The Perpetual Need For Self Defense

**I’d like to send some initial credit to Kris Wilder at The Striking Post for exposing me to the video in this post. He and I share some similar ideas in our analysis as well, so credit to him and his commenters for a thoughtful discussion.**

As society continues to grow and mature, there is more and more emphasis on anti-violence. This, of course, is good in theory. In a perfect world there would be no violence thrust upon anyone and no need for anyone to know violence.

We don’t live in a perfect world though and the struggle to balance violence against non-violence is messy.

Interestingly, we are told (as proper citizens) to not take matters into our own hands. We are prompted not to fight back and instead seek out authority figures who are authorized to deal with bad situations. Furthermore, as technology and communication increases, it is expected that we be in quicker contact with the authorities (and thus have less reason not to rely on them).

In an effort to drill violent behavior out of the minds of children, schools have enacted severe rules and regulations both for students who fight and for students who defend themselves. Frequently if two youths get into a fight they are both punished equally, regardless of circumstance. Teachers are put into an equally awkward position as laying a finger on a student, even if trying to break up a scuffle, can potentially land them in hot water. Children and teachers alike are often resigned to become watchful bystanders.

Bystander freeze (similar to the bystander effect) extends to more than just schools – people everywhere understand the trouble with getting involved in a violent altercation.

When all of these factors come together, you end up with situations like in the following video. A young girl spending time in a Metro Bus Tunnel gets attacked. Meanwhile, three security guards who are literally five feet away do nothing to intervene, and neither do any bystanders.

On an individual basis, it was probably “smart” for people not to intervene because now they can’t be held liable. Imagine if you pulled the attacker off the other girl and hurt her in the process. Let’s assume you have martial arts experience and she has a semi-decent lawyer. You can bet you’d be in trouble for assaulting a minor, using excessive force, etc etc.

This is reality and it is a part of our culture. That’s why it has never been more critical to develop high levels of self defense skill. You need to rely on yourself for protection as bystander freeze is a strong phenomenon. Even security and authority personnel are not immune.

I also recommend people learn non-fistic forms of self defense in addition to percussive striking. From a legal standpoint, closed fisted strikes are often equated with willing violence and receive repercussion, but controls/locks/subtle-strikes are less obvious.

Of course you also need to make sure you have the ability to cause destruction quickly. As Shaka Zulu (the martial artist) said: “I will start with the mindset that I am going to kill you. Then, if I don’t have to, I will de-escalate”. I believe it’s necessary to have the ability to both maim and control, and have it be a naturally integrated form of self expression.

It is possible to look passive and yet be devastating.

Everybody has to decide for themselves what they are willing to risk to defend themselves, their loved ones, and complete strangers. But it’s wise to understand the possible ramifications of relying solely on others for that protection.

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How to Counter Joint Locks, Arm Bars, and Body Controls

Whenever I am teaching bunkai and self defense I advise students to “create a disturbance” before applying a joint lock.

A disturbance could be a strike to the body or face that causes the attacker to focus on the pain instead of you. It could mean a subtle pulling off-balance that puts the opponent in a position of weakness. It could also be as simple as a movement of your body and hands that causes the attacker to critically expose his/her body.

By utilizing disturbance you can circumvent the strength, focus, and potential counterattacks of a live attacker. Often in the vacuum of a dojo we can apply punishing joint locks that make our partners whimper. Unfortunately we are working with a level of compliance that ignores the power of adrenaline charged muscles (which can ignore pain and significantly resist your efforts) and the volatility of swinging fists, feet, and forehead of an opponent that wants to take you out.

There is a great video of Taiji (tai chi) exponent Yang Hefa demonstrating what can happen to an attacker who is trying to apply various locks and maneuvers without doing anything else to create an initial disturbance. Yang is free to think and react naturally, and the results for the attacker are unimpressive and sobering.

As you were watching you probably had the instinct to say “just elbow him! punch him in the face! Perform KoshiNage! etc”. But that’s not really the point of the video as I’m sure Yang Hefa could have performed plenty of nasty techniques himself. What Yang is really showing is the ability to weave, bob, and slink his way out of some of the most commonly used grappling techniques.

