this, we should forcibly reach its highest level: let’s see why.

The levels of understanding of a martial art’s student

A note by Master Kongling – A small premise: the levels we are going to list refer to real daily / constant training and to an at least periodical practical application of the theory in combat contexts: without these 2 elements, even 1000 years would be nothing (read also How to use martial arts in a real fight).

These are the level of knowledge that a practitioner normally follows:

1-4 hours – Trying a few lessons the chances of forming a completely misleading opinion or being deceived by dishonest instructors is very high; on the one hand the lesson may have been artfully prepared to deceive the less experienced (read Recognize a good / bad master: 5 characteristics), on the other hand, it could casually include elements that are not sufficiently significant
2-8 weeks – This is the moment where the first fatigue appears and inevitably starts a sort of “routine”; it is here that those who will go beyond the 6-24 months are recognized, the initial passion is over and those who have not been able to take advantage of this time to build self-discipline will give up (read Motivation: from passion to self-discipline); we have not learned anything, nor developed martial skills of any kind (read All the skills of 6 Dragons Kung Fu) and therefore our knowledge remains completely superficial
6-24 months – This is the first step of a real martial preparation, in this period the basics of the combat system we are studying should be understood enough to apply them in a basic combat scenario; this is the moment where a real basic evaluation can be done, we do not know everything but we know enough to distinguish what works from what can’t (for us)
5-10 years – Who reach this (uninterrupted) time frame can better consider an entire martial art, because he / she should have seen and tested if not everything, surely all the most important parts; the evaluations that such a practitioner can make are without a doubt very solid but (as a rule) they lack a fundamental component, the teaching part (read Teaching: a founding part of learning)
20-60 years – This is the highest level of knowledge that a practitioner can reach, in addition to the long-term path there is normally a teaching part; when someone reaches this level of mastering, the “limit” in terms of evaluation are only related to the intelligence of the specific person; only after so many years (of real practice), a person can express a truly valuable opinion about a martial art

A note by Master Kongling – Of course, for myriad reasons, anyone can be wrong anyway but it is certain that the odds are much lower, the more our research becomes in-depth.

Having clarified what it really means to express a solid opinion, the real question is: is it really necessary to reach such a level of depth to evaluate which martial art to choose?

How to avoid to waste a life in the wrong martial path

If our goal is far from the idea of a deep understanding and we aim for more practical analysis there is a less complex way to assess the effectiveness of martial arts:

Recover the right information, from the right people (read Is it legit?)
Test first person as much martial arts as possible (for at least 6 months)

A note by Master Kongling – 6 months may appear a lot of time but if we are truly motivated we can even practice more than one at the same time. In 5 years would not be hard to test more than 10 martial arts.

This way we get access to these benefits:

We avoid the biggest scams
Beyond the effectiveness, we understand if that martial art is what we want
We gradually acquire knowledge that we can cross to make basic comparisons

Substantially, what we are trying to say is that:

If we do not want to sacrifice our entire life to something that could be totally wrong, the proof of practice is the key
The more we become experienced with real fighting (through multiple combat systems), the easier it becomes for us to understand what works and what not
We need to test personally what is effective for us and in the present days (not hundreds or thousands of years ago, the world of combat evolves at each fight, read The disadvantages of “traditional” Kung Fu and Is traditional Chinese Kung Fu practical for fighting?)

The point is that if with the same application and study (in an average, not a short period of time) something gives greater results it means that it is most likely more effective, not at a level of certainty of course but the advantage remains anyway and its name is: simplicity.

Final notes

A few conclusive thoughts:

In every sector, the true expert is the one who has the most doubts, not because he / she does not know anything but because he / she is able to understand that there is much more to know than what a beginner can even imagine
We know from first-hand (and from our students) that the method we described is less easy than focusing on just 1 combat system (less linear workouts, the need to force the mind to the elasticity of the constant change, the need to find a personal balance, etc.) but it is worth the fatigue
It is exactly to recreate a multidisciplinary approach that we designed 6 Dragons Kung Fu ad the reason is that such a routine imposes not passive learning, with an incredibly positive impact on the improvement curve (that normally drastically decreases after the first 6-12 months)
Many of our students use 6 Dragons Kung Fu as a base to start from and to connect knowledge apparently incompatible
…

In-depth video courses

Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu Exercises – A guide to the most important technical exercise of 6 Dragons Kung Fu
Basic free hand fighting techniques – The fundamentals of our combat system

In-depth articles

What is the best martial art? [MINI-GUIDE] – A path toward the discovery of the right martial art
The real Bruce Lee’s legacy – The crucial example of Bruce Lee’s martial development

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

How many martial arts have you tried?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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