What’s the difference between a Martial Art & a Combat Sport?

[@Eisschranck]

Ramsey, I'm one of those HEMA Guys with Longswords and we DO compete haha. We even have ''big'' tournaments like Swordfish for example. It's just that one needs A LOT more protective gear, but it's nice to know that HEMA get's more well known.

[@pn4960]

Fun historical fact : most of the time Gladiators were forbidden to kill each other because it was too expensive (training, food, housing, fans paying etc) so the person who paid for the games (usually a local political figure trying to please the people and win votes) would have to pay a huge amount of money (proportional to the gladiators notoriety) to have lethal fights.

[@sleepy_Dragon]

Most fights to the death were done by prisoners of war or others with a death sentence.

[@garethllewellyn215]

@@sleepy_Dragon that's interesting , never thought of it that way, other than possibly, the gladiator with most notoriety would be spared because of the level of investment as an asset

[@maxtheawesome4255]

Most gladiator events didn't even have gladiators fight each other. It was far more common to fight exotic animals, or for animals to fight each other. During the time quite a few animals were killed to extinction.

[@Ossi100000]

That is true, funny thing, it did happen that gladiators died (depending on the epoch about 10%). In that case the host had to pay an insurance which was about ten to twenty times of the fee paid to have the gladiator fight. So even if the fight was not unto death, it could very well happen that a gladiator died and the host had to pay the insurance. Or a gladiator surrendered and the people demanded his death, which would force the host to decide whether he would rather pay the insurance or upset the crowd. Nonetheless, their training aimed to teach to fight and kill as much as survive through proper use of their equipment. Generally speaking, the more inexperienced you and your opponent are, the more likeley you are to die since you need a lot of experience to utilise said equipment properly.

[@pn4960]

@@Ossi100000 exactly ! the ratio of death was a lot higher amongst the new recruits

[@donovankennedy1113]

Whoever said that wrestling isn't a martial art needs to do some research. Wrestling historically goes hand in hand with swordsmanship from pretty much every culture, striking with the hands was present but not prominant.

[@mathiaskovendy7292]

Maybe they meant modern freestyle/greco wrestling?

[@donovankennedy1113]

@@mathiaskovendy7292 don't know, but I myself would still consider modern wrestling to be martial arts.

[@mathiaskovendy7292]

@@donovankennedy1113 I suppose it really depends on the individual's definition of a martial art. In wrestling, the intent is not to do damage, but you could also make the same argument for boxing where you can be rewarded for out-pointing an opponent for a decision.

[@gangstaman2069]

Yes, and people would be surprised how many "martial artists " would have been taken by the real wrestlers with ease

[@gangstaman2069]

Just reflect on early ufc era, how many wrestlers have been champions with out knowing how to drop a proper punch

[@empyreal2361]

Very few Gladiator matches ended in death. 90% of matches ended with both gladiators being kept alive because it was very expensive to replace them.

[@metapompi2117]

How do you know this? What kind of gladiator do you mean? Is it like the Romans kingdom did long time ago?

[@mathiaskovendy7292]

Why were gladiators expensive to replace? I thought a lot of gladiators were slaves taken in war and not worth much

[@anonymousshawn9996]

No, it wasn’t expensive to replace them. Most gladiators were criminals sentenced to become gladiators, which was basically the death sentence.

[@accadueoaccadueo945]

Maybe there were a lot of gladiators who were very famous and strong, so they didn't want them to die, in order to keep people interested in the sport. I mean, if Conor McGregor could not compete anymore, the UFC would probably lose a lot of fans/rating. Sorry for my bad English xD

[@Ossi100000]

​@@anonymousshawn9996 That depends on what epoch we are talking about. The first matches were simply prisoners of war. But later on, it took about one to two years to properly train a gladiator. And during this time, he needed to be fed, trained and housed, which cost quite some money. Such a gladiator could be a criminal, he could also be a free man or a slave. What you are talking about existed too, groups of criminals that were sentenced to death were to fight each other or wild animals. It was used to entertain the people before the actual gladiators entered the arena. Those criminals did not undergo the training and were no proper gladiators.

[@luchadorito]

Did...did Ramsey just mention HEMA??? I smell a Danger Dewey X Skallagrim 6 hours long extremely pedantic podcast about the evolution of modern and historical fight systems(or some other arbitrary overlay of their respective fields) which I will listen the fuck out of

[@pn4960]

I would listen the fuck out of it too

[@hailhydreigon2700]

Someone call Skall! Hahaha

[@Gloin79]

I'd rather see a podcast with the also shiny head of matt easton

[@ieuanhunt552]

I would prefer Scholagladiatoria X Danger Dewey. Not because I have anything against Skall but because they are both bald.

[@hailhydreigon2700]

I'd be interested in seeing Shad here. Metatron... I can't even imagine how that would go. Screw it. Call Lee Smith. Lol

[@uncleouch9795]

The difference between Do, and Jutsu. Generally in the Japanese tradition Jutsu is the actual combat technigue, Do is the Art or Sport interchangeably. There are subtle differences. More pronounced in actual Swordsmanship. Shinken are not Shinai, to cut effectively is a different thing. Kenjutsu will Kesagiri diagonally In four directions, and Kiriage up through the groin. They do not do this in Kendo. Tsuki, or thrusts, are only done to the throat in Kendo, in Kenjutsu the Kissaki can be thrust under the armpit, groin, solar plexus,.....eyeball. Iaijutsu and Iaido have similar differences. Iaido will work but is not optimized for combat and done slow, medatative. Iaijutsu is explosive. Brutal? Well, it is after all Combat.

