Maximum Fit Magazine

Martial arts, bit of a misnomer, then. It's not a misnomer so much as a word without a strict definition. If you're going to expand the word into silliness, then anything related to, either currently or historically, is a martial art.  Thus submariners and modern pentathletes are marital artists. I don't consider shooting a martial art, I consider it a skill related to warfare.  Same as artillery and flying fighter planes.  Or, for that matter, military hand-to-hand combat training or knife offense/defence techniques.  Also, many if not most recreational shooters are doing it in such a way that they are not practicing warfare, in particular they are not training specifically in order to prepare themselves to be shot at.  It is something that requires huge amounts of time and a tremendous amount of mental training and discipline as well as a reasonable amount of fitness to do well.  (Not to mention the financial expense!) I don't consider having sporting type rules to be required for something to be a martial art - many traditional arts do not engage in competitive combat.  Since the roots do lie in producing physical injury, some amount of stylisation is naturally going to arise, otherwise no one could practice it.  Highly stylised activities such as Daoist Tai Chi, where the physical injury bit has been completely divorced from everyday practice do not prevent it from being a martial art to me, because of it's relatively recent history as well as the philosophical similarities it shares with other more practically oriented martial arts. Combative Asian martial arts such as karate, kung fu or judo require huge amounts of time and tremendous amounts of mental training and discipline as well as a high level of fitness to do well. (Not to mention the financial expense!) That said, I know those with tighter definitions of the term than I don't consider boxing and western fencing or swordsmanship to be martial arts because there is not a specific philosophical component to them, they are just combat sports.  I think that's a bit extreme, but I can see the argument.  I consider them martial arts because of their stylisation, the codified rules of competition, the ritual, their origins and just because I do.  Activities such as fencing and boxing require huge amounts of time and tremendous amounts of mental training and discipline as well as a high level of fitness to do well. (Not to mention the financial expense!) I think that a strong argument can be made that some of the ultimate fighting, mixed martial arts sorts of things that have arisen recently are no longer martial arts, they are just combat sports, but it's not something that I care enough about either way.  I do know that such acclivities require huge amounts of time and tremendous amounts of mental training and discipline as well as a high level of fitness to do well. (Not to mention the financial expense!) nj if there's no art in artillery then is it just plowing? m