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What is the focus of our training, and why is it important to know? (This is a rewrite of the original thought-provoking article written by Marc Mac Young, which has appeared in Black Belt Magazine) Please refer here for the full article You will never rise to the level of your expectations. You fall to the level of your training. What is the focus of our training? There are multiple different focusses in the martial arts. Amongst them we have an emphasis on
In the first category we have systems like Tai Chi, a thing of great benefit to the health of our body and to our inner peace, a form of poetry in motion. This is something people gain lifelong joy and benefit from, as practitioners still perform these movements and remain supple at 75. Then we have things like Tae-Bo, Kardio Karate and such. These are great fun, are an excellent workout, provide variety and stimulation in training but are not to be confused with self-defence, as these do not teach the proper mechanics for use against an assailant since they are not designed to do that. Traditional/Classical systems are the Karate and Kung Fu that we are so familiar with. These can be lifelong pursuits, are of great benefit in building self-esteem, self-respect, providing a challenge to reach the goal of black belt or your even just pass your next grading. They are an antidote to a hard day at the office, a great way to help kids stay focussed, have fun and gain self-discipline. They provide a great base for social interaction. All of these are worthwhile qualities. Sport/Tournament systems have a great emphasis on competing. These are challenging, physically demanding and as fun and enjoyable as any other approach. They are practical in the ring, being geared to win at tournaments and against similarly trained opponents. Mixed martial arts provide their athletes with diverse skills in grappling, clinch work, punching and kicking. These are also not to be confused with self-defence. Professional use of force is the most limited focus. Here there are clear constraints placed upon those using force to resolve violent situations. Training of this nature can be very short and specific - ranging from a self-defence seminar for the public, to arrest procedures for police or military killing techniques. A clear aim in this kind of training is to end the situation now, as it is predicated on you being in a high risk situation. Knowledge of this nature can be transferred in a matter of hours. While this focus is about using violence in extreme situations, it is an extreme that still has laws, rules and repercussions. And these are very real factors that must be dealt with in the aftermath of using physical self-defence. The better public classes will also deal extensively with the psychological and legal issues that arise from using force. It is a fixed focus with clear aims. The methods used are simple, direct, often harsh and brutal. It is not a place to dwell when there is so lifelong joy and satisfaction to be derived from the other aspects of the martial arts. Since each of these has a specific focus and is highly specialised, it is questionable if having one specialist focus qualifies one to speak with authority on another focus ("What we do is also good for self-defence"). If you are teaching self-defence then remember these little facts: we only train in a simulated environment for self-defence purposes, and under stress it is a fact of motor learning that our majority training or conditioning kicks in. Criminal works in a real environment, thus the further away from the harsh realities of violence our training is, the more fake and unrealistic it is in terms of self-defence. |
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