[@redflynn5168]

@@emperorjimmu9941 You've basically just explained why people who do combat sports often make better fighters than people who do more conceptual martial arts. Despite conceptual martial arts having more lethal techniques, combat sports actually allow you to practice techniques more realistically on a regular basis.

[@ShadowParalyzer]

Your definition of art is pretty similar to the definition of gongfu which I think means 'skill acquired through time and effort'.

[@RamseyDewey]

It’s it my definition. It’s from the Oxford English Dictionary.

[@Stahlvanten]

"Can you imagine if they had competitive Krav Maga; lets see who's the best at poking the other guy in the eyes or kick him in the groin" Koi Karate* "Hold my Vodka."

[@unnamedchannel2202]

Same with Systema, where it is contradicting the principles. But then you are allowed to violate principles if needed. Thus, technically you can. Come up with a rule set and there you are.

[@KentPetersonmoney]

in the future maybe they'll come up with a VR device where you can put on your head and end up in a VR world that look and feel real. You could go all out with your martial arts then. Two kids or even adults have beef they can both put the VR device on and settle their beef in the VR game. Could make it so that you feel the same kind of pain you would feel in real life. After the game is over the beef is settled without anyone getting hurt in the real world. Also would finally get to see what martial arts works the best in a life or death situation.

[@unnamedchannel2202]

​@Dick James, ​ball kicks are overrated! More than half of mother earth's population doesn't even have balls. Aim for one of the joints close nearby, way more efficient.

[@crawlie]

We just had a videoconference discussion about this (international group of HEMA folks), and I was happy to see your name mentioned Ramsey! The only thing I'd add to your excellent commentary is: We seem really eager to categorize certain activities in a binary way (THIS thing is Martial Arts, THIS Is a Combat Sport). An activity can be both, the question that's more relevant is - which aspect do YOU want to focus on? Do you want to win tournaments, do you want to perfect techniques, or do you just want to not get mugged? There will be different optimal answers to different contexts. Thanks for the great vids as always!

[@vfranceschini]

Great question, great answer, awesome video! Thanks as always Mr. Dewey; your content is always great to watch(and you mentioned HEMA yaaaay hahahaha). Cheers brother! All the best to you and yours!

[@Metalbass10000]

Those being taught and trained to fight with swords, and axes, daggers, maces, etc. These men also needed to be taught and trained to fight when their sword, or whatever weapon, was no longer available to be used by them, and they did spend some significant time fighting without weapons, learning how to handle that situation.

[@VincentMMALife]

Hi Ramsey, could you give us some advise on how to make a martial art youtube channel? I've started to take my channel more seriously and I would love to get some advice from one of my inspirations for making videos which is you. Have a good day!

[@RamseyDewey]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnPPfpyfhNygn6s

[@VincentMMALife]

@@RamseyDewey Thanks!

[@KhaosTy]

Great video again. When I think of the definition of "art" I like Scott McCloud's definition from his book "Understanding Comics": It's anything that humans do that isn't for the goals of reproducing or surviving. I don't know if I completely agree with him; but his definition stands in contrast with your definition "something you can become proficient in". I think it's mostly a matter of wordplay.

[@UnexpectedWonder]

Thank-you! I literally preach about this all the damn time! 😁😁😊😊👊👊

[@RobRecreated]

Hey Ramsey, any tips on how to make the most out of limited training time? Also what have you been doing besides making videos and exercising with your free time?

[@nicolascarrizosavillalba2118]

As always I have learned something new, well said ramsey!

[@popssigung9956]

I enjoyed your take on the definitions of both, and I can't say I disagree.

[@blockmasterscott]

For me, I always thought of the difference between Martial Arts and Combat Sports as Combat Sports having promoters, agents, scheduled fights and such. Meaning, not the physical aspect, but the organizations. For example, an MMA school could be a martial art, but UFC is a combat sport. Exact same techniques, but the organizations are different.

[@tattoodrdoke]

UFC is the equivalent to NBA,NFL etc and I would even say that they are the promotion. You don't say I'm going to meet up with my friends at the local court for a game of NBA.

[@clockmakerbr2470]

Great answer! It's good to see you clarify these concepts, i always see people argue about it btw.

[@AeolethNionian]

Hello Mr Dewey. You've mentioned before that most sparring should be light or no contact and technical but how much should be hard? How many actual fights are important to be good at fighting? What is the balance between being a good fighter and brain damage? Thanks in advance.

[@melchaios]

I believe that the most important diference is not the rules per se, but the objective in general: - In real life/Street fight your main goal is to survive as unscratched as posible by any means necessary. That means you can actually flee if you like, or take out a gun to intimidate your attacker, or call some mates to improve your chances. Whether you beat the other guy/guys is irrelevant, all you want to do is not get hurt - In combat sports the main goal is to win. That means you have to fight until one of the parties involved fulfills the prequisites to be called the winner, or if that doesn't happen, until a limit is reached (usually a time limit) As Ramsey mentioned, you can pin two guys in a cage to fight with absolutely no rules, and giving them weapons in the ground to grab a-la Mad Max in the Thunderdome, and that would still be a combat Sport...…...Because the goal is to kill the other guy, and even with "no rules", there's actually one very important rule that remains: "You can't flee" So, my take is that Martial arts is the general combat system that you practice, combat sport is when you take that martial art and turn it into a contest with a specific goal to reach, regardless of the rules involved. Bullfighting and hunting are sports, and yet you can be sure that a living being Will certainly die in such contest (and sometimes it can be the human)

[@pastek957]

"Cosplay as 18th century bathhouse attendants" Shots fired!

