Friday, February 26, 2016

Are Martial Arts Meant For Self Defense Anymore?

Imagine in your head, for a moment, a big martial arts school. Everyone is lined up, people are bowing to the instructor, and immediately break off into sections and practice their blocks in front of a large wide mirror. The instructor yells "hana!" and the students perform a low block. The instructor then says "Dool" and the students perform a middle punch and so on and so forth. As this happens before you, you notice that all of the students are punching and blocking in unison. This goes on for about 20 minutes.

Later, the instructor tells everyone to relax and face partners with one another. Excited, you watch intently to see if a match between students will take place before you. Once again, the instructor says "Hana!" and one student steps back and performs a low block. The opposite partner says "GO!" and the other student with the low block immediately steps forward and throws a lunging punch, as the defender moves to the side and performs a middle punch right at the solar plexus. For the next 30 minutes you watch as the instructor, perform a series of many attacks defending against the lowblock followed by a punch. As he does these attacks, he uses words like "self defense" and "technique" and you see him making corrections to students who aren't using their stances correctly. He pushes the legs wide to make sure all the balance is felt in the hips and core and that the arm is low and on the hip.

To your dismay, you realize that once again, you just witnessed a Mcdojo in practice. This is the major problem with alot of martial art schools today; the practice doesn't become about realistic self defense, its all about how to "look good" and theorize without sparring live resistance. Hundereds and even thousands of martial art schools use this "low block, punch" system that doesn't even resemble anything close to realistic attacks or even a martial arts fight with rules. It's much easier to make a group of people do something stupid than something correct; thats the thought of alot of martial art school owners. Many instructors especially those with 7 or 8 degrees feel like they have spent their entire lives devoting themselves to bullshido and can't shake the fact that modern martial arts would destroy them and their students. So as a warning advice to you today, if you are considering taking up martial arts, join a school that doesn't practice one steps. That's the number one sign of a Mcdojo (as well as kid blackbelts)

Have a great day,
Martial Arts Tutor

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