ALL MARTIAL ARTS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL

Posted on | June 4, 2007 | 4 Comments

ALL MARTIAL ARTS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL
By: Charles Ward, CMIT © 2006

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People have been fascinated with the martial arts for centuries. Over time, more and more art forms have evolved or come into being — some good, some bad. The art forms that have stood the test of time continue to be of interest to people of all ages and cultures. However, with so many various art forms to choose from, how does a person interested in practicing the martial arts know where to start? Are they all the same? If they are different, how are they different? What different purposes do they serve? Perhaps the most important question is this — which martial art is the best for self-defense? These are all good questions for prospective students to ask themselves — and I hope to answer some of those questions with this article.

By basic definition, a martial art is just what it says, a war-like skill set. In their original formats, all martial arts were meant for battlefield application. There are, however, other related benefits that occur naturally with this type of training. Like the occupation of soldiering, a certain amount of athleticism, fitness, and discipline must be present, along with battlefield skills. Over centuries much evolution has taken place. Some of these art forms have focused more on the sporting and competition application, some have leaned more toward an aesthetic approach and focus, but only a select few have retained the true intent of self-preservation in combat. The criteria I’m setting forth in this article will focus more on the true self-defense nature of the martial arts. To evaluate a martial art on its self-defense merits, one must consider the following:

Practical Self-Defense Skills. How effective are the techniques that are taught in actual combat, and how easily are they applied by the practitioner? Real self-defense techniques and maneuvers are not fancy and flamboyant. Real combat is not like what you see in the movies. You need techniques and maneuvers that are simple, direct, and easy to remember and execute under stressful conditions.

Situational Awareness Training. This includes developing heightened senses of concentration, observation, and perception, as well as understanding and applying simple strategies and tactics for your safety. A good self-defense art form will teach its students methods of increasing situational awareness.

Discipline and Responsibility. Learning a combat-effective self-defense art requires a great deal of discipline and responsibility on the part of the practitioner. Keep in mind that the techniques learned can actually injure another person, sometimes permanently. Art forms that instill a strong sense of discipline and responsibility in their students are a must for good self-defense training.

Honor and Duty. The purpose of self-defense training is what the name implies, to defend yourself from harm. It is a normal part of the code of conduct in any good martial arts system to emphasize the point that the skills learned in class are for self-defense purposes only. By instilling honorable behavior in the students, a martial art helps to cultivate good character. This criterion goes closely with discipline and responsibility.

Physical Fitness. Any martial art that doesn’t stress the importance of developing good physical fitness is doing a disservice to its students. Martial arts practice is physically demanding and performance oriented. Developing a strong and fit body is par for the course in good self-defense training. Statements like “The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle,” exist for a reason. The better shape you’re in, the better your chances are of not getting seriously injured in a real encounter.

Athleticism and Coordination. Different from physical fitness, athleticism and coordination deal more with a person’s balance, grace, and fine-tuned motor skills. While it’s one thing to simply be physically fit, it’s another to have natural grace of movement. Some people have more of a natural aptitude for this than others, but it is a skill set that can be acquired and developed by anyone. As stated earlier under the physical fitness criterion, the more athleticism and coordination you have, the less likely you are to be injured in combat.

Flexibility. This criterion goes along with physical fitness. Because of the high levels of physical activity in most martial arts, the body needs to be flexible. Developing good flexibility through methods of stretching and exercise is a necessary part of good self-defense training. Having good flexibility helps to reduce injuries, and ultimately makes the techniques and maneuvers easier to perform. Through consistent practice, the criteria of physical fitness, athleticism and coordination, and flexibility will all be met. Once your body has been trained and adjusted to martial arts methods, the joints and muscles of your body become much more pliable than the average person’s. This conditioning makes you much more adaptable to stressful conditions and situations, and also much more apt to survive in combat.

To attempt an evaluation of every martial art system would be a monumental task. There are literally hundreds of different styles of martial arts in the world today. However, all of these art forms can be placed into three broad categories:

Aesthetic Art Forms

Sport & Competition Art Forms

– Point-Fighting

– Full-Contact

– Grappling

– Mixed Martial Arts & Ho-Holds-Barred

Combat Art Forms

By analyzing and understanding these categories, we are better able to evaluate types of martial arts for their self-defense worth.