[@pedroalexandredillemburg3751]

"simple and straight forward answer" *9 minutes of video*. Great.

[@Bazilisk_AU]

Ramsey I’m trying to find which video you said something down the lines of ; “You fight the way you train... and if you don’t train the way you fight you’re not gonna fight the way you train”.

[@renehenriksen1735]

Quote: " - Martial art was first used to describe European swordfighting." I wonder if he had a guy named Talhofer in mind?...

[@hadenharris78]

Happy Easter, good to see you still well Ramsey with all that's been going on. I live in South Africa and we're on lockdown until May, any training tips with minimal equipment? My brother (20) and I(22) spar and do light training (grappling, boxing pads and bag training) 5 times a week but I would like to know if there is anything we should work on specifically while we sit at home waiting. He's got his provincial colours for MMA but I'm very much a novice and would like to get a bit more fighting fit. Thanks again for all the great advice, you help me alot.

[@kannakamui2334]

I didn't know the term *martial arts* was coined by the Europeans. You did a good job of articulating how any system of fighting constitutes a martial art and specifying what combat sports are in concept. Good idea. Now to get out there and train. *Goes to the door.* Wait... Quarantine.

[@RamseyDewey]

Drop and give me 50 pushups

[@kannakamui2334]

Yes sir! *Drops and starts doing 50 push ups.*

[@RaulRodriguez-dl8hd]

For me the difference is: Martial Arts is a way of life, they focus on the " Art" aspect of it like Kata, one Steps, self defends etc like Karate, Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do. Kombat sports focus more on the fighting part, like mma, Mui Thai and so on. So i agree that Martial Arts can be combat sports.

[@bajanmaster2958]

Here's how I think of it. Sports - set of rules, a specific environment, objective and scoring system. Art - a skill So a combat sport is a set of rules (eg: you can only hit with the front of the fist, no strikes "below the belt", 3 minute rounded, etc), specific environment (square ring of a specific size, padded gloves, mouth guard, etc), objective (knock the opponent out, land "good shots", etc), scoring system (points for knock downs, etc). If the combat sport has been around long enough then people would have figured out an art to that sport.

[@devinyoung354]

Actually, there’s a weird technicality in the MMA rules that allows two handed great swords. I’m surprised no ones taken advantage of that yet

[@brantlichner2977]

Since we really don’t use Martial arts in war most have fallen to sport (i.e. TKD, jujitsu, Judo, Thai Boxing) which are stripped down versions of the original expressions of the arts they originally where. This is the evolution of combat arts. Those who cling to traditional teachings are not bad they just have not evolved curriculum. Most are trying to teach good moral standards in children. I respect that. I also respect that combat arts as it has evolved is the new wave of fighting with roots from all these other arts. Just tested and proven!

[@wakanakapisihello5655]

Well put, as ever...I still say you should be doing voice over work in radio and TV Ramsey, you have the chops by nature. Perhaps you should check out the pay scale, it is VERY lucrative, and given the input/outtake ratio...damn. You want an agent? I got this recording industry thing sewn up bud!

[@RamseyDewey]

If you’re offering me a job, email me at [e-mail]

[@garethllewellyn215]

Really good video , thanks and stay safe coach

[@willtherealrustyschacklefo3812]

I mean with a question like this it really depends on what definition you mean for the terms you are using. You could consider them all a style of martial arts to an extent depending on your definition. Now me personally anything that is intended for sport or competition is not truly a "martial art" as that was never their intended use for majority of their existence. maybe more of a "fighting style". And Yes there is a difference. An example of what I mean is that yes many people die in boxing matches etc but many people also die every year playing football an intense contact sport, that does not make a football game a " real fight". The same as a martial arts competition/boxing match etc does not equal a"real fight" either.

[@SwordAndWaistcoat]

I am both really happy and really angry at this video. On the weekend I'm doing an online lecture on what martial arts kinda are and now I want to re-write a bunch of stuff because this video has given me a lot of ideas. Also thanks for mentioning HEMA. Always nice to get a shout out. I'd be really interested to see some unarmed HEMA practitioners compete in MMA.

[@Groteskfull]

The first twenty seconds! 😆 🤔 From what you said at 3:58, is it safe to say that you wouldn't consider Kendo and Iaido to be martial arts?

[@maxkim7937]

I'm Korean so we would use 2 terms to describe it. I guess it's basically the same thing as in English. 무술(moosool) in Chinese it would be wushu which would be "martial arts" in which moo/wu is martial (same meaning literary) and sool/shu is arts. 격투기/격투 (gyeoktoogi/gyeoktoo) is Fighting or combat Gyeok is to face or oppose Too is the combat, fighting, etc. Gi is like saying to do or operate So it's basically combative sports word for word. We consider boxing as both martial arts and combative sports because it's really what ties both of them together. Same with wrestling or in korean 씨름(ssireum), because they are things that were used as a sport and as a means to fight back during war. Sure, the fundamentals and methods have changed but the discipline and usefulness hasn't.

[@AllThingsConsideredUK]

Wtf? "18th century Bath House attendants", what a unique thing to say. Lol

[@tochriss]

MMA should be called MCS (Mixed combat sports) then.

[@caim95able]

Indeed

[@martiallife4136]

Well, a judo school can teach other things outside the syllabus. Unfortunately, most schools only follow Shia, competition, rules.

[@ToiletDuckFan]

OMG I know; I love Judo but am so sick of the sports focus and thus often lack of Newaza.

