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CANADIAN |
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The Reality of the Martial Arts In a few years I
will be starting my 20th year in the martial arts. Time does fly! So having
spent almost two decades in the arts I’ve developed some fairly strong
opinions with the way things are taught, practiced and perceived. Things really
have not changed all that much since I began, I’ve changed a great deal but
the martial arts are pretty much the same. From my perspective this is
a bad thing. Perhaps the single biggest reason for it being bad is- the
people taking the martial arts are, for the most part, living a lie. Lie may
be too strong a word, deception might be a better term. Now I want you to
be honest. When you first began training in the martial arts didn’t you think
that you were going to learn to kick butt just like all those martial arts
guys in the movies? Hey! I said I wanted you to be honest. So yes of course
you did. I’m sure when you began training you were hoping for the day to
arrive that you could clean out a whole barroom full of toughs just like Steven
Seagal does in his movies. Over the years I’ve had numerous phone calls from
potential students asking if they’ll learn to take care of things like ol’
Stevie. I’m sure my answer of, "No, that only happens in the
movies," is received by them as a lack of skill or ability on my part.
What I’m really trying to do is- attempt to bring a reality check into their
lives. While the
non-martial artist can be forgiven for his/her ignorance, any martial artist
with 5+ years of training who still believes that a trained person can
overcome any violent situation has a serious delusional problem. I can recall
my first reality check in the martial arts. I was an orange belt in Goju Ryu
karate and I was sparring with brown and black belts and I was holding my
own. At the time I thought is was because they were holding back, that they
were taking it easy on me. After all, wasn’t the holder of a black belt a
trained killer? Didn’t black belts in some cities have to register their
hands as deadly weapons? Okay, quit laughing! Don’t tell me that you have
never heard about black belts needing to register their hands with the
police. This is a lot of the crap that has put the martial arts into the
sorry state affairs that it is in. Anyway, back to
my reality check. I finally realized why I was having success. I realized
that sparring was an athletic competition and that it had nothing to do with
deadly skills or abilities. I was able to do well against the higher ranked
belts because I was a better athlete than most of them. Reality check
#1- Having a black belt doesn’t mean that you are a good athlete, and being a good athlete
doesn’t qualify you for the rank of black belt, but don’t underestimate the
value of athletic prowess in real world fights. To give you an idea of how
sad the martial arts is, let me ask you this question. Who would you rather
be with when a barroom brawl breaks out, a team of hockey players or 20
martial artists? If you think about it, and if you recall the types of people
who make up the students in your average martial arts school, I think you’ll
all be booking some ice time! Many times I feel that I’m all alone in my
opinions regarding the martial arts. How can I be the only one who sees these
problems? They really aren’t that hard to identify. Well in fact I’m not
alone, many other instructors and practitioners of the martial arts have
noticed many problems that exist with the martial arts. But having seen the
problems is not enough. Many who see the problems add to the problems with a
much great problem, and that problem is- denial. Many just cannot accept the
truths that are right before their eyes. I truly believe that we have been so
influenced by the portrayal of the invincible martial artist in the movies,
that we just cannot shake this imagine from our minds. We then end up feeling
that we are in the wrong art, or that we just have not YET discovered the
answer/secret. Rather than recognize the all TOO obvious limitations of the
martial arts, we continue to deny the reality. Reality check
#2- even a well trained martial artist may face a situation in which he
stands very little chance of surviving (i.e. weapon attacks, multiple attackers). Yet
even while a martial artist can understand what I’m saying, part of him just
can’t accept it. The images of Bruce Lee, Steven Seagal and all those other
asskickers of the silver screen just keep rushing into his mind. Part of him
just cannot accept that these images are all illusions. Illusions that have
been very carefully made so as to entertain us. I can hear many of you now:
"I know it’s only a movie, but it would be so great to be able to fight
like that!" Yes, and finding a million dollars in the street would be
great as well, however neither one is likely to ever happen. Reality check
#3- much of what is taught in the martial arts is all just theory. Contrary to popular
belief, it has not been "battle" tested. This also ties in with the
denial many martial artists have. Many know that what I have just written
about many techniques being theory is true, but they still are in denial.
Others refuse to accept what I’m saying and by doing so are living in total
denial. To quote author/martial artist Michael Vassolo from his book
"Desperate Measures"- "Because self-defense against weapons is
so rare, there can be no true experts in the field. There are only those who
are experts in theory, strategy, and tactics." Strange, how can methods
that are "battlefield tested" also be so rare? Aren’t weapons the
means by which battles are fought? But the denial in the martial arts is so
strong, and it is just far too disappointing and disillusioning to think that
years and years of training can be rendered useless by the single thrust of a
knife that takes less than 1 second of action. Rather than admit to the
martial arts having limitations many will just continue their search. Years
of time, effort and money will be spent trying to solve their dilemma. But
the truth is- they are only traveling in circles. It should be obvious- if
unbeatable skills exist, how can they be so hard to find? Certainly those who
have found the answer would be sharing it with others. While they might not
offer the answer for free and may want to make a lot of money from the
answer, the answer would still be made available. While several people seem
to be selling "undefeatable" techniques on the video tapes that
they market, it would appear that these don’t contain the answer(s). If they
did I wouldn’t hear as many complaints as I do about these tapes. Reality check
#4- ego has probably cost more people their lives than an other single
factor.
