Look What has Happened to Karate

A good guy wrote a post today about the current state of affairs in martial arts with a final statement, as a comparison or example, stated "look what has happened to karate!" He wanted to express his views on a subject of kata bunkai and then talked about books, etc. of value. He then strayed off topic a bit talking about the path of things like MMA, etc. where litigious events and health care troubles as a result of current practices might be shifted toward more rule, regs and requirements, etc. All very good points and who knows this person's assessment may be right on, history tends to support it a bit.

Then I took the last line, topic of this post, and expressed my theories on the current state of affairs regarding karate. Here is what I wrote:

What happened to karate is a good statement and the response I would present is the present state of karate in the West, and even in Okinawa, is due directly to its practitioners. There is no health organization or any other including government that can be blamed for the current state of affairs. 

The gradual decline as things got passed from teacher to student due to many many reasons, i.e. wanting to have a higher retention rate, a higher sign up rate or simply to make more money, etc. tends to degrade any discipline including karate. 

Then there is the lack of full understanding due to many pioneers starting dojo with only one or two years of training on Okinawa, i.e. the first gen's of Isshinryu as example, thinking the black belt meant the know this stuff when actually they were just beginning to get it. This then as time passed caused many to start to fill in gaps, etc. and that was a mistake.

It is only due to today's Internet boom along with efforts by many hard core traditionalist that has opened a slight crack in the door to understanding karate from Okinawa that in some smaller circles it is being resurrected and taught but that is few and far between. 

So, the state of karate or look what happened to karate is our fault so we need to own it and make the effort to correct it if it is going to survive as a martial art rather than merely some other sport or health spa exercise program, etc.

Best Choice

In the martial arts we strive to train and practice so that we may choose the best options, on the fly, when confronted with conflicts. The best choice must be intuitive/instinctual in nature so that means real-life experiences and real-life-like training and practice, lots and lots of it. 

It is now understood, by me anyway as of today, that the best choice is not exclusive to our goals in those decision making moments, i.e. under the effects of high stress dangerous moments. We need to make decisions fast and then execute them well vs. trying to choose the best or perfect choice. This seems, on the surface, a conundrum with today's self-defense training regimen, i.e. this act requires this response type thing. 

Apparently in an intuitive position or strategy we can not rely on knowing the best choice, and to strive to find that best choice is maybe one of those things that result in freezes. We as humans when using analysis in this scenario, self defense or the fight, etc., means we use too much grey matter to think and to obsess over the optimal choice - the best choice. 

Often, as stated to me, the true goal is to find the best solution out of a set of perfectly good choices. It seems that making it our goal to select good options that you can literally live with is the best way to go and training/practice, lots of it, can program your intuitive side into providing said good options to the lizard brain who will intuitively/instinctively act on the choice. 

When two or more options appear in what the author calls the zone of indifference, you just pick one and move on, act, do what is required. Accept the notion that choosing the best or right choice, best choice, is impossible especially in a fight, so to speak, then you can free up that bit of wasted time. After all, isn't it optimal to excel through the OODA so you can get there before an adversary?

Intuition-Analysis continued .....

It has become more obvious that maybe I had things backward for a period. I tended to perform a certain amount of analysis before I allowed my intuitive instincts to take over. It apparently is back-asswards. If you begin by performing a full analysis, i.e. breaking things down before allowing more intuitive processes you tend to suppress your intuitions. 

Intuition-analysis is an important aspect of learning things with a strong connection in martial arts, self-defense, or any professional discipline that takes a person into harms way. 

It is recommended you take a gut-check of your immediate preference, identifying your intuition before it becomes stunted by the analysis process. You can do a intuition check by flipping coins or pulling a number out of a hat or just about anything similar to check your emotional response. Are you satisfied with the results or not? You now should be able to tell what direction your intuition is leading you. Then, if you still can't make up your mind about what it is your trying to accomplish then do some analysis. 

Doing things the other way around, i.e. breaking the scenario, situation, etc. down, then looking for pro's-n-con's that drive your choices, will compromise your intuitive processes. It must be remembered that to feed your intuitive processes you must have loads and loads of relative and real-life experience to achieve good results. 

Buyer or Seeker Beware

Recently a post asked, "Where can I get antique sai?" This made me think of the old adage, buyer beware. One or two responses stated that they owned antique sai but I have my doubts. I am not saying there are none or that this person has or does not have antiques but I have my doubts. Is it actually an antique?

