(Disclaimer: The following combative tips are taken from Shidoshi Stephen K. Hayes's, a ninjutsu master, book entitled "Lore of the Shinobi Warrior vol. 5". I find his words very enlightening, eventhough I'm not a practitioner of the art of ninjutsu. I wish to share this knowledge to all who are willing to listen. I do not own the book nor do I own the words that are posted in it. Enjoy reading!)
Before beginning my training in the Japanese tradition of ninjutsu, I studied with a martial arts instructor who advocate that his art was only ten percent physical and fully 90 percent mental when it came to street self-defense. By this statement, that instructor meant to imply that all the techniques in the world would still be found to be lacking if the martial artists was unable to summon up and engage the proper frame of mind and fighting spirit when it came time to face murderous attacker.
The grim reality is indeed even more appropriate to acknowledge in this age of "enforced peace" in which we all live. Just where do we go to get our lessons in cultivating this all-important "90 percent" that hovers above training in mechanical technique itself? How are students of the fighting arts to know if their teachers and lessons are valid and are taking them progressively toward the twin goals of confidence and safety that so often inspire citizens of the modern world to out the study of the arts of self-protection?
It is common for instructors of the formalized martial sports and recreation systems so popular in the world today to assume that because they are skilled in their systems set away of performing basic movements, kata, steps, strikes, and throws, they are automatically qualified to discuss and give expert instruction in self-defense and street combatsurvival. This often completely false assumption is made despite the fact that the majority of popular martial arts available in the world today did not have their foundings based on the premise of self-protection combat. Most of today's martial arts were established either as sports or spiritual development systems; their founders did not intend for them to be use as methods for streetfighting. In truth, the majority of martial systems popular offered to customers today are nowhere near being related to the cold and often horrible realities of self-protection combat.
It could be argued that there is only one truly reliable way to become a master of the technique of fighting other people. Facetiously of course; I offer the following suggestions as to how to become good at fighting.
First of all, find a place where you are sure to encounter people who fit the following categories:
* They all feel deprived of many of the benefits that life has presented others (financially, culturally, racially, politically, etc.), and resent those others as live more satisfying lives.
* They all experience inner annoyance and lack of fulfillment as a result of agitated internal electrochemical imbalances (inability to attain a sufficient level of satiation for sexual demands or proper nutritional balance).
* They all blur any possible realization of personal social and community responsibilities by inculcating reduced powers of discretion, discernment, and rational thought through the intentional abuse of intoxicating substances.
In other words, the first major step in this procedure of learning how to be a tough fighter is to find a low-class pick-up bar.
The second step is to enter the bar and shove some of the patrons around, either verbally or physically.
The third step is to experience the action of the fight.
The fourth step is to check out of the hospital and wait for the next weekend so that you can repeat the process all over again.
Continue to follow these four steps until you have gained sufficient experience to enable you to eliminate the necessity of going through the fourth step every time.
Perhaps the ultimate in efficient and effective methods for developing the skill of defeating other people in fights is to arrange to be born into a family that dwells in the heart of a violent and deprived community, and lacks the collective education to understand the mechanics of how fear, cruelty, violence, disease, and ignorance perpetuate themselves for one generation to the next. After growing up hungry, abused, and frustrated, by the time you reach young adulthood you will undoubtedly be a good fighter if you survive the training of your youth.
What of training for those persons who were not born in the inhumane realms of hatred, aggression, abusive greed, intolerance, and ignorance? How are those persons who were born in realms of peace, fulfillment, joy, and enlightened growth to go about cultivating the combat self protection skills necessary for survival when forced to enter the darker, less elevated strata of human society?
Here are some practical suggestions for cultivating fighting spirit without going so far as to poison your positive outlook in life in general:
* Be honest about your feelings. Recognize and acknowledge these emotions that could save you in a confrontation as they appear in your consciousness. Do not back down from rightful anger in the face of danger just because you were culturally patterened to be a "good little boy" 30 year ago. Muggers, thieves, and rapists often count on their potential victims to be "good and moral citizens", unwilling to resort to the same kind of brutal and unsocial violence that the criminal chooses to direct at them.
