On Self Defense Classes And False Senses Of Security
Bob never was the type to hold hands.
For much of my life I’ve been involved with martial arts. As such, I’ve had the opportunity to study different arts as well as teach. Unfortunately, there’s a group of elitists in every discipline that claim their techniques are the “be all end all” of combat tactics. My philosophy? From a purely physical standpoint, the best technique is the one that helps you win the fight in that instance. Whether it’s Boxing, Catch Wrestling, Tae Kwon Do, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or a mix of every martial art ever, if it helps you win, it’s the best technique. Plain and simple.
Now, what’s been the most frustrating to me in my time as an instructor and a martial artist is the false sense of security some folks get after taking a few classes. It’s not like martial artists turned businessmen are helping. “Never live in fear again!” “Finally, the fight system that will render your attacker powerless!” “Beat any attacker of any size with our techniques!!!” To those as*holes out there selling this BS, I have one thing to say:
You know damn well those claims aren’t true. What’s worse is that people buy these dvd’s and while the information might be useful, it’s far from a substitute for real life experience. You only really get good at kicking ass through actually fighting. A lot. What you’ll get is mostly a well rehearsed situational technique. The same goes for classes. I made damn sure to tell all of the students of my class that the techniques being taught were only a drop in the bucket of thousands upon thousands of hypothetical physical altercations that may occur. There’s no real way to prepare for everything but nonetheless some people left my and others’ classes with the mindset that they can take on the world. Nah uh. One of the most important aspects of protecting yourself is identifying a potential problem and avoiding it. Don’t be a hero and put yourself in dangerous positions that you wouldn’t normally be in had you not taken classes/read books/watched dvds. Utilize situational awareness.
Because there is no Dim Mak.
