Firm ground

 Okay, this fill be the final post (think of it as a het-trick) on the role of awareness and alertness in the grand scheme of personal protection...for now at least. The previous two articles touched upon some of the basic tenets of what is desirable and what is not in that regard. This time I'd like to point you to a great source for further study.

David W I Wilson's work From The Base Up! is a fairly recent book, and a pretty damn good one if I may say! From the very beginning, it is absolutely thrilling to see aa book whose cover page lets you know exactly what to expect. Specifically, taken together its title and subtitle - Building foundational skills for situational awareness, strategy, and self-defense - very aptly describe what the content is all about.

The aspect of this piece of work that makes me like it so much is that the author gives a very comprehensive, yet practical overview of what is a rather complex subject. He approaches the presentation from several angles, addressing the building elements of situational awareness, strategy and goals, willpower, context, tactics, force matrix, intent, structure, breathing, efficiency of motion, effectiveness, as well as practical application beyond combat. As you can see, it is an integrative approach that includes both "software" and "hardware" skills and discusses how they work together in striving for the optimal outcome. 

Remember how I said it was practical? Well, that is possible the strongest feature of Wilson's book. Whereas most other works on this topic tend to stay in the predominantly theoretical domain, spanning from the unnecessarily burdened neuropsychological treatises to cheap lip service pamphlets that boil down to "trust your gut" level of advice, From The Base Up actually deliver a well laid out progression of explanations, accompanied by actionable steps. It means the reader is given concrete advice and various exercises to better absorb the content, i.e. make the material useful in the real life. 

Now, be aware (excuse teh pun) that it is still not what most people would consider a handbook, because the subject matter is highly intangible and dependent on the user's individual circumstances and needs. However, it is exactly this that makes Wilson's book impressive - to my mind he hits the sweet spot between the education (underlying theoretical principles) and instruction (the practical drills/exercises), so that the readers who take it seriously could reap benefits that reach beyond instant solutions to problems they may not even have. 

Ultimately, a good understanding and "embodiment" of the material presented should make one much better equipped to recognize, prevent, avoid and/or manage all kinds of conflict situations in such a way to also prevent and avoid as many of the negative consequences (psychological, physical, social, legal...) as possible. 

With that in mind, it is hard to imagine a better investment in one's personal safety. 

Doesn't matter!!!

 On the track of the previous post, which dealt with the importance of situational awareness in personal safety, there is something I need to point out. In that post I mentioned OODA loop as a decision making model, and there is ONE single question you may ask yourself that could totally throw your loop off and gravely diminish your chances of an effective response in a bad situation. 

It is somewhat ironic that at issue (or the issue as it may be) is the same question I have repeatedly stressed as possibly the most important one to ask in your training - WHY?

Hmmm, how come? Well, please note in the previous paragraf that the description of the question is based on its importance in training. And there is a huge difference between training and acting in application. Namely, the process of training is meant to help in developing desirable attributes and skills that would ultimately increase one's chances of adequate performance in a moment of truths, whatever that may be for a given person (a competition match or tournament for athletes, mission for soldiers, assignment for LEOs...or responding to an assault for civilians). So, in order to ensure that our training is going in the right direction, it needs to be constantly analyzed and reviewed, with the goal of improving its effectiveness and efficiency in that regard. 

However, if or when you have to face the unfortunate situation of needing to deal with an attacker intent on inflicting you harm, the one thing you should not ask is "Why is this happening to me?". i.e. "Why is he/she/they doing it?" or any of the variations on the theme. You see, at that point, even if you found the answer to the question, it would not be helpful in any way to solving the problem. You need to act as decisively as possible, so the questions that would be more helpful are  what to do and how to do it. And hopefully, the training has already provided those answers and equipped you with proper tools for the implementation of responses. 

That said, there is the right time to ask that pesky WHY even when it comes to life threatening situation, which are best avoided (again, see my previous post), and that is either before or after the event, but certainly not during. Prior to the event is what is called preparation, in hope of getting some understanding of the phenomenon and raising the level of your readiness. Understanding violence and your place in it from this standpoint may be helped by some good works from Rory Miller (Meditations on Violence) Marc MacYoung, Varg Freeborn, Tom Sotis etc. In the aftermath of the event it is first and foremost the time to deal with any physical, legal and psychological consequences that may stem from it. Along the way you will possibly want to asking those WHYs, in order to do your best in attempt to avoid similar situations in the future or at least improving your chances of better dealing with them. 

Mind you, it is not an easy process and there are rarely completely clear and fully dependable answers, but as always...it is about increasing your odds. 

Re-start

 I have always loved new beginnings! The excitement, challenges, joy of discovery...I've always had the feeling that it brings out the best in me. And over the last few weeks, it has been sort of a double treat for me!

First, as an instructor, I have finally put together a small training group in the new country that I moved to a few months ago. And it is great to have serious guys to work with - putting in time and effort, smart and athletic to begin with, listening carefully and following the instructions to continue with. Sheer joy!

As a student, decided to join an online training program in a system that I had never dealt with before, thus stepping out of my comfort zone. Not wanting to reveal too many details just yet, let me tell you that so far it has been inspiring and joyous to work hard as a beginner and having that sense of accomplishment that comes with daily training. Expect more insights in the future, when I feel confident enough, and with the necessary minimum of experience, so that my comments will make some sense.

Sure, the biggest overall challenge is time management, but at this point it is doable. The second in line, considering my tender age of 50 is energy management. Specifically, it primarily means sufficient recuperation from daily sessions, but with some discipline and commitment (nothing new there) regarding nutrition and lifestyle, there haven't been any real problems.

No big lessons here, but again - do not fear new beginnings, because, as the saying goes: there is no growth in the comfort zone! 

Hidden in plain(?) sight

But whose fault is it? 

