Do martial arts develop aggression… or control it?

I often see a common idea in martial arts discussions:

that you need to become “more aggressive” to be effective in self-defense.

But in my experience (teaching and training in silat/kali), it’s almost the opposite.

Aggression and violence are not the same thing:

- aggression can be a useful energy

- but violence is often loss of control

Most traditional systems don’t try to increase aggression,

they try to channel it — so you can act without panic under pressure.

I wrote a short article about this (with a bit more nuance):

https://gelanggangpenditabunian.blogspot.com/2025/05/violence-agressivite-developper-ou.html

Curious to hear your take:

Do you train to become more aggressive, or more controlled?

Submitted 2026-08-22T07:56:40Z by PenditaBunian https://ift.tt/zPOhNbo