Modern Martial Arts VS. Traditional Martial Arts VS. Self-Defense: All NOT Created Equal and NOT Without Flaws
"People who fixate on fighting don't want to cure the disease, they want to choose the symptoms. As any doctor can tell you, you cannot pick and choose your symptoms. Winning or losing a fight--those are just symptoms. The disease is the behavior that got you into the fight."
--Marc MacYoung
After doing much research on the subject of Modern Martial Arts VS. Traditional Martial Arts VS. Self Defense, I came across a fantastic article by Marc MacYoung. Because what he has to say about it is so vitally important, and I feel I cannot explain it any better, I will quote him verbatim (Warning: there is some profanity):
"'Two fleas were arguing over who owned a dog....'"
"That inane concept pretty well sums up the arguing, politics, disrespecting, bad-mouthing and overall bullshit that surrounds the controversy of traditional martial arts vs. 'real fighting' When, in this business, you see at the number of people who claim
a) to have the 'true' version of a martial art system,
b) to possess the 'secret teachings' of a MA system,
c) that they teach combat (fill-in-the-blank)-do,
d) they are masters of 'reality-based fighting,'
e) they are masters of the 'ultimate fighting system,' and/or
f) they are grandmasters, pendekars, datus, masters, maha gurus, doctors (or whatever grand-poobah title they use) of an ancient, secret
fighting system that only they possess knowledge of ... then look back at the "two fleas arguing" idea you begin to see exactly how ludicrous these claims really are.
"I very specifically used the term 'business' in the previous paragraph as the ones who are doing the most politicking, badmouthing, recruiting and salesmanship (read: outrageous claims) really are more about 'business' than anything else. Because 'salesmanship' is what all those claims boil down to--to get someone to give them money by peddling something that the buyer wants.
"Bottomline: Nobody 'owns' the TRUTH about martial arts and self-defense. Nobody can teach you the 'true' version of a martial art. Nor can they teach you about self-defense without including a wide variety of topics other than just physical. If they say they can, they are lying...usually to get your money. No 'traditional' art from a distant and exotic place, no matter how physically effective, can teach you about the modern cultural, legal and pragmatic standards of fighting in your country. These little issues seriously affect 'real fighting.'
"By the end of this page (from MacYoung's article), you will know what I think about people claiming to be able to teach you 'how to fight' and fixating on that aspect only. To tell you honestly, the only 'truth' I ever learned about 'real' fighting--from a lifetime of doing it--is that it is both painful and an outrageously stupid waste of time. As such selling you training in the ultimate fighting system is pretty damn silly--and don't even get me started on the hucksters who claim to be able to make you a master streetfighter. There ain't no such thing, except in the heads of people who have paid a whole lot of money for that fantasy.
"However, as the old saw goes 'There wouldn't be prostitutes if there weren't customers willing to pay for it.'
"If there weren't people whose fantasies were being fulfilled by what I just described there wouldn't be people selling it. The purpose of this page is twofold. First, to assist the you, the reader in reviewing your own motivation for studying the martial arts. Second, to help you recognize when someone is handing you a line of bullshit. Whether the BS be about their ancient warrior lineage or the 'combat effectiveness' of their modern 'reality-based' fighting system, both are trying to sell you a dysfunctional fantasy."
The above quote by Marc Macyoung, a veteran street fighter, comes from his website. I am very grateful for his contribution to the great cause of learning real self-defense. I highly recommend that you read his entire article (as well as the rest of his website). Here is the link:
http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/traditionalMA.htm
My purpose in this study is threefold:
1. To expand upon his words (and others')
2. To make some sense out of all the confusion about what "real" martial arts is
3. To condense all the information into one solid sentence of what we do here at Applied Martial Arts. We believe in simplicity. We believe that it is of supreme intelligence to be able to find simplicity in a complex world. If you would like to skip to the end of the article and find that one sentence, you may do so. I realize this article is long and we all have busy lives.
If you're unfamiliar with martial arts, you may never have seen any confusion at all, in which case this is all new to you. If you are familiar with martial arts, you may be stuck in your own world and think that you're in just the right place that will make you the most powerful "fighter" in the world. You may be familiar with martial arts to one degree or another and strongly disagree with the contents of this article. If you're an instructor of martial arts, own your own school, and make money, you may HATE this article. The reason you will hate this article is because it threatens the weight of your wallet.
