Post by Bob Davis on Aug 15, 2016 19:49:39 GMT
Since we are a little light on new content these days I'm sharing a ramble from my FB page for discussion.
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Time for another of my occasional rambles
With a lot of stuff going on at present, (the preparation for opening the new club, the affiliation with the Practical Karate Association, my own training options). I've been looking at the market to see what's out there.
There has been a very definite change in martial arts fashion in recent years (and, yes martial arts come in and out of fashion like everything else) and I can understand why. The world we live in has been perceived to have changed and the general public (or some of them) are, quite rightly, genuinely worried about being randomly attacked in public places. The media has exacerbated the situation by making "lone nutter" (apologies for the use of the term, no offence intended to the genuine nutters ) attacks with "possible links to terrorism" very much flavour of the month. We need to be afraid of something new on an almost monthly cycle it seems.
That is not to say that these threats aren't out there, they are, but hysteria isn't the way to deal with them. Unfortunately neither are a lot of "fad" martial arts classes it seems. There has been a lot of hype about "reality based" martial arts classes and them being the only way to stay safe (forget traditional martial arts, they take too long and they just don't work on the street! ).
There are some very good people out there who know their stuff and they are well worth seeking out (but you need enough knowledge already to spot them or a reliable recommendation), but there sadly appear to be a lot more out there who've had a "bit of martial arts experience" hopping on the band wagon.
For a large number of reality based systems it would seem that the "reality" is that "we train in trackie bottoms and a vest (black or camo' is obviously best ), we use a fence (or at least the word "fence"), we say "NO" a lot in very loud voices, we do some pad work and somebody occasionally comes at us with a rubber knife from a safe distance where we can deflect or apply a lock and disarm our dummy opponent cleanly and reliably every time" (I don't need to mention the recent Daily Mail video do I?). Of course if your instructor has "worked the doors" that's a real bonus (and, of course, very relevant to the needs of a teenage girl off to Uni or the middle aged business person waiting for the tube home ).
Without giving away any secrets, over 90% of self protection has nothing to do with fighting skills (but that's a whole different ramble).
The reality is that a lot (not all, but a lot) of "reality" based classes can be more dangerous than not training at all due to a) a perception of how violence works that is totally false b) a selection of comedy responses from the "Generic Sanitised Manual of Nice Self Defence Techniques for Middle Class People" and c) (possibly worst of all) a totally unfounded confidence in your ability to handle any situation that kicks off, leading to you ending up in a confrontation you could have possibly avoided in the first place (that doesn't mean they are not great fun though )
Having said that, exactly the same criticisms can be levelled at the majority of "traditional" martial arts and that has been true for a very long time now. The main difference now would seem to be that you can now get the same level of ineffective training (although from younger, less experienced instructors) at 3x the cost on a cast iron contract that you used to be able to get for bargain prices on a casual basis in your local traditional club (although it will look a lot cooler, have a better soundtrack and has to be better 'cause it costs £15 a session, right? ).
At the end of the day it's not really what you train but HOW you train that matters, pretty well all the techniques seen in reality based systems come from the traditional arts anyway. People have been fighting for many thousands of years and the traditional arts have their techniques for a reason.
There are no secrets (new or old) that will make you suddenly indestructible. You just need to have clear goals about what you are hoping to achieve out of your training and if "self defence" is genuinely (and not just because you think it's the right thing to say ) high on your list then you will have to do a lot of research before you start. If you just want to have a good work out, hit some stuff, look cool, have some real fun and make some new friends then pretty much any martial art (as long as it's not "no touch" ) will do, just be honest with yourself.
**************************************************************************************************
Time for another of my occasional rambles
With a lot of stuff going on at present, (the preparation for opening the new club, the affiliation with the Practical Karate Association, my own training options). I've been looking at the market to see what's out there.
There has been a very definite change in martial arts fashion in recent years (and, yes martial arts come in and out of fashion like everything else) and I can understand why. The world we live in has been perceived to have changed and the general public (or some of them) are, quite rightly, genuinely worried about being randomly attacked in public places. The media has exacerbated the situation by making "lone nutter" (apologies for the use of the term, no offence intended to the genuine nutters ) attacks with "possible links to terrorism" very much flavour of the month. We need to be afraid of something new on an almost monthly cycle it seems.
That is not to say that these threats aren't out there, they are, but hysteria isn't the way to deal with them. Unfortunately neither are a lot of "fad" martial arts classes it seems. There has been a lot of hype about "reality based" martial arts classes and them being the only way to stay safe (forget traditional martial arts, they take too long and they just don't work on the street! ).
There are some very good people out there who know their stuff and they are well worth seeking out (but you need enough knowledge already to spot them or a reliable recommendation), but there sadly appear to be a lot more out there who've had a "bit of martial arts experience" hopping on the band wagon.
For a large number of reality based systems it would seem that the "reality" is that "we train in trackie bottoms and a vest (black or camo' is obviously best ), we use a fence (or at least the word "fence"), we say "NO" a lot in very loud voices, we do some pad work and somebody occasionally comes at us with a rubber knife from a safe distance where we can deflect or apply a lock and disarm our dummy opponent cleanly and reliably every time" (I don't need to mention the recent Daily Mail video do I?). Of course if your instructor has "worked the doors" that's a real bonus (and, of course, very relevant to the needs of a teenage girl off to Uni or the middle aged business person waiting for the tube home ).
Without giving away any secrets, over 90% of self protection has nothing to do with fighting skills (but that's a whole different ramble).
The reality is that a lot (not all, but a lot) of "reality" based classes can be more dangerous than not training at all due to a) a perception of how violence works that is totally false b) a selection of comedy responses from the "Generic Sanitised Manual of Nice Self Defence Techniques for Middle Class People" and c) (possibly worst of all) a totally unfounded confidence in your ability to handle any situation that kicks off, leading to you ending up in a confrontation you could have possibly avoided in the first place (that doesn't mean they are not great fun though )
Having said that, exactly the same criticisms can be levelled at the majority of "traditional" martial arts and that has been true for a very long time now. The main difference now would seem to be that you can now get the same level of ineffective training (although from younger, less experienced instructors) at 3x the cost on a cast iron contract that you used to be able to get for bargain prices on a casual basis in your local traditional club (although it will look a lot cooler, have a better soundtrack and has to be better 'cause it costs £15 a session, right? ).
At the end of the day it's not really what you train but HOW you train that matters, pretty well all the techniques seen in reality based systems come from the traditional arts anyway. People have been fighting for many thousands of years and the traditional arts have their techniques for a reason.
There are no secrets (new or old) that will make you suddenly indestructible. You just need to have clear goals about what you are hoping to achieve out of your training and if "self defence" is genuinely (and not just because you think it's the right thing to say ) high on your list then you will have to do a lot of research before you start. If you just want to have a good work out, hit some stuff, look cool, have some real fun and make some new friends then pretty much any martial art (as long as it's not "no touch" ) will do, just be honest with yourself.