What happened to the concept of warrior/scholar?

[Fu-Pow]

Where'd they go? Seems like all anyone is interested in anymore is fighting. What about the 5 or 6 other arts that a warrior make?

[guohuen]

Good topic. Without the five exellances life would be very dull.

[Qi dup]

It went the same place the horse and buggy went. You can still use it if you want to, but it's a lot harder to live your life with it.

[old jong]

I play guitar and saxophone,I'm and amator astronomer,I ride a motorcycle,I cook a good "Paté Chinois" !!!...I don't know if that's enough?...:rolleyes: ;) :D Oh yeah!, my wife could tell you more!;)

[guohuen]

Yep! That's enough!

[BeiKongHui]

Being a scholar of any sort is uncool these days isn't it?

Wouldn't you rather be extreme, hardcore, in your face-whatever the catch word of the day is? Violence is so much more rewarding than knowledge now isn't it?

[Black Jack]

Who says this is no longer in existance?

Thats like saying everybody who practices mma is a generic copy of the next guy, no hobbies, no interests, just bash, bash, bash.

[old jong]

Yeah!...Don't let all those Vanderlei Sylva clones fool you!
If we take a look some years ago.The world was full of Bruce Lee look alike with the cute "Snow White" hairdo!
We could be surprised by many of those guys.;)

[Black Jack]

Ok maybe mma was a bag example j/k:D

But martial studies and the expansion of one's mind don't always go hand in hand. I think they are two different areas that should be linked but only on a personal level fo choice.

I have always found it a bit of a shame when a person turns themselves off to learning and experiancing new areas of knowledge.

[old jong]

I guess it depends on the individual. Someone who only dreams about kicking @ss is rarely an intelectual looking for improvements in his life.

Also, the guy who is looking for intensive competition has to train all the times.this gives him less for other things he might be interrested in.

But, many martial artists can achieve a good balance in their lifes with family,hobbies,leisure time,e.t.c. and develop various interests.

[shaolinboxer]

Here's my five:

Cooking
Massage
PAing
Research (BA East Asian Studies, Member of Internation Center for Hoplology)
Writing

[Black Jack]

My five,

Writing,
Excercise,
Amature Parapsycholgy/Fortean Studies
Collecting books on a number of different areas for research
Collecting Sci-Fi/Horror Movies & Posters
Checking things out that are off the beaten path.

[Nexus]

Seems like one art leads to another. ;)

- Nexus

[Ryu]

I still enjoy that aspect of MA, and try my best to cultivate a lot of discipline and knowledge from study, culture, and philosophy.


:)
Oyasumi.

Ryu

[Shadow Dragon]

I think it went out of fashion, as those are concepts that cannot be packaged and sold easily inside a kwoon.

Most people today want to learn to fight or be able to do self defense, they have no truck with stance, form or any other of "non-realistic", time wasting training that are not part of MA in their minds.

Add into that the PC crowd and religious nutcases and you are left with a shade of the former system/style.

And than you get the hippy MA Crowd that does MA for other benefits (Health, spritual enlightenement, etc).

They warrior/scholars are out there, but you won't find them in the yellow pages or in the UFC/NHB IMO.

Peace.

[Okami]

Contemporary society places an emphasis on specialization.
Those who are considered "great" at anything, including martial arts, are those who practice their one thing exclusively.

Gone are the days of the well rounded individual who is seen as successful by society. A symptom of this is the concept that businesses have that a liberal arts degree is useless. Unless one studies a specialized subject in college, employers don't even look at the application.

I have seen many with MBAs get jobs that a person with the liberal arts degree would have been better suited for.

Some say that this is an effect of the information age. There is so much information on every subject that one has to specialize in order to be competitent at that subject.

Call me old fashioned, but I still beleive that the well rounded person is better prepared for success, and that a non-specialized curriculum in college better prepares a student for life in the world. Although, the prime goal subject for employment should be emphasized. This emphasis should not take away from the other subjects that make for a well rounded education.

We on this forum are guilty of this attitude sometimes. We often criticize someone for studying more styles and not specializing in one. We accuse people of being form collectors. We condem those who don't study "real" CMAs or arts without a lineage.

We must be careful that we don't loose our open mind when demanding that others have one too.