[@cserpakbalazs6342]

@Ramsey, wouldn't you say that a martial art is a style of fighting, while a combat sport is a rule set? Then the rule set determines what the best style is (or elements from different styles are) for that particular combat sport. So for boxing you could use kung-fu style punches in theory (arm punches) but that turned out to be inefficient for that particular combat sport (and for others as well). The confusing thing is that you have styles and rule sets with the same name. So for example, if you go to a muay thai competition, you can throw karate style kicks, it's legal. But if you go to a muay thai gym, where you learn a particular style, you won's see anything like that, since it not part of the style.

[@accadueoaccadueo945]

That makes sense.

[@masterbagua]

Any martial art without some form of competition (mock fighting) is not a martial art. What we call "Combat sport" is a form of training. The only difference is in intent.

[@RamseyDewey]

Sport. noun an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

[@tiggert4002]

When you were talking about krav maga and gladiators I was thinking about the hunger games and if that could count as a combat sport. Could it?

[@RamseyDewey]

If there is a contest of combat with a winner and a loser, it’s a combat sport.

[@lulospawn]

In patents we have recurring terms like "state of the art" and "those skilled in the art" which refer to the techniques applied, for instance, to lab research methods. I just bring this up to support the definition of art given here.

[@RamseyDewey]

Oxford English Dictionary definition 4.

[@JoanieKennedy]

I am no expert by any means, but have practiced Defendu "WW2 Combatives" which is very similar to Krav Maga and honestly one could turn it into a combative sport without killing each other. If one set up a few rules maybe leave out the eye pokes and chops to the spine... it would be very similar to MMA. I get a kick out of people who say it's to deadly for sport, have you seen Escrima/Kali??? Sticks and knives they still found away to make a sport out of it without killing each other.

[@mpopeube]

Hi Ramsey, Thanks again for your fantastic MMA coach videos. How are you doing :-) I have follow up questions on your fascinating discussion on martial arts and sports. If I understood correctly, MMA sport competition rules are an exclusion list of what’s not allowed, and small at that. If I understand correctly, a sport has a well defined ruleset including what’s allowed and often what’s not allowed. The inclusion list is the existing moves in the martial art that birthed it’s own sport. There are points for various moves in sport competition as you said. The sport’s purpose is to develop the skill (art) of the fighters of the single martial art that by definition changes slowly over time and never fundamentally. Do you think then that MMA is both a sport and and a constantly evolving snapshot of arts, i.e. the best combinations of single martial arts that dominate MMA sport competition at a point in time? I heard that Jeet Kun Do even after its founding and to some extent still absorbs new moves even from other martial arts. Have you heard that? Best Regards, Matthew

[@Romulu5]

from my knowledge: martial arts are...martial - army - killing your enemy. Combat sport? toned downed martial art - for entertainment and also keeping people in shape during peace times. something like that:)

[@EliteBlackSash]

There are many layers to having an army... like boosting Morale, managing stress (entertainment). Western army does flag waving, synchronized marches, and plays brass instruments. Eastern does “martial” dances that tell historical stories, lion dance, incense burning. Mongols wrestle horses and do bird dances. I think these types of elements just happen to get lumped into “Martial Art Systems” in Eastern Martial Arts a lot more heavily for political and cultural reasons. Even Muay Thai fighters do dances before matches. Western Martial Arts are a lot more “to the point” because they tend to have competition venues and money on the line more readily. Shuaijiao is about as To-The-Point as it gets, and there’s even a performance/demo element of that... but it doesn’t effect the effectiveness of the combat because it’s kept separate

[@raphaelworkman2170]

First comment Edit: good clarifying summary, Ramsey! Keep up the good work!

[@ommeking]

Hey ramsey, I love your channel and adtive. Im in my mid to late twenties and about 40 lbs over weight. How would you reccomend i get into to martial art training in a cost effective safe manner?

[@thomass7259]

Just jump into it, man. Go to your local Muay Thai or boxing school and talk to the coach. Those are the best striking arts. If you want grappling, BJJ, Wrestling, Sambo or Judo are the go.

[@doaimanariroll5121]

Hey Ramsey, what do you think about people having big beards at the gym or in mma competition, i find it kinda annoying grappling or MMAing with someone with a beard, especially in a friendly setting where i dont want to rip someones beard out trying to gind my hand through for a rear naked, or pumbeling for a clinch and what not.

[@julianp.5818]

Hi Ramsey, I have a question about how to deal with overexertion. The current corona crisis and its restrictions really stresses me out. A way for me to deal with stress is through sports. Since my gym closed down bc of the crisis i go for 5km runs and do some weight training. My initial interval was 3 days of training, one break day and repeat. After 2 1/2 weeks my back started to hurt and I had problems falling asleep. After a longer break of 3-4 days I started again, but today after not even 1 km I almost threw up. I guess I overexerted my body... I don't really know what my question is, I just wondered if you had any general advice for my situation. I really love sports, it helps me mentally and now with the overexertion I don't know what to do?

[@jeangentry6656]

When I think of Martial Arts, I think of a combat system, rooted in Culture, Tradition, and Philosophy, that had a martial purpose in the past, but is now kept alive through general practice. Most Martial Arts are about forms, and not really about fighting. Will you learn some fight techniques? Sure, but the purpose of the training isn't to fight. MMA, on the other hand, is practical in practice, devoid of forms or philosophy, so you WILL learn to fight, but even then, It's fighting for a competition and entertainment, It's not designed for the dangers and unpredictability of real world violence.

[@Dwilson1282]

Happy Easter!

