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ARTICLES
AND COMMENTARY
FEBRUARY 2010
By now most
everyone knows what we do and why we do it. For starters, I will pass along a
comment made to me yeas ago now that made the final decision for me to
participate in cross training. I told a fellow cross trainer that I didn’t
believe that I could be taken down and held there. He asked me why. I told him
my Isshin-ryu footwork and striking ability was the main reason. I also told him
that I was 250lbs and was still benching 350lbs. He just smiled and said, “you
are probably right.” But does this apply to all your students as well? It hit me
like a brick. The answer was NO!! I was not thinking outside my own brain
washed, self-defense bubble. Almost all of them especially the smaller ones and
the women, were at a huge disadvantage on the ground. So I made a life changing
decision for my students and me. Learning it was hard and humbling. I found to
my ego’s horror, that I could be taken down and held there. I felt like the
parable of the ‘Kings new Clothes.” When all the “loyal subjects” told him what
he wanted to hear about his new clothes. Truth was, he wasn’t wearing new
clothes. He believed what he wanted to believe. I think sometimes people fear
that their importance will be diminished if they admit that they are not all
there is in teaching the martial arts. No number of promotions, seminar
appearances, important friends, which are mostly “loyal subjects,” or writing a
“book,” will take the place of the questions of reality: Are you prepared to
defend yourself and train others to defend themselves in every situation. There
are no secret handshakes or techniques. Years ago the some head sensei's of
dojo's, would intimate that they knew some secret, that would only be told to
the most loyal students. I fell for that in Kung Fu. I was prepared to become
virtually mystic with my new sensei(si-fu). A year later I knocked him out and
quit. He told the others that I was lucky he didn’t use the “Iron Palm.” Do you
really think a legitimate sensei would hold out on his students if he knew
something that would perhaps save their lives or make them superior students.
Thank God these people were never the scientists that discovered penicillin. I
think the only secret a sensei would want to keep from you is, that after a
while, depending on his studying and training, you know as much as he does. It
doesn’t take a lifetime to learn a Martial Art. It is every individual’s right
to find the right fit. But ultimately, birds of a feather, flock together.
Hence, multiple styles philosophies, and off shoots and multiple combinations of
the multiple styles. But back to the day itself.
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