Yep—I’d say that 80-90% of martial arts involves honing your own craft. You get to try out that practise on somebody else… but it’s no way the same thing as “teamwork”.
I am notoriously “not a team player” when it comes to sports… and I LOVE martial arts. :)
There are also martial arts that are entirely solitary… for example archery. But they’re rarer.
Edit: oh—and I guess I should say, that I consider that the end goal of martial arts is to be a better martial artist. Not to just beat the one guy you happen to be fighting right now.
Thus you are in fact competing against yourself—you are trying to beat your past skill-level… the guy you’re currently punching is merely a means to that end. :)
Whether or not you are competing against yourself or others seems independent of whether you are competing by yourself or with others, and so I think you’re misapplying the distinctions. Changing the word “against” to “by” clears the confusion and links it back to the original subject more strongly.
Yes, I think that’s the important distinction. It’s all about whether or not you’re cooperating with others to secure the goal, or working by yourself. In all the sports I’ve described above—you are not cooperating with others to achieve the same goal—except for the more nebulous “have fun” goal :)
The fact that others can be involved while you practice is a secondary matter—that only concerns you if you literally want to be by yourself… which as you say—is not likely to be the case.
Does martial arts, which involves fighting an opponent, really belong on this list?
Yep—I’d say that 80-90% of martial arts involves honing your own craft. You get to try out that practise on somebody else… but it’s no way the same thing as “teamwork”.
I am notoriously “not a team player” when it comes to sports… and I LOVE martial arts. :)
There are also martial arts that are entirely solitary… for example archery. But they’re rarer.
Edit: oh—and I guess I should say, that I consider that the end goal of martial arts is to be a better martial artist. Not to just beat the one guy you happen to be fighting right now.
Thus you are in fact competing against yourself—you are trying to beat your past skill-level… the guy you’re currently punching is merely a means to that end. :)
Whether or not you are competing against yourself or others seems independent of whether you are competing by yourself or with others, and so I think you’re misapplying the distinctions. Changing the word “against” to “by” clears the confusion and links it back to the original subject more strongly.
Yes, I think that’s the important distinction. It’s all about whether or not you’re cooperating with others to secure the goal, or working by yourself. In all the sports I’ve described above—you are not cooperating with others to achieve the same goal—except for the more nebulous “have fun” goal :)
The fact that others can be involved while you practice is a secondary matter—that only concerns you if you literally want to be by yourself… which as you say—is not likely to be the case.