Why do we study Martial Arts?

 Your brain tells you it’s so you know how to fight and defend yourself.  Your pride or ego would like to believe that maybe, just maybe, if you had to you could get into the ring in a mixed martial art UFC match and GET IT ON!  But what does fighting for the sake of fighting prove?  Or answer?  If two equally matched and skilled opponents go at it in the ring or on the street the better man on that day will prevail.  So again, what does that prove?  So what if on that day you gave someone a beating.  What positive energy generating result came out of that?  None, just an inflated sense of self.  The vast majority of grandmasters and fighting champions all have one characteristic in common, humbleness.  This leads me to believe it’s got to be deeper than having an iron body and being able to knock someone out.    So then what is it?  I don’t have the answer but I feel like I found a clue.  A student approached me the other day with a problem they have been dealing with for years.  The problem is fear and how it paralyzes them when they end up in a physical confrontation.  I realized that I was in a unique position to directly affect someone’s approach to physical confrontation and for that matter their life.  I could have talked at length about attacking, defending, countering and situational tactics; instead my answer had nothing to do with fighting and had everything to do with making better life choices.  Whether it was to just walk away from the fight or, more importantly, to realize that we are responsible for the significance we give feelings and emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, joy etc.) thus directly responsible for the physical manifestations said emotions produce.  In this case the student has convinced them self that whenever a fight is about to ensue that they will freeze from fear.  I made the observation that continual negative self-conditioning will lead to a negative result.  After a lengthy discussion on how to combat this they realized that the fight may be on the streets but the battle is from within.  Re-orientating their focus from the fight to the battle allowed the student to leave feeling empowered and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  I walked away scratching my head in amusement because I realized that from studying kung fu and practicing Qigong I can fight in the streets but living the life of a kung fu practitioner means I am preparing myself to fight the battle within.  Going to war with oneself can only lead to a better you and thus be doing your part for the better of the whole.