The paradox of martial arts - safe combat

Background. Martial arts are safe educational activities popular in the Western world. Being called ‘martial’, they are associated with combat, and many people start practising martial arts because they want to learn to fight or to defend themselves. Aims. Since martial arts are supposed to be safe educational activities, and yet combat itself is a dangerous kind of activity, it is necessary to explore the nature of the kind of combat that is taught within martial arts. This paper presents the reasons and strategies for the revision of dangerous real-life combat into safer and educational martial activities (such as, for example, martial arts), and it discusses the problems associated with safe combat. Methods. Philosophical method of logical argumentation. Results. For the creation of safe educational activities out of real-life dangerous combat, various strategies must be used. We shall call this process of making combat safe ‘safetification’, which can be brought about by the following strategies: defining the means and ends of martial arts; the introduction of rules; and the introduction of Codes of Conduct. Conclusion. Safe combat fundamentally differs from real-life combat, and without an understanding of this difference, safe combat can become a danger to self, if used in real life-threatening situations. So, it is important to explore and expose the distinction between martial arts as safe educational activities and the nature of combat, so that potential martial arts participants can make realistic choices about what they are learning.