Fine (Martial) Arts

The term fine art is often used outside of the arts to indicate someone has perfected an activity to a very high level of skill. For example, one might say, "Bruce Lee brought the gung-fu to the level of a fine art."

The fine arts are considered elegant and refined; they are considered the arts of the educated and sophisticated upper class. The martial arts are considered crude and unrefined; they are considered the craft arts of the middle and lower classes. For example, you must dress in your finest and keep quiet while watching a ballet performance, but you can dress as you choose and yell all you want at a forms competition. Although the gap between martial arts and the fine arts seems large, the martial arts have much in common with the fine arts.

Just as an actor must memorize the script or the dancer must train and in memorize the choreography, a martial artist must memorize and train in the intricate techniques of forms or patterns. Creativity in an art is achieved through rigorous discipline, conditioning, repetition, and fluency of the nuances of the art. What makes a violinist different from a fiddle player are the nuances in their style of performance, such as bowing pressure and finger movements. What separate a martial artist from a street fighter are the nuances in their style of performance, such as the control of striking power and body movements.