[@aexndr387]

Ramsey! How are you doing? Like how are you REALLY doing. How's the gym, how's the family, how's your life, and do you need money? We don't know anything about how you're doing except when you say "good"

[@gangstaman2069]

The fact is that all pro fighters beats martial artists, cause of the high level of athleticism and continued fighting.Also all combat sports were derived from martial arts, but on higher physical aspect

[@eclipsewrecker]

Rules. Next question haha

[@kungfujoe2136]

question coach i was arguing on the internet (yeah i know) about what is more importent the matial art (bjj)or the coach+matial artist what's your opinion ? (imho it's the coach + martial artist)

[@abeloth1116]

kungfujoe I personally agree with you. There are multiple different ways to take someone out. But the individual how it uses these tactics & techniques plus his physical and mental condition are incredibly important. So I have to go with your opinion, the coach and the person is more important ! 💯😎👊🏼

[@redflynn5168]

I would like to ask a related question here regarding MMA being a combat sport but not a martial art. I agree that MMA is a ruleset and therefore cannot technically be considered a martial art in the traditional sense. But there is definitely a methodology that works best for competing in MMA. Do you think MMA could theoretically become a martial art if it standardized this methodology in the way other combat sports do? Do you think this would be beneficial, or harmful to MMA as a sport?

[@RamseyDewey]

Tell me more about this one methodology that works best in spite of the myriad of variables in a cage fight. Since coaching fighters is my actual day job, I’m very interested in knowing.

[@willtherealrustyschacklefo3812]

And that's not to say the competition styles cannot train you for it or improve your ability to do so but it's not the intention of the training and by the traditional definition of martial arts anything intended to be applied for sport or competition is not a martial art. But even I who holds and agrees with that view wholeheartedly would still consider competition styles to be a "fighting style" but not my personal definition of martial arts. But many other people would still consider them to be martial arts if they are not as technical or traditional on the definition.

[@Mister-Six]

Ramsey, what are your thoughts on competitive Push Hands? If done right, could Push Hands competition push Taijiquan into becoming a more authentic martial art/combat sport?

[@RamseyDewey]

Push hands is a beginners drill to practice balance. Taijiquan is a grappling art with takedowns, throws, and joint locks. Just do the actual martial art if that’s what you want to do. Competitive push hands makes as much sense to me as doing competitive pre training warm ups.

[@Mister-Six]

@@RamseyDewey Thank you for the response, sir! It's a shame that Taijiquan only has these Push Hands competitions (that I know of). If only there was some better way for Taijiquan to have more legit competitions similar to Judo, wrestling and other grappling arts.

[@handler803]

Hey Ramsey: what are your thoughts on having difficulty shadowboxing outside the boxing gym? I've always seen shadowboxing as something that's done best in the boxing gym since it helps me get "in the zone" whereas doing it at my own space just feels weird? Thanks Coach

[@RamseyDewey]

You should be putti in at least 3 rounds a day of shadow boxing OUTSIDE the gym when no one expect you to do it. Using your personal initiative to improve will push you farther than any other coach.

[@brantlichner2977]

Definition of art is the application of self expression. Use of creative imaginative skill. The term martial means appropriate to war, war like . The term Martial art literally means war like imaginative expression of skill.

[@s.sanchez5245]

Hey Ramsey, in your opinion, would you say target shooting and marksmanship would be considered a martial art? Even though pulling a trigger may be easy, tactical shooting is a dicipline that requires coordination, accuracy, speed, and can be rather tecnical. Also considering martial means war, and war nowadays is 99.99% guns, i’d like to know what you think

[@hailhydreigon2700]

If Archery is a martial art, then shooting is definitely a martial art.

[@jamesstockley3103]

Dear Ramsey, I hope you are well and happy. I love your channel and have so much to thank you for (I will write to you!) but I'd disagree slightly with this. I would say "art" is more the "creative expression" of something. Therefore, a martial art is the creative expression of martial techniques from the kata of TMA to the individual fighting style of a combat specialist. I'd suggest it's more an umbrella term with combat sports being a subcategory that has, demonstrably, a more realistic application than the very different TMAs. All the best, James.

[@RamseyDewey]

You’re describing fine arts, liberal arts, and performing arts. See definition 4 from the Oxford English Dictionary for the context of martial arts.

[@jamesstockley3103]

@@RamseyDewey Thank you so much for your reply. I was looking at the first definition of art - I'll check out the 4th. I guess martial art is just a label - doesn't really change anything. Otherwise, who decides when a combat sports practitioner is "good enough" to call themselves a martial artist? Hope your holding up well in PRC - UK is at the beginning of a lockdown.

[@dejohnnelacy254]

When Boxers Shadow box it's another form of a kata to me

[@alu6210]

Mr dewey would you please tell your opinion on Ninjitsu and is it a real martial art and if so is to effective in an “MMA situation and to what extent?

[@jeffreylook9849]

What is kata? Is it limited to flowery forms on mats or does the speedbag count too?

[@RamseyDewey]

Kata is a Japanese word. I have no idea what they call speed bag patterns in Japanese.

[@L0rd_Br0tat0]

This might be splitting hairs, but as a professional artist I kind of disagree with that definition of "art". I don't think art is synonymous with skill but rather pertains to creativity, expression and aesthetics. I think the divide between combat sports and martial arts comes from the idea that a martial art checks all three of those boxes while a combat sport doesn't have to and is mostly focused on the contest. So a combat sport is mostly about beating the other guy under a certain rule set while a martial art is mostly about self-expression and beautiful movement while being at the very least based on combat skill. The "skill acquired through practice" definition of "art" is linguistically valid, but not the primary definition of the word. Or at least, not in my point of view which I guess is somewhat biased. So my interpretation is that what you define as a martial art I would probably define as combat system instead, which would encompass martial arts, combat sports, urban self-defense systems, military combat systems, etc.