Yang’s tricks are really not that hard to understand -

• first, he is staying very relaxed. Many joint lock techniques are exacerbated by tension in the defender rather than sheer skill of the attacker.
• Second, he keeps himself perfectly balanced and his weight underside, which makes off-balancing techniques for his opponent very difficult.
• Third, Yang knows how to move with the force of his opponent, accept it, and redirect it when the attacker over-commits.

Is this video just a demonstration? Of course, but there are a lot of valuable takeaways. Next time you find yourself in a grappling or tegumi situation, take note of the amount of tension in your body. Figure out how your weight is distributed and if it is vulnerable to over-exposure.

If you feel yourself being put into a lock or bar, instead of resisting it with muscular strength experiment with rolling your body and moving with the motion. Find some willing and good humored training partners and see if you can frustrate them.

Finally take note of the possibility of failure when grappling and the need to move quickly to other techniques and methods. I personally recommend creating a disturbance in the opponent to distract his mind so that he can’t resist, or worse yet, show off skill like Yang’s.

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The Story of Martial Arts Hierarchy (And It’s Benefits, Powers, and Perversions)

**note: this is an abbreviated ‘big picture’ discussion of a very expansive topic. Forgive the necessary timeline jumps and generalizations used to paint the broader picture.**

Hierarchy is a polarizing mechanism. When it’s working fair and properly, individuals can benefit. When it is corrupted or run incompetently, everybody suffers (except perhaps those at the top). Hierarchy is a powerful tool, and in the martial arts, it is thrust into the hands of people who may or may not deserve it.

In many modern countries a high premium is placed on individual freedoms. Very rarely do we quietly tolerate anything that impedes our rights as citizens. The military, out of need for cohesion and order, is a rare example of effective hierarchy in modern times. Of course there are a myriad of other hierarchies in our lives, including work, family, school, etc., but none of those are as staunch and unyielding as the military.

In the midst of a thousand civilian activities and pastimes lies the martial arts. No basketball coach or yoga teacher holds the same authority and power over subordinates as the martial arts Sensei. Ironically, no coach or teacher could get away with the same lack of credentials and know-how as a slick, philandering ‘Master’ (if a basketball coach can’t win, they’ll be replaced. If a yoga instructor can’t hold a position, they’ll be replaced. If a martial arts instructor can’t defend him/herself or even perform a technique properly, they can still get by with fast talk or big claims).

The use and abuse of the exceedingly strong civilian hierarchy utilized by the martial arts has a long and complex history.

Where Martial Arts Hierarchy Came From

As it stands today, the hierarchy in martial arts stems from two predominant places. The first of which is traditional eastern culture. Born from a mixture of beliefs, but based most dominantly out of Confucianism, the Asian people have always placed high value on order and levels of authority. As one Sensei once joked to me with tongue-in-cheek, “if the Japanese saw three piles of dirt, they would name one Renshi dirt, one Kyoshi dirt, and one Hanshi dirt.”

The order of Asian society has influenced everything they do, from family life to dojo life. This structure has led to some amazing advances in their societies, and some behavior that is often seen as confusing and even disturbing (i.e. Seppuku and kamikaze pilots).

The Okinawans, while less militaristic in their day-to-day hierarchies, also put great emphasis on order, especially in regards to families, instructors, and community status.

As westerners came to learn the martial arts, they inherently absorbed the methods and mindsets of their teachers. This was compounded by the simple fact that many of the early western students were military personnel looking to improve their odds of survival in combat.

As mentioned earlier, the military is one of the most effective and inflexible modern day hierarchies. When young people were molded in that system, they absorbed the hierarchical aspects of military training. Being sharp and at-attention made sense to them, and not questioning what their instructors said or did was second nature.

When those early instructors came back to their home countries and started their own dojos, they built schools using the lens they knew best – strict, unyielding hierarchy.

How Hierarchy Came To Be What It Is

The example of karate hierarchy is very intriguing and a bit unique. Most scholars and historians believe that karate was developed as a civilian art, used by the Royal Court Guard (think Motobu Udundi), military police, and civilians. In fact it is commonly believed that one of karate’s greatest progenitors, Sokon “Bushi” Matsumura, was in charge of the court guard at one point in his life.