If I were to venture a guess it would depend on the age of manufacturer. I would not consider any sai from the 1900's as antique. I would consider some of the kobudo weaponry seen at the Hawaii Okinawan Karate museum as possible antique. Let me say that according to sources on the definition of antique:

It must belong to the past, not modern; it dates from a period long ago; it shall be in the fashion, tradition, or style of an earlier period; old-fashioned; of or belong to the ancient Okinawans (referring to thier antiquities); it must be of a work of art, piece of furnature, decorative object, or the like, created or produced in a former period, or, according to U.S. customs laws, 100 years before date of purchase; it must be of an antique style, usually Greek or Roman, especially  in art. 

As a noun it is considered a collectable object because of its considerable age; as an adjective is must be of high value because of considerable age; as a verb it must resemble an antique by artificial means; and the synonyms describing an antique are "ancient - old - old-fashioned - antiquated - obsolete." 

As can be determined by this and the acceptability of the whole there could not be sai or any kobudo weaponry that meets the standard of antique. In addition as to age and value that also depends greatly for value upon who, how, where, when and what amount of value is placed on an item as to its desirability, i.e. if you put one on some antique site and auctioned it off it would bring about a considerable amount of return, i.e. money, money, money. This actually defines antique, in my view, since as most here would experience when the sticker shock tells you just how much this antique would receive.

As to someone just saying they own antiques is always debatable and questionable without all the above considered, provable and validated by experts in this field. Just cause you say or believe it is does not make it so. 

Most of the perceived antiquities that would speak to Asian weaponry similar or historically linked to the modern I have viewed, on line and in books from China, etc., are in museums and not available or not available since they are kept in foreign countries like Japan, China and Okinawa, i.e. for sai or sai's sources, etc., are just not available to the general masses so in my view there are no antique sai, tuifa, bo, or any other kobudo weaponry. 

Now, if you desire to get kobudo weaponry that may have some intrinsic value then seek out weaponry that can be proven as owned by say Tatsuo-san or other earlier masters of the art like Taira Shinken sensei. Now, finding his weaponry available as a collector item would be cool but verifying and validating authenticity is very, very questionable and I would say impossible. Also it would be kept as family heirlooms by that master's family.

Look at it like trying to find valuable antique katana in Japan. It is possible and you can expect to spend a good deal of money, if it were possible a non-Japanese could even get access to one to purchase.

The old saying, buyer beware, applies here. If someones shows you sai that appears old and says it is antique then beware - especially if they insinuate that it is possible for sale if the price is right.

Repetition and Muscle Memory

I am in the process of reading a book I believe I noticed in one of Rory Miller's blog posts. Very good book. I am reading the Accelerating the Loop chapter and a quote or two got me to thinking about self-defense requirements.

In the section on ACT/Individual he asks the question, "How do you get there?," you have to get the book and read it to find out why he asks this question, he answers repetition and muscle memory. He then explains that for muscle memory (we know there is really no such thing but the actual process is a bit more involved so we assume the complex process goes under the heading of muscle memory) you need 2,000 to 3,000 repetitions to master a simple skill. He also referred to the process of 70% dry practice and 30% live. 

Now this got me to thinking of another martial artist that stated one must actually hit, strike, kick something for about fifteen minutes for each hour of practice. If you are not hitting something and simply doing the air karate your in for a bit of a surprise when you actually hit something. Anyway, I agree that you must hit something that often be it makiwara, padded shield, hand pads, heavy bags or an adversary in practice. 

Thinking about what he author said, out of its actual context, make sense in addition to the above. If you practice and train using things like visualization, etc. then you need to also apply it against a live human being as close to the real actual set of scenarios you would most often encounter in a real live self-defense situation. If your a professional then it is another whole ball game and since my experiences are more outside that realm I will stay with self-defense and martial arts. So, you need to use a similar spit of 70-30. If all you do is air karate or air martial arts then much like those air guitarist you may look cool but your not going to play that guitar in a concert any time soon. 

Now, as to the repetitions vs. simple skills. This simply speaks to what others have said for years. If you want something to work you keep it simple and I, as others have as well, add that it should be similar to what your human natural instincts would use to survive. If it deviates a bit that is ok as repetitive practices will encode it properly but remember that you have the 70-30 split so it that practice and training does not involve the 30% live acts then it may not work. 

If it takes about 2 to 3 thousand appropriate and relevant repetitions to gain experience and proficiency in a simple skill then consider how many it would take to encode, ingrain and apply more complex skills in a highly volatile and strenuous/stressful situation that results in damage, etc.? 