What I mean here is an interesting phenomenon that occurs as a result of experience gap in a given filed, which in our case is martial arts and combative training. Specifically, with years or decades of training and practice certain things become kind of obvious, or at least they seem that way...to us. 

art by Karl Addison

However, the level of perception for the phenomena that make one's field of study can become quite high due to an equally high degree of kinesthetic perception, i.e. inner feel for the movement and general body behavior, stemming from countless hours of working on and with our bodies. And, after long period of such experience it is easy to forget how it all looked and felt in the beginning. 

If you are an instructor, you should not allow obviousness to become a part of your training plan. OK, if you are a coach who spends most of the time working with fighters and competitive athletes, who follow a continual training regime, the understanding of all the important things will indeed unfold over time. Yet, if you are working with who cannot or will not engage in that sort of work, for whatever reason, and particularly in a group format, it is important to regularly repeat even the most basic (and seemingly obvious) lessons/instructions. There are at least two strong reasons for this: one, there is always someone in the group who "doesn't get it", and subsequently may hinder others as a training partner; two, even for those who did get it (or think they did), such instruction may gain new/deeper meaning when reiterated over time.

This is especially case when you have in your class a person who shows the potential and/or desire to also be an instructor at some point. Namely, for them it is not just the process of learning the subject matter, but also learning how to present that material and helping others understand it. And if the art/system you happen teaching is important enough that you'd like to see it grow in the future - this is an important element of contributing to it.

Finally, regularly repeating even the mundanely "self-evident" axioms of your teaching will make you seek new ways of doing it, thus improving, expanding and deepening your own understanding of the material, not to mention the benefits for your teaching skill.

Obviously, it is a win-win proposition, so what's not to like?

Diving deep

On the heels of the previous post, I wanted to see how such a thorough approach could help in one's own learning and training experience. Although at the first glance it may seem that a more or less scholarly approach to learning a martial/combative discipline is more theoretical than practical, it doesn't have to be. The thing is, on one's training journey it is very easy to fall into the trap of accumulating information, especially nowadays, i.e. going for breadth of research. However, we would all probably be much better going for depth. 

In practice it means seeking to really, truly get a hang of any chosen skill by putting it through the wringer of working on it through a series of filters and criteria, in order to figure out all of its advantages and shortcomings. It could be any specific skill/technique you want to work on, armed or unarmed, and you can find some good ideas and insights into the aforementioned filters and criteria in a book that I reviewed quite some time ago. 

Of course, the experience will be more fruitful with a systematic approach to the study, and choose the material so that you will not lack motivation to work on it. 

source

So, this has been a short post, but could prove to be a very impactful one. Let me assure you, from personal experience, that if you undertake this sort of activity at least once in a while, it will propel you understanding and subsequently benefit both your learning and teaching endeavors. 

Self inflicted violence

 Nobody likes getting bad news, even when they are not directly related to themselves. Sometimes such news wake up and put to the forefront those hard questions that we often seek to ignore or sweep under the proverbial rug. This time, it was the report of BJJ and MMA legend Rickson Gracie being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. And being that in this regard he joins other legends in the domain of combat activities, most notably Muhammad Ali, but other greats such as Freddy Roach as well, it made one of "those" questions resurface again...

I learned about this case via a report/commentary by Rodney King, who has already been featured a couple of times on this blog. His view of the situation (as shared on Facebook) is sobering because he also speaks from his own experience, which clearly shows that at issue is not an isolated case, or even a string of unrelated cases. These facts make the above question that much more uncomfortable to ponder. 

If take a stroll through my older posts, you will easily find out that dealing with injuries is one of the topics that are taken as important here, because they have at least a two-fold harmful effect - inhibiting further training; and essentially attaining a counter effect to that training, i.e. they makes us more vulnerable that being healthy and untrained. But, those are just the physical injuries. As a matter of fact, with regards to martial arts and combative training, if taken from the functional fighting perspective, they come with the territory, as a manner of speaking. Even when growing into chronic issues, such as arthritis, rheumatism etc, I am frequently inclined to think that it is worth the benefits one can reap from training. 

However, the neurological problems and conditions that may stem from them are a different can of worms. First, there is a huge quantitative difference in terms of the deterioration in quality of life, between various orthopedic issues on the one side and Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, or ALS on the other. The degree of a person's functionality in living their lives is simply beyond comparison. Second, and directly connected to the last comment, is how it affects our immediate social environment, i.e. the closest family and friends. Exactly...all of a sudden we don't just bear the responsibility for ourselves, as you can't simply say "it's my life". Because it is someone else's too. 

So, how do we tackle the problem? How does one stay active within his or her chosen field, especially when it is a true passion, while being more responsible in a long-term? Is it even possible to train in a way that is simultaneously geared toward functional effectiveness and personal preservation? The easy answer is - yes! But it is necessarily simple to achieve. Namely, there are many factors at work here, and a proper training environment needs to juggle many of them at any given moment. But that fact is by no means an excuse to neglect it.

The solution probably boils down to a good training methodology, depending on an individual's motives for and needs in the learning/training process. In your search for the good foundation, you might even start with some of the articles on this blog, and see how those suggestions apply to your current training situation. Or, you could go and consult any of those resources from Rodney King, because he has literally dedicated decades of his life and work to developing a paradigm that would successfully avoid or solve the problem we are discussing. 

Ultimately, from this perspective, it is not so much the question of what you do in your practice, but rather how you do it. Therefore, should you choose to keep following the same road, at least try to do it in the best vehicle available. 

Dead end?

 What category of students is the hardest to teach? Yeah, as always, the answers depends on many factors, such as what are we teaching; for which purpose; in what circumstances; how often and for how long etc? Still, even with all these things in mind, I would probably not think of children as the immediate answer... Probably not even in the Top5. 

