Why do we love superheroes?
The Avengers is currently smashing box office records around the world, so I thought it would be interesting to explore why society loves superheroes and why martial artists in particular seem to have a special affinity for the characters and their stories. Of course the powers and the toys are awesome, but it goes much deeper than that.
The answer is multifaceted. On one hand, superheroes and supervillains are archetypes of various aspects of the human soul. A book could be written on this topic, so all I’m going to say here is that they are the physical incarnations of our emotions and desires, and on this level we can relate to them and we can relate to their internal struggles. They have many of the same weaknesses and flaws that we do, but they manage to overcome them in a way that inspires us to try and do the same.
When it comes to superheroes and their stories, it’s the always-present battle of good and evil that is more interesting to me. We need heroes in an age of cynicism, and the stories of pure good versus pure evil and right versus wrong appeal to us because they are black and white. We live in a world that has a lot of gray; our villains are sometimes less tangible and range from terrorists to rising sea levels. This inability to always identify and fight evil makes us wish that good were always cloaked with omnipotent strength and evil always garbed in the robes of villainy. Who doesn’t want to escape for a time to a fantasy world where the good guys triumph over the sneering villain who oozes malice? So we watch, and we cheer good and we boo evil and for a time we feel secure that justice will prevail.
People are attracted to martial arts for the same reasons they are attracted to superheroes. “Do you swear to guard the lives of the innocent and preserve the peace?” Thor’s father asks him. “I swear,” answers Thor. This is at the heart of what appeals to all of us and especially to true martial artists, who tend to have a strong sense of justice and a desire to make the world a better place. Additionally, not only do we actively train to gain skills akin to those of the mythological superheroes, but training gives us a sense of control in an unpredictable world. It gives us abilities to protect our loved ones and our way of life should it be threatened. Therefore we relate to and admire superheroes; they represent the best we wish to be and what we aspire to become.
Not only does Elite offer classes in martial arts which will improve your skills in MMA, Muay Thai, Kali, Krav Maga, and BJJ, but the school itself emphasizes the importance of being a positive part of the community. This applies within the school (such as when we support one another at testing or coming to a match to cheer on our fighters) and outside it as well. Recently some of our instructors and teenaged students visited disadvantaged children in South Los Angeles and shared the positive effects of martial arts in their own lives. This is just one example of how Elite and its students serve the community at large. We may never be able to fly or shoot lasers from our eyes, but we all have the power to make a difference in the world. It’s just a matter of taking our own gifts and using them for good.
~Katie T.
Elite Training Center • 1628 South Pacific Coast Hwy • Redondo Beach, CA • 90277 • 1-310-543-1600