When you look for self-defense this and many other considerations must be known and applied to validate what you get yourself into or your possibly just deluding yourself into thinking a health and fitness program is going to provide you protection in a possible violent conflict. 

Bibliography:

Howe, Paul R. Msg U.S. Army. "Leadership and Training for the Fight." Authorhouse. Indiana. 2006.

The Paradox

To be proficient in self-defense one must have experience. Not just any experience but meaningful experience. The most meaningful experience a person can attain in self-defense is real-life experience. You just can't beat it, it teaches you the truest lessons and leaves the hugest impressions. Here is the rub tho ....

Most of us in self-defense, martial arts, will never, ever, never get the opportunity to acquire a large enough real-life experience in this discipline. Self-defense participants often go to this training after one incident or after reading about one incident that makes a big impression causing a knee-jerk reaction, "I just have to get some self-defense training!"

Then there is the professional. Everyone that becomes a professional, i.e. police, prison officer, military, etc., has to begin at ground zero or almost ground zero. This professional has to enter the realm of danger long before building a real-life set of experiences. This creates a paradox for both the pro and the self-defense student. You cannot afford to wait until you're in a real-life situation to learn from the mistakes you will make. 

You need to be proficient. When entering this world for the first time you have no real-life experience or it is very, very limited. This brings us to meaningful experience, i.e. those you get from other means other than real-life. You have to train and practice using real-life meaningful experiences as your foundation.

Another issue with modern self-defense is often, more often than most think, the teacher too has no real-life meaningful experience to draw from to teach. It does not mean they are not good teachers or shouldn't teach. It does mean that the foundation from which they teach must be based on someone's real-life meaningful experiences. 

It is the lessor avenues of gaining meaningful experience that will build the person's abilities to at least handle the first time real-life encounter with some ability to act, if needed. Not just acting as in applying self-defense techniques but act as in taking the appropriate steps. i.e. mental models. 

You create from meaningful real-life experiences a recognizable pattern that is a base for your action scripts. You than, through training and practice, test these action scripts through mental simulations, i.e. a form of visualizations along with reality training based on real-life meaningful experiences, to develop your mental models the intuitive mind can draw on for you to act appropriately. This will provide a holistic approach to dealing with initial real-life experiences so you have the opportunity to gain real-life experience. 

As you can read I am trying to work this out as another viewpoint or perception that one can use to make it all work when it is most needed. I suggest that we take this and other knowledge to find an appropriate way to learn self-defense. As for the professional, it is my understanding and moderate experience as a Marine that these concepts are already used well. They just may have different names, etc. for how it is done.

In the end whether you call it this or that is moot as long as what you get in the end is right, effective and gains you real-life experiences. 

Mental Simulation

A process called mental simulation because decision makers are simulating and envisioning a scenario - playing out in their heads what they expect would happen if they implemented the decision in a particular case. They build a picture of what they expect, and they watch this picture once, sometimes several times. If they like what they see, they are ready to respond. If they spot a problem, usually they can alter the action script. If they can't find a way around the problem, they jettison the option and look at the next option in the set without comparing it to any other options. 

THis two-part process of pattern matching and mental simulation is the "recognition-primed decision" (RPD) model, which explains how people can make good decisions without generating and comparing a set of options. Pattern recognition primes the decision-making process but it needs to be tested through mental simulation.

Mental simulation is the way we evaluate our decisions and figure out what to expect before we implement them so we know later whether the decision is having the desired effect or not. 

To construct a scenario of how an action script will work, create mental models of the way the fight will go, the way the types responses will withstand exposure to the violence, the way types of tactics and strategies will react when a adversary is handled in an attack. You need mental models of the environments where violence occurs, how it starts, how it will proceed and how it will end. You need a mental model of how you will combine a variety of techniques into counters to the violence. 

In order to build an effective mental simulation, we need to have good mental models of how things work. This is another aspect of expertise, and another way that experience translates into action. 

Mental models are out beliefs about how various processes work. They direct our explanations and expectations. 

To summarize the RPD (recognition-primed decision ) process, intuitive decision making process works like this:

- Cues let us recognize patterns.

- Patterns activate action scripts.

- Action scripts are assessed through mental simulation.

- Mental simulation is driven by mental models. 

RPD is used for about 90 percent of the difficult decisions in all fields. The strategy used is RPD making. Experienced decision makers rely heavily on intuition and rarely use the analytical methods that we have been taught. The idea of intuitive decision making has finally started to catch on with professional such as the firefighting community, the police community and to some extent the Army and Marines. 

