by Hanshi/Si-Gung Stephen V. Colkett

I recently read an article in a major Martial Art magazine entitled where is the Budo in MMA, point taken and understood. I would like to give my thoughts on MMA and Traditional Martial Arts.

I have been studying different martial arts for 45 years, since 1963 and have been teaching martial arts almost that long so I have amassed enough knowledge and skill that I feel confident in offering my thoughts on the arts.

Budo, the code of Bushido is the Way of the Warrior, in it is found martial spirit with its athletic and military skills and fearlessness in the face of the enemy. Well you have to admit the guys on TV have that.

How about the rest of the code, be a good example, honor, duty, righteousness as a duty, kindness, benevolence, obedience, loyalty, honesty, courtesy and sincerity. Some have it some don’t.

I run a Dojo/Kwoon/Dojang in West Virginia called the Hornet’s Nest Martial Arts Academy of Street Survival llc. And we teach the traditional Martial Arts of Tiger Claw Kung Fu, Ti Sha Shou Chin Na, Shuai Chiao Chinese Wrestling, Chinese Dragon Kempo, Seiei Kan Karate and Ju-Jitsu, Hapkido and I teach Street Survival MMA. In fact I have created my own system of MMA called Budo Zanshin Gairo Seizan Ryu or Martial Alertness Street Survival System.

All my MMA students are already students of traditional Martial art styles and have learned or at least are learning the code of Bushido.

So what is MMA. ? Mixed Martial Arts is exactly that, a mixture of techniques taken from a variety of Martial Art styles and systems, Hapkido is really a MMA comprised of Korean and Japanese techniques from several arts. Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do is MMA. He took techniques from many styles and systems and created a beautiful and extremely effective Martial Art. In my MMA system as in most MMA systems I have taken my favorite techniques from many systems, the no nonsense techniques, the street worthy techniques, techniques simple to use , along with techniques I created myself and combined them into one system of street survival.

A system of strikes, blocks, kicks, throws, sweeps, take downs, joint locks, pressure points coupled with every dirty trick known to man, head butts, elbow and knee strikes, clawing, poking, biting and pinching to name a few. A system of what ever will work to get you out of a bad situation. MMA works on the street.

We teach students how to recognize and avoid a bad situation, escape the situation, diffuse the situation, and when all these fail how to prevail in a bad situation by being alert to your surroundings, being prepared to strike, and launching a preemptive strike when you see that the bad situation is nonresolveable. Then get away, run.

My students and I go to many competitions and we meet martial artists from all over the world and there is a camaraderie that prevails between martial artists, most martial artists are good people who have no desire to ever harm anyone. But sometimes we run across someone who just wants to hurt people, this guy is not a martial artist he is a street thug, and I have to admit that most of them seem to be MMA enthusiasts.

But MMA itself is not bad but it does seem to draw the type of person who will not develop into a true martial artist one who understands the Code of Bushido. Yet there are many good martial artists in MMA many of whom were involved in traditional martial arts prior to coming into MMA. So if you are a MMA teacher or for that matter a teacher of any traditional martial art you need to be careful who you teach. We don’t teach bullies, thugs and terrorists, we teach people to defend against these types, don’t let your art be used in a shameful manner, screen your students.

So where is the Budo in MMA ? As a MMA teacher it is your job and responsibility to teach it along with the art and technique. In fact don’t just teach it, insist that your students live it.


Grandmaster Stephen V. Colkett is the founder of Budo Zanshin Kempo, founder and head instructor of the Hornet's Nest Academy of Street Survival llc. He can be reach at E-mail: scolkett@ruralnet.org or Website: http://www.webspawner.com/users/hornetsmartialarts.

COMBAT WARRIOR E-MAGAZINE July 2007 / CombatWarriorMag.com