How do you look at your specific martial art or lets say style of training?
This post is not about mma vrs traditional or anything of that nature but on how one views the ends to the means when it comes to self protection. This can be looked at from a micro or macro perspective if one chooses.
Rationalists generally develop their view in two ways. First, they argue that there are cases where the content of our concepts or knowledge outstrips the information that sense experience can provide. That there are significant ways in which our concepts and knowledge are gained independently of sense experience
What does this mean?
Does it state that certain arts because they were developed for a supposed defensive purpose a long time ago in our history or even by one's teachers teacher make them still effective because of there concepts even though they may not have any current empircal knoweldge on their use in a field tested situation.
In that regard what to you defines a field tested or pressure tested situation in that context then?
Some would say MMA or other combative sports for sure, others would argue the techiques and principles used in the current real world by bouncers, cops, guards, military operatives, street hoods and so forth.
On the other hand, Empiricists claim that sense experience is the ultimate source of all our concepts and knowledge. To them if experience cannot provide the concepts or knowledge the rationalists cite, then they really may not be worth a darn.
Maybe instead of a combative sports testing lab, the empircial knowledge is self obtained by the respective traditional art or by ones teacher using it in a working enviorment. Rationalism and Empiricism don't have to be totally serparate either but for the post lets say they are in some big respects.
Arts that one may consider on the macro to be Empirical-
Judo
Wrestling
Boxing
San Shou
Muay Thai
Savate
BJJ
and so forth
Arts that one may consider on the macro to be based on Rationalism-
Longfist
Japenese Jujitsu
Silat
JKD Concepts
Karate
Tai Chi Ch'uan
Pakua
a vast number of gung fu systems
and so forth
The dispute between rationalism and empiricism concerns the extent to which we are dependent upon sense experience in our effort to gain knowledge so on that note what do you think?