Humility in Martial Arts----R.I.P.

It seems that the martial arts today are seriously lacking one key element in all its current manifestations: humility. No, I am not referring to forgetting to bow to your instructor, or some lack of ceremonial propriety. I am talking about what used to be called the "brown belt mentality," where a student trains for a couple years and then thinks he knows more than the instructor or any other student.

Perhaps it is because of the ches-thumping fury of the fighters seen on television, or maybe it is the influence of modern pop culture and films. (Remember when the good guys were different than the bad guys?) What is it that compels students to come back to the next class and tell you they have just "discovered" some new move, only to show you what you just taught them the class before? Or the sudent that learns just enough to become an "expert" and release books or DVDs of his teacher's material, while claiming that it is all his "discoveries" and giving credit to no one but himself.

It may be that this attidtude is trickling down from their martial arts teachers themselves. Is there now an unwritten rule in martial arts that everyone is a grandmaster, a "legend," a dai-sifu or 12th-degree black belt? And does everyone who ever studied martial arts now go on ot create his own style? (Sure they do.) Or is this the result of mass marketing in a MySpace world? After all, if it doesn't have a marketing hook, it doesn't sell.

Humility is an acknowledgement that as humman beings we are all equal and deserve respect. In short, it is recognizing the best in other people and giving others credit for a job well done, a talent, skill or effort. Without this quality, martial arts training degenerates into infantile one-upmanship. You know the type: the student who breaks out of drills every time the teacher looks away; the student who takes every opportunity to "accidentally" hurt his training partner; or the one who constantly interrupts a class with his opinions.

While a positive competitive spirit is essential in all martial arts, the one who lacks humility, or regard for others, ruins the training for his partners, and ultimately, himself. Their egos will only let them get so far. Did my instructor. Bruce Lee, claim to be "the dedliest man alive?" Of course not. Far from refusing to acknowledge others, I personally heard him sing the praises of other martial artists. He always expressed his gratitude toward Yip Man, his teacher in Hong Kong. And he was filled with awe for the talent of boxer Jack Dempsey, among others. He also was frequently acknowledging the impact that the classical writters had on him and his art of jeet kune do. he was fond of quoting from Sun Tzu, Musashi and others.

I am not suggesting students have a slavish devotion to hteir instructors or create a cult figure around a personality who has little but bluster and good self-marketing behind him. But students should seek out a martial arts teacher who has true humility, one who is so confident in his skills that he has nothing to prove. Because, for better or worse, the student will emulate the teacher.

It is only through awareness and an understanding that we are all in this together, that humility and respect will return to the martial arts world. We will be on our way once we recognize that one of this can be done alone withou the wisdom and experiences of the people that came before us. This is a noble goal of matial arts training. Let's put the human back in humility. The martial arts will again become a positive beacon of light in an uncertain world.