8/12/2019 The American Martial Arts College II

1/2

6/3/2014 The American Martial Arts College provided by Bravenet.com

http://www.amaconline.net/why.html

Why this program?

In the past, the notion of obtaining a college degree in martial arts wasconsidered to be a joke. Why exactly would someone need a degree in thissubject? Is there actually a need for such a thing? What classeswould beappropriate for an academic study of martial arts? How would a martial artsdegree be used? As the popularity of martial arts increases on a daily basis,so to does the need for a legitimate educational program addressing theneeds of the community. The proliferation of martial arts studios of varioustypes in every area (of the United States) is a testament to the fact that thebusiness of martial arts is growing and is here to stay. The potential valueof martial arts training to the general public also demonstrates the necessityto ensure a professional standard of care and training is at least available tothe instructors who have dedicated their lives to teaching martial arts.Although there are some outstanding martial arts associations in existencewho maintain extremely high standards for both rank and instructorcertification, the additional need for this academic college degree programshould also be readily apparent.

There are hundreds of accredited schools in the United States, and many ofthem have unusual degree programs which, although important, providevery little impact to the general public when compared to the potential

impact of a martial arts degree. Just one example is Mississippi StateUniversity, which provides degrees in sports turf, precision agriculture,cotton ginning, landscape architecture, retail floristry and food science (formore information, seehttp://msucares.com/news/print/commnews/cn01/0101023.html).In addition to teaching martial arts, there are many other career areas inwhich a martial arts degree could be useful. According to Mr. JosephSvinth in Higher Education and the Martial Arts (located athttp://ejmas.com/jalt/jaltart_svinth_1102.html), a degree such as this couldalso be used in careers such as law enforcement, security, corrections,bodyguarding, military, physical education, and social work to name a few.He also points out that, as Judo and Tae Kwon Do are both Olympic sports,scholarships may be available to students attending other schools whilestudying other degree programs.As mentioned before, it should be apparent that there is a legitimate need fora martial arts college degree program. Degree programs such as this arecommon in Japan, Korea, and China, but are just beginning to be seen inthe United States (for instance, Yong In University in Korea athttp://www.yongin.ac.kr/yihume/eng/academic/ma.html, and the NipponSports Science University in Japan athttp://www.nittai.ac.jp/eng/gakubu/gakabu_b.html ). There are currently

THE AMERICAN MARTIAL ARTS COLLEGE

AMAC's home on the Web.

Home Why Certificate Associate Bachelor Courses Fees Biographies

vote

Accreditation

IMPORTANT NOTE: Thisis a start-up program and isNOT currently accredited. Aninstitution must be in operationfor a minimum of two yearsbefore beginning the process toinitially apply for accreditation.The American Martial Arts

College (AMAC) plans to applyfor accreditation once therequirements have been met.For further information aboutaccreditation, please visit: TheCouncil for Higher EducationAccreditation (CHEA) athttp://www.chea.org, TheAccrediting Council forIndependent Colleges andSchools (ACICS) athttp://www.acics,org, The

Distance Education TrainingCouncil (DETC) athttp://www.detc.org , TheSouthern Association ofColleges and Schools (SACS)at http://www.sacs.org, TheTexas Higher EducationCoordinating Board (THECB)at http://www.thecb.state.tx.us,and The US Department ofEducation (USDE) at

http://www.ed.gov. Theseresources are legitimateaccrediting agencies recognizedby the US Department ofEducation, as opposed toAccrediting Mills which willissue accreditation to anyschool willing to pay a certainamount of money (the CHEAwebsite has more informationabout accrediting mills). TheAMAC plans to pursue

