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Modern Karate
Martial Arts The popularity of the recent film Crouching Tiger & Hidden Dragon
was the latest in a long chain of successful Martial Arts films which began in the sixties with
the legendary Bruce Lee movies. The fantasies and public image associated with anything
connected with Martial Art is a mixed blessing for those of us who spend most of our lives
learning and teaching the On the one hand it brings eager students to the doors
of hundreds of community halls and sports complexes all over the country ready to
dedicate their lives to whatever secret oath they must take to learn the
Eastern secrets and - on the other - they arrive with wild expectations than can never
be satisfied. There has always been an air of mystique surrounding the Martial Arts
and, especially for young men, the prospect of becoming invincible is pretty
compelling.
In reality, even the most impressive skills and
achievements have to be worked at - consistently - over many years or even decades.
The vast majority of those wide-eyed enthusiasts don,t last very long. Not
because they can`t stand the pace - more likely because they get bored with the
need to repeat and refine techniques over and over again. One of the most common
moans I hears from the very young students is... But we did that one last week...

An increase in one,s own personal safety comes with sustained training in any Martial Art but,
as with playing an instrument, you only get out of it what you put in. There are no quick solutions as the
execution of all martial techniques depend primarily on your frame of mind at the
moment of attack and only secondly, on the skills you have available to
defend yourself.

All Martial Arts training gives a boost to your sense of personal
confidence as we expand the limits of our own potential, both
physically and psychologically - becoming more comfortable with our own humanity, our
own ordinariness and even our own strangeness. Engaging oneself in Martial Arts
training is a serious decision and, if you make the commitment, it can be
rewarding beyond your expectations.
The principle negative consequence we have to deal with as
an offshoot from the Martial Arts movies is the public image it generates. The movies
industry realised a long time ago that Martial Arts sells best
as raw violence and, in good Hollywood style, they don,t let the truth get in
the way of a good story. There was a time when this image created its own
reality with life imitating art to some degree. However, in these days of high tech
crime and the easy availability of guns - criminals are too busy to spend
their time learning to fight.
Whatever initially brings someone to visit a Dojo (training hall), large numbers do stay -
indicating that modern Martial Arts Clubs are filling an true need and represent something
that is both realistic and attainable.

There are currently over 15 thousand people training in various forms
of Martial Arts in Ireland.
Martial Arts in Ireland has truly come into its own in the last
15 years as a fresh generation of well informed, grounded and sport
orientated Martial Artists have gradually replaced the self-made Masters and
'Senseis' of the sixties and seventies.