Well, it's kids playing make-believe, and in a physically active way, I'm all for it.
it looks like playing to me as well, and not sure why the community would see that as a problem. even professional sports players know they are playing a game. an interesting and unusual perspective for sure.
I guess much in the same sense that people would probably not be amused if you ran around a Comic Con telling everyone this is just make believe.
And yet, this is what an outsider would think (as someone who does not go but has friends who do). Some people would call tinkering with computers "playing", though my spending years on it resulted in a career path. I don't see the issue with "playing". At some point, if you're not doing it for a pay off, that's what it is, and that's fine.
Unless you mean housewiving, no one can be unemployed for life (save perhaps welfare queens). I still consider housewiving to be a job; it is quite a bit of work. To what are you referring?
Yes something was lost. In Finnish there are different words for children's make-believe plays ("leikkiä") and sports/adult games ("pelata"). Your example of comic-con is spot on, I think.
> “If someone says we are playing, it strips away everything we made, it strips away the reality,” said Ms. Aarniomaki.
She’s objecting to being compared to comics instead of soccer, hence “the reality” being stripped — you’re accusing what they view as akin to gymnastics as being mere fantasy.
not sure why the community would see that as a problem
Or you might see it as playing at being Bruce Lee. Hiiii-Ya!
Needless to say, the former perspective implies more respect for the people doing it!
But there's not a bright line between 'serious' activities and non-serious ones - and hence, not much a sport can do to choose where on the spectrum they lie.
This extends to many other sports and activities: you can practice at a serious level or an amateur one. The difference here is that I see no serious level for this. Same thing with comics, which I saw some one else mention earlier.
I guess if the kids are having fun, fine. This does seem incredibly weird, but I guess it's between them and their parents. However, I don't understand this demand to be taken seriously. It's a hobby; they do it for fun, and that's fine.
What difference would that be? Real-world application? No-one hires martial artists for demolition work.
They're both recreational activities. Doing them well is difficult enough that your ability can be (and is) assessed competitively. Seems much the same to me (at least, if the competition results are consistent between judges).
Is it recreational in some way? Sure. But again, it has real benefits, while I don't see any in riding a toy stick (aside from enjoyment gained).
Some martial arts have some application to self-defense, but I don't think that's the real distinction - people don't seem to treat e.g. Naginata as a less serious martial art even though you'd never use it in practice. And many non-martial-art sports (I mentioned cycling in a parallel thread) are treated with the same seriousness.
> It's also exercise, which has extensive and proven benefits. It also has huge benefits in terms of bone strength and density.
Aren't those equally true of this hobbyhorse-dressage?
Many of the martial artists whom I know began training for purposes of self-defense. Some began as adults, and some were placed in training by their parents after being bullied.
> cycling
That's totally out of the scope of this conversation; I made no claims as to the seriousness with which cycling ought to be treated. I think most sports are given too much credence.
>> It's also exercise
> Aren't those equally true of this hobbyhorse-dressage?
No, not from the gif of a "competition" at the top of the article. It does not appear to contain any serious exertion.
Most sports involve pushing yourself physically. This does not involve such exertion and improvement. If kids want to do it, that's fine (all though still weird as all getout). But I don't think them saying to not "say they are playing" because it "strips away what we've made" is really reasonable. Kids are playing dress-up; it's fine to remind them it's just dress-up. And it's ridiculous to compare it to real sports.
There's a difference between saying that something helps with with being bullied (many disciplines achieve that by offering a structured environment, a framework to develop experience, consciousness over one's body, controlled confrontation, and a controlled experience of pain; I personally found taking up fencing helped me a lot) and saying it's a practical self-defense technique.
> That's totally out of the scope of this conversation; I made no claims as to the seriousness with which cycling ought to be treated. I think most sports are given too much credence.
Very few people regard martial arts as "more serious" than other sports. You dodged my example of naginata; do you consider martial arts that can't be used for practical self defense to be "less serious"?
> Most sports involve pushing yourself physically. This does not involve such exertion and improvement.
I wouldn't be so sure - maintaining precise control over one's body can involve a lot of physical effort. Often making something look effortless is part of a sport's aesthetic, but actually involves a lot of hidden effort to achieve. Consider figure skating or gymnastics, or indeed "real" dressage.
Also, where the hell you live that there are so many muggins, street and bully fights? All the while countless bullies are easy to fend off by junior trainees while the trainees themselves don't become bullies or something?
Cause as someone who done martial arts, it takes more of pure aggression to win against bully (or successfully bully someone) or in street fight rather then technique on junior level. And also that people training martial arts are no less likely to bully others then general population.
Moreover, majority of what is done and taught in martial arts lessons is not for self defense. A lot of it would land you in jail (cause it is about literally killing people), a lot of it is pure sport with little street fight application and a lot of if king of like gymnastics with no fight application at all.
There are not "so many" muggings/fights/etc., but I do know several people who have encountered them. That's not so many; don't you? With respect to bullies, there is tons of bullying in every school. Any one who tells you otherwise is lying to himself.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling
"The matches have predetermined outcomes[11] to heighten entertainment value[12] and all combative maneuvers are executed with the full cooperation of those involved...These facts were once kept highly secret but are now a widely accepted open secret. To promote and sustain the willing suspension of disbelief by maintaining an aura of verisimilitude, the performing company avoids discussing the true nature of the performance in official media"
And these are adults.
These girls may continue their hobbies in adulthood too (like most people keep playing the games they like at older age...)
I also do long-distance cycling, which is just as much of a purely recreational activity (even when competing for points). But no-one calls that "play".