Egoism, Cultural Conscription, or Moral Exemplification? The Higher Purposes of the Martial Arts.

One obstacle to the pursuit of the martial arts as an expression of the martial way is a lack of clear purpose in training.  Philosophically, self defense can defend either the selfish interests of the individual, the cultural interests of a collective, or the universal interests of moral principle depending on how broadly the self is defined.

Mediocre martial training merely helps one defend oneself against attack.  Good martial training helps one defend one's culture against invasion.  But superior self defense helps one defend the moral right, regardless of personal interest or cultural convention.

A training studio of mediocre quality produces trainees capable of competently repelling, reversing, or even initiating attack without any discussion of whether initiation of force is justified.  Nietzsche's morality of power holds sway in such a dojo, resulting in strong willed, impulsive, dangerous trainees who feed into the cycle of violence and ultimately encourage its end by amplifying the consequences of conflict to their opponents.  The outcome of this training remains positive, even as the effects of this training on character development remain negative.  Reality based martial arts exemplify this acultural, amoral, and acontextual focus on defense of the physical self above all other considerations.

A training studio of good quality produces culturally aware trainees who exemplify the best social traits of a collective.  The Japanese dojo constitutes a culturally conscripting training environment in which individual trainees are enlisted as the physical and philosophical protectors of a specific cultural lineage and way of life.  Such training values hierarchy, tradition, and character development above physical power or martial efficacy.  In this setting, defense of a cultural people and way of life dominate over individual concerns.  Korean Hwa Rang Do constitutes one example of cultural conscription as a dominant goal of training.

A training studio of superior quality produces individually, culturally, and morally awakened trainees who have surpassed conventions, arbitrary affiliations, and provincial interests to explore the universal truths of conflict.  These individuals defend not only themselves and their cultures, but the very principles of honor, loyalty, respect, and human dignity.  They place moral principle above personal fate or cultural survival and do not fight so much as express universal truth.  They do not defeat opponents, but conflict itself.  Such warriors have surpassed the myopic battles for status, safety, and cultural affiliation.  They have merged their interests with the interests of the universe: the resolution of conflict and the expression of the natural order over artificial schemes.  The Shaolin temple, the Knights Templar, and other monastic warrior groups as they are idealized in art embody the moral exemplification of the martial arts.