KNOWING WHAT SELF DEFENSE IS WILL CHANGE HOW YOU VIEW MARTIAL ART SCHOOLS, TRADITIONAL OR MODERN.
In MacYoung's article, he compared "fighting" or "combat" to a long hallway. In this original, long hallway you would find plenty of "side hallways." The long hallway is likened to actual combat and fighting and the side hallways are likened to all the different "aspects" of fighting and combat. One hallway might be striking, another grappling, etc. MacYoung, in his youth, had some horrible experiences with some McDojos and found that the things they taught him simply did not work in actual street fights. He started hating Traditional Martial Arts schools. He grew up and learned that it wasn't the art forms in and of themselves. It was that the instructors did not teach him that their style, or fighting system, provided only one "aspect" (or side door/hallway) of "real fighting" (the original hallway).
Here is the underlying principle of my article: It doesn't matter whether it's a Traditional Martial Art or a Modern Art (like Krav Maga or MMA [which claims a nice "mix" of everything."]) because you're still only going to be walking down one of the "side hallways." The problem, as MacYoung explained it (and I fully agree), is that most MA schools teach that THEY ARE the original hallway, teach the full spectrum of martial arts, and/or provide you with a one-stop-fix to becoming a human wrecking machine.
Keep in mind, martial arts (or cultural fighting systems) IS NOT an exact science. It is not clear-cut. I've had martial artists try and explain to me that martial arts is like the bench press or basketball; the more you practice and master the skills, the better you'll be able to make a free throw basket or bench press lots of weight. Yes, if you practice punching a punching bag you will get better at punching a punching bag. If you practice breaking boards you will get better at breaking boards in any which way you practiced it.
Again, the art of fighting and combat is not an exact science. It is like Chess. Nobody has figured Chess out. Nobody has "mastered it" and "solved the mystery" because there are innumerable possibilities. It isn't like making the basket or benching 400 lbs. It is much more complicated. In fact, Chess is a very good example because it is "a game of war," traced back to at least 7th Century India.
In his book "Chess," David King explains that "It has been claimed that there are more possible moves on the chessboard than there are atoms in the universe. This helps us account for the game's popularity through the ages. Chess has never been 'solved.' Even in today's computer age, it remains as complex and fascinating as it must have been when it emerged in India, almost 1500 years ago."
"Chess," he continues, "is a game of war. You control one army and your opponent, the enemy, controls the other. The fate of your army depends entirely on your own skill. Most other games rely on chance--a move may be determined by a roll of the dice, or the turn of a card. But in Chess there is no luck. You are entirely responsible for your own success or failure, and this is why chess can be one of the most satisfying of all games to win."
So, Chess is "a game of war" and hasn't been "solved." In an extremely similar way, the art of war/combat has not been solved. That is why it's almost ludicrous to legitimately claim to be a "master" of martial arts or a "master" of combat. Now, there are "masters" of Chess, and they are very good at the game, but that doesn't mean that the game has been "solved," as King observed. It means that there are practitioners at a high level. Since we have to have some sort of ranking system to know who knows what and to what degree, there is a ranking system in Chess.
However, sadly, Chess has a much more universal and valid ranking system than "martial arts." You can pretend to be a "master" of martial arts and never have to fight to the death to prove it, and you can make a lot of money doing so (many do!). You can own a (Mc)Dojo and never spar with your students to prove competency. However, you CANNOT pretend to be a master of Chess and not be able to destroy even a very experienced Chess player 10 out of 10 times!
Applied Martial Arts is not ALL you ever need to know about fighting. I personally do not have the kind of experience or knowledge to COMPLETELY empower you in all aspects of combat and fighting. I don't believe anyone does. However, here is what Applied Martial Arts CAN DO: We can provide you with many of the basic, fundamental principles relating strictly to self-defense, intertwining the educational materials as well as the physical skills (the latter of which paradoxically takes the longest to learn yet is of least importance and is less commonly needed). Therefore, we provide you with only THE BASICS of a few "aspects" (not the mastery of them). Are the basics all you need?