Although the background of karate is diverse, it was not intended SPECIFICALLY for battlefield use. Instead it was taught down family lines and within tight knit circles of friends and relatives. The teaching, despite what we see in a lot of modern dojo, was not extremely regimented. There were no excessive amounts of ceremony. In fact, since the learning groups were so small, they often started and stopped in completely unstructured ways and utilized subtle teacher/student etiquette.

However, as with other martial arts, many of the westerners that first learned karate were military folk. When they brought karate back with them, they took the techniques they learned from their Sensei and the organizational structure they learned from the military and melded them together. Thus was born the crisp, at-attention, BOW TO YOUR SENSEI type of mindset that has become prevalent throughout some martial arts circles (for better or worse).

As is the way in martial arts, students who learn a brand of hierarchy, whether it be relaxed or strict, tend to continue that tradition.

The Benefits of Martial Arts Hierarchy

Regardless of the specific level of strictness in a given dojo, there are a few concepts that seem pervasive. For example, there is always a matter of respect for seniors. Juniors in the dojo are expected to listen patiently to those ranked higher than them, and not speak belligerently to them no matter what the circumstances. This emphasis on respect is a massively positive aspect of traditional training.

Many individuals, children especially, can go through their whole lives without having to show respect to anyone. In the martial arts , however, you won’t get very far without it. Respect is one of the most crucial personality traits when it comes to keeping an open mind and understanding other people.

A sister benefit to respect is discipline. Although discipline takes a very visceral form in the martial arts dojo (bowing, standing still, listening quietly, etc) it becomes more and more valuable in a person’s daily life. Discipline in the dojo translates to self discipline, and self discipline is a cornerstone to personal success.

The hierarchy of a dojo can often be a microcosm for what people can expect in the real world. Students who learn the intricacies of handling superiors, subordinates, and ‘equals’ can often translate those skills into the workplace and home environments.

The hierarchy of a dojo can also provide serious motivation for students to achieve. The desire to ‘move up the ladder’ and command the presence and respect that seniors get can become palpable, and students are sometimes able to push themselves beyond what they thought was attainable. It is a goal-setting ideal that can teach people to move beyond their perceived limits and take charge of their own destiny.

The Pitfalls of Martial Arts Hierarchy

The benefits discussed can be perverted more easily than you might suspect. The desire for respect can often lead to a lust for power. Vanity and self-importance are traits not uncommon in martial arts ‘masters’ who wield their position like a club.

The ability to start a dojo and place people underneath you is astoundingly easy. Literally anyone can do it. Therefore, people that have no outlet for their self-aggrandizement often use martial arts to satisfy their needs.

Command, power, and influence are highly addictive ‘substances’. Just like John Kreese of the Cobra Kai in the picture above, some instructors enjoy seeing a little army consisting of versions of themself, ready to listen, follow, and take commands.

If you doubt the addictive powers of martial arts achievement, observe the gaining of rank, trophies, certificates of mastery, and dozens of black belts by some practitioners. Although these accolades are occasionally well deserved, often they are used to fuel the ego.

You’ll notice that when describing the serious issues inside the arts I didn’t say “All strict hierarchies are bad, and all loose hierarchies are good”. If only it were that simple. There are strict hierarchies that are extremely ethical and fair, and some loose hierarchies that are very devious and unscrupulous. It really comes down to how the teacher chooses to wield his/her authority and how juniors choose to operate inside of a given system (there are examples of ethical dojo heads who had to leave power in the hands of their subordinates, who then abused that power).

Final Thoughts

We often say in the martial arts that one should maintain a beginner’s mindset when learning, the goal of which is to avoid the ‘expert’s malaise’ that lulls people into a lack of growth. Another aspect of the beginner’s mind is to remember what it is like to be the low man on the totem pole. To recall the positive sensations when higher-ups took notice of your achievements and gave you valuable criticism, and the negative sensations of when you felt wronged and slighted.

As you become more and more powerful in the arts, it is critical to use that power wisely. Martial arts instructors are not gurus and they are not therapists; they are not financial counselors and they are not generals. But, when done properly, they can be a source of inspiration and a guiding light to help students achieve their goals and learn the techniques and traditions that have benefited practitioners for generations.

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