Persons using RPD have an ability to intuitively sense when a problem exists. The rely on intuition to perform well-learned behavior patterns rapidly. They synthesize isolated bits of data and experience into an integrated whole. They used intuition to bypass in-depth analysis. Intuition is an almost instantaneous cognitive process in which a person recognizes familiar patterns. Intuition is not the opposite of rationality, nor is it a random process of guessing. It is based on extensive experience both in analysis and problem solving and in implementation and to the extent that the lessons of experience are logical and well-founded, then so is the intuition. 

Speed, flexibility, and adaptability are precisely the kinds of qualities that can be enhanced by intuitive decision making. 

Bibliography:

Klein, Gary. "The Power of Intuition: Ho to Use Your Gut Feelings To Make Better Decisions at Work." Doubleday. New York. 2003.

Rant on Japanese Terms

First, I am no expert and I don't even come close to knowing about the use of Japanese terms along with the associated characters/ideograms. I do use them as a teaching tool especially to provide a sense of historical cultural beliefs that gave birth to the martial arts, especially Okinawan Karate. The terms I use are the written terms for teaching and as to the terms in the dojo they are few and far between simply because I am an American, not a Japanese or Okinawan. 

It is fun to use some terms that are seemingly necessary for teaching martial arts but those terms are few as well. I also use at least three dictionaries and about eight Internet translations sites to make sure I am at least close to the meaning. If someone provides me information that either refutes or corrects what I provide I change it. 

I get a bit ruffled when I see blatant ignorance using Japanese terms just so one can seem official, knowledgable and Asian like to give the impression of authenticity. I read an email, one I tried to get off of the list for but they insist on continually sending them to me, the use of the word compai for a celebration of several masters of Isshinryu. If you have even a modicum of understanding of the term you already know that compai is not a Japanese or Okinawan word or term. I understand what they intended for it to mean:

Kenpai [乾杯] meaning to toast; drink (in celebration or in honor of something); drinking one's glass dry; cheers. The first character means, "drought; dry; dessicate; drink up; heaven; emperor and counter for cupfuls; wine glass; glass; toast." 

I kind of get ruffled when such terms are used, for very excellent purposes in this case, but they don't bother to try to even get the term and the meaning validated as correct, as correct as these things can be done with the sources, before making use of them. 

Needless to say I provided the perceived more accurate term to the email senders and recepients. I have a feeling even tho I was polite that since it involves both ego and pride, they all were high ranked or called masters, I will finally be removed from that email list and even receive strong, flaming, rebuttals. 

I use terms, characters and ideograms as a teaching method for cultural belief and historical perspectives but welcome all relevant and validated corrections if and when I am wrong. I have a book of terms with unusual more philosophical definitions but what I did was look up all of them before I used them. I still expect to be wrong and welcome the chance for someone to show me the light. 

Ok, my rant on terms and terminologies is over now, get back to training and practice :-)

Patterns, Action Scripts, Mental Simulation and Mental Models

I have come across a new way of thinking about what it is we do when confronted by adversity be it a problem of a serious nature at home or work or whether a dangerous problem that involves violence. The dangerous does include work as professionals in areas such as police and firefighting not to lessen that of the military are included since they encounter violence in all forms. 

RPD or recognition-primed decision making. It involves gaining experience through the forming of patterns. Patterns are a natural way for humans to categorize things well so that it is a learned system available to the logical and lizard brain for making decisions. It also involves action scripts formed from analysis of the patterns, i.e. the experience. The mental simulation takes the action scripts and assess them accordingly so that they can drive the all important end result, the mental models we create that are used intuitively to make fast, flexible and adaptable decisions/actions or mental models we use to make said decisions. 

Now, what I am trying to accomplish is to see how this works in the most dangerous of situations where speed, flexibility and adaptability are critical, i.e. they involve violence, damage and survival. This would be, at the low end, self-defense and, at the upper end, the military, police, prison and jail guard officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personal. 

Gary Klein in his book "The Power of Intuition" explains the RPD process, intuitive decision making process:

- Cues let us recognize patterns.

- Patterns activate action scripts.

- Action scripts are assessed through mental simulation.

- Mental simulation is driven by mental models.

If seems to involve the process in how we should assimilate our experiences. It also gives a clue as to how we should handle the experiences from its first encounter through to how we should then analyze it to create appropriate patterns, action scripts, mental simulation, and mental models that are stored for future use though practice, training and in the future applications. 

Does this sound familiar to you?