http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/http://www.sacs.org/http://msucares.com/news/print/commnews/cn01/0101023.htmlhttp://www.detc.org/http://www.amaconline.net/index.htmlhttp://www.amaconline.net/why.htmlhttp://www.amaconline.net/certificate.htmlhttp://www.amaconline.net/associate.htmlhttp://www.amaconline.net/bachelor.htmlhttp://www.amaconline.net/courses_fees.htmlhttp://www.amaconline.net/biographies.htmlhttp://www.ed.gov/http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/http://www.sacs.org/http://www.detc.org/http://www.acics%2Corg/http://www.chea.org/http://pub10.bravenet.com/vote/vote.php?usernum=802255473http://www.amaconline.net/biographies.htmlhttp://www.amaconline.net/courses_fees.htmlhttp://www.amaconline.net/bachelor.htmlhttp://www.amaconline.net/associate.htmlhttp://www.amaconline.net/certificate.htmlhttp://www.amaconline.net/why.htmlhttp://www.amaconline.net/index.htmlhttp://www.nittai.ac.jp/eng/gakubu/gakabu_b.htmlhttp://www.yongin.ac.kr/yihume/eng/academic/ma.htmlhttp://ejmas.com/jalt/jaltart_svinth_1102.htmlhttp://msucares.com/news/print/commnews/cn01/0101023.html

8/12/2019 The American Martial Arts College II

2/2

6/3/2014 The American Martial Arts College provided by Bravenet.com

http://www.amaconline.net/why.html

several regionally-accredited universities offering martial arts degreeprograms in the United States, both of which (programs) were establishedwithin the last couple of years. These include the University of Bridgeportin Connecticut (at http://www.bridgeport.edu/pages/3868.asp) andConcordia University-Irvine, California (athttp://www.cui.edu/academicprograms/undergraduate/athletics/index_ektid12 Naropa University in Boulder, CO offers a Bachelor of Arts Degree inTraditional Eastern Arts, which focuses on the study of Tai Chi Chuan,Aikido, and Yoga (at

http://www.naropa.edu/academics/undergraduate/trar/index.cfm ). A quicksearch of the internet will also find numerous accredited universities andcolleges that, although they do not offer martial arts degree programs, dooffer individual martial arts courses for formal credit or as a certificateprogram, such as Indiana University (at http://www.indiana.edu/~martial/).In addition, numerous accredited universities also offer intramural and/orvarsity sports martial arts programs. However, it is much easier to find theplethora of diploma mill universities and colleges offering degrees inmartial arts that are not accredited and not recognized by any legitimatemartial arts or academic organization. These degrees and schools are alsoconsidered to be jokes in the academic world and distract from the serious

pursuit of an academic martial arts study.It is generally accepted that the study of martial arts is highly beneficial inmany areas of life. Some of these areas include character development,discipline, courtesy, respect, focus, athletic ability, general fitness, and self-defense skills. Because of these benefits, and many others not listed, manyparents wish for their children to study the martial arts, and many adultswish to train for their own personal benefit. If the only criteria for providingtop quality instruction were the physical ability to perform martial (fighting)techniques and to teach others to do the same, an academic pursuit ofmartial arts studies would not be beneficial. However, providing top qualityinstruction is much more than that. Without the historical, philosophical,

moral, and character development aspects included, the focus becomesmerely martial and is no longer considered to be an art.

Many martial arts schools in the United States teach only fighting skills andleave the rest out, which is a choice they have consciously made. Manyinstructors prefer to include the full aspect of the art and are able to passon to their students only what they learned from their instructors by word ofmouth or from their own academic studies. Although it should never berequired for a martial arts instructor or business owner to hold an academicdegree in martial arts, the fact they took the time and effort to study theunderpinnings of the art in martial arts should be considered a testament to

their dedication to teaching and to the art itself. In addition, the knowledgethat their studies focused on codified and recognized curricula should beappreciated by those interested in studying and training under their tutelage.

(c) 2007 All Content provided by The American Martial Arts College

accreditation through one ormore of these listed legitimateagencies.

http://www.indiana.edu/~martial/http://www.naropa.edu/academics/undergraduate/trar/index.cfmhttp://www.cui.edu/academicprograms/undergraduate/athletics/index_ektid1226.aspxhttp://www.bridgeport.edu/pages/3868.asp