You see, I work as a schoolteacher in secondary/middle school, but used to work with elementary pupils, too. As a matter of fact, for a couple of years I even taught the physical education class and was given carte blanche to include martial arts in those classes. And it was always enjoyable for everyone involved! In all honesty, though, the whole point of those sessions was to be fun, provide some new movement patterns, keep the kids' attention to teach them focus etc. With goals like that, working with children can be a really rewarding experience. And I do truly believe that martial arts can be fantastic tool in building those kids to be better members of the society, under the guidance of good instructors. 

However, in a recent conversation with a mother of K-6 child, and myself a father of a 13-year old, I was asked what was the proper response to school bullying. And I couldn't give a good answer. You see, the local situation here has changed dramatically in the past month. Less than three weeks ago we had a first ever school shooting, nine kids and one adult killed, a few more wounded. Something that previously had only been stuff of unbelievable news from over the Atlantic. And it caused an avalanche of escalated school violence of  a degree unheard of around here. 

And everyone was dumbfounded... Institutionally (schools, judiciary, media etc), and on the individual level (parents, teachers, children). The thing is, it has been a tough issue for a while now. And here is why.

Namely, just like in the world of adults, any act of physical altercation could have consequences on several levels - physical (injury), emotional (trauma and stress), legal (kids in schools, parents potentially in court), social (how will other kids and families react). The main difficulty, then, lies in actually teaching all that to a pre-teen or even teenagers. Not even adults are always able to handle all those dimensions successfully, if at all, often because it involves too much time and effort (in their view) needed to gat a handle on it. 

The children, on the other hand, are often readier to learn but lack faculties in understanding the deeply interleaved nature of all the aforementioned factors. Heck, at that age they are unable to perceive most anything in terms of long-term views. Patience, attention span, commitment - those are all challenges that can be tackled; but social awareness, understanding of consequences, liability, finality of some deeds - pretty much insurmountable obstacles. At least in this culture. 

Do you teach a bullied child to stand their ground, without knowing how the bully will react? What if he or she pulls a knife or comes with gun next day? Hell, what if they come with an older criminal sibling or parent? At this point, we are moving from self defense to self preservation!

Do you tell them to report to school authorities and rely on their solutions? Yeah, right. Or maybe not even report at all? Do you teach the bullied kid to be first in escalation, use a knife? Join a gang? I hope you didn't even thing of the last two... 

If we have hard times dealing with these questions as parents and potentially instructors, how could we expect children who haven't yet fully developed their psychological and physiological faculties to get a grasp of it all? The answer is - we cannot, and they shouldn't!

What we have at hand is a cultural phenomenon where the society is not really a community, and folks turn their heads away from other people's problems...until they become everybody's problems. Well, that kind of problem demands much more macro-level solutions, and we all ought to take a deep, hard look into our own contribution to the problem and our possibility of contributing to the solution. 

Not an easy task, but a necessary one. 

Stylish issues

 I had a brief but still interesting chat the other day, with a person who isn't really a practitioner, but kind of sidelines fan of martial arts. Fortunately, although the talk was about the value of various martial systems and styles, the said person was above the petty fandom idolization of any particular exponents or their styles, so the discussion was not a bother. The main insight for me came from their observation that in the end Bruce Lee was right that "it is not about the styles, but about fighters", because we have seen representatives (declarative) of several different disciplines having had success in MMA. 

After that, my collocutor was left with a question of why then we still have so many systems and schools? Now, if you have been my follower for a while, you may remember that there are some recommended resources that will answer this question much better than I could within the confines of a blog post. Still, there are, in my view two main components to this - one, historical and social circumstances as they relate to the origin; two, personal motive for being involved with the practice. 

Now, of course, the great Bruce Lee repeatedly emphasized that his practice was all about truth in combat, hence the approach to training, readiness to experiment etc. Naturally, it sounds perfectly sensible, and with the expansion of MMA, it also seems quite evident. This also why some exponents are able to be successful in the situations of being pressure-tested outside the typical framework of their chosen methodologies. That said ,however, it is more often the case of exception, rather than the rule. So, what makes people get emotionally invested in fiery debates about the virtues or shortcomings of their schools of thought, when it comes to fighting?

My experience in dealing with many of those over decades, especially if they have never tried stepping outside the aforementioned stylistic boundaries, is that even if they resort to quoting Lee, it is with a different agenda. Namely, they simply are not in quest for the truth in combat. And, like I've stated so many times, it is OK...as long as they are honest with themselves about it. 

Different folks are into it for different reasons, but quite often they are unaware of choosing to pursue the illusion and live in fantasy, at least from the standpoint of sheer combative effectiveness. In the realm of training for weaponry use it is probably even more characteristic than in the empty-handed systems (although, just the matter of degree). Essentially, it tends to slip into the domain of LARPing, without being called that.

Now, I am absolutely not against LARP and Cosplay. Heck, it gets people outside and moving, while enjoying it. Plus, they are utterly straightforward about living their fantasy. But when a person who does some kind of "traditional" stuff, whether ninjutsy, aikido, kung fu, FMA, RMA, or capoeira, two hours a week on a recreational basis, goes on a rant about just how deadly and lethal it is...ugh, I'd rather not delve into that. Interestingly though, they tend to be offended when compared to LARPers. Go figure...

Being legit

It is interesting that in this day and age there are still so many folks training in combative programs, or even worse - teaching them, who are still so narrow-sighted in view (hehe, put not intended, but I like it) of all the facets of self protection. Pretty much, most of my post here are also aimed at the physical performance aspect of the phenomenon, but even from the early days/years I talked about the neglected-yet-crucial dimensions that will rule the phases during and after the conflict event. On top of that, there has been mention of several other resources that dedicate a lot of attention to those topics, and with much more thorough approach. And still, it is stunning to all those who go at it with a gung-ho attitude, and later meet the consequences to the chagrin of their close ones or those like-minded.  