Bibliography:

Klein, Gary. "The Power of Intuition: Ho to Use Your Gut Feelings To Make Better Decisions at Work." Doubleday. New York. 2003.

Politeness

I wonder some times why I don't see more lessons in self-defense on the topic of politeness. Today's blog post by Mr. Wim Demeere mentioned at the end how he uses simple politeness to avoid confrontation and to deescalate a potential physical one. Makes sense to me yet I am having a difficult time remembering anyone I have personally encountered in SD lessons talk to the students about how politeness can achieve either, or or both avoidance and deescalation. 

Makes you wonder about things don't it? I tended to witness a lot of if a guy does this you do that stuff but ..... ?

Just a Hunch

Hunches are related to the development of intuition. Look at it as a feeling based on intuition rather than known facts: acting on a hunch. This does not mean that your actually basing this hunch on no facts at all. The key word is known facts but could better be expressed as facts in storage. Hunches and Intuition are based on a combination of knowledge and experience. When a hunch triggers your spidey senses it means something previously known and experienced but cannot rise up to the most conscious level has triggered the spidey sense or the hunch. 

Hunches in martial arts or self defense are those experiences and knowledge trained and practiced to a degree that the hunch arrives and you act. Hunches also provide you the means to avoid circumstances that could result in violence. The ability to have hunches is to use intuition and analysis to act according to the stimuli in the moment. Calling this a hunch is sometimes limiting without a greater understanding of how all this works.

It is not some mystic sixth sense technique but rather the acquisition of knowledge and experience that practiced and trained diligently result in reprogramming of the lizard brain to act appropriately in sometimes volatile situations. 

Intuition II

Intuition is a natural outgrowth of both preparation and experience. When I say preparation I include training, practice and knowledge and understanding. For martial artists or just about anyone it is a matter of translating our experiences into action. To increase you intuitive abilities into decision-making skills you build up more experience and then make better use of them. It is not like turning folks into samurai warriors or even Jedi Knights, but is it more realistic. 

Our gut feelings, our hunches or our spidey senses seem to come from some mystic place, but this is because we are just not aware of the connections to the knowledge and experiences that led to these perceptions - gut feelings, hunches, spidey senses. 

When the old spidey sense kicks in and tells you to act you should consider that it comes from possibly noticed, subconscious, etc., subtle clues or what martial artists call tells without realizing it. What you have accomplished in these instances is a blending of both analysis and intuition into one solid trait that allows you to make instant action decisions in some of the most stressful situations you could encounter. Think of this, if you can do it well in high stress situations then the benefits in less stress filled moments is a definite bonus. 

Once again I would ask if this could be one of those explanations that speak to how professionals train, practice and apply their skills and if so this is how we as self-defense practitioners can achieve the right level necessary for protection without crossing over into the moral and legal limits of society. 

In many postings I have spoken of the more esoteric aspects of studies. The circle or the yin-yang. The yin-yang here is the intuition-analysis. Think about how you make decisions. Often you make them subconsciously before you even begin to think or analyze it. There is a balance here somewhere that we can exploit toward faster decisions in high stress scenario's but if you don't know of it, recognize it, and acknowledge it then you can't truly train and practice it to its potential. 

Just remember, intuitions are indicative of how well we have worked, studied, practiced, and trained. It is about how we accumulate and compile experiences, not on any type of advertised magic. It is hard work and due diligence. 

I quote, "What enables us to make good decisions is intuition, in the form of very large repertoires of patterns acquired over years and years of practice." - Gary Klien, The Power of Intuition. 

Ahhh, here lies the answer to my many questions of late. There are so many facts and combination of facts. The more complex, the faster complications build up. Just keep seeing knowledge. Just keep analyzing it holistically. Just keep using the compilation of such knowledge and experience in the proper way. Then, allow your intuitive-analytical abilities to find those actions in that particular moment. Now that I think I have found a way I need to ask myself more questions and allow for it to seep in deep down where these things are best served. 

Think of what you have heard in training as a Marine or any other professional service. "You continually challenge yourself to make tough judgements, honestly appraising those judgements to learn from the consequences, actively building up an experience base, and leaning to blend intuitions with analysis." - Gary Klien, The Power of Intuition. 

Now, doesn't this sound like a training session with an after action report analysis. Isn't this how one should always train, practice and apply themselves. 

A new beginning and a fun road ahead that passes beyond the horizons seen by the mind. 