Personally, my five are:
Martial arts
Military knowledge and skills
Fantasy Literature
Homebrewing
Pre-Socratic Philosophy

I also play the guitar and try to keep my lawn weed free.

This is a good topic!

[Serpent]

Hey Okami, cool handle. Do you hire out your son too? ;)

(Gee, hope he knows what I'm talking about!)

Anyway, on topic, I agree with what Okami said. Tiger Woods played golf since he was two and that's all he does. If you want to compete with that, there's not time to delve into other interests too.

Personally, I think it's very important to be scholarly. An interest in music, the arts, culture, languages, a good deal of travel and interaction with others, self-education in subjects that interest you; all these things and more are very important IMO.

And in doing all these things you should be able to apply various aspects of kung fu.

Fu-Pow, I don't think the warrior scholar has gone anywhere. They just don't shout and holler too much on internet forums.

[Gabriel]

I take MA, and go to uni....

There, a warrior scholar! :D

[Chang Style Novice]

Considering how much time I spend on these boards, I surely qualify as a scroller/warrior. Well, except I'm not much of a warrior.

Anyway:

Tai Chi/Kungfu
Painting/Drawing
Art history
Labor (and other populist movements) history
Music criticism

That ought to count for something.

[norther practitioner]

I don't remeber which kung fu magazine it was in (either kung fu/qi gong, or inside kung fu) but there was just an article about a "warrior/scholar" guy that is a proffesor at a college in the mid atlantic or something, I haven't had the chance to read it yet.

[[Censored]]

Where'd they go? Nowhere.

They were always remarkable, so they are remembered in written and oral history. The thugs, bullies, and mediocre talents, the bulk of practitioners, have been forgotten; doesn't mean they never existed.

[No_Know]

I thought that warrior scholar was a reference to Chinese Kung-Fu practitioners who learned the Classical literature of China as well as being Expert their Kung-Fu. It might carry over to other cultures. But the training of martail ways and study and learning of literature famous throughout the world as accepted by mere scholars the world over makes for what I understood to be like the mention of Warrior Schlor (warrior/scholar).


"What about the 5 or 6 other arts that a warrior make?"

I No_Know what is meant by this.

[Serpent]

Originally posted by norther practitioner
I don't remeber which kung fu magazine it was in (either kung fu/qi gong, or inside kung fu) but there was just an article about a "warrior/scholar" guy that is a proffesor at a college in the mid atlantic or something, I haven't had the chance to read it yet.

College in the mid-Atlantic? What, like floating around out there or something? ;)

[No_Know]

Whoever posted it didn't understand it. They indicated that they didn't get it, and that they were talkng about something they only partiallty read.

Mid-Atlantic as in a region of a conference or some-such. It's a region designation. One that is often heard of in the United States of America in reference to colleges. The Mid-Atlantic conference. Theoretically, perhaps, some might say.

[David Jamieson]

the road less traveled is that way for a reason.
i.e. it's hard to get to and hard to stay on.

no fault of the majority that they don't seek kungfu.

peace

[Souljah]

5

Marine biology
Basketball (passerelle league)
Musician (Drummer+composer)
Study of philosophy (Sartre, Descartes, Plato and Socrates mainly)
Writing (a few peices in progress, hey im only 17)

oh yea there was one other, yea , thats it , being a house BUM.....
jks:D

[HuangKaiVun]

Tell me Fu-Pow, what think you now?

Besides, what's your definition of a "warrior?"

[yenhoi]

on that note, whats your definition of "scholar" or "art" ??

[Okami]

What is a warrior?

That is a good question and should elicit some good responses I hope. I know in the Army some soldiers consider themselves warriors and other soldiers not warriors, so for a bunch of "kung fu guys" the answers should be interesting.

To start the ball rolling,
I am a warrior.
I am a soldier and belong to a combat arms branch of the Army.
I also study war and the making of it at all levels. This includes strategy, tactics, drills, and skills. The defining of a warrior has to do with combat. Has one been in combat, or is he/she likely to be in combat. This combat may be in a national war or on the street. I am sure many policemen fit the warrior mold.

Combat makes the warrior. Both actual and potential.

This is incomplete, but I have other things to do besides compose definitions of warriorism. :)

[Okami]

I can't believe this thread has set idle for 5 days?

[guohuen]

There's no sex in it.;)