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Self Defense
Over the years I have been fortunate enough to meet and train
with some of the UK's and indeed the World's foremost
Instructors / Seminar Instructors / Trainers and MA
practitioners. During this period I have also been fortunate
enough to learn what I previously considered to be well beyond
my capabilities. For this I am eternally grateful.
However, I am also deeply worried and saddened by what I have
learnt.
For years I was happy to do the same class week in, week out.
Happy to march up and down in lines, happy to do Kata and happy
to do some Kumite. We were quite content to intensify the
training leading up to Gradings and / or competitions and push
ourselves to what we thought were the limits.
We were all gloriously happy in what we thought was Martial
Arts, what we thought was real Shotokan Karate. We were told
that Shotokan was about the best there is, and we were happy to
accept that, indeed so was I.
I / we were quite happy to accept that our Karate would work for
us in the street if we needed it. Even though, at the time,
several of my friends were bouncers and I knew deep down that
what I was doing would not work against them. Still, I kept
training the same way. Even though I knew it would not work. The
thing is, I was HAPPY doing it and so probably are you!
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Now, here is the
problem...
Does that story sound familiar to you?
Do you know that deep down what you are doing
will never stand up to the
venom and ferocity of a real attack?
Are you kidding yourself?
More importantly, are you an Instructor who is
kidding
others by teaching the same old stuff?
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I mean to shock with this article. I mean to offend people. I
mean to offend the Karate Do World. I mean to take you away from
your comfort zone!
Firstly, I want you to leave aside personal likes / dislikes.
What I am about to write is not a personal attack on any person
or any system. It is an attack on a mindset that is potentially
life threatening for those involved in it. If this offends you,
then you are part of it.
Now, ask yourself some questions. Why did you start Martial
Arts? According to all the statistics most people started for
Self Defense and / or fitness. These reasons are changing with
the advent of Full Time Centres that are more biased to the
personal development skills that Martial Arts can and indeed
does bring. But, they are another matter!
So, most people started for self defense and / or fitness. What
has been the result of those years of training? Are you more
able to defend yourself? Are you much fitter? You may well think
that you are, because you have reached a Dan grade in whatever
you do. But let me tell you, you are not!
If you have reached Dan Grade in say Shotokan, you will probably
have become totally institutionalised in that system, the same
with Wado / Kung Fu / TKD etc. You will automatically go into
long, deep stances. You will bounce up and down in Kumite. You
will automatically put one hand at Hikite for no apparent
reason. You will think that your reverse punch is a fight
stopper because it works in Competition. You could have reached
Dan grade without EVER having hit a pad or a bag, let alone a
person.
You will be under the impression that your Jodan Mawashageri
will work; you will think it is right to step in front of your
supporting leg when performing Yokogeri. You will be under the
impression that your back kick will work against anybody; your
lunge punch will finish the fight just like it did in last
week's competition. You will do more and more Kata for no
apparent reason other than to learn another Kata!
Why, will you think this? Because your Instructor told you. His
Instructor told him. And yes, his Instructor told him.... And so
on and so forth till we get back to the villain of the piece.
The Instructor that started it all, whoever he may be.
Deep down, you know all this is wrong. What possible purpose
does Kata serve in a fight? What possible way can you land a
spinning reverse roundhouse kick in a fight? Why would you
bounce up and down in a fighting stance for a fight on the
street?
OK, I hear you say, what makes you think all this is wrong? What
qualifies you to say that we are wrong? We have Instructors with
7th / 8th or even 9th Dans from Japan that do not agree? It has
always been taught this way for hundreds of years? This is real
Karate.
Well, I say "Wake up and smell the Coffee!". Firstly I want you
to think of every rule that there is in a Kumite competition..no
biting for example, no groin kicks etc etc etc. Now, we have a
fight, you stick to the rules and I GUARANTEE I will break every
rule there is. I have just increased my chances of winning
1000%!!
- Kumite, teaches you to stick to the rules.
- Kihon teaches you terrible Body Mechanics
- Kata teaches you Kata
These people are perpetuating the myth that Martial Arts in
its present state works! Are you dumb enough to believe them?
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People sometimes say to
me, "I have been training 25 years!"
That is often true. But they have been doing
year 5 for the last 20 of them!
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Just be sensible for a moment, ask a friend with no knowledge
of the Martial Arts to look at what you do and to give an honest
opinion. What will you say when they ask you what the moves are
for in your Kata? What will you say when they ask why you put
one hand on your hip and leave yourself open to attack when you
do a reverse punch?
Then have a spar with a boxer and try and use your "One punch
one kill" Karate punches and see what happens. Have a training
session with a Boxer and see how fit you really are.
