Category: Etiquette

Etiquette & Protocol For Supplemental Training

5/25/2018

Author: Bret Gordon

As instructors, we need to admit to ourselves that we're not perfect. We don't know it all, and sometimes a student is looking for something that we can't provide. Our responsibility as instructors is to provide for our students and guide them on the path that helps them achieve their goals, not ours. One of the hardest things to hear as an instructor is that your student wants to train with someone else, but we have to understand there's a lot more to it. Often times, it's not that they want to replace their training with you but rather supplement it to fill in the gaps. There is no style, and no instructor, that is the best in the world at everything. It's this situation that I want to address in this article, from both the student and instructor's perspective.

Respect and loyalty form the foundation of the instructor/student relationship. It must be mutual and constant. Many things we may not give a second thought to are actually considered to be very disrespectful, and should be avoided.

Earlier tonight, I was contacted by someone who currently trains at another school but was looking to supplement their studies with more realistic self defense training. Upon learning that they were a student elsewhere, I immediately turned them down. If you are a student somewhere, and there is something you have an interest in but are not currently learning, your first responsibility is to talk to your current instructor. Often times, we can accommodate you. I certainly do not teach everything I know within my main program, and many instructors are the same. Perhaps what you're looking to learn is also on the minds of other students in the school, and this "want" can influence your instructor to add an additional class/program, or even offer private training.

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PSA: Ryon Connery

5/24/2018

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Earlier this week, I was contacted by a gentleman named Ryon Connery who was interested in receiving certification as the founder of his own style. As per our regulations, he sent me the three following certificates below as verification of his rank:

Now, obviously he does not hold high enough rank to be considered for a founder's license, but what struck me as even more odd is that he tried passing off his 8th Kyu (yellow belt) Bujinkan certificate as a black belt rank. But, like we do for all prospective members, we looked up Mr. Connery. What we found was shocking, and so we decided to publish this public service announcement. Unfortunately, here are the results:

Ryon Thomas Connery is a Level 2 sex offender, and has two convictions of child molestation (2nd degree) and one conviction of attempted child molestation (view source). The comments on the attached website read:

"In 1999 Connery was convicted in Lewis County Juvenile Court of Child Molestation 2nd Degree for the Sexual Assault of a 13-year-old female. At the time of the offense Connery, then 17-years-old, became romantically involved with the female and coercing her into sexual activity. As a result of the conviction he was sentenced to 156 weeks of confinement. While he was in custody for that offense another sex offense came to light. This involved a then 13-year-old Connery having sexual contact with an 8-year-old female. He was convicted of this new offense and served his sentence concurrently with the other crime. After his release from juvenile custody in 2002 additional sex offenses came to the attention of authorities. Those crimes, occurring prior to his 1999 conviction, involved sexual contact with female children that were known to him. In 2002 he pled guilty to the single offense of Attempted Child Molestation 2nd Degree. As a result of that conviction he was sentenced to 60 months in prison. Since his release for the sex offense, Connery received a conviction in Lewis County Superior Court in 2014 for Assault of a Child. Based on the type of crimes committed, Connery has been classified as a clear risk to re-offend and this notification in required."

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Knowing Where You Sit At The Table

11/7/2017

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Author: Bret Gordon

One of the most overlooked aspects of martial arts training is the culture in which the arts themselves were created (for the purpose of this article, I will be specifically referring to Japanese martial arts). Here in the States, we have a unique culture (for better or worse) that drives our everyday lives. However, once you step through the threshold of the dojo, everything changes. Once you bow at the door, you're in a whole new world.

In this new world that is the dojo, there is no such thing as freedom of speech or expression. There is no such thing as equality. A traditional dojo functions like a family, something I've addressed in several previous articles. But also as a family, there is a clear hierarchy. There is a parent, and there are children. While as human beings we all have a basic right to be treated with dignity and respect, there is a clear order of succession. There is a rigid hierarchy, driven by both rank and title/license, that establishes your place in line.

It is generally assumed that you are training in that specific school because you trust the instructor enough that they can help you reach your training goals. You trust that they have more experience in their given field, and therefore their expert opinion is what you should be following. If you do not trust that they have more experience and knowledge than you do, why are you training there? So that being said, you must also trust that they know what's best for you and how to best guide you on your path once you have clearly established what your goals in training are. You must trust that they know what they're talking about. This does not mean to blindly follow your instructor or to never ask them to clarify why they say or do something a certain way. Lord knows, the martial arts are full of cultists today who never question what they are taught. But what I'm talking about goes much deeper than simple curiosity or willingness to learn, so let's explore it...

