The Brand

   The other day while talking to a co-worker, the subject of martial arts came up and he said something to the effect that “I could never do that; I’m not into karate and stuff plus I just don’t have the time.” When I told him that he already did practice, he replied “I’m not a martial artist like you;”  almost as if I was wearing a band.  It got me to thinking about just what the hell “martial arts” means in the modern age.  Centuries ago, the term encompassed all methods of combat techniques from hand to hand fighting to the gun martial art of Hojutsu, archery, swordplay, etc. We tell ourselves that we now live in a more civilized time but a five minute review of the headlines of any news app proves just how fallacious that assumption to be.  Musashi, reputedly one of the best swordsmen in history with 60+ duels in his life and undefeated was quoted as saying “you can only fight the way you practice.”  This is utter nonsense.  For him to fight duels to the death with scores of people, how many of you would want to be his practice partner?  Everywhere you look, dojos claim to teach techniques that will work o the street.  By the very nature of training to fight, you CANNOT train for combat; a fluid moving situation, in a dojo, training hall, etc using techniques alone.  That’s not to say that fundamentals aren’t important and the groundwork for how you react; they certainly are, but to rely on the technique alone will often get you or someone else killed.  How many combat vets reading this can tell me that they knew enough to get by after boot, MOS, etc or did you have a severe learning curve from the seasoned vets in your unit who looked out for you and showed you the ropes?

    A personal example I can give is through two separate law enforcement academies, we were instructed in handcuffing technique.  What struck me is that in both a municipal and federal class, the instructor used the EXACT same line at the end of class!  During the instruction, we were taught to come up on the subject being arrested all tactical and shit with the person leaning forward and their hands splayed out straight behind them and to be ready for resistance/attack the moment they feel the first cuff go on (as if they didn’t know they’re getting arrested by this point).  After the class and certification in the use of the handcuffs, both instructors said; “well that’s the technique, but in reality, how the cuffs go on is however they go on.”… REALLY??  So are you telling me that you’re teaching something that you have to but know isn’t going to work in reality?  By relying on techniques alone, you do yourself and your co-workers a disservice because you don’t have the requisite skill set to handle the situation (hence the need for FTO’s and seasoned vets to look out for the rookies). 

    With all the dojos and styles purporting to be able to make you a “master” using technique alone without understanding the underlying fundamentals of how the technique came about and how to adapt it, you are practicing a sport.  That’s not to say that a person well versed in Taekwondo, Krav, etc., can’t be effective in a fight, a quick look at social media videos will show you just how good a person can be and you need to find a style that works for you and your body and that’s fine for the average civilian, but if you are in a position that requires you to use violence to keep the peace, achieve an objective, protect yourself and others and have any kind of training to do so, then you are not do martial art/sport.  You practice and engage in a warrior art.  Perhaps that’s whet’s needed in this day and age; a rebrand to separate those of us i just mentioned to distinguish those who stand the wall (civilians with the right mindset fall into this as well and I don’t want to make it sound that this is exclusionary to them as I can name several persons who rise to the occasion when needed).  Perhaps in this day of PC a new brand that distinguishes those I just mentioned from the “Cobra Kai’s and McDojos” of the world; a rebrand from calling ourselves martial artists to practitioners of warrior arts. Both brands are necessary for a society because each of us is looking for something different but we need to keep in mind just what that is and what we are using it for.