Well, at this point I'd like to point your attention to an excellent book that paints the picture in very vivid colors, with great attention to relevant legal aspects of one's actions during physical conflict, but without the legalese blizzard that will obscure the point. Marc MacYoung is a long time stalwart of the realistic approach to self-defense and was among the first to champion the cause of taking a holistic view of the problem. He joined forces with Jenna Meek to put together a brilliant book, aptly titled What You Don't Know Can Kill You.

The goal of the book is helping the interested parties avoiding ruin in the case of physical confrontation that involves use of force, whether it means ending up dead or alive but locked up. Now, I don't know if in some parts of the currently "civilized" (read, institution-governed) world the adage of "better to be tried by twelve than carried by six" was a solid rule of thumb sooner than more than 50 years ago, but nowadays it is certainly severely shallow, at best. 

The authors use a series of chapters filled with very plausible scenarios and real life cases to portray the various sides of the phenomenon at hand. They cover the gamut of potential issues that may/will arise out of the use of force in defense of self, thus shedding light on many corners of our training and preparation that have previously been either unclear or entirely unseen. 

That said, they are very honest in their treatment and do not offer ready made solutions to what are often complex, multi-layered problems. Although at first sight it may seem that getting involved into analysis of this sort may lead to lack of decisiveness, therefore slowing down reaction and undermining one's confidence, this needs not be the case. Namely, throughout the book the authors point out to how training and preparation may be updated, modified or adapted in order to develop better procedures, and consequently act with more confidence if the need presents itself. 

Yes, it will require that readers/trainees take an honest look at what they have been doing so far, apply the newly acquired criteria when evaluating what they see, then invest effort in improving their training further on, but ultimately - they (and their clients) will be glad they did. 

Jumping ship?

 

No one has all the answers, right? After all, this is why we cross train. And, nowadays cross-training has become accepted so much that is almost kind of a norm. Although some thirty years ago it was seen by many as the expression of humanity’s lowest impulses, MMA has become possibly the most popular combat sport of our time, especially in terms of the mainstream media exposure. It may even be fair to say that the success of MMA has brought more attention back to the traditional Olympic fighting events such as judo, boxing and wrestling.

So, the revolution that Bruce Lee was preaching almost six decades ago is now a common state of affairs…or is it?

There is a segment of training in martial arts and related disciplines that exhibits much more conservative attitude, and no, I do not have ultra-traditional arts and systems in mind. As much as training in several different methods is widely accepted, there is still a lot of frowning upon the attempt to train simultaneously in two (or more) different schools of the same system or style. For some reason, if a person wanted to train in two different BJJ or karate schools, and just the same for two schools of the same kung fu system, or even two boxing clubs, they are deemed disloyal, back-stabbing, untrustworthy kind of character.

While I might understand the sentiment if at issue is a competitor jumping ship, it doesn’t make sense when talking about a serious enthusiast who may not be focused on competition. What is wrong if someone wants to see how different instructors and coaches treat the same situations? On top of it, for the most part it is completely OK to attend seminars of instructors from other lineages, but training regularly in different schools is a no-no.

Granted, at lower, beginning levels of training such practice may be counterproductive, as the trainee could focus on collecting techniques and tricks instead of focusing on developing strong fundamental principles, but after a few years? As a thought experiment, let’s say you have 8+ years in BJJ, with a lot of money and time at disposal. And you happen to be equally close to the schools run by Marcelo Garcia, John Danaher and Mario Sperry, who all have classes on different days and times. What is wrong by visiting each (or two of them) two or three times a week, as opposed to staying with just one four times a week?

Or, being a boxer of 10 years, and having both Teddy Atlas and Freddy Roach within reach, with a similar set of circumstances as above. Would you tap the knowledge source of both, or chose one to follow?

It bears saying that sometimes two instructors will have approaches that really do not fit, or even contradict each other, and in such case it is definitely better to opt for one. However, if one is looking to get as well rounder view of a discipline as possible, it only makes sense to learn from more than one source. Especially so if you are, or strive to be, an instructor yourself at some point.

Or maybe the whole “problem” is endemic to the place(s) that I have been frequenting, while entirely non-existent elsewhere?

Challenges in training - commitment

 

So far, all the installments of the Challenges In Training “series” discussed the topics that mostly belonged the to the domain of responsibility for the instructors and coaches. Overall, this whole blog is sort of aimed that way, talking about the training methods, progressions, tools, approaches etc. And all those are important. However, the absolute key factor in any student’s progress is actually is or her own dedication and determination in training.

Naturally, when first getting into a martial art class, many potential students may not be fully aware of what is it they are looking for, due to a slew of various ideas about training. And that is fine. At some point, though, some of them will find some reason to choose one system/school or the other and stay with it. From that moment on, the instructor and the trainee have a kind of pact (maybe even a written contract) that binds them in the joint effort of making the latter better at that skillset. Now, contrary to the common initial view, at the early stages of training, the main burden of making that progress is ON the STUDENT! It is up to them to provide the foundation by being consistent and earnest in their work. Most importantly, having made your choice, give both yourself and your instructor some time to get things going. Make sure you are not in this category:

While it is certainly easy to find yourself nodding and agreeing with what Mr. Marsalis says (as an instructor), or be intimidated (as a student), it doesn’t mean the only good way to undergo effective training is what some people would call “old school” – absolute obedience and silence from the trainees, whereas the teacher or instructor is held on a pedestal, with dictator-like mandate to do whatever they feel like. The commitment on students’ part is also reflected in their curiosity and desire to know more/better, especially if what they have to ask and say helps the teacher understand how to prepare the classes and material for the best results.

That said, it does not mean total liberty for the students to just spout the first thing that comes to their mind. There has to be some discipline and self-control involved in the process. Essentially, you should be looking to have as meaningful relationship and communication between the two sides as possible. Remember, it is a pact, with the common goal in mind.