AESTHETIC ART FORMS

photo of Tai Chi practitioner, courtesy of the International WuDang Association, www.wudangboxing.com/photos.htm

Aesthetic art forms focus on slow, flowing techniques and maneuvers. Other terminologies for these art forms include the following: Soft-Internal/Soft-External and Meditative Flow. Tai Chi is a good example of this type of martial art. Art forms of this nature focus on the maneuvers themselves, and how the human body blends and flows with each individual movement. Often referred to as “meditation in motion,” the slow-moving form of these arts teaches students to develop a fine-tuned sense of weight transference, balance, and coordination.

Almost every martial art has at least some these residual effects present today. In practicing kata, shadow boxing, or the repetition of particular movement drills, students are learning to concentrate on internalizing very specific physical responses and patterns of motion. In a truly aesthetic art form, however, these movements are not carried out in real time, or with great intensity. Rather, the movements are performed in slow motion, almost as if the practitioner were underwater. This method allows the student to concentrate deeply on each technique. While aesthetic art forms meet some of the criteria necessary for good self-defense training, they fall short in the area of practical self-defense skills themselves. Since the movements of these art forms are executed slowly, with an emphasis on athleticism and grace, they are not practical, applicable, or effective in the high-speed and highly fluid environment of actual combat. These art forms also fail to meet the criterion of situational awareness. Since the techniques are not practiced for combat, they will never be able to be applied in combat. For self-defense training to be meaningful, a person must train in the manner in which he/she will have to use those skills.

SPORT & COMPETITION ART FORMS

Sport and competition art forms can be further broken down into four classifications: Point-fighting styles, full-contact styles, grappling styles, and mixed martial arts “No-Holds-Barred” styles. In a point-fighting style, the competitors spar with each other under a strict set of rules. There are only a couple of legal target areas, and contact is extremely limited. Competitors accrue points based on touching their opponents with a kick or strike to a legal target area. More points are awarded for more complex techniques. Once a point is scored, action stops and the competitors return to their starting positions and resume sparring on command. This type of competition is like a high-speed game of tag. Tae Kwon Do is a good example of a point-fighting style.

photo of Taekwondo competition, courtesy of www.taekwondo.dk

Thai fighters in action, Courtesy of World Martial Arts – The World’s Best, www.groundfighter.com/content/pageid/20.html

Boxers in competition, Courtesy of Nevada State Athletic Commission, www.boxing.nv.gov

A Judo throw being executed in a match

Full-contact styles, on the other hand, have continuous action throughout the course of a round. A round is generally three to five minutes long, depending on the type of competition. Competitors try to knock their opponent unconscious, or get them to submit by “tapping out” from a painful submission hold. Some full-contact styles, such as Muay Thai and boxing, only focus on strikes and kicks — grappling is not allowed in these sports. In this format, winning by virtue of a knockout or a judge’s decision is the goal. Sports like Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, Sambo, and Greco-Roman Wrestling focus just on the grappling aspect of martial arts. In these matches, the competitors get superior position and throw their opponents to the ground. From there, various submission holds, chokes, and joint locks are applied to make their opponent “tap out,” or submit. This is what grappling, or ground-fighting, is all about. Other full-contact venues, like mixed martial arts “No-Holds-Barred” competitions, allow the competitors the freedom to employ a wide variety of skills. In contests of this nature, almost everything is allowed. Strikes, kicks, elbows, knees, throws, joint-locks, takedowns, chokes, submission holds, etc. These matches are very exciting, and provide the most realistic forum for using most of a fighter’s knowledge and skills, but in a more controlled and safer environment than actual combat.

“No Holds Barred Competition” Courtesy of the UFC (Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz)

More “No Holds Barred” competition in a ring setting (fighter going for a Guillotine choke on bottom while top fighter tries to release his head

However, as effective as some of these combative sports are in their respective arenas, they are still lacking when it comes to practical skills for actual combat. Because they are sporting events, they have some rules for safety. These rules equate to limitations when it comes time to really defend yourself. People will react to a threat exactly how they’ve been trained. If you’ve been trained with certain rules ingrained into your subconscious, then those rules will cross over into how you react to a real threat. People will do what they’ve been trained to do under stress. If a person has been trained to think of certain target areas on the body, or certain techniques, as “illegal”, then they will not attack those areas or use those techniques — period.

Although sport and competition art forms offer better self-defense training than an aesthetic art form, they still fall short when it comes to actual combat. They meet the criteria of physical fitness and conditioning in spades, and sometimes go beyond athleticism and coordination into areas of acrobatic skills, etc. While that might look impressive, it has little to no value when it comes right down to real self-defense. Also, due to the fact that the practitioners of these art forms train for competition under a set of rules, the situational awareness for actual combat is lacking. There are no rules in real combat, so you must train with that mentality to be truly effective in protecting yourself in a real-life violent situation.

