Arts of Mars

"Arts of Mars" or Martial Arts is not a thing of hand to hand combat. It is not even about melee weapons or projectile weapons. It is not about self defense. Archery has little to do with that. It is about the philosophy and practice of war. Martial Arts are not exclusively about self defense. They are also about lethal preventive strike using a weapon. Few would dispute that Iaido can be used to assassinate, as easily as it is to defend from an attack. Ninjitsu is undisputedly the martial art of the assassins.

Martial Arts of the Wild West are all about firearms. Gunfights are generally not recognized as a form of martial arts, though they should be. Just as a sword, a spear or a bow can be used with deadly consequences and not exclusively in self defense but in protection of property, livestock or other humans, so can firearms be used for this purpose and they are. The philosophy of the duel has a long list of underlying rules and cultural norms. Melee weapons used for duels have transitioned to firearms, the mindset has remained the same. With guns, defeating multiple attackers is far easier, and given sufficient ammunition, one can fend off adversaries far more effectively than with any traditionally recognized melee weapon. A sniper can defeat more enemy combatants than any archer or master swordsman ever could.

Bushido, is a martial arts philosophy, but so are all the techniques of organized war-fighting of modernity. Martial arts are the arts of war-fighting and any organized warfare has rules, techniques, equipment, philosophy and strategy that fit a particular theater or purpose. The art of fighting without fighting in cybernetic martial arts has become more of an Iaido contest in self replicating spear throwing. The Romans used to make their spears, so that the tip would break off or bend, if they got stuck in an adversary or his shield, this way it couldn't be taken out and thrown back, thus gifting the weapon to the enemy after it is used. This is rarely the case in today's cybernetic warfare. A weapon used, is often a sturdy spear that ends up being used against the attacker.

Interestingly, the Martial Arts of Earth have a tendency of creating proliferation of ever more potent weapons among potential war fighters. Tank, plane or missile, new technological solutions have evolved weapons of war, and these weapons have spread around the globe to every military that can field an army.

Since about 2000, cybernetic warfare has evolved into a battle of wits, by using technological telepathy. Psychic warriors are perhaps the ultimate form of fighting without fighting, in that it is a direct confrontation of mind to mind. In this Royal Rumble, there can be many winners with the Earth's human, cyborg and AI population becoming a collective hive mind or there can be social stratification creating clans, groups, armies and kings. Even gods can come into existence. Had enough of Psychic wars? Are you a veteran with too many scars on the inside? I'll meet you on Mars. Don't get too familiar and friendly with horror and terror, they're just two small chunks of space debris. There's a whole Universe out there.

It will be poetic justice after all this killing on Earth, that Mars, a desolate desert planet like Arrakis, be populated by life to give rise to a new civilization. A civilization of peace, prosperity, modernity, technology. A vantage point for sentient introspection for Earthlings. The myth of Earth's Eden will become a reality on Mars. The first settlers to have kids, will be Adam and Eve to the future Mars civilization. The terraformers will be real Gods that give the planet its biosphere. Most importantly with the God of War turned into a Pale Blue dot, after millions of years of human evolution... we may finally learn to share without quarrels. Some of us may even learn to share our very minds.