Traditional VS Modern Martial art, which is better?

        For those of you who do not know, i am a martial art enthusiast. I read and watch a lot about martial arts.  I like to discover various different styles of martial arts and their effectiveness, where did it come from, etc. 

      

         The topic on modern and traditional martial arts suddenly came to me and i thought that i can tell you guys some of my opinion about this topic. First of all, my karate association is like a mixture of both modern and traditional since it is under the World Karate Federation ( which aims to get into the Olympics by 2020 ), an international sports Karate federation. During my karate training, there are still some traditional elements like Kata ( Forms ) and Kihon ( Basics ). Some Karate schools in Okinawa or various parts of the world still train ONLY by traditional methods, but not my association. 

          How to differenciate between traditional and modern martial art? Well, from what i read in a martial art forum, traditional martial arts meant that its training consists of things that are from a hundred OR thousand years ago, this includes forms ( a set of movements of attack and defense against imaginary opponents ) , traditional stances, etc. 

 Here's two pictures of traditonal Karate stances

             Modern martial arts are fighting systems that had been modified to suit either the sports arena or the modern world. Examples are kickboxing and Krav Maga. Traditonal Martial arts tend to be long to master because of its complexibility. I remembered that i only learned how to spar after about 6 months of being a white belt, that was because my Katas and Kihons were okay. Modern martial arts however, are not as complex as traditional martial arts and you can expect to learn how to spar just by attending your first training. That is why many people who like to learn things quickly say that they rather go to boxing or MMA class. 

              I think the reason due to the complexibility of traditional arts is because the training are all linked and must be followed through a sequence. I mentioned that i could only do sparring after my Kihon and Katas are okay, that's because if your Kihon has a high level of proficiency, your sparring will too, its interconnected. 

               So, which one's better? The one that is complex or the one that is simple and easy to master? Many people said that modern martial arts are more suited to handle the dangers and violence of the 21st Century as they think that nobody carries a Samurai sword or a Bo staffs these days. Therefore, modern martial arts are able to defend better against modern weapons like guns and knifes. 

                Well, i do agree with that point, but, let us look at another perspective. The hand to hand combat techniques of modern martial arts actually comes from century year old arts. Seen from the pictures below, the block executed by the Krav Maga man actually comes from Jodan Age Uke/ Rising high block of Karate. 

Another one. The MMA armlock is orginated from Jujitsu 

In conclusion, both can be effective if trained well. Traditional fighting techniques were created centuries ago for combat so its effectiveness had been proven for decades.