Probably the main hindrance nowadays is the exposure to too much information. I have to say, with the spread of free (quasi)instructional media on Youtube and similar services, it can be rather difficult for students to separate the wheat from the chaff and set up good filters before selecting adequate material to ask about or consult. My advice is, ask your instructor which sources are acceptable from his perspective, and from which phase of your training.

But, most importantly, the students need to understand that training is a process! As such it takes time and it is not linear. There will be ups and downs, plateaus and growth, frustration and inspiration…it is all part and parcel of doing it. But you must be doing it in the first place, and keep at it. Sure, there will be times when you don’t feel inspired or at your best, or when it is the case with your instructor…this is where your discipline and commitment have to carry you. Otherwise, haphazard training will only yield haphazard results.

Lonely path

 ...can be, and often is hard. But if it is what makes you who you are, you have to follow it. The pandemic situation is unfortunately still a relevant factor in our training, after more than a year, which means that solo training is still a VERY important aspect. Although, it always is, anyway. As guro Roger Agbulos pointed out during one of his Zoom training sessions, even before the lockdowns and other hindrances, 80% of his training was done solo, anyway. I have already written about it, so today I'd like to offer a couple of ways to maybe freshen it up by introducing new ways of working on your own.

To begin with, you may consider taking certain exercising ideas and applying them in different planes. For example, most BJJ solo drills are done on the floor, but what if you tried to work on chaining various movements in different positions? Possibly, something of this could come up...

OK, once you are comfortable with that, or simply wishing to add more ingredients to the mix, it could be a simple piece of training gear such as a ball. Following is a clip of my friend Vasilis from Athens, Greece, showing some interesting ways of expanding your training. 

Finally, should you be looking for a way to make the training more reactive and spontaneous, using a pendulum could be the answer. In the following example guro Jay Pugao of Visayan Corto Cadena system of arnis/eskrima is demonstrating it with empty handed applications, i.e. punching, but this type of training can be done just as well with various impact or bladed weapons. 

As always, what you get out of these modes of training depends on what you put in. Granted, there is no way to adequately replace partner training, but it should not be the excuse for failing to train at all. With a little imagination and a lot of drive, you can end up attaining good results, especially with proper mindset

Rocky road to ranking

 Over the past few months I have attended a couple of ranking exams in martial arts, performed online. Back in the 1990's, when I first became aware of various long-distance learning/training programs, done via VHS, I was wondering how much sense did it make. On the one hand, it seemed to me that the logistics were a serious challenge, but on the other - there were plenty of embarrassing tests conducted and ranks awarded in the direct, face to face situations. 

Over time, I came to the conclusion that it boils down to the seriousness of the system/organization and integrity of the instructors who do the testing. I remember deliberately postponing my black belt test in Taekwondo, so that I could take it under a Korean instructor known for strict standards. After spending almost an hour doing the required techniques, forms, breaking and sparring, the whole experience had much more meaning, especially having in mind that he actually failed three candidates out of dozen or so that day. 

Later, when I got involved with different, less formal systems, the entire notion of belts and ranks seemed redundant and needless. But is it so?

Means to an end, or goal itself?

Obviously, when a person is into training for the passion and for the joy of the activity itself, the rank is something of a side-effect, if considered at all. I liked the practice of some instructors I trained under, who would occasionally award ranks, completely announced, on unsuspecting students, based on their regular effort, performance and achievement, without extrinsic motivation. 

However, it took some time for me to understand that there are people who start in martial arts with what I would consider "laughable" aims of chasing belts, but actually grow into training and develop more of intrinsic goals, be it the level of performance, technical performance, discipline and character building, competitive success etc. 

Having children in training is particularly susceptible to this kind of approach, in the terms of valid strategy, although it is certainly not the only one proven to be available. Still, training kids also tends to be the environment where the rank can be rendered meaningless. I mean, with all due respect, what exactly is the rationale behind 6-year-old black belts?

???

Naturally, there will always be schools and instructors reputed as diploma mills, but let's not get bogged in that discussion. Instead, here are some reasons I see as relevant for conducting actual testing for rank. 

First, there are some fighting arts (iai-do, kenjutsu, many kung fu styles...) that simply do not include any kind of external pressure on the practitioners, aside from the possible tough instructor, and preparing for the test could provide that extra edge in their training. 

Next, sometimes the school or training group is affiliated with an instructor that is only able to visit periodically, and testing (usually attached to a seminar) is the only way to gain pertinent insight into someone's level, hence the rank actually serving as feedback for them to evaluate their effort thus far.

Finally, in case of rank tests that are open for public, it can be a good opportunity for the school to show and/or confirm its standards and legitimacy their trainees' work in the world where there is too much marketing and advertising, with scarcity of tangible evidence of quality. Typically, BJJ schools are a good example of how ranking and belts can be meaningful and worthy of respect. 

In the end, let's go back to the beginning. The online tests that I attended were well done - the instructors were demanding and helpful at the same time, while the candidates had taken it seriously and were well prepared to go through almost two-hour event, in order to demonstrate being worthy of the rank. Again, it boils down to the integrity of the entity presenting the ranks, and when that criterion is up to level, the quality of its representatives is almost guaranteed. 

Q&A...not!

 Students will have questions. Of course, that is an essential part of being a student. As the matter of fact, instructors will have questions, too! One may even argue that as long as you train, you will be looking for answers to one question or another. But, not all questions or answers are created equal! 

The point here is not in the "dumb" questions people ask every once in a while, because hey don't know any better or are too lazy to just think about it it, or try it on their own. As an instructor there are two particularly challenging situations you are probable to experience sooner or alter in your work, regarding answering your trainees' requests. 