When I start this argument, people bring up names of famous
Karateka as "proof" that karate works. Well, these people are
making it work in spite of Karate not because of it! They could
probably make Tiddlywinks work!
Now, I want you to look at your Instructor at the next training
session, is he making all these mistakes and more? Is he
perpetuating this myth? It is more than likely not his fault,
don't blame him, he has become institutionalised. Martial Arts
is more like a "cult" than some cults. Students and Instructors
blindly following the words of some "demi-god" in charge of
their association, who is the most guilty of all, as he is the
one who has perpetuated the myth to all those below him.
People are going to write and / or call me up and shout about
the exceptions to the above. Of course there are exceptions, I
am not getting at those who do not follow the myth. However,
look at yourself and the system and the main Instructors within
that system with a critical eye BEFORE you make that call or
write that letter.
You need to ask yourself ONE VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION. "Would
you bet your life on what your Instructor has just taught you?"
If you hesitate for one moment, you would not. You know that
deep down it does not and will not work, the way it has been
taught. I was honest enough with myself to ask that question and
know the real answer. I would never take that bet!
If your self defense techniques are done against a Karate type
punch, ask yourself this question. How many people in the street
throw a Karate punch and then wait for you to do your defense?
Answer... None!
Having said all the above about the state of Martial Arts as it
is taught, why you may ask do I have anything to do with it? The
simple answer is that I have a total passion and commitment to
the Arts.
Having said all the above, having said that Karate as it is
taught, does not work, I am totally and utterly convinced and
know through experience that Karate can be made to work and to
work devastatingly well if you change things around a little
bit.
What do I mean by change things around? Just little things like,
don't make a self defense situation a fight... there is a
massive difference. Don't make the body mechanics mistakes of
Karate. Earn the right to land your technique.
About 1999, fellow OCFM International Coach, Eddie Stokes and
myself were conducting a seminar. Eddie said these words "You
have to earn the right to land your technique" Since then I
have stolen that phrase and used it at every opportunity. It
encapsulates everything we are trying to say in one sentence.
This a quote from an OCFM Coach " I used to spend 99% of my time
trying to make my Martial Arts work, now I am using Russell’s
technology I am spending 99% of my time trying to stop my
Martial Arts from being so effective. I am losing training
partners!" Be honest with yourself, when was the last time you
had to deliberately reduce your capabilities by 99%? I don't
mean by not taking a cheap shot against a compliant training
partner either!
Now, on to how we can make Martial Arts work for the street.
As I stated earlier, you have to earn the right to land your
technique! How do we earn that right? How do we put ourselves in
a position to make things work? How do we land our devastating
right hook or our devastating roundhouse kick?
The answer lies in the understanding of Body Alarm Reaction
(BAR).
Body Alarm Reaction
If I were to choose one aspect of Martial Arts training above
all others then BAR would be it. This is the most misunderstood
subject and yet the most important.
Many people have discussed over the years the psychological and
physiological aspects of a fight situation. The fight or flight
syndrome. The chemical reactions that occur within the body,
when faced with danger and or potentially dangerous situations.
To my knowledge, no-one has addressed the problem of
counteracting these adverse reactions. BAR successfully
counteracts all of these physiological and psychological
reactions.
First you need to understand what is happening. Let's take a
simple example;
You are in the chip shop on a Saturday night and some idiot
decides it is time for you to take a beating. Leaving aside the
whys and wherefores of choosing you as his target, let's analyse
what happens next.
Your attacker has already gone through the tunnel of decision
making; Can I beat this guy? Will I get hurt? He has assessed
the potential risks to himself and decided he will win. He must
have, no-one picks a fight they think they will lose!
His body has already gone through the adrenal rush, the panic,
the tunnel vision etc. He has already experienced the fight or
flight syndrome. He has already experienced all those things
that together we think of as fear, not only has he experienced
it all, he has decided to get you.
He is heading towards the light at the end of the tunnel.
Well, BAR, transforms that light at the end of the tunnel to the
headlight of you charging towards him. It puts your attacker
right back at the beginning of that decision process, it buys
you time! Time is a commodity that you desperately need and
rarely have in a fight.
From the experience of hundreds of Doorman, Martial Artists and
members of the public that have been taught BAR, the average
time that has been gained is up to 6 seconds.
In other words, once you put BAR into your opponent, he is
unable to react or fight back for anywhere up to 6 seconds. Just
imagine what can happen in 6 seconds!
You will know when you experience it. You will never forget the
feeling.
How to practice BAR
Basically there are only two ways to utilise BAR. They are;
In other words, either you are reacting to an attack and use
BAR or you are aware that an attack is imminent and you pre-emptively
strike first. The effects and the result are the same when using
Body Alarm Reaction correctly.
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