M.A. Self Defence & Fighting.

This is a further conversation on something that I touched on earlier, most People think that Martial Arts, Self Defence and Fighting are the same thing, or at least a different way of talking about the same thing. This way of thinking can have a very negative effect on your training and turn it into a muddy Grey soup of mixed Ideas and Emotions that really has little value and no practicable use.

The vast majority of People take up a Martial Art as Fear Management, they fear that somewhere at sometime they may get attacked so they hope to develop some Fighting Skills to aid them on that dreadful Day, should it ever come. Some like to pretend that it is in fact Danger Management, but if you do truly believe that you are in danger then you need something "right here, right now" and no M.A. can offer this. Buy a Dog, preferably a very Big Dog, keep it with you at all times and do not feed it enough.

Others come understanding the Dilemma of time to train versus a need for action and just hope to learn a few good tricks to help them "Fight" their way out of trouble, these Guys tend to do 6 months at every different M.A. School in their area and end up falling foul of Hicks Law.

We would do well to know what we are looking for in our training, because this can change from Year to Year, even from Week to Week, mostly it is a matter of intention. What do I intend to use this training for?

A Martial Art, is as it says on the Box an "Art", in this respect the Goal is to reach a level of competence that is high enough to be able to perform all moves or sequences in as close a state to perfect as is Humanly Possible, it is this never ending Quest for perfection that keeps many People involved in the Martial Arts for their whole lives, because when one actively sets out to achieve Mastery there is no end to the Journey except when the Journey itself comes to and end. The overriding objective of Mastery of any Art is to "Achieve Perfection". Personal growth is often associated with the achievement of set Goals, and the much valued attribute of being strong willed and having self control and dependability is gained through Years of dedicated training with no acceptance of second best.

Self Defence is quite simply preventing someone from hurting you and departing the scene to a quieter and safer environment, on many levels this can be done without any formal training in any style of M.A.  Example, a Bad Guy wants to hurt you and steal your Money, you push him to the Floor and "Run away", Job done.  Real Life is never as easy as this, but there is really no need for a strategy that is any more complicated, if you are training for Self Defence then you should focus on actions that would stun your attacker and enable you to knock him to the Ground and then "Run away".  In Self Defence the overriding objective is "Escape".

Fighting is an activity that can only be acted out with the co-operation of both sides, it could be a contest, or it could be as extreme as a War, but fighting is 2 or more sides using force against each other to achieve the same result, if it is a Contest then both are fighting for the win, the Belt or whatever is at stake, if it is a War then the sides are fighting for control of a Country or at least part of a Country, the overriding objective is "Dominance". If you are in a Fight then it is partly your choice to be there, you could of ran away and escaped if your Ego was not involved and seeking to dominate your attacker.

While it may somehow be possible to achieve "Perfection" in "Escaping" from your Opponent and "Perfection" in "Dominating" your Opponent it seems pretty clear that the three different objectives have nothing in common, so it is unlikely that you will progress in any significant way without Tailoring your training to a Specific End.

 Martial Art, "Achieve Perfection"
To Achieve Perfection in your given Art then you will want to Focus most of your time toward whatever forms you practice, and try to make all your techniques follow your Forms to the point of being Anally Retentive, rest the temptation to move on to the next form before you have an excellent understanding of the previous form. And of course if it is possible assist in teaching your Juniors, we all have Ego's, and it is often the wish to not be "wrong" or "look stupid" that  drives us to be sure we are correct.


Self Defence, "Escape"
When escaping the present situation is uppermost in your Mind you will be surprised how quickly this opportunity will present itself, just about every Basic Technique will allow you to effect your attackers Balance and slip away, but this is very rarely addressed in Classes, all that is done is to hit, reload and hit again, next technique and so on. Everything you need is there if you look for it and work with it, practice taking the "Blind Side" and getting behind your Partner after a Strike, ask for instruction on how to break your opponents Structure and put him on the Ground {and once he is on the Ground Run away, do not start to stomp him} and make your Escape. Self Defence is about getting Home in one piece. Develop an "Exit Strategy" in your Mind at training and hopefully your Ego will not get embarrassed carrying it out.

Fighting, "Dominance"
Political correctness aside you may find yourself in a situation where you do wish to Dominate another Person or Persons for some reason, sometimes the only way to prevent someone from dominating you is to turn the Tables, often the only chance of Escape from more than 1 attacker is to completely dominate and overpower another person to change the odds in your favour. The most important thing to work on in training is Speed, not just hitting fast but thinking and moving fast, practical, operational speed. Stepping Drills and co-ordination Drills will help you develop good movement, fast movement. Keeping your list of techniques to a minimum will help you think quicker and make quicker decisions, another case of  Hicks Law. Understand the weak points of the Human Body, and learn how to easily access them with the techniques you know. Develop a Strategy, do not expect your techniques to appear out of nowhere and save the Day, use your imagination to visualise a couple of different "Confrontation Scenarios" and see your self get out of them, then really work those techniques until they are like Breathing, natural and normal. Mentally condition yourself to be unmerciful if the situation demands it, most Martial Artists are good People that under normal circumstances would not hurt a fellow Human Being, this is "Hard Wired" into you and may work against you if you do not develop a strong "Fighting Mentality".

Every Martial Art has the ingredients to cover Perfection, Escape and Dominance. It is up to you how you use these ingredients, how you adapt them and flavour them, going to training is just like going to Woolworth's and buying a selection of foods, if you just go Home and throw it all in the same Pot you will get a very strange and unsatisfying Soup, the more you understand your ingredients the more varied and interesting will be the dishes.  Just as there is more than one way to cook a Leg of Lamb, there will be more than one way to use your Basic Techniques, basic movements, your Instructor is like a Master Chef, ask him to give you some new {other} ways of using "Old {Basic} Idea's", and if he cannot then look for another Instructor to get advice from.

Martial Arts were developed to ready the Troops for War, as such they needed to be able to pass on the information effectively in a relatively short time span, you cannot afford to train for 20 Years if the War has already broken out!!  If you have been in training for over 100 Hours and still do not feel that you could get yourself out of trouble then there is something very, very wrong with your Style, your Instructor or Yourself, many people do not do any training or study outside of their Dojo, Kwoon or whatever you call your training Hall, and then wonder why they are not progressing, a great deal of what I have spoken of in this article can be done anywhere at any time, things like developing a "Fighting Mentality, Visualising Conflict Scenarios and Exit Strategies" can only be done away from training, and then you bring them in to try them out, if your Instructor does not understand this then perhaps he is not the best person to be training with.  If you as a Student cannot find the time in your Day to practice the Forms of your Martial Art then you should seriously think about giving it up, the forms of every  Martial Art are the foundation that everything else is built upon, you cannot build anything solid on weak Foundations.

When you go to training you have the right to ask your Instructor to cover any topic that worries you, but as an Instructor I find that Students never do, it would help me if more Students came to me and said something on the lines of "Can we cover a Scenario that deals with getting into trouble on a Train against 3 guys"?  This would benefit everybody in the Group.

If your Instructor is unwilling or unable to do this,  find a new Instructor.