One Art, Many Names

[MightyB]

I think we'll eventually find with technology and sharing that there's really only one CMA since best training methods and best practiced can easily be shared with technology.

Names, styles, or whatever are just constructs.

Thoughts or opinions?

[sanjuro_ronin]

There is nothing new under the sun.
That said the reason we have style and systems is because every MA puts their own "spin" on things.
Boxing is boxing right?
But Tyson and Ali had two very different styles, right?
So, they both boxed, but while Ali did "Ali-quan", Tyson did "Tyson-Fu" ( or perhaps more accurately, D'Amato-gar).

There will never be a unified style of system per say, though it is possible that there could be a unified name for it, though we have that already with "kung fu" I guess...

I think that it is important to distinguish A from B, even more so if A and B do NOT share the same goals ( even if they share the same techniques).

[SevenStar]

There is nothing new under the sun.
That said the reason we have style and systems is because every MA puts their own "spin" on things.
Boxing is boxing right?
But Tyson and Ali had two very different styles, right?
So, they both boxed, but while Ali did "Ali-quan", Tyson did "Tyson-Fu" ( or perhaps more accurately, D'Amato-gar).

There will never be a unified style of system per say, though it is possible that there could be a unified name for it, though we have that already with "kung fu" I guess...

I think that it is important to distinguish A from B, even more so if A and B do NOT share the same goals ( even if they share the same techniques).

good post.

[Kellen Bassette]

The original Kung fu was Chinese wrestling and striking. This is still the core of TCMA. People are so hung up on the style aspect they don't develop the fundamentals that are inherent in all TCMA and all fighting.

[GeneChing]

Sure, when you boil it down to just fighting, there is just fighting. And as we often say here, most people can't fight (although here I'm referring to the general population, not just martial artists). It gets complex when you start fighting other fighters.

CMA has the most diversity in terms of style, more so than any other system. It's a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing as it's great fodder for Kung Fu movies and such (honestly, most old school Kung Fu moviestars have made more movies in their careers than there are movies of any other style). The curse is that it gets so cumbersome, so baroque, that people get really confused. But that's really the heart of the matter, isn't it? Fighters don't like Kung Fu for it's fancy schmancy moves that don't really work. There in lies it's character.