Abstract - Therapeutic ethos and martial arts
In order to conceptualise martial arts within humanistic paradigm we ought to overcome the obstacle of a destructive vision. There seemed to be an obvious contradiction of the therapeutic ethos (cure and revitalisation) and the martial arts ethos (mortality and demolition) is in its origin European historically limited attitude.
Comparative research based on a multi-cultural approach will merely discover unity of the "therapeutic" and "martial" in many traditional cultures (Indian, Chinese, Japanese cultures). The contradiction of therapeutic ethos and martial arts ethos was institualised in the process of historic dynamics by generation of special cultural 'disciplinary spaces' [Foucault 1975] - 'spaces of clinic' and 'spaces of casern'.
The authentic vision of 'therapeutic ethos' should deal with a concept of culturally ritualised 'body experience' which is indeed a practical manifestation of the 'cure-demolition ambiquity' (tai chi practices, chi kung etc)