Some people’s egos will not allow them to walk away from trouble and they pay
for this attitude with their lives. A martial artist might even be more prone
to this behavior than the average person, after all why should he walk away,
what’s the point in all that training if you’re going to just walk away? In a
book on the martial arts that I read recently the author talks about the
decisions that must be made before a martial artist chooses to fight. The author
is well meaning in his intentions but he makes a serious flaw (in my opinion)
in giving the reader advice. While talking about various choices that you
might have he says that you could "...walk (or, my ego shudders, even
run) away...". That’s a critical revelation that the author makes, he’s
tell you that his ego cannot accept the idea of running away. Although the
author was not trying to make that point regarding ego, what he wrote gave
away his true feeling. Remember what I said earlier about martial arts
theory. Be very cautious about allowing your ego to involve yourself in a
situation in which your relying upon "theory" to save your life.
Don’t become a martial arts "experiment". So just what good
are the martial arts? There are a great many answers to that question. Some
people make the martial arts their life, others view the arts merely as a
hobby, still others look to the arts as a crash course in fighting. Probably
the person who uses the arts for a hobby will get the greatest reward. Such a
person is unaffected by the politics and ‘style wars" that exist. This
person also has the fewest illusions about the martial arts. For them it is a
stress reliever, an activity that gets them out of the house and gets them
moving. They aren’t worried about the limitations of the martial arts, they
weren’t looking for the ultimate form of combat so the limitations are simply
met with a shrug of the shoulders. Those of us (and if your reading this,
then that includes you) who look to the arts as a means of survival-defense
can still be well served by them (despite their limitations). It’s really all
a matter of "expectations". If you view the arts as giving you a
"fighting chance" than you will be well served by your study of
them. Let me give you a
simple example. Let’s take two men, one weighs 150lbs. and the other weighs
175lbs. If both are equal in physical and mental attributes the 175lb’er, due
to the 25lb. weight difference, has an advantage that the 150lb. man will
probably never overcome. If you have them fight the bigger man will probably
always win. Now suppose you train the 150lb. man. You teach him how to hit
with power, how to kick, how to grapple, and what targets to attack. Now when
you have them fight the 150lb. will probably always win. Why? Because while
the bigger man has a 25lb. weight advantage, his structure is not going to be
so large as to be difficult to injure. The man weighing 175lbs. is not going
to have a thick heavyset bone structure, not in the way a 220+lb. man might.
Previously where there existed little chance of victory, now there is little
chance of defeat. The smaller man has MORE than a fighting chance. Now let’s
take the same 150lb. man and match him up with a 125lb. man, now he’s got a
25 lb. weight advantage. The fight will prove to be a slaughter, but for
whom? "For whom??" you might ask. You might also add, "Why
would he ask such a foolish question?" Oh, did I forget to mention that
the 125lb. man is also armed with a large combat knife? Sorry about that.
That knife changes everything doesn’t it. Well, it probably only changes the
situation for those of you who agree with me. Some of you might still be
suffering from denial and would feel that the smaller man still hasn’t got a
chance. Well from my perspective he’s got more of a chance than the larger
man does. The larger man’s training gives him a "fighting chance"
but that is still no guarantee of success. What if the 150lb. man faced the
175lb. man AND his twin brother? He could possibly win but the fight would be
difficult and his chance of success might not be much better than 30%, if he
used "stun and run" tactics he could not "win" but his
chances of survival would be very high.. What if he fought the 125lb. man and
HIS twin brother, both of whom are unarmed? Well, perhaps his chances might
be 80%. If the 150lb. man is armed with a knife his chances against either
set of twins is probably closer to 100%. Now I have to
tell you this, if I had promised this type of "fighting chance" to
a beginning student most would be thrilled with these results. But somehow,
over time, the student begins to want even greater results. I’m not sure why,
but their expectations seem to change. The reality of the martial arts is- they are not the answer to every combat situation, sometimes luck is a bigger factor than skill. Recognize that the martial arts have limitations, don’t develop or foster false expectations. Look to add simple useable skills, skills that you have the time to develop and practice. Look to add commonsense tactics to your physical skills and don’t allow your ego to get in the way of your natural survival instincts. If you do this, then the martial arts will more than give you a "fighting chance". |
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