Flaming Waterdrops

Some days ago, I had a conversation with a martial arts expert about individual fighting. After my first two sentences, he said, “Aha, then it’s similar to MMA, isn’t it?” “Yes, in some respects it is,” I replied, “but in many essential ways, it definitely is not.” In columns, I listed their attributes. To make the picture even clearer, I began with the well-known concept of freestyle. None of these are classical styles. I highlighted the similarities to InFi in green, and the differences in pink. Each line represents the same aspect across all columns. In summary, we might call MMA a sport version of InFi—or restricted individual fighting . But we must not refer to InFi as free MMA in general, because the restrictions in MMA are not merely technical. The entire mindset is different. The most essential discrepancies lie in the third, fourth, and fifth lines above—which are not about freedom or limitation at all. Of course, every MMA fighter has their own InFi outside of competiti...

There is plenty of evidence that interest in martial arts has been declining over the last decade. This is apparent, and I believe the reasons are the internet, globalization, and changing trends. People who are drawn to combative activities and want to explore and develop their own InFi style simply don’t stay in schools for long. They train for a while and then move on. The internet opens the eyes of the open-minded. You can watch anything you want online, and masters can no longer keep their secrets the way they could 30 years ago. As a result, teachers are no longer seen as authority figures; they’ve become more like customer service providers. Changing trends are another factor. The popularity of martial arts fluctuates. MMA, Krav Maga, and tricking are the current trends. In my opinion, it’s just fashion. The fact that these are popular doesn’t mean they’re better—they’re simply newer and heavily promoted through the media. When it comes to individual fighting styles, some tr...

Creating our individual style is a natural process. Everyone develops their style automatically. This statement is general but can be applied to any specific field—martial arts, combat sports, and self-defence are no exceptions. People who practice fighting are constantly creating their own fighting styles. They are, consciously or unconsciously, the creators of their unique approach to combat. Whatever one is learning, only a part of it will truly be absorbed. Another part will be automatically rejected by the self. Moreover, every absorbed element is filtered through a person’s individuality. The evolving individual fighting style becomes distinct from the traditionally practiced style. In other words, by practicing conventional techniques, one is also developing an invisible, personal fighting style—what we can call the InFi style. For example, someone studying Wing Chun kung fu or Kyokushinkai karate is guided by teachers and improved within the framework of tradition. At the same ...