The first is when they have a questions, but you don't have an answer. In itself, that is not unusual, we all have seen experts in various fields being in a similar position here and there. However, younger and fresh instructors are often stressed by this and tempted to come up with an ad hoc solution, to save their face. Here and there, depending on the person asking and the nature of the inquiry, such approach may work, especially if the teacher is skilled with words. It is OK, if the predicament pushes you to actually look into subject afterwards to see how to deal with the same question if it pops up again. Then again, if you are lazy or don't care about students' questions (in which case you shouldn't be an instructor) it could look like an easy way out and lead to complacency...in which case you are setting yourself for the other scenario. You get the question and try to wing it, but the answer is unsatisfactory and they let you know it. Now, this IS embarrassing, especially if you don't know how to handle it.

 My experience though, as a long time martial arts instructor and school teacher, says it is far better to be honest about it. Say you don't know the answer, but promise to have it by the next training session. Moreover, make it a challenge for everybody in the class, and then spend the portion of the next meet in offering/comparing the solutions. BUT - make sure to do your homework! Others may or may not accept the challenge and seek the answers, but you have to. It will show those training with you that you are an honest and thoughtful instructor who really cares about their needs and do everything you do in their best interest. 

The second situation is probably even more delicate, and something that grand majority of instructors, unfortunately, had to deal with somewhere along their path. There is this kind of student, usually the one who ask most questions anyway, while also being the biggest slacker when actually training. Typically, he or she will approach you with a question, maybe even a good and important one, and when you gladly answer it - it is not the answer they were hoping for. All your great arguments, brilliant reasoning, host of evidence and concrete hands-on demonstration will be futile. Such people have predetermined outcomes in their minds, and as far as they are concerned - you are wrong! By the way, this occurrence is more typical of seminars than regular classes. 

Well, what do you do then? I am afraid the answer is - it depends. You maybe dealing with an otherwise nice and pleasant person who doesn't present any harm to the atmosphere in the group or detriment to the quality of the overall training. If so, ask to hear their opinion (and reasoning, if available), kindly nod your head and say you'll give it some thought. Usually that dissolves the situation and everybody can proceed with their work. 

On the other hand, should you have on your hands a person who keeps pestering you with incessant questions and disputing everything you say or do, there is no choice but to drop them from the group. Again, depending on the context, it can be done politely or harshly. If it is a group situation at all, I would suggest that the person at hand cannot be best served in such environment and offer to give them private lessons. And if it is a private client in the first place...well, maybe the money is good enough to put up with their act, but I would probably say it is evident I wasn't the best instructor for their needs, probably just holding their progress back, and strongly suggest they look for training elsewhere. 

Oh, and if you are a student!? Please, please, please!!! Be mindful of what are you asking and why, i.e. what are you trying to gain from the answer. If looking for a sincere response from the instructor, then take it and give it at least some thought and/or practice with the advice, before asking for clarification or voicing your dissatisfaction with it, should that be the case. Sure, if you are paying for the instruction, you deserve the best effort from the instructor. He or she may or may not be what you are looking for, and that's fine, but it doesn't give you the right to harass them. They may not be aware of their shortcomings, maybe being erroneous in the best of intentions, so it would be better to present your concerns in a one-on-one conversation first. And if it just doesn't work...walk away, don't waste your time and money in a place that makes you frustrated while failing to offer anything worthwhile in return. In any case, the conflict shouldn't be about who is right, but rather about what it the right thing to do. 

Basically fundamental

I was asked on several occasions if I had ever gone to coach a training session without knowing what I would do? In short, the answer is - no! Admittedly, I have appeared in sessions without previously planning the class, more than once. So, how come the answer to the question was negative? Quite simply, there is a super important aspect of training that you can always revisit without feeling guilty... As the matter of fact, if you are not training every day, and making it part of that daily training, you are probably in need of more. It is called - BASICS!

If a man of Virgil Hunter's caliber, coaching champions, stresses the importance of fundamental techniques and tactics, who am I to dispute it? After all, he works with champions and challengers in a tough world of professional boxing, where the failure to train properly is very costly in so many ways.

Now, some may argue that the entire technical arsenal of boxing is rather basic in general, and that other combative systems operate in a more diverse circumstances, hence demanding more variety in training, too. Say, weapon based methods would be like that, right? Well, not exactly. Namely, while the challenges that the practitioners of non-sportive approaches to combat may be of wider scope, effective responses to them are, nonetheless, based on a limited set of mechanical and tactical principles that are best adopted through the diligent practice of those system's basics.

Interestingly enough, most advanced practitioners, and particularly those good in actual fighting, enjoy the constant focus on fundamentals, because they tend to always find new applications and variations of those underlying principles. And it is exactly those novel expressions and applications that make "new and advanced" techniques, but are only possible owing to the incessant drilling of foundations. My main FMA instructor Roger Agbulos keeps repeating his mantra of "advanced techniques being fundamentals done really well", and when you get to spar him, the deep trueness of this sentiment becomes very obvious.

Besides, this attitude is not limited to martial endeavors either. Legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi is famous for starting the 1961 season with Green Bay Packers by gathering the team and saying: "Gentlemen...this is a football!" Another legendary coach, this time from basketball, John Wooden, would even go so far to teach his players how to put on their socks and tie their shoes.

Finally, there is one important distinction we ought to have in mind. When I rant about fundamentals here, it does not mean the disciplinary methods, i.e. customs and protocols aimed at teaching the students proper etiquette and conduct during classes (not that this is unimportant), but rather the aforementioned tenets and principles that form the technical and tactical groundwork of any given system. And with that in mind, the best way to get to the advanced levels of training is to find joy and pleasure in working on the basics.

In the long term, it is not about how soon you can skip to the next phase, but rather how long you can stay at the same and find it beneficial. 

Goal setting...

