Age 5, My first Judo tournament
I’m always amazed at the number of musicians that also study martial arts. It seems like whenever I’m around a group of martial artists or musicians I can always find a few people to talk about both subjects at the same time.
For many years now I have thought about the connection; what draws musicians to martial arts and martial artists to music? Certainly, people do things for different reasons, but I have not yet come across a pairing of activities that seem to be so intrinsically linked together. I mean, I know how much bodybuilders also love to crochet, but I think the music/martial arts ties are a bit stronger.
(By the way, if you have a picture of a bodybuilder crocheting, please email me immediately.)
So, today I thought I would take a look at the similarities between my two biggest passions.
The Art
Perhaps the greatest aspect of the two disciplines is that they are both true art forms. Both allow you to express yourself differently from everyone else. Watching a great martial artist is as beautiful as watching Mikhail Baryshnikov dance, and just as moving as listening to a beautiful guitar composition. Don’t be fooled by what you may see in the McDojo’s of your local strip mall or the Saturday afternoon Guitar Center shredfest; there are many, many martial arts styles and musicians that encourage making the art your own as opposed to being a carbon copy of everyone else.
Timing
Gotta move quicker than that!
Timing is everything. In music, obviously your ability to play with the time, stay in tempo, and play with everyone else is crucial. The same goes for martial arts. If someone throws a punch at you and his punch is faster than you moving out of the way… well, I’m sure you can imagine the outcome.
Awareness
Don’t you just love being in a jam session with a guy that takes 100 choruses while everyone else is ready to kick the crap out of him because he’s so self-absorbed with only what he’s doing? Or how about the musician that plays 8,000 notes a second during the ballad Angel Eyes? They have no awareness of what’s appropriate for the given situation.
Martial arts is the same way. Are you only being attacked by one person? Do you have to protect yourself against attack, or perhaps someone else who is being attacked? Are you about to punch a wall instead of your attacker? How about having the awareness to teach appropriately? Should you be teaching a first-day martial arts student how to gouge out someone’s eyes? Should you be teaching a six-year old guitar student how to play Randy Rhodes solos before he knows how to hold a pick?
Training/Practice
If you’re serious about your art, you know very well that it requires constant practice. Even when you become great at what you do, if you just stop where you are and don’t continue to push yourself then you stagnate and start to go backwards. How many times have you heard a guitar player and realized that he’s been playing the same damn thing for several years. Don’t get me wrong, having a “style” is one thing, but playing the same pentatonic licks over and over again is being a robot, not an artist.
And, of course, if you stop practicing martial arts then your physical skills will certainly deteriorate. If you decide to stop training and just start teaching, you become a talking head; a karaoke machine with a black belt.
Revelations
Much older, and still training some 30+ years later
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been practicing or training when I get hit with an epiphany; something finally just clicks and reveals itself when I least expect it. In my martial art we have a saying:
詞韻波羅密大光明
(Shikin haramitsu daikomyo)
The rough translation for this is: “Every moment has the potential to bring us enlightenment.”
Think about that for a second. At any point time, regardless of what you’re doing, you can hit upon a million-dollar secret that completely unlocks a hidden door and pushes you to the next level. The catch, however, is that you have to keep training and practicing. These potential moments can only reveal yourself if you are in the flow, the current that can carry you to the next point in your journey. If you just play the same three-chord cover songs for twenty years you may have a lot of fun, but you probably won’t find any golden keys.
Come Forth and Be Heard!
If you are a musician and martial artist, please chime in. The combination fascinates me, and I would love to talk shop with you.
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I studied Aikido for a couple years… there are so many thought processes that translate into music, and for that matter, life in general. I’ve also been fortunate to do some sports car racing, ie, left AND right turns. The idea of “go slow to go fast”, “smooth”, “relax” … the mind-set is key.
Indeed. Mindset is key!
I started taking Taekwondo abt 4 years ago. I was about a year away from a black belt but couldn’t continue. I was mainly hooked by the competition aspect of it, and indeed TKD itself is heading more and more towards a sport in the US. But even with the competitive angle there is so much to learn especially in the mental aspect.
When you advance to higher belts you will have to learn new moves and some of them are very difficult. Other than knowing the technique, confidence is very important. Heck, I’d say confidence is one of the most important trait for a martial artists/athlete, and I believe the same goes for musicians.
I studied Judo at the YMCA when I was 10. I liked everything about it but I could not learn the Japanese names for the 10 basic moves. I can see this in my own beginner guitar students, when they can learn by imitation but many just don’t care about learning the theory and different scale/chord positions(yet).
The performance aspect is very similar, most people practice until they get it right. You have practice until you can’t get it wrong, to excel. And you have to learn to force yourself to relax in pressure situations. In the book “Zen in the art of archery”, the author talks about an archer feeling where their target is, as apposed to seeing it. Same thing with music, you have to internalize rhythm and harmony.
Creative people generally hate discipline and practice schedules but when you see the results in improved playing ability, you can’t deny that a consistent, organized effort produces concrete results and builds confidence!
