Here is a fun guessing game for the reader. Below are two stories. Guess which one is true.
1. Two cars head down the highway one evening during rush hour traffic. Going is slow sometimes, other times fast – the aggrivating rubber band effect of highways crammed with people trying to get home at night. A small blue car cuts in front of a motorcyclist without signaling. The man on the motorcycle becomes enranged. He is the type of person who cannot stand having someone be superior to him – even though in most of his life he has menial jobs, bad relationships, and little respect or power. Immediatley the motor cycle pulls up to the driver side window of the car and the rider begins to yell at the driver. The driver shrugs his middle aged shoulders and mouths the word “sorry”. But that cannot be the end of it for the 20-something year old – he will not stand being dominated by some 40 year old man. He must kick his ass somehow. The cyclist sounds his horn and motions to the driver of the car to pull over. The driver ignores him as best he can. But the cyclist wont stop. As traffic speeds up, the cyclist moves in front of the car, then to its side, then back in front and finally rides next to the drivers door – screaming at the driver to pull over. Finally after 10 minutes, the driver of the car pulls into a rest area to try to talk to the irrate motor-cyclist. But when he rolls down his windot to talk, the young man begins to grab at his jacket in an attempt to pull him out of the car. The older man steps out of the car and tells the kid not to mess with him, he is a Vietnam veteran and knows how to protect himself. Unfortunately for the veteran, the young man on the motorcycle had been training in the martial arts for a year and was also in excellent physical shape. When the punches started, the young man threw the veteran to the ground hard, and he did not get up. Luckily there was a witness to the altercation and the state police showed up at the scene in time to save the older man’s life. The young man was arrested for assault.
2. During a regional martial art contest a friend of a competitor (who was also a martial artist) decided he was not liking the outcome of his friends match. So he proceeded to throw a full soda bottle at his friends opponent during the match. Immediately friends of the target of the thrown bottle tackled the thrower (yes, they were all martial artists too). The two contestants began to full out fight each other. Their sensei’s began to yell at each other. Soon a dozen people were brawling at a sanctioned martial arts competition. The student who threw the bottle was removed from the venue – but everyone was allowed to sit back down and the match to continue.
Unfortunatley, both of these stories are true!
In a quick search of the internet, I was able to pull up several hundred articles from across the world on how to pick a martial art school or how to pick a martial art teacher. But I could not find one article on how to pick a martial art student!
Some students emulate their teachers and if their teachers are not good people, then often the student follows that path – but more often than that, teachers, anxious to grow their student population, and bring in more dollars, allow anyone to become a student. They will give away dangerous fighting methods to people they dont know, did not come referred by a friend, and were not checked out by the teacher. All this for a buck. And the results can be embarrasing if not devestating. But many modern teachers or coaches say – the martial arts are for everyone. I whole heartedly disagree!
The martial arts, as the name implies, are arts of war. That is – learning methods to stop harm to yourself or your family by brining harm on another. No matter how noble the situation in which one has to defend themselves, the result is almost always the same – the attacker is going to feel pain or be injured. The techniques of the martial arts were for war – where it was accepted (as it is in the modern military today) that you needed these methods of defense to stop someone from trying to injure or kill you. But somehow this concept has been lost and the martial arts have taken on the aspect of sport, or self perfection – neither of which it was meant for.
A real martial art is dangerous. The people who practice the methods of war are dangerous. Attacking someone with warrior skills is dangerous. Practicing real martial arts for self defense is dangerous. If none of the above apply to the martial art you are thinking about at this time – sorry – it is not a real bujutsu.
So – as instructors of real martial arts – dont we have a responsibility to the public at large to make sure that those we teach these dangerous methods are good, law abiding, moral, non-fighting people? Unless you specifically are training active military units – the answer to that question is undeniably YES. (this is not to say that a soldier should not be a law abiding citizen with good morals – it just means that if the person is a soldier defending your country – he needs to know everything he can – no matter what)
But the martial arts has developed a problem. More and more often teachers (or those calling themselves teachers) are giving away dangerous methods to people who should not have this knowledge.
Here is a list of people who should not have dangerous martial arts techniques to use against normal every day citizens:
People who enjoy fighting, immoral people, young punks, bullies, gang members, people with violent histories, criminals, large aggressive people, trophy seekers, dojo jumpers, disrespectful people.
So, why then are these the type of people I am seeing more and more in the martial arts magazines, at competitions, running schools or clubs, in the bars, or in the police blotter for assault? Because instructors are making a big big mistake that time will cause them to regret. I will tell you why – because martial arts instructors think they should be able to make a fabulous living by running dojos, because many instructors are chicken to refuse membership to people, because our violent society rewards fighters, because we are competition driven, because most of us are under the delusion we are toughguys.
Any good military (martial) mind knows this one simple fact – YOU DON’T SELL WEAPONS TO THE ENEMY. But that is what martial art instructors are doing all over the world. If a 6’4″, 240lb guy, with muscles and tatoos and piercings drives his Harley up to your dojo and asks for lessons because he wants to learn how to kick ass – ummmm – dont teach him please. Lets use some common sense here folks. Anyone who wants to learn to fight for no reason other than they are aggressive and want to fight, or saw the Ultimate Fighting Championship and want to kick ass too, (which is not what the original UFC was about) is not the right person to teach. Those who are polite and truthful and seek martial knowledge in order to defend themselves or their families if the occassion should arrise, or those who are on current military duty and are going to be deployed to the mid east – yes – please – feel free to teach them.
We are teaching those who would, on any normal day, already be a threat to us – techniques they could and would use against us, or family, our friends. Dangerous self defense techniques are made for those who NEED to defend themselves – not those who want to fight.
Senseis – you have the ultimate responsibility to whom you pass your martial techniques.
Choose your students wisely!
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