Bodhidharma is considered the father of the martial arts as we know it. Since the time of this famous monk we have seen the spread of martial arts follow a common path over the ages. Every story seems to start in India or China, then spreads to Japan, Okinawa, and around the world. Over time unique styles and philosophies began forming in several key regions around the globe: China, Japan, Okinawa, Korea, India, Europe, Micronesia, Hawaii, South America, and the United States. Each area developed its own identity; the movements and techniques from each region began to be known all around the world. Common ground can be found in every system but every master had an opinion and a specialty, every region had a culture, and every student had a different purpose for learning. Today we live in an age of technology and world access unknown to every generation before our own. With this constant flow of information and people systems have spread their wings and landed in every strip mall, rec program, military service, and neighborhood in countries without number. It is odd to think that it was slightly over 50 years ago when the martial arts came to North America and yet it has spread through every city from coast to coast.
From day one the intense curiosity of the public toward the martial arts built the rails that the martial arts would follow in America. At no time has the traditional lifestyle and dedication of the martial artist been widely practiced in the mainstream of the United Sates. Americans prefer the show, the excitement, the flash and the sport over the more mundane pursuits of meditation, combat training, and religious commitment. Tournament hero’s like Robert Trias, Chuck Norris, and Bill “Superfoot” Wallace became legends and like the headquarters of martial arts systems around the world America had begun to develop it’s own style, it’s own philosophy, it’s own “American” version of the ancient art. Fans flocked to see Bruce Lee doing superhuman feats at atomic speed. Jackie Chan continues to thrill the world with his skill and humor. Great teachers began to organize and share their art with others such as Ed Parker, Jhoon Rhee, and Tsutomu Ohshima. Hollywood fanned the flame in the 80’s with widely popular movies like The Karate Kid, Mortal Combat, and Enter the Dragon. Young and old alike were lining up to learn this exciting art and schools began to pop up in every street corner. Countless numbers have worked, learned, and mastered their art and the world is a better place for it. However, as with all things there is always an evolution and American martial arts is no exception. The once classic lines of Asian Black Belt began to bend and twist under the relentless pressure of Brazil.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu launched a new attraction for Americans and in less than 20 years a new sport has developed that has a following that rivals NASCAR and an appeal that has generated Billions of dollars; enter MMA! The new hybrid system of MMA is more attitude and aggression than actual martial art. Take the best techniques from almost every martial art/combat system in the world, remove all philosophy or history, combine it with enormous athletes, and allow as much aggression as possible to enter the combatant and you have the world of Mixed Martial Arts, you have the multi-billion dollar industry of MMA. Originally the MMA stood for Mixed Martial Arts but today the MMA has taken on an identify of its own. How popular is it? It’s popular enough that it has all but retired the boxing industry. The Emperors of Rome knew that the Gladiators would bring the country to Rome. The emperors of Las Vegas and Atlantic city have realized the same thing and MMA has taken over. The effect of the MMA on traditional martial arts schools has been sweeping and has definitely left a mark. More and more students are opting out of the tradition, testing, and training offered by traditional American martial arts schools for the less structured and clearly more aggressive battle grounds of the cage. American martial arts has now completed a second evolution; the first was the transition away from history, philosophy, and often painful traditional training of the original Asian masters. The second has been to drop every vestige of traditional training and create a sport that is 100% Made in the U.S.A! People often ask if this is a fad, Vegas and cash are behind it, it’s not going anywhere for a very long time. Time has proven that there are still millions of people who seek out the martial arts in America and stray away from MMA psychology. However, how many are there who will take a step even further back in time and seek out the traditions of ancient origin. Who is there who will see the depth of person and purpose that can be created when history, philosophy, spirituality and traditional training are combined together to create a true martial artist? This is the question of Tora Jutsu and as more and more of our young people opt out for the MMA it is a question that we are forced to answer.
Tora Jutsu is not MMA and it is not an American system either; it is ancient, it is Asian, and it is traditional in every way