Caveat: Don't allow the pension for gathering data and making analysis to hinder you use of intuitive-analysis in action decisions as that will add to your tendency to freeze in the moment. It is a balance as I state so go ahead and do the gathering and analysis but in the end you have to make a decision and that decision is the one that will save your bacon. When in training and practice the gathering and analysis is set aside and the goal is to act properly and effectively (no freezes, etc.). In other words, "shut up and train." :-)

Addendum dtd March 15 2013 at 13:55hrs:

I quote from Gary Klien's research on intuition, "What is it that sets off those alarms inside your head? It's your intuition, built up through repeated experiences that you have unconsciously linked together to form a pattern. A pattern is a set of cues that usually connect together so that if you see a few of the cues you can expect to find the others. When you notice a pattern you may have a sense of familiarity - yes, I have see that before! As we work in any area, we accumulate experiences and build up a reservoir of recognized patterns. The more patterns we learn, the easier it is to match a new situation to one of the patterns in our reservoir. When a new situation occurs, we recognize the situation as familiar by matching it to a pattern we have encountered in the past." 

Does this sound familiar? Is this how we accumulate strategies and tactics for the various scenario's we may encounter when confronted in a conflict? Isn't this how we accumulate experience by the frequency we encounter thing forming patterns, etc. so that we can match them as needed when needed? Isn't this a process that provides the best decisions during the more challenging, situations that are more confusing and complex, where information is scarce or inconclusive, where time is short, and the stakes are high - like in violent encounters?

It is not just repetitive practice but rather meaningful practice and training with a mind to encounter as many complex things requiring complex judgements so that when the time comes you can act using your history of patterns that provide food for intuition to do its thing. 

Intuition (Hunches)

intuitive/intuition is the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. A thing one knows is likely from some instinctive feeling over a conscious reasoning. It is a power, a sixth sense if you will allow some latitude, for attaining cognition  without the need for rational thought or inference. It is a hunch, a gut feeling. It is formed out of past experiences and knowledge. It is a perception of a truth, fact, etc. independent of any of the normal reasoning processes - thinking it through - that is faster. This is how it becomes a martial art term for instinct from training, practice, experience and knowledge is faster than thinking or deciding from the thinking processes. 

Using intuition does not always achieve optimal decisions, it still is not as iffy as to tactics and strategies as it may sound. It is an intricate part of our human survival instincts. Intuition is a pure, untaught, non-inferential knowledge. 

Our belief systems fall into intuition since often they cannot be justified or validated in many cases - faith. It is a subject of topic in supernatural research and is often associated with right brain processes such as aesthetic abilities. It is associated with innovation and a common subject of writings such as this post. 

Intuition is believed as the ability to know valid solutions to problems  and decision making. In various disciplines such as martial arts defense this is often how we respond to certain stimuli, i.e. the monkey dance and asocial violence, etc. and is another aspect of how one trains and practices to achieve proficiency in protection and defense. 

Look at it as training and practicing to achieve an ability under time pressures, high stakes like life and death, and constantly changing parameters in the fight or other scenario's, experts such as police, military and martial arts in protection mode use their foundation of experience to identify situations and intuitively choose the best solutions to achieve success. To achieve a level of intuitive analysis on the fly, so to speak. A pattern-matching process that quickly and through a subconscious intuitive process suggesting a course of action. 

Relying on intuitive ability depends a good deal on past knowledge and experiences in specific area's or area's that simulate the experiences for training and practice. 

Thus the question I ask myself, "Can intuitive processes be trained or enhanced through training?" The answer is yes and that warrants another topic of discussion outside of this one.

The First Go-round

If you understand something on the first go around I would suggest that maybe you are missing something. If I have discovered one simple fact it is this, I rarely get it on the first go-round. I found that many of the things I thought I knew and thought I understood were correct and accurate were not. I have been mucking around in what I do for a long time and find it amazing and fun that almost every day I have to change something because I did NOT get it on the first go-round. 

It reminds me of how discouraged I would get when something didn't click the first time. That is the physical stuff and when you talk about the more academic side I did the same thing .... doah! It reminds me of how often someone skims over things just to get to the fun stuff only to find it discouraging simply because they assumed that they got-it on the first go-round.

Yesterday's post had a lot of questions. I asked them cause I once again thought, do I have this yet, and I said to self after reading the monkey dance at the Chiron blog, nope - ain't got it yet but I are learning. 

It's a process. If I have learned another simple thing it is that to truly learn, to truly understand and to truly get-it it takes time, effort and due diligence. Not this skim over and just have fun stuff but really buckle down and get going. Maybe this is what I learned from some experiences in life along with what the Marines provide as a member of that tribe. All the services, i.e. Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Police Services all over the world, Professionals in services like jails and emergency services, i.e. EMT's and Firemen, etc. provide the same thing in various ways - good stuff. 

