Are You Confused About The Martial Arts?
By CARL TAYLOR
Are you
confused about the martial arts? Don't worry. Most people are. Especially
martial artists. What is the most effective martial art today? Is it Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?
Kung-Fu? Is it still Karate? … or maybe it is wrestling? Maybe Tae-Kwon Do? How
about Aikido? Or boxing? How about Russian Sambo or Indonesian Pentjak-Silat?
Or maybe it is any one of the dozens of other more esoteric martial arts?
The experts generally
say that NO martial art is perfect. NO martial art has all of the answers. But
you WANT all of the answers. So does everyone else. So what are you supposed to
do? Go with a grappling art or a striking art? Or buy a gun? Maybe you should
take a little bit of one and mix it with a little bit of a couple of others?
The problem
is that most people have been looking in the wrong places for their answers.
They don't approach it scientifically? They approach the problem of solving
their self-defense needs from the gut feeling rather than from the brain
thinking. They don't do a proper evaluation of themselves, their needs, their
risks, and their environment FIRST, before they start selecting their
solutions. YOU MUST DEFINE THE PROBLEM BEFORE YOU CAN START SEEKING A PROPER
SOLUTION. And guess what? THIS PROBLEM IS DIFFERENT FOR EACH PERSON. THERE IS
NO ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL SOLUTION. There never has been, and there never will be.
Most martial
arts instructors are severely prejudiced toward their own martial art. I know I
am. That is probably why they practice and teach it. Most don't care at all
about trying to evaluate their own student's needs and potentials before
chunking them in with the dozens of other students practicing blocks and
punches, or falls and throws. A select few instructors would LIKE to analyze a
student's needs and design a custom training plan for the student, but they
don't know how. Plus, that would be an awful lot of work. So much work that all
of the instructor's time would be taken up just doing the needs analysis for
all of the students, and designing a separate program for each, and would NEVER
have time to teach a single class in the martial art. And what if the analysis
shows that this particular student should REALLY be taking judo instead of the
instructor's karate class? How many instructors, even good intentioned
instructors, would tell that to a student and send them on their way to another
instructor and another "rival" art. No, even in this case the
instructor will generally keep the student with maybe a token effort to show
them a few judo techniques along the way. The student either succeeds or fails.
The statistics are clear. No matter what the martial art, most students drop
out after a short while.
Let's face
it. The martial art for a short, fat, dumpy person should probably NOT be the
same for a tall, skinny, lanky person (different reach, different center of
gravity, different amount of flexibility). An instructor with any conscience at
all certainly wouldn't teach a shy 70 year old arthritic grandmother the same
techniques that he would teach to a 25 year old aggressive male athlete and
tell both that these are the self-defense techniques best suited for each of
them. Some instructors might say that they would teach biting and eye gouging
to the grandmother thus arming her with the best of the "dirty"
stuff. But, they fail to take into the account that if she actually tried to
bite someone her false teeth would probably come out, if her assailant's
jerking around didn't break her neck first. And considering her age, past life
experiences, religion, moral values, and up bringing, she probably couldn't
bring herself to actually gouge someone's eye either. The instructor might even
convince her that she could, only for her to discover that when the time comes
that she actually has to, she really can't bring herself to DO it. Arming a person with a technique they cannot,
or will not use is a severe injustice to that student. And what about
people in wheel chairs, or people on crutches, or the blind. Are these people
just supposed to forget about the martial arts? Different people learn in
different ways, but most instructors don't know this and only know one way of
teaching. Does this student before me prefer to process information visually,
auditory, kinesthetically? What’s their first choice; what’s their second
choice? What are their learning preferences, past experiences, and learning
prejudices? The instructors have usually not studied the modern cognitive
sciences of instruction, communication, and learning. Or even, of proper course
design models and methodologies. How about needs assessment, task analysis, and
information modeling? How about simply defining what you want the student to be
able to do when they walk out of your class that they were NOT able to do when
they walked in, and WHY? How would a deaf person do in a martial arts class
where the instructor likes to lecture for a third of the class period?