Maybe, maybe not. Depends on what the future holds for you. Perhaps all you need to know is situational awareness, verbal skills, and how to get a hold of a good home-security system. Perhaps, however, you need to also learn that which is less commonly needed, the physical techniques, in order to survive an unpredictable, unforeseeable combat situation in your near or distant future. If that is the case, we can only provide you with so many practical techniques to use on an actual enemy (not a sparring partner). We can't provide you with ALL of them, let alone the mastery of them. Again, I don't believe anyone can do that for you. If you take several decades of your life, dedicate some quality time exploring many "side hallways," then I'm sure you can "master" certain aspects of "real fighting." Nobody has mastered them all. Nobody is 1,000 years old. That's why a HUGE red flag should arise in your brain if you hear, let's say, a Karate instructor claim he is a "master of martial arts." In a lifetime, perhaps one can "master" Karate, and be as good at Karate as a "master of Chess" is good at Chess. Same goes with any style. If you devote a few decades of your life to JiuJitsu, you may "master it," but that doesn't mean you're a "master" of martial arts. If you somehow legitimately master two or three different art forms in your lifetime, you can claim a "master" of two or three art forms...still not a "master of martial arts." Go Wiki all the different kinds of martial arts and count them. Here, I'll give you the link. Hope you have a lot of time on your hands:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_martial_arts
Even if ALL of the martial art forms in the world could be tied together and perfectly mastered, would the fighting system still be perfect and invincible under any possible circumstance? I think not. I think combat is even more complex than Chess, especially in our day and age wherein military-oriented technology is booming like never before in the history of the world.
How to defeat someone attacking you? Just think of all the different possibilities, circumstances, emotions, weapons, personalities, cultures, and so and and so forth! It is endless! At least in Chess we know how many pieces there are and how they are supposed to move. We don't always know the opponent's strategy, but we do know the nature of the moves! Once again, a superb analogy: Chess and the art of war, the latter being even more complicated. After all, Combat has somehow accumulated thousands of different art forms over the history of the world. Chess has stayed much more consistent, and, arguably, possesses only one style. Chess players may insist that there are many ways to play and approach the game of Chess, but everything is still followed by the same rules and the pieces can only move in specific ways. Combat has much more variables (and styles!)
I am not a "master" of martial arts. I believe that, in this world, there are much fewer true "masters" of particular art forms than are claimant. However, I have enough experience and knowledge to teach you exactly what I claim to be able to teach you. This is the precise reason for which we have always encouraged you to seek out at least one martial art form that suits your needs and desires once you complete your training with us. We are one "side hallway," and will never teach you that we are the only source from which you can obtain knowledge pertaining to self-defense (or martial arts!). We can, in the very least, give you a huge start. From there, you may creatively choose whatever you wish to do. We also teach the importance of catering to your individual strengths. Therefore, if you don't like a particular style, don't choose that hallway. Go to one you think will work best for you, and NOT one somebody else thinks will work best for you.
You may continue to train with us once you've completed the certifications we offer, but once again, we believe in diversity in knowledge and acknowledge our limits (which are subject to change ;-), therefore we seek what is in your best interest...always.
In closing, I will quote MacYoung once more from the same article:
"Without claiming to possess them, what I can tell you is that there are indeed incredible "truths" to be discovered through the martial arts. By nature, these revelations are more along the lines of self-improvement...these revelations aren't through any guru, master, expert or style. These 'truths' are far more personal than that. It is through your own understanding, learning, depth and growth that you will discover these truths about yourself and who you are. That puts the onus of thinking and understanding on you. You don't have to 'find' what works, but rather through hard work, practice and skull sweat create within yourself something that works. That is how you 'master' something: By making it part of you and your awareness. Until you make it part of you, and with your particular understanding, manifest it in your own way, all you are doing is imitating someone else. No matter how proficient your mimicry, until you take this step for yourself, all you are doing is aping your teacher. In short, which art, your lineage or who your teacher is doesn't matter...because it is not about those things. It is about you, what you do and who you are."
If you are not a client or student of Applied Martial Arts, consider the educational materials from this website as a special gift to you. After all, most of what "self-defense" IS--is that situational awareness and violence-prevention skills we've before discussed...not the physical techniques. So...in a very real way, you are learning self-defense for FREE! At least, most of it. If you want to learn how to PHYSICALLY defend yourself, contact us and we'll be an invaluable resource. If not, we still want you to be aware of what self-defense is, learn it (from us and the incredible references we give you), and apply it in your life.
This is what we do in one sentence: WE TEACH BOTH MARTIAL ARTS AND SELF DEFENSE--the application of martial arts into the physical aspect of self-defense.