I get concerned when it is those who have not served in one capacity or another who tend to assume on the first go-round that they are getting and have gotten what they think they have gotten. 

I am still working on this stuff and I am fifty-nine years young. You might say to yourself, wow, this is taking this guy a long time but think about it - things change constantly, noting is static, life is always moving and to remain up with it you have to move, move and move some more. 

If you get nothing from this just remember that when you think you have gotten it, STOP, and continue looking at it from every angle you can, think outside the box and then question it again. You just might find out that it is not taking me as long as you might think. 

Waxing philosophical again.

Are we really teaching Self-defense?

This though entered my head immediately after reading the post by Rory Miller on the Money Dance. In a fundamental sense the monkey dance is a social event. As a social event often it is considered fighting. Fighting is illegal so to enter into a fray that is based on a social situation, i.e. the monkey dance, means anything we use in that instance is not self-defense.

In that light I also thought to myself that isn't the monkey dance actually a good high percentage of what most people encounter? If the answer is yes, mostly, then is what we teach in martial arts actually, factually and truthfully self-defense? If not, then when we tell students that what they are learning is self-defense are we not setting up a situation where that person will be implementing actions that are mostly illegal and regardless of perceived circumstances be legally prosecuted? 

So, if I have this right and I suspect if I don't I am pretty darn close to the truth. Martial Arts when taught as a combative system, a self-defense system or a fighting system is teaching how to break the law! 

Then it begs the question that if MA is actually teaching illegal actions in a self-defense scenario then what should actually be taught for self-defense? If I am correct in my perceptions then all martial arts are illegal for defense especially in the most encountered situations, the monkey dance. 

Now, lets leave the monkey dance and enter the world of asocial violence, the predatory violent encounter. This is a totally different situation that warrants far more in-depth study, learning and practice to get the whole picture and this is simply an exercise in thinking it out. I have to think, are martial arts self-defense teachings still illegal since this is, for this discussion, outside the monkey social dance? I guess it would depend on the present moment situation. What attack, the type of attack, the type of technique used in the attack, the ultimate goal of said attack, and then the response you provide - if you even get the chance to provide a response. After all if my understanding remains valid this type of attack against you, the experienced martial artists, means you were acting in a manner that said victim and the assailant knows that he has you and your going down hard and fast. 

I suspect that even in the asocial violent encounter your actions, if successful, will depend greatly on how you present your case in court and as you already know that is a whole other can of worms. Use of force comes into play here while it means little or nothing in the monkey dance since the legal perception is both parties involved are guilty of fighting. 

See, this subject of self-defense gets more complicated and convoluted as one seeks out knowledge. It makes the onus of the seeker of self-defense to determine true self-defense training that is realistic and within the limits of the social and legal culture and laws critical. I have to wonder, "how many of the self-defense trainers actually know stuff like this and are they actually teaching within those criteria?"

Rules of Engagement

What are your rules of engagement. Do they adequately provide defense within the social and legal standards, rules and laws? Are they appropriate to the situation and the degree of force necessary to stop the damage and escape and evade to a safe zone? Does your rules of engagement encompass such things as evasion, escape, avoidance and deescalation, etc.?

Rules of engagement are those rules or directives or laws that drive how one defines the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which force, or actions which might be construed as excessive or deadly, may be applied regarding the use of martial arts in self-defense. These are the limits as to the use of force and the application/deployment of certain specific capabilities. 

They are the rules that will allow you to determine what measures are acceptable morally, civilly and legally when engaging in the use of all aspects of self-defense with more emphasis on the physical aspects, i.e. the use of force to disengage and seek safety. 

Rules of engagement are more often used for professionals such as military, police or other policing agencies, i.e. prison/jail officers, etc. It is used here to help explain to martial artists who train and practice to use their skills for self-protection so they may remain within societies rules of engagement for self-defense. 

Trying to think outside the box a bit :-)

Navigation and the Martial Arts

It occurred to me today that although discussions have traveled the path toward the need to change from the dogmatic adherence to the original that this beginning is necessary. It is our navigation system. It is a combination of signs/symbols and an organizing hierarch that the signs/symbols embody that allow your natural ability to scan and determine what is necessary for the individual and results in change. 

