Baby food!
After many years of studying traditional martial arts I was exposed to other non-traditional systems that were self-defense specific. This gave me cause to question many things I had learned in the traditional systems.
I personally discovered for myself by testing theory and techniques in the ring, in tough man competitions, and MMA events, as well as the street that many things taught to me in my traditional MA training really doesn’t work so well outside the vacuum of theory, and the dojo walls.
Here are some of those questions I began asking myself. Take a good look and answer them to yourself or post what you think.
Question 1:
There is strong evidence to suggest that complicated, fine motor skilled techniques, intricate footwork and flowery movements work only at a low percentage of the time in a real confrontation, especially when stress and adrenaline hits during a violent attack.
So why spend so much time, and put so much energy into learning them?
Question 2:
Kata or forms practice does not teach you to fight nor doesn’t say anything about the practitioner’s ability to fight. Remember many effective fighting systems don’t use them, like boxing.
So why spend so much time and energy learning them?
Question 3:
Marching up and down the floor punching and kicking thin air, holding your punches and blocks out at the end, punching from the waist does not lend anything to the effective application of the techniques, it builds bad habits, and re-enforces improper neuromuscular memory.
So why keep on doing it?
Question 4:
Pre-arranged sparring and drills lack the spontaneity and the dynamics of live training, and in my opinion it isn’t the most efficient way of learning combat.
So why spend so much time and energy doing it?
Question 5:
Practicing defenses against predictable attacks and compliant partners will not properly train you for a real attack against a hell bent determined attacker with murder in his heart. Attacks are at real or street speed and are unpredictable. The attacker will not comply with your effort to stop him.
So why spend so much time and energy doing them?
Question 6:
Light contact and or limited contact sparring is like playing a game of tag. Partner A punches, and partner B blocks and counters in return. Back and forth they go.
Light contact or when you punch to the face during sparring but you stop the punch an inch away? Well this can trigger improper neuromuscular responses during an actual sudden attack when the cognitive brain shuts down and the subconscious brain takes over during the first moments of the attack our muscle memory might pull the punch just like we have done thousands of times during training.
A real life attack is often very sudden, explosive, chaotic, and violent. No one is playing a game!
So why is it that in so many traditional martial arts schools the sparring looks a lot like a game of tag?
Question 7:
We Know there has never been a karate army marching into battle with only fists and feat to fight. All armies rely on weapons.
If you knew you were going into battle against multiple attackers, or going to be attacked by someone three times your own size, or wielding a baseball bat and you were given the option of using a gun, knife, or empty hands what would you choose?
Most of us would choose the gun, some may choose the knife, but I doubt anyone would opt’ for the empty hands.
So why is it that in so many Martial arts schools a lot of time is dedicated to empty hand techniques and so little time training in weapons?
Question 8:
In today’s world you don’t see many people carrying around swords, sais, or spears. I have been a paramedic for a long time and I have rolled on many shootings, stabbings, assaults with broken beer bottles, baseball bats, rocks and etc. However I have never seen anyone who had been assaulted with a sword, a spear, or a sai. Criminals use guns, knives, or some other concealable weapon.
So if swords, 3 sectional staffs, sais, spears are not being carried by today’s criminals and are not used by today’s martial artists for self-defense then why are these weapons the main focus of weapons training?
We begin our martial arts training eating baby food, but then years later we find we are still eating baby food. It seems to me there is a large percentage of our training that isn’t specific for what we are training for.
I understand that some of these things are okay for beginners to do but they should be discontinued once the student gains a little experience. Remember most of these modalities are training wheels; we need to crawl, then walk, and then run. We eat Gerber’s before steak.
I also understand when learning a new technique it is helpful to begin at a slower speeds with a cooperative partner, but once it is learned then practice should be live, spontaneous, and dynamic. Once a skill has been learned then it’s subsequent training needs to be done on, pads, bags, and in live drills/sparring.
Some of us train for different reasons, but most of us want to be able to defend our loved ones and ourselves. A lot of these schools claimed they will teach us self-defense, but few deliver.
