There’s a common school of thought that old-school martial arts training was better because it was more rigorous; maybe you’ve heard (or seen videos) of shaolin monks training in kung fu monasteries in China. Punching and kicking trees or walls for conditioning, meditating outside in freezing temperatures with minimal clothing on to test endurance, sparring with full contact including knockouts, etc. Certain martial arts may still use similar training methods nowadays, even recently in the 70’s and 80’s martial arts were still practicing full contact, extensive conditioning etc. However, a lot of these practices can’t be taught to the level they once were, due to updated liabilities and safety precautions.
Does this mean martial arts as a whole is decreasing in technique, power, and overall spirit? That’s up to each person to form an opinion on, however when it comes down to it, it kind of doesn’t matter since unfortunately there’s not a way to go back to the old days. As humans do, martial arts evolves. Perhaps safety began to take a larger priority in martial arts as more people kept dying from sparring injuries. Maybe more studies have now been done on the long-lasting effect certain conditioning has on your bones and joints. Something I had to understand was just because something was done a certain way in the past, doesn’t necessarily mean it was the most efficient way, especially for longevity. You don’t need to kick down banana trees to condition your shins, you can achieve the same results of the practice by hitting a bag or Thai pads. You could argue this isn’t as cool as kicking down a tree, but your limbs will thank you in the future :).
The most successful martial artists I’ve met, have incredible determination to make themselves enjoy and get the most out of their training. When you stop having fun, you stop learning. In my opinion, it always comes down to the individual and their mindset. I was talking to an adult black belt getting ready to test for his second degree, as he was practicing extra after class. The physical requirement is 3 minutes of jump rope and 35 push-ups, and he told me he just did 20 minutes of jump rope and 100 push-ups. He said “I figured it’ll either hurt now, or it’ll hurt during the test. And I’m not going to hurt during the test.” I really admired his spirit, and the fact that he dug inside himself to over-prepare for his test in this way really is a testament to his strong mentality towards martial arts.
There will always be someone who takes their training very seriously and goes above and beyond in their dedication. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side; you don’t have to be a warrior from the past to push yourself beyond your limits in your training.