Excellent points, gord. I totally agree. Relaxing is key, both with martial arts and music. Your comment about discipline and schedules is also very interesting. I never really thought about that connection but I think you’re onto something. Gonna ponder that one a bit more. Thanks!
I am a Jazz Trumpeter and practioner of Filipino Kali/Escrima. Just like in music , a martial artist may have a style, but the body mechanics are the same as some other styles. Just as jazz borrows from different idioms of music, martial arts style borrow from each other. Just like soloing is improvisational, so is combat.
I’m a wing tsun practitioner and an Jazz/Improvisation musician. There are so many connections between wing tsun (and I’m sure all martial arts but I don’t think it’s my place to generalize) and music. Especially with regards to the chi sao (sticking hands) techniques and the pedagogy.
So many similarities at the learning/teaching level…actual application level, practicing level, performance level (as in for demonstrations rather than reality)…it’s incredible…
I’m actually thinking of doing a paper on this at school (possibly my Master’s thesis…)
That’s very cool, Bwayne. I did wing chun for about a year. Wasn’t my cup of tea but I did learn a lot. I think that would be a great thesis for a Master’s degree. Good luck!
I’m a jujutsu pracitioner (for many years) and I also play electric/classical guitar and I write music. I never gave up one for another. I believe that music and martial arts complete each other. In the past several masters in various martial arts, were also musicians (koto and shamisen players, singers).
Hi Josh , i have been playing the guitar for 10 years now, i think i’m an ok player, i did kung fu for a while when i was 14 yrs old. i had a fight back then, i’m 26 now, i had a fight some weeks ago and i defended myself but i think i didn’t give the guy who attacked me the beating he deserved i got hit in the nose. so now i am considering taking MMA lessons so i have more reosurces to defend myself, but my worry is: what if i get injured and can’t play the guitar anymore? Have you been in that situation too? could you please give me any piece of advice? i would really appreciate it. BTW i don’t smoke nor drink. Thank you very much!
Lots of stuff here, Renzo. First, let me say this. If you train in the martial arts, you will get hurt from time to time. But, there is a difference between “hurt” and “injured.” If you find a martial art where you are getting injured all the time, you either aren’t training correctly, or you are training with the wrong group. Secondly, if you are looking for something where you will be able to defend yourself, I recommend you stay away from MMA. It’s a sport, not a martial art, to begin with. Yes, there are lots of people studying it now, but from a self-defense perspective I don’t think it’s the way to go. Perhaps some traditional boxing lessons, or something like Krav Maga. I assume you don’t want to spend years and years to perfect your training. I can’t guarantee you won’t get hurt from time to time, but unless you severely injure your hands (unlikely) you should be fine.
Hi Josh, thank you for your answer and your time. i’ll check the Krav Maga lessons , thanks again.
You are very welcome. Good luck. But remember the most important thing: the best way to defend yourself is to not get in a fight to begin with. Unless you absolutely have no choice, it’s always better to just walk away. No matter how much your pride gets hurt, or how embarrassed you may feel, you’ll get over it and you’ll feel much better afterwards for not having gotten into an altercation to begin with.
Thanks for writing this, it is a connection that I have been interested in very much so. I played bass way before I started martial arts and as I met various people it turns out that many played music or were artists of another media.
Robert recently posted: Interesting article, Ive always wondering about the connection …
I have been a martial artist studying under JeetKuneDo/Taekwondo for 13 years> I’m 17. I have been a Guitarist/Vocalist for 6 years. I’m considered to be very tricky and creative when it comes to taekwondo sparring and at the same time with metal guitar. I write original licks, and could come up with very soothing melodies that involves very advanced finger-picking techniques. I never had a music teacher or anything like that.This connection is amazing. Music over the years has improved my martial arts *and vice versa
Hey Josh, when practicing the abductors’ stretching to spread my legs and reach the floor 10 years ago, i did it wrong and i injured myself, i stopped the kung fu lessons, but now i am trying to do that again. i’m 26 , i read somewhere that tendons can heal up with longs periods of resting, 10 years is kind of enough right? have you heard of anyone who hurt the abductors and then recovered? i still go jogging and do some stretching i have the frontal stretching (the one you use for Axe kicks) and do push ups and am thinking about gettin into krav maga lessons i practice the abductors’ streching very carefully i know it would take a long time to have the elasticity. What do you think i should do?
I think you should be fine. Everyone is different. I’ve honestly never heard of a muscle/tendon injury that takes ten years to heal. That seems like too much. What I would be careful of, however, is HOW you stretch. Personally, I don’t see any reason why you would want to stretch so much as to axe kicks. You should stretch to increase your functional strength, not necessarily to do splits. Maybe consider light stretching and yoga. Don’t think about elasticity; think about core strength and functional mobility. Hope this helps!
thanks man!
Josh, I´ve heard that doing boxing is really bad for musicians because it injures the wrists. I´m a profesional musician, guitarist, what do you recomend? thanks
If you do it incorrectly, sure. But, in boxing your hands and wrists are taped up pretty well, so assuming you are working out with the proper technique you should be fine. My humble opinion.
I guess I´ll give it a try, Thanks Josh.