The fundamental principles of martial systems, the basic waza, the kata and the applications through kumite, drills and matches are those processes that make up the navigational systems that lead from the shu to the ha and finally to the ri stages of martial systems. It brings about familiarity of the entire system just so you can extrapolate what is needed, not necessarily what you may want, to achieve individualized mastery of the system of choice. 

It creates a trust between the individual and the system through the efforts of the sensei, senpai and kohai to achieve a level of knowledge, understanding and proficiency that makes your martial system yours. 

The processes that one must dogmatically adhere to are set but the end discoveries one makes with the journey takes us out of the rigid requirements and allows for freedom of self-discovery that makes a martial system a martial system. 

The navigation system that is the martial arts are the directions passed down from person to person. They remain solid and proven yet they are not meant to restrict and hinder. Growth and longevity depend on this transitional process ergo "shu-ha-ri."

Look for a Better Way

We often find something that works or seems to work and we go with it regardless of a possible better way to get the job done. Once we find something that works - no matter how horribly it works - we don't look for a better way. If we happen to encounter a better way we might use it, but we seldom look for one. 

In karate we tend to rely heavily on what is first taught to us. If it happens to work even badly in say dojo kumite (remember dojo kumite is not defense or fighting) then we tend to remain steadfast with that. When it fails to work for defense, etc. we still try again and again to make it work (sound familiar) and in karate or a fight that is a fight ender with you on the losing end receiving damage. 

It is then a reasonable assumption that an intricate part of learning a martial art, budo or self-defense, etc. to learn the fundamentals and then explore, experiment and find what actually works for the individual. This means allowing yourself to seek out a better way than what you are taught. It means looking and seeing a better way then train the better way. 

It is not rocket science yet it is about overcoming the human tendency to find the first thing that works and then rely on it almost exclusively for something so important as defense, protection or combat. 

It is also important that this be discovered in training and practice rather than out in some violent situation when it may be a bit too late. Muddling through budo  may work sometimes, it tends to be inefficient and error-prone. You don't just want to feel smart about applications you want to be smart.

Cookie Cutter Karate

In some recent postings by Michael Clarke I got to thinking about another perspective regarding modern karate. Add to that a post at Martial Way with a video of questionable karate I had to make comments if for no other reason then to get thoughts strait in my own head.

Most of what I see today of karate is that it has become "cookie cutter karate." I don't often see karate with an individual branding, if you will allow, to it. We have such a concerted effort to keep a style or system in its exact form as taught by the master according to that master's way we lose site of what karate is supposed to me according to my perceptions and beliefs.

It is alright to learn the system as it was originally intended. It is alright to have the knowledge of what was taught from the system or style's inception. It is a part of the karate system or style's heritage. It is not alright to allow it to remain so steadfast in the past that it becomes stagnant and causes the karate-ka to become less then possible. It is not alright to block out the potential of the individual's karate to honor an often dead past master who created and formed a system or style to accommodate their current times and environment, etc. for combat or defense.

Although there are aspects that change very little, i.e. a punch is a punch and a strike is a strike, the current times, environment and cultural aspects tend to change just how those strikes and punches are applied. In the early days with few having knowledge, proficiency and experience with karate the techniques, tactics and strategies were such that it often was used against less skilled adversaries even if they were soldiers or brigands who robbed and hurt others.

Today, there are very few who have not gained some level of proficiency in the martial arts be they Asian or European, etc. This means the karate of yesterday may not be enough for today's self-defense or combative environments. It is critical to take your cookie cutter karate outside the box and learn to apply it, to change it and to adapt it to today's individual.

Cookie cutter karate is also influenced by the gradual move toward larger and larger group learning. The distance between the teacher and the student has grown significantly since the days of the early pioneers who often trained and practiced one-on-one with their teachers. This is not the rule it is now a infrequent aspect of karate.

When you have that kind of distance with out all the connections necessary in karate then you end up training them according to some plan that is generic and does not conform to the individual. You have specific lesson plans with specific requirements that are testable in a mass test environment. Karate to be complete needs an individualized model that tests according to an individual and the relationship that results from a one-on-one environment. At the most a one-to-three ratio at the most so that individualization is still achievable. When you have a ten-to-one or thirty-to-one ratio the individual has to deal with mass teaching and they lose that individuality.

In another view it also lowers the standards so that those hidden within the mass group lose that level of learning, doing and achieving of karate. It also makes it easy for an individual to achieve some perception of proficiency simply by hiding with the group and doing only what is necessary vs. what is needed.

Get rid of cookie cutter karate and take it to the next level. Thanks to Mike Clarke for todays post inspiration.