[@RamseyDewey]

Oxford English Dictionary, definition four is the context for “Martial Arts”. We’re not talking about liberal arts, fine arts, or performing arts.

[@renehenriksen1735]

Strange that a syllabus should determine whether something is a specific kind of martial art or not, and if you´re not doing something that´s inside the syllabus you´re doing something else. Well there´s so many messy things that can´t be cathegorized as martial art but still kills or injures badly. So what should we call them since they´re not in the syllabus? Accidential arts? Or should we include them in the syllabus allthough it means a lot of work? Let´s imagine you hit/push someone with the right side of your hips against his lower stomach or maybe his own right hipside. He stumbles, falls over a doorstep and hits his head against a metalpart of a chair. He is knocked out and gets unconscious. Now was that method with the hips a martial art-move or something else? Let´s be fair and say that I myself do consider this as a martial arts movement, since it is a movement and in my view anykind of movement you can turn into something to work in your favor as a weapon is a martial art. Now this doesn´t mean this weapon needs to be deadly or hurt, but it changes the game/circumstances to my favour. I don´t know about you guys, but as I see it with this definition there are MANY things that can be considered a martial art/weapon. Actually I think the lines/borders get pretty fluid don´t they?

[@surajshaw9703]

Hey Online Coach, what BJJ belt are you? And what are you thoughts on some of the current bjj schools taking tests for belt promotion? It kind of feels like that it might go the karate route because of it.

[@jamesthera]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYTOc6uPbKZmjpI

[@MartialArtUK]

Cool stuff 😎

[@mark11145]

TRUTH!

[@ToiletDuckFan]

How do I even contact Ramsey with questions? Some unspecified email It does not appear to be through KZbin comments - he often leaves that small but important fact out.

[@RamseyDewey]

You just did.

[@miguelnovais3878]

I agree. But i have one question. Im learning to defend ground and pound, but have no interest in compiting, what am I training?

[@CrowT]

Jiu Jitsu has very good techniques to avoid getting punched like that. When I say this I mean the self defense aspect of it. Not the sport side. There are definitely other Martial Arts to address that. Jiu Jitsu does it pretty well.

[@miguelnovais3878]

@@CrowT im learnig To give ground and pound. But i have no int...

[@CrowT]

@@miguelnovais3878 ??

[@primordial.sounds]

I think the term martial arts came about because historically, only soldiers were taught effective fighting skills, for the most part. There was no access by the general public to fighting skills education. Combat sports are cool, but they are sports. Martial arts were and still are, in some respects, about life or death survival.

[@Zugy011]

Hey Ramsey, I was wondering if two guys were to fight and one of them was a traditional martial artist skilled in both striking and grappling and the other was a military hand to hand combat specialist, who would win? In other words if an mma athlete fought a special forces operative in a life or death situation who would be victorious? If you have answered this question in a previous video, please, refer me to it. Thanks in advance. Greetings from Serbia.

[@hailhydreigon2700]

Special Forces don't train hand to hand combat exclusively. They don't train to knock people out, or condition their bodies specifically to a 25 minute fight. If you put an MMA fighter in an MMA match against a non-MMA fighter, the MMA guy will probably win. Give the MMA guy a gun/knife and throw them in a battlefield, and the Special Forces guy will probably win. Because that's what they train for. :P

[@Zugy011]

@@hailhydreigon2700 Yes, of course, you are good at what you train for, but I wasn't talking about trading careers for a day. I was wondering who would win in a street fight. If they somehow wind up fighting in the streets who would win? The mma athlete practices fighting more frequently, but the special forces operative learns 'dirty fighting' which may be more effective in a no rules fight.

[@Sovvolf]

@@Zugy011 The military has a rifles first approach to training. This is more or less universal to world wide military forces. The hand to hand combat side of things is very limited. I heard from a marine that MCMAP requires maybe 150 hours of training to receive a black belt. Which is roughly about 3 months worth of training for even an MMA hobbyist. That's not a great deal of training. You put that person in a street fight with a person that fights people in hand to hand combat for a living? He's probably going to come out on the worst end of it. Being taught to fight dirty has so many problems with it: 1: Anyone can fight dirty, that includes the well trained fighter. 2: You can't stress test it or spar it so you don't know if it'll even work. 3: Most dirty tactics have dubious results or aren't nearly as effective as people think they are. 4: You've escalated the situation, now the trained fighter that would likely had been just trying to use restraint, could now be extremely pissed off and he knows violence (in terms of hand to hand combat) better than you.

[@deathfromabove39]

Good video

[@kalenklushkan8633]

Hey Ramsey, would kickboxing be a martial art and a combat sport? Or would it just be a combat sport and not a martial art?

[@RamseyDewey]

Yes.

[@kalenklushkan8633]

@@RamseyDewey thank you, I’ve been taking a real interest in the martial arts these past couple years, and I was just wondering if kickboxing counts as a martial arts style, and I am glad to hear that it does.

[@astrol4b]

I don't know if boxing can be called a martial art for the same reason mma isn't, it's a set of rules, just very very strict compared to UFC. Alì and Tyson were doing very different things in the ring you can say two different martial arts (or styles) cus d'amato peek-a-boo can be called a martial art since it's a system to be a better fighter inside the rules of boxing. For the rest, great video.

