Dojo’s, Styles and Systems are just Tribal

“In tribal societies make-up plays an important role in establishing the status of the individual within the community, and gives him a cultural ‘badge.’ It true protection is it affords the person that they are of that groups membership.” 

This quote once again suggests that our pension toward martial arts as to clothing, i.e. karate uniforms and in particular the belts, being subconsciously perceived as “badge” to indicate status within the group and most important group membership. This all falls back on our instinctual survival needs, i.e. survival depends and depended heavily on tribe’s or groups today. 

It seems logical that our search for groups to belong to closely relates to how we would identify ourselves as individuals, with a critical component for survival, and our identity with a group, within a group as to hierarchy, status, etc.  

When I think of today’s martial arts with the unique names given to styles or systems, the associated groups as identified through dojo affiliations, and the larger inter-connected associations through associations (the word ‘association’ is actually significant for group identity and identifiers).

If this were not so, today’s karate would be still under the name of “Ti” and all styles, systems and other affiliations would not exist, not be necessary and not be sought after so strongly or defended so strongly against all “Others/Outsiders.” 

Everything we look for and accept is about this type of social group tribal survival protection power achieving dominant/subservient model that makes up the dojo and all its relations and inter-relational makeup (pun intended).

Bibliography:

Morris, Desmond. “Manwatching: A Field Guide to Human Behavior.” Harry N. Abrams. April 1979

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