The Fifth Principle

This immediately reminded me of the movie, “The Fifth Element.” It made me think that in the movie there were four elements similar to those from the ancient Chinese, i.e. Earth, Water, Metal, Fire, and wood, etc. (Yes, there are five elements but the fifth there is also pivotal, i.e., one is depicted in the middle.)

Here I am also considering, in the creation of the fifth major principle of the fundamental principles of martial arts, a fifth principle that is pivotal to teaching martial arts or any such art as a means of self-defense. I am looking at MA-SD in particular especially since most, if not all, MA’s teachers are claiming their system teaches self-defense.

I understand why all MA teachers declare their system as a self-defense system. After all, martial arts are all based on the physical application of techniques against an adversary. It does not matter whether it is an attacker on our streets, a predator seeking either a process as an end goal or a resource as your money into his pocket, or a social fight in a club over a football game, all of them profess they teach a complete and comprehensive system that will defend against conflict and violence. 

This is just not true. So, in that light I added in the fifth principle as a balance point between a way vs. a process of protection that remains within the acceptable tolerances laid down by law, society and spirit. The following is a revised set of sub-principles for the fifth principle of the fundamental principles of martial systems with emphasis toward self-defense. 

PRINCIPLE FIVE: PRINCIPLES OF SELF-DEFENSE (“Conflict communications; Emotional Intelligence; Lines/square/circle of SD, Three brains (human, monkey, lizard), JAM/AOJ and five stages, Adrenal stress (stress induced reality based), Violence (Social and Asocial), Pre-Attack indicators, Weapons, Predator process and predator resource, Force levels, Repercussions (medical, legal, civil, personal), Go-NoGo, Win-Loss Ratio, … The following are the required sources to define, discuss and expand on the sub-principles. These are the minimum to provide substance and validation toward a more full understanding that go way beyond a blog post such as this.

Principle Five Bibliography: 

MacYoung, Marc. "In the Name of Self-Defense: What It Costs. When It’s Worth It." Marc MacYoung. 2014.

Goleman, Daniel. "Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition [Kindle Edition]." Bantam. January 11, 2012.

Miller, Rory. "ConCom: Conflict Communications A New Paradigm in Conscious Communication." Amazon Digital Services, Inc. 2014. 

Miller, Rory and Kane, Lawrence A. "Scaling Force: Dynamic Decision-making under Threat of Violence." YMAA Publisher. New Hampshire. 2012

Miller, Rory. "Force Decisions: A Citizen's Guide." YMAA Publications. NH. 2012.

Miller, Rory Sgt. "Meditations of Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence" YMAA Publishing. 2008.

Miller, Rory Sgt. "Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected." YMAA Publishing. 2011.

Elgin, Suzette. "The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense" Barnes & Noble. 1993.

Morris, Desmond. “Manwatching: A Field Guide to Human Behavior.” Harry N. Abrams. April 1979. 

Caveat: I am still working on this so expect changes as I progress. Also, consider that in order to accept them and make them your own you, YOU, will have to vet them through the training hall with sweat, pain, blood and tears with a smidgeon of fun and laughter interspersed through out your efforts. 

The core or corner stone of “ALL MARTIAL SYSTEMS” is about defense, fighting and combatives. Fighting and combatives are not relevant in today’s modern applications because they are both “Illegal.” You cannot use them in self-defense and that is where almost all MA’s are applied today. Adding in the “Fifth Principle” allows a fundamental core that benefits the teachings of martial arts. It expands on the use of the other four. It governs or balances out the mind-state/set toward a more balanced martial system. It could be excluded like at least two or three out of the original four but then you would have a partial rather than a whole, is that the true goal of learning a discipline and system?