[@Sovvolf]

If you ain't learning to fight, you're learning to dance. Kata, Pumsee or whatever have more in common with a dance routine than actual combat. I see no difference between practicing an highly ritualized and heavily choreographed air punching routine and trying to master the moves to Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal.

[@hailhydreigon2700]

Kata isn't entirely to blame. Lack of Sparring is. A martial art can have Choreographed Forms and still spar hard as hell.

[@Sovvolf]

@@hailhydreigon2700 I'm not saying you can't but if the kata is all you have then you're not learning to fight. Don't get me wrong back in my Taekwondo days I enjoyed Pumsee. It was fun and it did look kind of bad arse, but had we not sparred at all... Then all you're doing is dancing as far as I'm concerned. I used to train in Shindokai Karate (It's like a Waido Ryu variant) I didn't get far in belts because I used to travel a lot with work so I don't get the chance to settle in often. Our Karate gym was also an MMA gym and Thai boxing gym and the attitude carried over. So we sparred full contact it was almost like doing Kyokushin. One day we had a guy join us from a neighbouring Shindokai gym, he wanted to compete and his gym didn't spar and they were primarily kata based so he wanted some experience. This guy was a black belt, he had great technique, flexibility and knew how to throw a Kick. We'd spar and I, still a white belt at the time (Though I'd got my yellow in TKD) used to give him a real hard time. I used to kick his arse. To the point I had to tone things down (because breaking your training partners benefits no one) all that technique and beautiful form stuff doesn't mean much if you haven't practiced on live opponents and you haven't built instincts.

[@ropongi1008]

I USE to define martial arts as in traditional Asian martial arts, karate, Kung Fu etc.., was any art where you train to have control over mind, body , and spirit. An art is any form of self expression. Just about any sport or more specifically,in any combat sport a person trains to have control over mind and body, but may not always have a spiritual or esoteric attachment. In that case, a sport like boxing or wrestling, besides being a combat sport or at least being combative in nature because there is actually no striking in wrestling,would also be some type of combative format or system. But I did not put those 2 sports in the martail arts catagory. That is how I use to perceive the term martail arts. To me, that term always refered to traditional Asian Martial Arts. It is a matter of samattics. Anyway, now my definition has changed a bit.

[@neonhavok]

HEY RAMSEY, could rugby be considered a combat sport? I have done rugby, american football, mma, and bjj. Ive also done capieira but thats not a combat sport😅

[@RamseyDewey]

Rugby and American football are an interesting case because they are non-combative sports with violent elements. The objective is to score points against the other team by moving a ball. But that objective can be accomplished through violent means. To my knowledge, there’s no well known competitive version of capoeira. I’ve seen some capoeristas spar with each other for real, but no one made a sport out of it.

[@easy_s3351]

Hey Ramsey, isn't the biggest difference between martial arts and combat sports the set of rules that is applied in combat sports? That set of rules excludes certain martial art techniques from being used, like for instance eye gouging. And if MMA isn't a martial art then shouldn't its name be changed? Mayby to MCS, mixed combat sports?

[@unnamedchannel2202]

Happy Easter! Chess is a martial art! The only martial art where a lady isn't safe when surrounded by her friends. Is dancing a combat sport? Depends ... on his skills. 🤣

[@CamranMajid]

nice vid

[@maxwellkafka]

In a previous video you mentioned a great definition of Krav Maga you heard from some Israeli Army instructors where it’s not a fighting system, it’s a conditioned mental state of aggression and violence in case of a life threatening event, or something close to that

[@belalabusultan5911]

hello Ramsey Dewey, I want to ask about some rules for MMA. why do you have robes around the ring, and gloves on people's hands, when in mny martial arts these things are not present ? I mean, Boxing and kickboxing have robes in their matches, but Karate and Kung Fu don't, so why choose the more restrictive rule here ? same for gloves.

[@RamseyDewey]

Robes? Do you mean the ropes on a boxing ring? Well, if that’s the case, most MMA fights take place in a cage, not a ring. The unified rules of MMA used in the UFC were written by a boxing commission. Most of those rules were intended to make the sport more like boxing because that’s what those guys were comfortable with supporting politically.

[@lulospawn]

Shin digging is a combat sport, can it be a martial art?

[@bujindork]

Combat Sports are martial arts, Id say more so than TMAs that dont spar. We should be asking if TMAs that dont spar/fight are martial arts.

[@paweandonisgawralidisdobrz2522]

8:40 i was thinking. Considering that muay thai fighters use a lot of boxing and a lot of techniques from other martial arts/combat sports such as tea kwon do. (Im pretty sure jumping kicks and even side kicks with some others are not a traditional thai technique at least looking at footage of muay thai from different periods they only appear in 21st century. A good look into how muay thai has been infuenced by forein systems is comparing it to lethwei. The boxing/kickboxing influence is undeniable as well as many kicks that come from eastern martial arts). Wouldnt it make it a combat sport and not a martial art since the way they fight is directly the reluset and what it doesnt prohibid rather than the way they fight coming directly from what the system teaches. Its kind of as if there was (hipothetically) a loophole in boxing that allowed throws. Boxers were not throwing becouse it was never part of the art, but at some point, lets say 90s they learned throws from other fighters and started using them, then they arent fighting according to the boxing system and instead directly from the rules. Similarly to how mma isnt a codyfied system and it refers more to the competition/ruleset wich then couse the fighting styles of the involved to be shaped by the rules more than the art. I qould compare it to how the fighting is water, the rules are a vessel, the water of the art of boxing fills the vessel of boxing competitions. The water from any martial art fills only a part of mma vessel. And water from muay thai fills only a part of the vessel of muay thai the rest is filled by water that the fighters took from other systems. Mixing these waters creates a new art just like adding kicks to boxing creates kickboxing, as the kicks fill the space created by allowing kicks. Becouse muay thai schools and fighters fill the entire vessel with different waters and not one, i would say its no longer muay thai. Or at least not traditional. Ps. I know i made some muay thai fans angry for daring to sugest that what their idols do isnt in accordance to tradition but if you cant see that modern muay thai is the vessel and not the water then i have no other way of explaining.