* Be aware. Do not allow yourself to travel through life as though encased in a narrow envelop of fog. Actively expand the scope of your senses. Whenever you catch yourself drifting or pulling in your awareness when you are out in a public place, firmly remind yourself that that is not what you are training to do and return your conscious perception out to your surroundings once again. Remember that this will take time and work, so do not let yourself get discouraged if past bad habits are tough to shake off.
* Listen to your hunches. Do not venture into situations that you feel somehow have a high percentage of probability of turning into dangerous confrontations. If you are not sure of yourself in a certain situation, why take a chance unnecessarily? Find a safer, more reliable way to get done what you must do.
* Be creative. Do not think that conventional fist fighting must always be the answer when confronted by a hostile assailant. Sometimes it is possible to confuse your attacker so that he does not see you as the victim, sometimes you can disappear from the dangerous situation, and sometimes you can set up an inescapable trap from which your assailant cannot get at you.
* Know your own powers and limitations. Long before you find yourself in a physical confrontation, take the time to explore the various things you can and cannot do. With knowledgeable friends or a qualified martial arts instructor, try out your basic strikes and kicks, body shifts and dodges, and grabs or throws. Find our what you are best at doing and hone those skills into usable form. Find out what you are weakest at doing and either train diligently to build up those skills, or be especially careful to avoid situations where those weak points will have to be faced.
* Plan ahead. Practice with realistic drills just what you will say, think, and do in the case of an actual attack. Do not waste your time trying to develop fancy exotic technique skills like you see in the movies. Do not confuse tactics for winning martial arts contests with life protecting combat skills; street fights rarely ever resemble sports tournaments. Stick to realistic and reliable basic moves that have lesser chance of going wrong. Use your meditation sessions to rehearse mentally just what you will do in those scenarios most likely to happen in your own life. Have your strategy planned out so that you are not forced to think everything through in a time of extreme pressure and danger.
* Be appropriate. Honestly acknowledge just what the purpose of self-defense is all about. Keep in mind that your goal is to get home in a safe and healthy manner. Do not get fooled and pressured into feeling that you are obligated in any way to handle the confrontation in a set manner. In life-threatening self-defense situation, you are not all obligated to win a fighting contest, convert a criminal mind to morally enlightened behavior, prove how special you are , clean up the streets for the potential victims, embody ideal macho movie hero behavior, or do anything at all beyond that being killed or maimed. If you can acknowledge this in a sincere and form-the-heart manner, you can create a lot more room for potential actions other than a toe-to-toe hook and jab fist fight. You can see that running, trickery, "dirty" tactics, "unfair" fighting techniques, or anything at all that comes to mind or hand is a valid means for getting home in a safe and healthy condition.
* Be realistic. Do not kid yourself about just how you would be willing to go in self-defense confrontations. It is easy to talk tough about all you will do if assaulted, and yet quite another situation when the events suddenly bring a human being against you as an attacker. Will you really be able to go through with all the violent actions that you can so easily describe in theory? If your response to any discussion of self-protection is, "I'll just rely on my trusty forty five automatic," are you truly willing to draw and fire no matter what the attack, and are you really willing to stand up and take legal consequences resulting from such action?
* Keep in touch with local events. Check newspapers, listen to the radio, watch T.V. news, and keep on the alert for information concerning local trends in personal attack in your community, or in areas that you may be traveling to visit. Take appropriate cautions and plan ahead so that you are not caught off-guard by something that you could have known about ahead of time.
* Use everything at hand! A self-defense situation is nothing at all like a sports competition. An attacker will easily use your hesitation to resort to "unfair" tactics as an aid to accomplishing his own lowly intentions. Therefore, cultivate a mind set of doing whatever it takes to guarantee your safety.
No comments:
Post a Comment