Here’s a shocker for you … martial arts are about survival. Yep, that’s right. The purpose of martial arts is to have the skill and knowledge to be able to do in the bad guy and still make it home in time to walk the dog. Martial arts are not some trendy type of workout designed to impress the ladies as you tell them about the tournaments or trophies you’ve won. While it certainly is an awesome total-body workout and a great way to get in shape many students really give little thought to its ultimate purpose; survival.
Let’s talk self-defense. I was one of the co-founders of the United Karate Institute of Self-Defense, Inc. in Alexandria, Virginia. Three10 other instructors, my wife (also a black belt) and I decided that we had met way too many highly ranked black belts who had earned numerous trophies in sport karate competition. They were champions and winners and knew all the tricks in the ring to be able to score points and come home with the large gleaming plastic and marble trophies. Sounds great doesn’t it. Except for one small problem, many of these black belt “champions” did not possess even the most basic skills or knowledge of how to defend themselves against even a single assailant, much less multiple assailants. What’s up with that?
If you can’t defend yourself … nothing else matters!
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They’re black belts. They should be able to leap over tall buildings, outrun bullets, stop a speeding train and run between the raindrops! Right? No, but it certainly seems to the average person that a black belt must be nearly indestructible and probably possesses some almost mystical power and knowledge. Wrong again. If you are not trained properly with a real emphasis on self-defense and street application of martial arts techniques then you are merely mimicking movements from your instructor.
If you’re a black belt and you can’t even defend yourself on the street then what have you spent all of those years doing? Let me say it again, martial arts are about survival. It’s not about phony point-sparring competition where the only techniques you can use in the ring are things you would never dream of using on the street and where the most effective techniques from the street are not allowed in the ring.
When you study martial arts it’s not all just punching and kicking, you must learn about many qualities of humanity, both positive and negative because your brain is your ultimate survival tool. Ultimately, at its core, is the need to survive; be it on the streets of New York City, the jungles of Asia, the deserts of the Middle East or even a hostile business climate. To survive combat and harsh environments, you the martial artist must have many skills and have developed many physical and character qualities. In order to survive, you must improve yourself beyond your current abilities. However, remember the best warrior is not warlike, but is able to summon the warrior spirit within when it is required.
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