Martial arts are only to be used defensively, Right?

It is common for martial artists to be taught that the martial arts are only for defense. For many years I took this as you may have. By that, I mean that I thought I was not supposed to use my martial arts skills until an attack was actually initiated by someone else. I thought that to strike first was wrong. In some situations that may be true. We should never be looking for an opportunity to hurt some one else. On the other hand we need to be practical in order to keep ourselves safe. Using your common sense is of great importance. My students are all taught to approach all situations that may become violent this way.

1) Avoid (If you think that things may become dangerous leave before anything can happen.)

2) Evade (If an attack is coming and you only have time to respond, evade or move out of the way in such a manner as to leave options as to how you will control the attacker. DO NOT MOVE BACK, the attacker will only attack again.)

3) Neutralize and Control (martial artists have been taught to defend and then back up into a defensive posture. This could get you killed. When an attack comes, neutralize the attack and stay in a position of control. Do not give the attacker the chance to regroup and attack again.)

4) If You can’t Avoid, the attack has not happened, but you know that it will happen, it is ok to attack first. Yes you heard me correctly.... If you know that you will be attacked and you can’t stop it from happening, then attacking first is less risky than waiting for the attacker to attack. If you chose to take this route, be sure to gain control and keep it.

The bottom line is that in some cases attacking first is really using your skills for defense only. Only you can decide if that is necessary.

At what range do you fight best?

It is clear to me that if two unarmed opponents face each other, they may fight in any or all of four possible combat ranges. As I see it todays martial artists are sometimes not trained to fight effectively at all four ranges. The four ranges I am speaking about allow for all possible types of techniques regardless of what type of fighting methods used.

These fighting ranges are:

1) Kicking range

2) punching range

3) Trapping range

4) Grappling Range

These are the only possible ranges within which two combatants can effectively fight. These ranges at times overlap each other.

The problem sometimes is not weather you are well trained. Sometimes it is are you well trained to fight effectively at all four ranges of combat.

Some examples of what I mean by this are:

1) A boxer is very well trained to fight at punching range. He can also fight with some effectiveness at closer ranges. However his most effective techniques are at or close to punching range.
2) Korean styles like the many Tae-Kwon-Do styles (more than 75 known forms of this art) tends to use kicks most often. Although many Tae-Kwon-Do practitioners can fight at closer ranges, their biggest ability is close to Kicking range.

I could give more examples of other arts to illustrate what range or ranges that they us most effectively. My comments are not to say that one type of fighting is better than another. My point is to show that if forced to fight at ranges that you are not well trained to defend yourself at you are at a disadvantage.

Today everyone is really hyped up about the ultimate fighting championships. What is becoming clear is that to be a well rounder martial artist, it is necessary to be able to fight well at all four ranges.

The common practice is to train in several different martial arts in order to be skilled in all areas. While works. The problem is not with any individual traditional martial art. Long ago in the early days of the martial arts, the arts were much different. Traditional martial arts at that time taught students to fight (real combat not competition) at all four ranges. Several things have happened since then. The changes are to numerous for me to list. It is plain that a few things are clearly responsible for todays martial arts not being as well rounded.

1) Martial arts instructors are less knowledgeable about all of their art, thus they do not teach what they don't know.

2) Martial arts students many years ago spent much more time training and could be taught more.

3) Today the requirements to become an instructor do not require as much knowledge or ability as was common in old times. Under the old masters, it was not uncommon to train 20 to 30 years before being allowed to open your own dojo. Today it is possible to get a black belt in as little as 18 months and open a dojo. Surely those black belts can't compare to the students of 50 or more years ago.

There are a few traditional styles of martial arts that still teach all of the original style. To learn the whole system and be effective fighting at all four ranges can take many, many years. So the problem is not that there are weaknesses with traditional martial arts. The problem is in the availability of traditional dojo that teach the whole art. Along with that many lack the patience and dedication to stick out the time required to learn all that an art has to offer. Sometimes this is because the school does not teach the whole system. Other times it is because the student leaves before learning all that there is to offer. In their minds they have learned all that the dojo has to offer. What they fail to realize is the traditionally it is customary to keep the more advanced training secret until the student has proven themselves worthy of it. The advanced training is done by a few of the highest ranked students in private. No one else is allowed to see these techniques. Commonly most students do not even know of the existence of these techniques. They are neither seen or talked about in the regular classes. It is because of the lack of wel rounded martial arts teaching that many martial artists must study several different arts in order to learn haw to fight effectively at all four ranges.

What color is your belt?