...is overrated. I sincerely think that. While we do need some sort of metrics to see how much we have been progressing, if at all, in certain undertakings, in my view the entire "goal setting for increased productivity" mantra has been ridiculously overused. And at this time of the year, I have the similar sentiment about New Year resolutions.

In case you are wondering, this is not some rant aimed at venting out, nor am I in the bad mood. The thing is, for the most part I am enjoying the life as it is, in the sense of journey taking precedence over destination. Therefore, the grand majority of things I do in life, at least those I with passion, need no clear quantification in order to make me happy about them. As long as I enjoy the process and see/feel progress (even if not constant), it is good.

Such attitude is probably what enables me to be in this whole martial artsy thing for a long run, and hopefully with more place and capacity for growth over many more years. And there sure have been accomplishments over time, but I tend to see them more as milestones and highlights along the way, rather than something to be taken as goals in and of themselves. While it was not part of some master plan at the outset, I allow for my motives, goals and aspirations to grow, shift and change organically with age and maturity in training, and in retrospect it seems to have been the right recipe for me.

With that in mind, I actually look forward with optimism for what the future will bring...

Happy holidays!

Bang for the buck

Last week I did a favor for a new friend, 15-ish years younger than me, and he was somewhat confused and surprised that I didn't want any sort of monetary compensation. I answered that I had been on the beneficiary side of similar situations before, so this was my opportunity to pass a good deed. It brought to mind the saying that "All the best things in life are free", and I wasn't sure whether that is right or not.

I guess everybody has their own, personal gauge of evaluating things in life, particularly in terms of "bang for the buck". To keep things in the domain of martial arts and training related things, I have received some free instruction over the years, and paid rather heftily for some other. I have also conducted both free and paid classes. On the receiving side, I can honestly say that some of those free sessions were much better than some of those paid ones, and yet, I do not regret paying for those that I did. All those experiences were instrumental in building my view of what is a large and important segment of my life, mostly in good ways, so I am grateful for having gone through them. However, I do not necessarily hold the instruction or lessons that came detached from monetary compensation any less valuable that the costly ones. After all, I feel I have paid for the former with my sincere effort, sweat, bruises and bumps, even blood occasionally. Some of the people who offered them are my friends to his day...as are some of those whom I paid to learn from. As the matter of fact, this very blog started as my attempt to pay dues and express gratitude for everything good that has happened to me over the past tree decades (and some) in and around martial arts.

On the other hand, it is definitely true that there are persons out there who have hard time appreciating things they do not have to pay for. That does not deter me from still teaching for free when it feels right. Have I made wrong assessments in this regard sometimes? Yes! But there have been good calls, too, and those are cherished moments.

Nowadays it might be more difficult, especially for younger practitioners, to have the appreciation for some things, with all the freely available stuff on the internet, bot excellent and awful. The way I see it, it just makes me all the more happy when presented with the chance to make difference and set a positive example in someone else's life experiences...even if it turns out to be mistake.

Pieces of the puzzle

All the founders of martial art styles and systems were those rare geniuses that come once in a… No, wait! Really?  If that were true, then how come we have so many of them? Is it possible that just a relatively small place such as Okinawa gave birth to so many geniuses in less than half century, some 150 years ago? Not to mention much larger cultures, such as those in China, India etc. Thousands of martial expressions in the East Asia alone. And there is one more thing… How come we often see quite notable differences among the practitioners of the same system?

If you take a look at the above comment, you will see two equally important attributes being mentioned: personal and traditional. At the first glance those might seem to be contradictory. After all, the whole point of traditional training is to do the things the same way they have been done for centuries, just like the founders, right? Well, sort of. If you think about it a little, and do some research, you will find out that those very founders have actually codified their own personal expression of the previous traditions, and named them (or their students did). Which means, in turn, that tinkering and experimenting with your training is the traditional approach anyway.

But, how is different to modern, non-traditional approach then?

First, nowadays more people have the tendency to give new names to their personal expressions (hey, we live in the world of brands and marketing!), although there still many of those who keep training, doing their own thing, without stopping to think about how to call it. Second, we live in the information age, when instructors are not so secretive and more open towards cross training. It is, therefore, no wonder we can choose among dozens of schools and styles. Matter of fact, we don’t need to pick just one! Heck, why not attend a few and combine the stuff into our own system!?

Wasted time and effort

This is the problem of the media age. It’s just too easy to get lost in the huge amount of information all at once, but without certain filters in place it can be exceedingly difficult to make the right selections and see if they fit together. I remember a guy coming to an instructor friend of mine who teaches sort of JKD-inspired MMA and asking for Wing Chun lessons, in order to better deal with the clinch range. Asked how he would deal with grappling, the guy answered “I do aikido for that purpose”. He did not think for a second about the gap between the underlying principles of the two systems, but started from the perceived strength of each. Also, and even more importantly, he flat out refused to join that MMA+ class (as my friend called it) which already had worked out the work in different ranges of combat; instead he preferred developing his own system after the hefty experience of six month of martial training.

Another issue is the failure to recognize the most probable challenges and problems you would face, depending on your reason for training, but instead focusing the rare extremes that get the attention of the media. This is where people dedicated inordinate amounts of time to various lapel grabs and two-handed holds, while completely neglecting tackles, headlocks and standing guillotine chokes. In other words, inexperienced practitioners engage in cross training looking for solutions, while not seeing the problems in the first place.

The way I see it, there are two paths to finding the proper fit in cross training, and they are not mutually exclusive.

Yeah!

One, join a club/group that does something different than you, and accept being their “toy”, thus experiencing the problems their style might put before you. Then go back and see what answers you can find by digging deeper into your own system, its technical principles and tactical tenets. This may require some adaptation of the stuff you have been already doing, but that is where the  personal aspect comes in.

Two, if unable to solve the problem on your own devices, then go elsewhere for instruction. However, keep an eye open for the potential problems that may arise from their solutions, i.e. opening doors for new problems, especially if those new problems are more serious that the ones you came to solve.