COMBAT ART FORMS

Combat art forms are those martial arts that have never lost focus of the true nature of self-defense. These art forms are the rarest, but are by far the most realistic when it comes to tactical maneuvers and techniques actually designed and practiced for use in real combat. Military forces, law enforcement agencies, and other similar groups are the obvious practitioners of these types of martial arts. However, the arts themselves, and the true disciples of them, can trace the roots of their philosophies back hundreds, and sometimes thousands of years. The hard-hitting reality of true battlefield tactics is not something that the majority of practicing martial arts students and instructors are familiar with in the martial arts world of today. Most people, fortunately, never have the need for this type of knowledge and skill. However, there are those who need this type of training for survival. As far as realistic self-defense training goes, nothing else can compare to tactical CQC (Close Quarter Combat) training from a qualified and experienced instructor from such an art form.

Actually, to be accurate, Close Quarter Combat taken by itself is less of an art form and more of a system of military science. For the sake of continuity in this article I use the term art forms in describing the various styles and systems of martial arts practices.

Another reason that CQC art forms are best suited for practical self-defense is that they address the use of practical weapons training for today’s world. Impact and edged weapons like fighting sticks and knives are thoroughly covered in a good CQC curriculum. In advanced training, firearms are also covered, as well as using everyday objects as weapons. This knowledge is valuable beyond measure when it comes to true self-defense and self-preservation in combat. While it is true that there are other styles of martial arts devoted strictly to the use of a particular weapon, or weapons — those styles also focus on the traditional and historical use of those weapons. For example: Kenjutsu, Krabi-Krabong, Wu-Shu, and other classical weapons systems that focus on the use of the sword, spear, and other historical weapons, have little practical application for self-defense in today’s world. While there is no doubt as to the development of excellent coordination and conditioning in these styles, the use of a sword, spear, or other traditional martial arts weaponry has little practical value in modern day combat.

U.S. Marines in CQC Training. Staff Sgt. Dana Lege (left) and Maj. Kelly Heatherman practice unarmed strikes at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va on February 6, 2001, Courtesy of Untied States Marine Corps

CQC demonstration with Master Instructor Charles Ward (top) and instructor Christopher Gieser practicing pain compliance holds at the living weapon academy in Mesa, AZ, Courtesy of the Living Weapon Academy

For the student seeking strong and practical self-defense skills, a martial arts school devoted to a CQC curriculum is the way to go — but only if the instructor of such a school is truly qualified and experienced enough to offer realistic, effective, and safe training to the students. Some combat sports curriculums such as boxing, Muay Thai, and submission grappling can have tremendous value when it comes to self-defense, as long as a clear distinction is made between what is acceptable both in, and out, of the ring. A good CQC school will already address these issues, and will most likely also offer training in these other areas. Tai’Kor, Krav-Maga, and Gan Teora are excellent examples of combat art forms.

Soldiers in CQC training. U.S. ARMY Military Police at Fort Benning, Georgia practice hand to hand combat techniques, Courtesy of the United States Army.

Lastly, a martial arts school that offers good self-defense training will also educate its students on the psychological and emotional ramifications of engaging in real combat.

This area takes us beyond the physical aspect of learning maneuvers and techniques, and goes into what the student can expect in a real-life, violent conflict. Again, only a qualified and experienced instructor can offer those types of lessons — and the value of lessons of this nature should never be underestimated. Good self-defense training is meant for one thing, to save your life in combat, so choosing the right kind of training is an extremely important decision. By meeting all of the criteria for good self-defense training, you will have a method of staying in great physical condition, developing and maintaining a sharp and analytical mind, forging yourself into a better person through the principles of honor and discipline, and of course you will be capable of defending yourself, or those you care about, should the need ever arise.

WORKS CITED

Donohue, John J., Ph.D. Sensei. New York: 2003.

Mashiro, N., Ph.D. Black Medicine, Volume 1: The Dark Art of Death. Paladin Press: 1978.

Mashiro, N., Ph.D. Black Medicine, Volume 2: Weapons at Hand. Paladin Press: 1979.

United States Marine Corps. U.S. Marines Close-Quarters Combat Manual. Paladin Press: 1996.

Ward, Charles. Amrajutsu, The Combat Art: Official Student Textbook. 2nd ed. Warhammer Press: 1995.

Ward, Charles. The Higher Standard of Human Performance & The Living Weapon
Academy Course Catalog. Warhammer Publications: 2005.

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