Abraham Lincoln
Dojo Training Vs. Fight against Real self-defense – a martial arts lesson of Abraham Lincoln
There seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to martial arts training. The first, we'll call them "safety first" school, adheres to philosophy of non-contact or light contact and never do anything that could cause injury to a student.
This school is usually focused Training solo with little or no real contact between students, without the use of safety equipment padded.
The second school we call them "thugs" schools, believes that you have to do all this for real if you'll be all good.
This school tend to avoid driving solo kata "forms" for a more nor barred, freestyle coaching approach in combat.
Each sees the other as evil. Unfortunately, as with all extremists, each lacks the possibility of a third party, or approach environmental training.
The Warrior Concepts Black Belt Masters programs are designed to take the middle path, aiming for a safe approach training while focusing on the important key elements that will be present and crucial to surviving a brutal attack. If you read my other articles and blog posts, or if you attended my classes and live training events, you already know what I mean.
In this article I want to focus on one of these points of view – the "tough guy syndrome" – and talk about this misconception that, contrary to their intent, lead these students diverted from their ultimate goal.
Now before we begin, let me say that there are those people who are simply difficult. They can take as much as they dish out and have an almost superhuman ability to endure pain and grief. But …
… These people will be so with or without a fight against the formation.
As I discussed in other articles, there is a large difference between a warrior and someone who fights for the fun of others. When the warrior wants to be able to defend oneself and others only when necessary – and with less wear on him self – the fighter will very often put in more danger than to show they are the toughest guys out there.
Here are some truths about the nature of training and combat that I discovered more 30 years of not only martial arts training, but actually having to survive in situations of self defense in the real world.
- 1. Dojo training (practice) is never the same as the real thing. No matter how you try to do so. Unless you are actually cracked ribs, broken legs, eyes, abusive, and stagger the joints in the training, you are always "pull" and NOT in combat.
- 2. Related to number one above … You are not your friends what you do with an enemy who is trying to hurt or kill you. Yet time, the slow formation that takes into account factors such as the adrenal response, the attacker logic and strategy of combat better than to act strong and go quickly so you can feel difficult.
Science has already proven that mode suvival under the influence of adrenaline, adrenaline, and several other chemicals released into the bloodstream through the hypothalemus and triggered by amigdala, you'll already going so fast and be so strong that you can be. In other words, you do not have to train at high speed to be fast in combat situations.
In fact, it is much more important to practice drills and exercises to develop your ability to think quickly and calmly pressure than worrying about how fast you go. It's an important lesson for drives that think they are training for real.
And finally …
- 3. Just because you're training "feel" real – not cause.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States of America, used to ask people what appeared be a simple question that perfectly illustrates this point. He used to ask someone …
"How is there legs a dog have? "(Feel free to answer the question for yourself)
Of course, the answer is invariably, "four".
"Correct," he replied. Then he would say: "let's pretend that the dog's tail is in fact a leg, now how many legs does the dog have? "
How about it? Simple question. The answer is simple, right?
Well. If your first thought was to respond with "five" … I'm sorry to say …
… You are wrong!
Just because we "pretend" – just because we play a little mental game – and "tell" the dog's tail is a leg does not make one. The dog has always four legs.
And just because you do your martial arts training "feel" real, does not.
Do not believe not me?
It does not matter. You can believe what you want. But …
… Before starting to charge that I do not know what I'm talking about you do a huge favor and get someone with real combat experience the same world I do, how real combat is similar to their training exercises.
If they were not confidential, I would be happy to direct you guys to all military and police on my list regularly found in the "firing line." Then they could say the same things they share with me when they comment on these items. They could tell you I'm right.
But this is not about me being right. We must determine what you you need to master with this area of your life as quickly as possible.
As I said before, you're always free to choose what you think and do. This is the great advantage of having free will.
Just Do not confuse free will and what you have chosen to do so, with what is happening and what will work in the real world.
About the Author
Do you want to be able to defend and survive a real street self defense attack? Do you want to know how to have just the right technique for the attack that’s happening, and be able to defend yourself successfully against a violent attacker who’s throwing anything he wants? Well, you can. How? By learning what it’s like inside of a real attack, and developing the skills necessary to handle a variety of self defense situations.
If you want to learn more than just the step-by-step punches, kicks, and techniques that most students limit themselves to, then you should read my newest self-defense book, “Fight Smarter – Not Harder!”
You can download it free at: http://www.warrior-concepts-online.com/street-fighting-self-defense-book.html
Jeffrey M. Miller is an internationally recognized self protection expert and the creator of the unique, EDR: Non-Martial Arts Defensive Training Program. Each month, he shares his 30+ years of real-world study, training, and experience to help literally thousands of students from all over the world, to be more safe and secure in Today’s often dangerous world. Jeff says, “If you really want to be able to protect yourself, then I can teach you the critical skills you’ll need to defend and survive an attack against any attacker – guaranteed!