Personally, if training different systems, I usually keep them separated for a while before even looking at amalgamation possibilities. Sometimes, in fortunate circumstances, such possibilities will present themselves, kind of jumping out at you as a pleasant surprise. Other times it will take conscious analysis and pondering to direct your research. Of course, there is always the possibility of not finding the right fit between the two, and that’s perfectly fine. In that case you can either drop one thing, or stay with it for its own sake.

Naturally, you may be entirely satisfied staying for the same system for years or decades, and I have utmost respect for people who do that. Again, people’s motives for starting a martial art may vary widely and wildly, so as long as your are able to find something according to your needs you should be fine…just be honest with yourself.

Through constraints to freedom

This may seem as a bit of a blast from the past, if you have been following this blog for a while. Namely, some years ago I addressed the issue of adaptability being one of the most important attributes of a good fighter, and what it meant, but this time I would like to address some of the more specific ways to approach this subject in your training. Now, what I am to offer may seem counter intuitive at the first glance, but it is a method of training that has been widely use for a long time and with good results, so bear with me.

If you read the linked article, you will see that I believe in a strong foundational skill set and then incessantly working on developing the ability to respond to the new challenges through exposure to specific situations and circumstances. In doing just that I have noted a natural tendency among the trainees, which in the long-term could hamper their progress in trying to accomplish this goal. What emerges as a typical reaction to such drills is the attempt to extract yourself from the challenging conditions and find the way, as soon as possible, to put your best game to use. An example would be working heavily on your positional escapes on the ground, so you can immediately get back on your feet and start striking the opponent. However, in the transition process you might miss on a number of opportunities to inflict some damage, either by blows or joint locks or whatever, somewhere between those basic situations, i.e. lying down and standing up.

So, how do we learn to recognize opportunities in this "grey area" ? In the coaching science there is a method termed constraints and affordances and it entails limiting the options that trainees have on disposal in dealing with the demands of the drill/situation. That way, they are forced to use other tools, specifically those that previously had not been fully developed and adopted. Here is how the above "transition" scenario is typically addressed in silat classes.

The constraints-led method, however, is not the exclusive domain of traditional/exotic martial arts. Here is the insight into how it could be applied in boxing, to improve the in-fighting prowess among the boxers who typically rely on their footwork and/or longer reach in regular sparring bouts or matches.

In grappling this approach is exemplified in starting all your rolling session from a certain position, the one that is your weak link, maybe spending entire training period doing that; in RBSD/combatives it may be working out of the cornered position; armed systems would stress the use of the "other" hand and so on.

The main challenge in this kind of work is having to face the inner voices that come from one's ego when being forced to step out of the comfort zone. Therefore, make sure to resist the urge to rationalize the weak performances and seek excuses for going back to your feel-good practices. The only way to make breakthroughs in your performance is to "embrace the suck" and keep your eyes on the prize. After all, it is better to suck and be frustrated in training than to suffer in an actual arena of combat, be it urban streets, military battlefield or sport tournament. 

Facing revelations

It is often said that to train martial arts is to walk a path. I agree. Also, if you keep walking it long enough, it inevitably leads to self-discovery, and I agree with that one, too. One question does arise, though – will you like what you discover? No, really, not all self-discoveries are nice. The next question then, and a decisive one, is how will you deal with those unlikable findings you may stumble upon?

What will yours hide?

OK, let’s take a step back. In one of my earlier articles here I discussed authentic motives for practicing some form of combative disciplines. It is my belief, based on experience, that in such cases, even if one has to face certain less-than-favorable aspects of own personality, those situations are mostly perceived as opportunities to learn and better understand how to proceed.

But, what about those who are in it for all the wrong reasons? Are there even wrong reasons in the first place? Again, my experience is that the grand majority of people who are looking for a quick-fix, magic potion, ultra secrets that would yield invincibility, tend to fall off rather quickly and end up being rather harmless, unless…we’ll get there shortly.

There also folks who start in a martial art out of curiosity, and exhibit some perseverance, and find out along the way that they enjoy the visible awards (belts, certificates), status (titles and ranks) and/or financial rewards (as unlikely as it may be). Now, I have no problem with any of those side effects if the said trainees don’t:

a)      do any teaching anyhow;

b)      compromise the quality of their instruction just to indulge their liking of the above “benefits”.

I have met a fair number of former cases, but the latter…not so many. To reiterate, those who do not teach also so not cause any harm, and often just stop training sooner, rather than later, after accomplishing one of those goals. However, if one embarks on the teaching adventure, I am inclined to apply tougher criteria (not that my opinion matters, though). The bottom line is, it is absolutely fine to earn money from teaching, wear a fancy uniform and what not, as long as you are “producing” competent and able exponents of the chosen system. It just happens that these examples are very few and far between.

Finally, we come to the shady parts of the woods. The people who start out of curiosity or with unclear motives and then somewhere down the line they get all enamored with the decorum, tall tales, ego trips and what not. When that happens, the actual contents and quality of training take the back seat and the iconography takes precedence. The main problem is that such types will see as their chief priority in life to open and run a school (maybe even a chain of school, God forbid), in order to fully enjoy their pathology. 

...and the dark side takes over.

The danger in having these characters at large is that in their diploma-mill schools the aforementioned seekers of secrets and invincibility will be led astray, taken advantage of, hurt, and possibly the worst of all – grown into spreaders of their instructors’ training models. These are also the kinds of personalities who dominate the arenas of internet trolling and keyboard warriors with no better things to do than to trash other people’s efforts and work, getting boggled in gossip, slandering and other vile practices.

Yeah, the path of martial arts will reveal those people in our midst, and the threat is not that they will dislike and deny what is obvious, but rather that they will like it and let that newly found menace take reins.