The martial arts have really changed since the early days of their introduction into the U. S. A.
When I first started teaching in the early 1970's, I would often get a question from visitors. In those days people would ask me if I was a Black belt. Most non-martial artists did not know that there were degrees of black belt.
As the years went on the questions changed. For a time people would ask me what degree of black belt I held. Later the question became, "Are you a Master"? Then people started asking if I was a Grand Master. Now I am starting to be asked if I am a "Soke". It is funny how the public perception of a martial artists worth is tied to what rank people think you hold.
The whole issue of belt rank is not relevant to ones ability to defend ones self. You as I may have seen white belt students that can defend themselves. At the same time I have seen many so-called masters that could not fight their way out of a wet paper bag.
I'm reminded of a story that way told to me by another martial arts instructor. He once had a new student show up for his first class. The instructor kept looking at the new students belt during the class. After the class he went to the new student and asked what color his belt was. The student mentioned that he had several color belts in various different styles. He added that although he had studied several arts he was not sure what color belt he was. So he decide to wear a grey belt. His new instructor found the answer reasonable. The student continued to wear the grey belt for some time. Personally I think the student did the right thing. He realized that the belt was not important. What you can do is more important than any belt. Rank is the martial arts is a two edged sword. As you get higher in rank, hopefully, your knowledge and abilities grow too. However, it seems that within the martial arts community as your rank increases, other tend to become more skeptical that you are who you claim to be. It is sad. but true. In a perfect world, belt ranks would not be needed at all. If that were to happen, it is hard to say if that would improve things or just make it even easier to make claims about your self. You be the judge.

What’s wrong with American Martial Arts?

What’s wrong with American Martial Arts?

Today it would seem that there is a martial arts school/dojo on every corner. There are almost as many martial arts schools as there are grocery stores. This would be a good thing “if” the quality of instruction were common. Exactly the opposite is true. The martial arts are about self-defense, possibly in a life or death situation. It is not about earning belts, how flexible you are, losing weight, or getting in shape. When I started training in the 1960's, there were very few martial arts dojo to be found. Generally the training was tough and injuries were common. Few if any children were seen training. The martial arts still were thought of as a serious and dangerous fighting method. Slowly over the years, martial arts students began to look at the martial arts as a potential way to earn a living. As time passed, more and more dojo opened. The standards changed. Fighting became less important. Making a profit became the real goal. Many dojo owners went out of business in the 1960's and 1970's due to financial problems.

The newer dojo began to start running their schools like health clubs do. The dojo started requiring the students to sign contracts. Many promised that the students would become black belts. Right when things seemed to be looking bad things got worse. Dojo began to run belt promotions on a regular basis. The requirements became less about self-defense and more about attendance, flexibility, breaking boards, and competition. Time requirements began to get shorter. This allowed the dojo to charge more often for promotions. More belts were added to increase profits even more. Dojo increasingly began to sell merchandise. As this trend grew, more and more useless items began to be sold. To increase sales many dojo began to allow the students to wear a school t-shirt instead of a Gi top during the summer months.

The minimum age for students began to change to recruit more students. Now it is common to find dojo that allow 3 and 4 year olds to join. They knew that as the students ages got lower, they could no longer stress realistic self-defense as a reason to join. Now many schools promote children (and adults) learning respect, making good grades in school, ...etc. (Although these are admirable traits, they have nothing to do with learning to defend ones self in a life threatening situation).

One business practice that is very disturbing yet common involves the use of computers for business. Like many fields specialized software for martial arts schools has become almost the norm. Software designed specifically for this purpose is not a bad thing. The problem is some of the built in capabilities that have been included. Several years ago, I was researching the many different martial arts business software packages. My findings left me very upset. Many of these programs are set up to automatically promote all the students on a regular basis. All that the owner has to do is to enter the time required between belt promotions. The computer then automatically promotes all active students that are in the system.

Birthday parties? Yes, it is sad but true most of the commercial martial arts schools in the area rent out the school to hold martial arts birthday parties. The martial arts once a deadly form of life protection techniques is in many cases not much more than a day care center. Oh yes, and if you don’t think I’m right, check out how many are now offering to pick up the children and bring them to the martial arts school.

One final issue that will support much of what I have presented here can be found in many phone books. Take a look at the Yellow Pages advertisements. Take note not only of the wording, but the pictures. You will see that it is easy to see that the advertisements target children.

NOTE: It may seem that I’m against children being in the martial arts. That is not the case at all. I do however resent any place teaching what they call martial arts but are really just baby sitting services. The words Martial Arts refers to Military Arts. Those are strictly combat arts, not the watered down commercial things taught at many so called martial arts dojo.
For a long time I would get upset when I’d here a martial arts school referred to as a Studio. Now I have begun to prefer that term to describe them. After all the word dojo, is meant to mean; “The Place where you Learn The Way”. Most Studios surely miss the mark there.