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USAMA BLOG

Raising the standards of the martial arts

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The Combat Craze

3/31/2016

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Author: Bret Gordon
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The latest trend sweeping the martial arts industry is self defense (and it should be, if done correctly). Soccer moms everywhere are lining up for free or cheap self defense courses, hoping to gain enough mystical fighting skills in their beautifully packaged 4-week course to save them in a life-or-death situation. Regardless of the monetary cost of these courses, however, the true cost of these courses could be your life.

Even more dangerous than these isolated courses are the schools claiming to teach self defense that have absolutely zero real-life experience, because now their students are developing horrible habits and muscle memory over an extended period of time while also increasing their confidence to unreal proportions. Some even use fancy keywords such as "Combat" or "Krav Maga" to draw in new customers (true Israeli military grade Krav Maga is a beautiful, effective hand-to-hand fighting system, unlike what is taught at most shopping center schools). More often than not, these instructors took some crash certification course themselves and now are Certified Level X Instructors in the "most advanced, deadly Marine Special Operations (wink) system of make believe combat." Some are just regurgitating the same ineffective techniques shown to them by their instructor as they were coming up through the ranks, based mostly on sport fighting techniques that have no place in real combat.

Now I must say that this article will not be which system teaches the most effective self defense. As stated previously, every system is limited by the range of the human body on how we can physically harm another person. Therefore, every system has the capability to be highly efficient in combat. It's the training methods and application of the physical techniques that determines the efficiency of what you're teaching for self defense.


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The Quest For New Information

3/26/2016

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Author: Bret Gordon
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When Budo becomes truly ingrained into your entire being, you find that information and epiphanies about martial arts can come from anywhere. I happened to be in a local flea market and saw a bumper sticker "Too Bad The People Who Know It All Can't Do It All..." and it made me chuckle. Especially among Western practitioners, there seems to be an abundance of high ranking instructors who truly have reached the pinnacle of perfection and absolute knowledge. In all honesty, however, it's probably more accurate to say these same instructors have merely reached a plateau in their martial arts career, have grown comfortable in their position and are unmotivated to find someone who may actually have more/better information than they do.

I think people confuse lack of qualified instructors with lack of information available to learn. Once you reach a certain point, the information you seek becomes very specialized, and therefore the number of instructors possessing and teaching this high-level information becomes exceedingly rare. For me, I've lately been focusing on the study of internal structure and manipulation. That type of material is very hard to find if you don't know what you're looking for in search of an instructor, but that doesn't mean it's not out there. Yes, there is the cliche that you can learn from everyone and it's true. I learn from my students on a regular basis. But in general, learning unique information and material is hard to come by, even across various styles and systems. How can this be?


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Martial Arts Titles

3/22/2016

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Author: Bret Gordon
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One cannot escape the growing epidemic of Western practitioners using titles such as Master, Grand Master, etc. I've even seen some use the title Supreme Chief Grand Master. Of course, the irony does not escape me that martial arts is supposed to be about respect and humility, so where did these titles come from?

In the martial arts, title and position supersede rank. Your title designates what authority you hold in that particular organization or system, while rank denotes your actual progress. Let's take a look at traditional martial arts titles and their English translation, and then we'll explore the origins of our Napoleon complex and obsession with lofty titles (which of course we demand to be called by).


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Does Profit Equal Prestige?

3/15/2016

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Author: Bret Gordon
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Having spent the last 20 years in martial arts and training in everything from large 5,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facilities to backyards and garages, I've noticed that no matter the training space, all of the truly prestigious schools have similar traits (notice I said prestigious, not "big and fancy"). Yet there's a growing trend in the martial arts community that troubles me. When people visit new areas and look for the best restaurants, they're often drawn to the "Mom and Pop holes in the wall" as opposed to the larger chain restaurants. They claim the food is better because the people genuinely care about their customers and their product (food) over profits. So why is the mentality different when searching for a martial arts school? 

Martial arts has become a multi-million dollar industry, and organizations of "professional martial artists" such as NAPMA and MAIA are leading the way. Seminars are being held all over the country, but not for the advancement of training or information. The focus of these seminars is how to run a better business. A recent seminar even went so far as to show you how to develop a "cult-like following." Now, before I continue, I must say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with an instructor being fairly compensated for their time and expertise. However, when the entire focus of your school is aesthetic appearance, there is a problem. 


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