November 29th, 2009 
Al Case [I:http://revistaminimi.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/AlCase9.jpg]The problem with freestyle is that it has changed into the simple act of fighting. Sounds contradictory, I know, but I began learning martial arts back in the middle of the last century, and I have seen a different face of freestyle. This was a freestyle that was actually more effective, easier to learn, and made students evolve into better human beings.
Now, I have nothing against MMA, or UFC, or learning ground and pound and all the other modes of freestyle. Truth, I think some of this stuff would have been awfully useful back when I was beginning. That said, consider the following points.
Controlled freestyle in the martial arts effectively died when people started putting on pads and protective gear. Sure, we occasionally wore pads back then, but the purpose was for injuries that had occurred. The breaking point, however, was when school owners realized how much money there was to be made in selling protective gear, they pandered to mothers fears, which stopped little Johnny from learning about true control, and effectively stopped the personal growth stage of the martial arts.
Bruce Lee took a frightful toll on freestyle by introducing bouncing. He watched films of Mohammad Ali, realized that bouncing disrupted timing, and changed the world of freestyle. Unfortunately, the effect was also that people stopped learning about timing, and stopped observing a whole fact of life, for time, as you may not have known, keeps this universe going.
With a loss of reality and a degradation of the sense of timing eating at the innards of martial artists, a loss of control was quick to follow. I remember seeing a fellow who had not had but a few lessons in the martial arts taken to a tournament and encouraged to fight, not to get a point, but to beat people. He fought, there were injuries, and control went out the window. And control, control through timing and of reality, is the course of the true martial arts path.
The final straw behind the downfall of controlled freestyle had to do with loss of respect. I was taught to bow when I entered the school, and to bow when I got on the mat, and to bow to my classmates and partners and everybody else who crossed my path, and it all showed respect. Now there is an attitude of we’re tough and the hell with the other school, and this utterly destroys the art of freestyle, and even the fact of human compassion.
I know there will be those who don’t align themselves with what I say here, and, let’s face it, my criticisms must be tempered by some of the marvelous things that are inherent in the new arts, and this includes the mixed martial arts and the ultimate fighting championships types of arts. There are things to be learned in styles that are popular today, and, I am not opposed to many of the new training methods. When I see people showing no control and a total lack of respect fighting merely to hurt one another, I am on the other side, the old side, the side that shows compassion for their fellow man.
So, let me toss you a question, what can you do to create the old attitude of respect? Will telling people not to freestyle with gloves and pads enable people to feel the reality of what they are doing, and get rid of harmful attitudes? And, doing this, can you still make the art work?
Al Case has analyzed martial arts for 40+ years. A writer for the mags, with his own column, Al is the originator of Matrixing and Neutronics. He is giving away a free ebook about Matrixing at Monster Martial Arts.
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