Don’t Feed the Trolls: Tradition and Authenticity in Martial Arts
Tradition and authenticity are big topics in martial arts, obviously. The closer any school can prove to be to the “authentic origins” of its martial art, the more legitimate and recognised it tends to be in any martial arts community. If teacher X of a certain school, for example, has spent a few years in Asia and learnt from important masters there, this will hugely increase recognition for her school, and decrease any delegitimising attacks from detractors or competitors.