A big city
lawyer might have very different self-defense needs than does a pool hustler,
or a bouncer in a bar. Even a police officer has very specialized needs. In
most cities, police are NOT ALLOWED to kick, punch, or even throw an opponent
BY STATED POLICE POLICY. By policy, they must use only blocks, restraining
holds, limited joint locks, severely limited stick techniques, and that is
about it. Thus, most karate classes and most other traditional martial arts
classes are really a waste of time and effort for a police officer. Is it any
question why a police officer carries a gun? These days a martial arts class
trains people to dance around in cute little white pajamas, skulk around
pretending they are ninjas, or strap on boxing gloves and try to be champion
kick-boxers. How many students REALLY need to become a champion Thai
kick-boxer? Most of these students are just trying to live out a fantasy
anyway. How many will be able to escape an enraged drunk, bent on their
destruction, after practicing 20 hours of standing on one-leg practicing the
mystical "dragon falls asleep while contemplating his navel" Tibetan
chi enhancement exercise.
What we are
REALLY talking about is personal and professional security for you and your
family. Perhaps you need a bodyguard. Maybe a couple of guard dogs. Maybe you
simply need more lighting around your home, and a bit more awareness? Maybe you
need to move, or even change professions? Who knows without a proper analysis
of your current, and projected, situation and environment?
So, let's
say that the instructor teaches the student really effective techniques that
really seem to fit the student well, with lots of great "finishing"
techniques, but he forgot to tell the student anything about the law, as if the
instructor knew anything about the law to begin with. The student gets into a
scuffle at a local bar, and lays his assailant out in record time and finishes
up with a nice stomp to the ruffian's rib cage. Good job, right? Later, if he
is lucky, the student gets sued and winds up paying a good portion of each of
his paychecks to the assailant for the next few years. If he is UNLUCKY, he
loses his job and family, and gets to spend time in prison because that broken
rib punctured a lung or a ventricle of the assailant's heart thus turning his
"finishing technique" into "overkill". Such a
"finishing technique" might be great in WAR when you are dropped
behind enemy lines, but very inappropriate for most civilian self-defense
situations. Stomping to cause injury is a felony in
Gee whiz, it
certainly does get complicated, doesn't it? To do justice to the student, the
instructor should perform a Needs Analysis and Risk Assessment Analysis for
each student. To do this, the instructor needs to take into account the
student's age, religion, background, neighborhood, place of work, police
record, occupation, the route the student travels going to and from work, to
and from shopping, physical disabilities, and past experiences. How does the
student react to stressful situations? Does the student drink or use drugs?
Whom does the student live with? Whom does he come into contact with on a daily
basis? Weekly basis? How does he get along with his neighbors, co-workers, and
relatives? Have there been any threats, or recent confrontational incidents?
Does the student's job involve travel? If so, to where?
Next, the
instructor should define the REAL self-defense needs of the student, based upon
this analysis, and upon derived scenarios from identified problem areas, and perform
a TASK analysis which defines the suggested training curriculum specifically
addressing the needs of THAT individual student.
Who in the
hell has time for that?
Wouldn't it
be nice if you could find a black-belt instructor with over 35 years of experience
in a wide variety of martial arts. One who is also a professional course
designer trained in Needs Analysis, Risk Assessment and Analysis, Task
Analysis. And trained as well in college level Human Biology (Anatomy,
Physiology, and Kinesiology)?
Well, I am
that person. Like I said before, for physical un-armed fighting, I am
prejudiced toward the martial art I teach, Chin Li Ming Chi Tao Chuan Gung Fu
Chuan Fa. I realize, however, that it is
probably only well suited to ME, and some of my die-hard students, who
sometimes take a near psychotic delight in hearing the sound of breaking bones.
But, fighting is a last resort activity that happens when all else has failed,
or when YOU failed to take proper security measures and suddenly found yourself
in a bad situation that should never have been allowed to develop in the first
place.
Fighting is
just plain stupid. Somebody could get hurt. The best thing is to have a set of
plans and strategies that when carried out, save you and your loved ones from ever
having to fight at all.
As much as I
like teaching people the most efficient and practical methods to break necks
and crush spleens (based upon actual medical knowledge and field experience,
and not just "theory"), I have to admit that is not what most people
need. What is sorely needed is a public service for designing and delivering
custom-made self protection strategies and training that is NOT based upon a
specific "martial art," but is instead based upon a proper analysis
and design of the individual client's situation. I have the skills and
resources to do just that.
At this time
I can only take a limited number of clients, but I will also consider training
other martial arts instructors and security specialists in Needs Analysis, Risk
Assessment Analysis, Task Analysis, and Curriculum and Course Design Techniques
and Strategies so that they may offer similar services. I continue to work with
individuals, martial arts instructors, security teams and businesses, hotel
security, corporate security, executive staffs, special organizations, and
various law enforcement agencies. Have passport, will travel.
