test our techniques on the dojo floor (a meme?)

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You know what a “mantra (or a meme)” is, right? In a nutshell, for my edification here ya see, a mantra (or a meme) is a word or sound or statement or slogan that is repeated frequently as an aid, i.e., in some disciplines it is a repetitive sound or word or phrase used to aid concentration in meditation. Look at martial arts as a form of moving meditation but remember that to adhere strictly and dogmatically to a mantra (or a meme) like this one over time will actually stifle and stunt progress rather than merely promote it. 

One of the most egregious mantra (or a meme)’s I have heard in the last decade or so is the one whereby practitioners are told emphatically, “Test your techniques on the dojo floor” to ensure they work. In some circles this is appropriate simply because those who use this mantra (or a meme) actually test things out in a variety of ways in and out of any type of training all. A good example is one professional with a huge amount of experience, knowledge and understanding tends to teach in areas that actually experience violence and conflict like bar room halls. 

Then there are those professionals who train in a more cerebral hall, the hall of the mind where the actual locations matters not at all but rather what is trained of the mind, i.e., reality-based training that exposes the practitioner to the threat and stresses of the adrenal flood. A unique kind of training that is a mind-state and mind-set thing where the location be it a dojo floor or the floor of a bar room is less significant. Combining the two really is a grand idea too.

When most say, “test technique on the dojo floor” with the meaning and intent of making sure it will work often use verification and validation a matter of what one “Feels” like it will work. Here is the inexperienced teacher and student whose only exposure to conflict and violence is in all probability the type found in fictional stories told through print, video, movies and television. It is easier, it is testable and it promotes the type of training that makes money but does not provide defense in self-defense. 

There are a lot of assumptions and expectations goin on there on that dojo floor. It is a shame that the thoughts of some professionals toward such martial arts is tainted by the majority yet they will tell you straight up that if one were to add in the right stuff their martial arts would excel in providing for self-defense. Ain’t that a kick in the pants?

Where it really goes hinkey is when someone who trains in one of those dojo actually has to defend themselves and they get lucky and things work. They then assume that the experience “Proves without a Doubt” that it all works. That just ain’t true, even the pro’s will tell you that what works once may fail the next go-round. Nothing about conflict and violence is set in stone, no such trick in martial arts will work each time, every time or even the first time. 

There are many benefits but there are just as many obstacles, trip-wires and booby-traps on the other side of that coin, Tread carefully! There is so much more than simply, “testing our techniques on the dojo floor!”

Bibliography (Click the link)

A meme, i.e., an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by non-genetic means, especially imitation; a humorous image, video, piece of text, etc. that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users.