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What Is A Dojo?

8/29/2017

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Author: Bret Gordon

Especially in the American martial arts community, the word dojo has become synonymous with martial arts school. However, there is so much more to the meaning of a dojo than just a place to practice martial arts. In this article, we're going to explore the etymology of the word dojo, it's true meaning, and why it is not applicable for all martial arts schools.

Dojo is made up of two characters, 道場. The first character, Do, translates as "The Way" and holds a spiritual connotation. "The Way" specifically refers to the path to enlightenment. The second character, Jo, means "place." So a dojo is literally a "place to practice the Way." It is a hall to study the path to enlightenment, a place of spiritual cultivation and an institution of higher learning. The word dojo is not confined to martial arts training, and can be extended to any of the -do forms of Japanese arts, such as shodo (calligraphy). In fact, it is even used in Zen Buddhism to describe the meditation halls where they practice zazen.

In actuality, what most people consider to be a dojo is really a keikojo 稽古場. Keiko literally means "practice," and refers to physical training. Keikojo is the most appropriate term for a martial arts school that does not engage in any spiritual development, that is purely focused on physical training without the trappings or rituals of a traditional art (what some may call a "gym" or "club").

So now that we've defined what the terms dojo and keikojo are, let's go a little more in depth.

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What Happened To Brotherhood?

8/9/2017

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Author: Bret Gordon

I really should just get off social media, because nearly every time I see something posted by the martial arts "community" I start to twitch. One of the latest posts was a question asking school owners, "What separates you from your competition? What sets you apart in the market?" To even ask such a question shows the complete and total disregard for the values we all claim to teach: Respect, Integrity, Humility.

Here's the thing. No other martial arts school is my competition. I primarily teach teens and adults, so fitness classes are my competition. Extended work hours are my competition. Mountains of homework and college prep are my competition. If you teach kids, then little league is your competition. Soccer, football, dance, gymnastics, even video games. That is your competition.

Here's a great example. For those who don't know, I currently rent space from a Taekwondo school to teach my classes. I don't have anything to do with their program, but I do try to support them (considering if they close, I'm out of a space). Yesterday they attended a "Meet the Teacher" event at the local elementary school, as did three other local schools. While you can definitely sense the tension in the room between the school owners, everyone got their fair share of leads and sign ups. It's a school with 1,400 students currently enrolled. There's enough for everyone, without the need to belittle or bash the other schools.

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Martial Arts, Inc.

7/23/2017

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Author: Bret Gordon

Do you ever get the feeling that you don't belong? Lately, this has become not just a passing thought but an all-encompassing, gut wrenching emotion that has driven this article. What I'm about to talk about will ring true for some, but I'm sure will offend most. And let me apologize now, because this will be long.

Everyone talks about the martial arts community. They throw around marketing words like brotherhood, family and integrity. They say they teach martial arts in order to make a difference in someone's life. To inspire them. To give them confidence. To teach them real world skills. They say all of their students are like family, that no one is just a number on the mat. However, after being involved with other school owners for the last decade, I can only say one thing. They're all lying.

I belong to several martial arts groups on social media, some of which are only for instructors and school owners. The ones that are open to everyone of all experience levels are frustrating for someone looking to have a deep discussion about Budo, yet understandable. But no matter how understandable it is, there's only so many "Which style is better?" posts that I can take before I start removing myself from those groups. However, in a group that is solely comprised of instructors, you would think there would be some great discussions. Yet the more I observe, the more it becomes apparent that these groups are run by mega-school owners talking about the next marketing scheme or hustle to attempt to satisfy their ever-growing greed while looking down on anyone who doesn't have enrollment in the triple digits. After careful observation and numerous interactions, I can only come to one conclusion. The martial arts community as we know it is dead, and what we're left with is the martial arts industry.

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Still Only Human...

5/6/2017

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Author: Bret Gordon

There comes a point when you reach a certain level in the martial arts, you'll be sitting around the table with your instructor or a group of other instructors who consider you their peer, and you'll notice something for the first time that makes you feel a little uneasy. There's no talk of poetry or wisdom. There's no meditation or talks of loving your enemy. There's usually a lot of alcohol and conversations too explicit for this article.

One of the most conflicting things in the martial arts is learning the hard truth that your instructor whom you've just spent the better part of your life venerating is just a regular person like everyone else. On one hand, it's disheartening that there really is no secret (or maybe that is the secret). There really is no amount of training that turns you into a mystical, all-knowing warrior sage. That no matter how many years you spend in the pursuit of Budo, you still suffer from the human condition. But on the other hand, it's a wonderful thing. As instructors, masters and grandmasters, we put so much effort and energy into this persona that for you to be allowed into the "inner circle" and see who your instructor really is, is a gift that's simply invaluable.