[@kasukahei]

'Muay Boran' practitioner here... And yes you aren't very wrong. Muay Thai is a version of the original combat systems that they actually used for wars etc... And those systems are all brought together under the umbrella term 'Muay Boran'. There's a lot of misconception and I will keep it simple, the fighting arts that were under Muay Boran (Both unarmed and Krabi Krabong which is the weapon system) were a 'martial art' while Muay Thai came to be when regulations and sporting rules started to be imposed. Doesn't mean Muay Thai isn't effective in combat itself.... But it's not meant to the be martial art. In 'Muay Boran', we have ending strikes as well once a person is on the ground.... Just an example. Just a note, I used the term Muay Boran to give an umbrella term.... I don't think there will be many traditional practitioners using that term. They will go for specific terms like Muay Chaiya (most common and technical), Muay Lopburi (Pretty flashy), Muay Korat (a pretty heavy hitting style focusing on very strong and heavy strikes) and Muay ThasSao.

[@paweandonisgawralidisdobrz2522]

@@kasukahei thanks for that. Btw i never said enything about effectiveness. I was talking more about the essence of what makes a martial art a martial art and what makes a combat sport a combat sport. Whatever we call it muay thai is of course very effective in fighting. Your insight was very helpful.

[@kasukahei]

@@paweandonisgawralidisdobrz2522 OH I didn't mean to come off as if I was talking about effectiveness.... I meant it more like 'people tend to Classify muay Thai as a martial art because it still seems more effective than most sport combats when put into that MA scenario'. Glad to be of help. And yes.... A lot of the aspect of Muay Thai is training with that sports aspect in mind.... While Muay Boran even has something similar to kata. Mother/parent techniques and derived techniques. After those two, each practitioner is free to form 'practical implementation' of their experience and practice those as part of the derived techniques....

[@gigabitelakmak6734]

There are muay thai footage from 20st century . kzbin.info/www/bejne/mp-wZJV-qJh6gpI kzbin.info/www/bejne/oaPEqGd4g7Ocesk kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2qmnpl4oZd9qZY kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4bKlnuXpd6ZjKM

[@KubratKoz]

Combat sports work

[@DarkPsyde721]

I was taught “martial art” came from the term “art of Mars” mars being the god of war.

[@julian-gen]

You would definitely have all it takes to have a podcast like Joe Rogan’s discussing different topics not just martial arts. Try it, expand.

[@RamseyDewey]

I have a whole playlist of podcasts on my channel. Give it a listen.

[@mugcebu]

Gladiators was not about killing each other, it was bad business. Try to Google Adam ruins everything and Gladiators, he made a nice video about that... 😊

[@timothyroy6234]

Would you call fencing an example of an armed combat sport?

[@RamseyDewey]

Why wouldn’t you?

[@Damian_Ravenscroft]

Actually MMA is the only legit martial art because is system of fight to win whit using whatever technics that happened to be the most effective moves from all other "martial arts". So if you have more comprehensive view about unarmed fighting its easy to came whit the idea thay is useless to practise all kinds of partial styles of combat. Am thinking that this holistic view about combat was very popular in the past when people were actually fighting but nowdays we live in peace and we like to dissect everything for fun. PS. What is Aikido-martial art, combat system or a joke? :D

[@OldBadger1]

Actually in a world of guns and knives mma is more of the joke. Train, but proportionally.

[@Horus-Lupercal]

@Ramsey - I get TKD ads on every single one of your videos, take that how you will.

[@RamseyDewey]

The ads you see are based on your own google history.

[@Miguelc271086]

To me the difference would be in the name, a sport has rules, sanctions and points, an art of war is simply that, the art of defeating an enemy thus martial art

[@RamseyDewey]

A sport has a winner and a loser and an entertainment factor.

[@AirAdventurer194]

OK, late-night rant: How would you respond to David Falcaro's hypothetical describing the difference between martial arts and combat sports: "Take a certain number of MMA fighters. Put them in an area. Let them set up tents or teepees or camp or whatever type of village they might like. Then take an equal number of Marines. Tell the Marines that the MMA fighters are the insurgents and that it is the Marines' mission to cleanse the insurgents." kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6W8oZ6ObdV0grs "Mars was the god of war; war is about killing people and blowing things up - it's done with tools. And, the art is about being able to do it to your opponent without him being able to do it back to you" - James Williams kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIaQfZRpbLSlY9E (I know I'm going to hate myself for posting this in the morning)

[@RamseyDewey]

Wait, you want to send a bunch of fighters on a camping trip, only to be ambushed by armed soldiers? Why?

[@AirAdventurer194]

@@RamseyDewey To illustrate the difference between martial arts and combat sports? (Obviously, it's just a hypothetical: I'm not actually suggesting/condoning murdering MMA fighters)

[@AirAdventurer194]

www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Foot%20massage #Ducks! (Yes, I realize Ken Shamrock, Cowboy Cerrone, and War Machine are going to be waiting around a corner 3 blocks from my place one day 😀)