(non)Martial Arts

In the beginning, one can reasonably presume that the martial arts were intended as a means to train for martial purposes, aka, battle, but today, such a position is generally not founded.
This is not a "bad thing".
The role the arts play in today’s society could more correctly be described as a means to train to avoid battle in at least two respects.
First, the development and channeling of martial skill has a real tendency to satisfy an inherent need for combat and thereby divert it from venues less safe for such demonstration — bars being a common example.
Moreover, martial arts is far more than a physical skill. If this were not true, lifting weights is just as good. But on the contrary, training for combat, mock or otherwise, leads to a set of attitudes and a physical self carriage that repells would-be attackers.
Of course, neither of these effects is 100% in any case, nor is either effect even present in some cases, but on balance, our modern day training for unarmed combat will more often than not result in less actual combat, which is just fine by me, ’cause practice is way more safe than the real thing.