After many years of studying traditional martial arts I was exposed to other non-traditional systems that were self-defense specific. This gave me cause to question many things I had learned in the traditional systems.
I personally discovered for myself by testing theory and techniques in the ring, in tough man competitions, and MMA events, as well as the street that many things taught to me in my traditional MA training really doesn’t work so well outside the vacuum of theory, and the dojo walls.
Here are some of those questions I began asking myself. Take a good look and answer them to yourself or post what you think.
Question 1:
There is strong evidence to suggest that complicated, fine motor skilled techniques, intricate footwork and flowery movements work only at a low percentage of the time in a real confrontation, especially when stress and adrenaline hits during a violent attack.
So why spend so much time, and put so much energy into learning them?
Question 2:
Kata or forms practice does not teach you to fight nor doesn’t say anything about the practitioner’s ability to fight. Remember many effective fighting systems don’t use them, like boxing.
So why spend so much time and energy learning them?
Question 3:
Marching up and down the floor punching and kicking thin air, holding your punches and blocks out at the end, punching from the waist does not lend anything to the effective application of the techniques, it builds bad habits, and re-enforces improper neuromuscular memory.
So why keep on doing it?
Question 4:
Pre-arranged sparring and drills lack the spontaneity and the dynamics of live training, and in my opinion it isn’t the most efficient way of learning combat.
So why spend so much time and energy doing it?
Question 5:
Practicing defenses against predictable attacks and compliant partners will not properly train you for a real attack against a hell bent determined attacker with murder in his heart. Attacks are at real or street speed and are unpredictable. The attacker will not comply with your effort to stop him.
So why spend so much time and energy doing them?
Question 6:
Light contact and or limited contact sparring is like playing a game of tag. Partner A punches, and partner B blocks and counters in return. Back and forth they go.
Light contact or when you punch to the face during sparring but you stop the punch an inch away? Well this can trigger improper neuromuscular responses during an actual sudden attack when the cognitive brain shuts down and the subconscious brain takes over during the first moments of the attack our muscle memory might pull the punch just like we have done thousands of times during training.
A real life attack is often very sudden, explosive, chaotic, and violent. No one is playing a game!
So why is it that in so many traditional martial arts schools the sparring looks a lot like a game of tag?
Question 7:
We Know there has never been a karate army marching into battle with only fists and feat to fight. All armies rely on weapons.
If you knew you were going into battle against multiple attackers, or going to be attacked by someone three times your own size, or wielding a baseball bat and you were given the option of using a gun, knife, or empty hands what would you choose?
Most of us would choose the gun, some may choose the knife, but I doubt anyone would opt’ for the empty hands.
So why is it that in so many Martial arts schools a lot of time is dedicated to empty hand techniques and so little time training in weapons?
Question 8:
In today’s world you don’t see many people carrying around swords, sais, or spears. I have been a paramedic for a long time and I have rolled on many shootings, stabbings, assaults with broken beer bottles, baseball bats, rocks and etc. However I have never seen anyone who had been assaulted with a sword, a spear, or a sai. Criminals use guns, knives, or some other concealable weapon.
So if swords, 3 sectional staffs, sais, spears are not being carried by today’s criminals and are not used by today’s martial artists for self-defense then why are these weapons the main focus of weapons training?
We begin our martial arts training eating baby food, but then years later we find we are still eating baby food. It seems to me there is a large percentage of our training that isn’t specific for what we are training for.
I understand that some of these things are okay for beginners to do but they should be discontinued once the student gains a little experience. Remember most of these modalities are training wheels; we need to crawl, then walk, and then run. We eat Gerber’s before steak.
I also understand when learning a new technique it is helpful to begin at a slower speeds with a cooperative partner, but once it is learned then practice should be live, spontaneous, and dynamic. Once a skill has been learned then it’s subsequent training needs to be done on, pads, bags, and in live drills/sparring.
Some of us train for different reasons, but most of us want to be able to defend our loved ones and ourselves. A lot of these schools claimed they will teach us self-defense, but few deliver.
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