You see, coming up through the ranks we place our instructors on a super human pedestal. This is aided by the complete misunderstanding of Asian culture, and actually stems from our totally incorrect view of the Samurai themselves. Everyone likes to throw around the "Bushido Code," a list of seven virtues for all noble warriors to possess and display in their daily lives. But the truth of the matter is that this concept of Bushido as we know it stemmed out of boredom. After the Tokugawa family came into power and essentially outlawed warfare, you had thousands of highly trained warriors now without work. What happens when you mix together testosterone, alcohol and boredom? Exactly. So the "Bushido Code" was put in place as a means of self-policing among the Samurai, stating that a true warrior would never rape, pillage and murder. Except for the fact that in times of war, those same warriors were first in line to rape, pillage and murder.

But that's not the history we want to remember. The Samurai couldn't have been bloodthirsty killers. They were highly enlightened, nearly divine super humans that drank tea in their Zen gardens while writing poetry, right? Unfortunately, as instructors we get looped into that ideal as well.

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Quality Vs. Quantity: The Myth Of Time

2/19/2017

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Author: Bret Gordon

One of the first questions that a martial artist asks another practitioner, in addition to what system they study and what rank they hold, is how long they've been training. While time can be a good indication of where one stands in terms of skill, progress and understanding, we must be careful not to look at time alone. Time (as measured by the calendar) can be misleading, especially in today's society.

We all have this misconception about experience, that somehow time is a defining factor in determining one's expertise. However, the truth is that it's not how many years you spend in any endeavor but how you spend those years which determines your progress. Let's think about this for a minute.

The average practitioner trains 2-3 nights per week for an hour or so each night. That amounts to roughly 150 hours of training each year. But what about someone who trains as if it's a full-time job? Of course, this situation is rare now but there was a time when 40 hours per week training was considered the norm. You were committed to the art, and possibly even lived in the dojo. At 40 hours/week, you'd accumulate 160 hours of training in a single month. So then, in the course of a year you had nearly 12 times the amount of training as someone who only trains a few nights each week. Your experience level would far outweigh the number of years you've been training, and you would be greatly underrated. So how can we accurately gauge what someone truly knows?

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Bullying In The Martial Arts

8/19/2016

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Author: Bret Gordon

In the world of anti-bullying, you'd never think there could be martial arts bullies. However, in no other community do grown men argue about colorful pieces of cloth and pretty documents than in the martial arts. Think about it. How many times have you heard groups of "masters" and "grandmasters" publicly shaming another practitioner because of what they wear around their waist? How many of them call out other martial artists because they belong to another organization, therefore their piece of paper is not worth as much? How many times have school owners written a negative review of their competitors for absolutely no reason, simply to deter students away from their competitors so they can make an extra buck? Hell, there's an entire thread on bullshido about me and yet if you read the entire thread my hater was called out specifically for posting negative things simply because he was a competitor. It happens every day.

Whenever there's a group of people, bullies will find a way to infiltrate even the most noble of circles. They seek out a target and sink their venomous jaws into them, for reasons such as jealousy, inferiority, self consciousness, etc. More often than not, these snakes have little experience with their victims and are speaking from a place of ignorance and hate. The truth is that they're intimidated, and feel that should their victim gain any success it undermines them. Now, my first martial arts instructor when I was a little kid made it a point to tell me that we're all on our own journey and nothing anyone else does affects us in anyway. Apparently, these cowards didn't get the memo. Here's just one story in the sea of martial arts bullies (in the interest of anonymity, their names will be kept out of this article).

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YouTube Sensei Has More Students Than Us All

8/13/2016

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Author: Bret Gordon

Just admit it. We've all watched videos of other practitioners, seen something we liked and tried to replicate it. It's ok, there's nothing wrong with that. It's not any different than watching a demonstration and trying to copy what you saw. In fact, it may actually be better because you can replay it as many times as you need. The problem only occurs when people forego physical training with an instructor to learn from videos exclusively or try to skip ahead in your training. There are minute details you can never pick up simply from video, if you have no experience with that particular system.

Sure, a high level Goju-Ryu karateka can watch a video of another Goju-Ryu kata that he hasn't seen yet, and replicate it very well including the small details. This is because his experience in the system has conditioned him to the finer points of Goju-Ryu and he already has an understanding of the dynamics and principles of the system. The same would be true for any high level practitioner watching techniques from their system. Notice I clarified this by saying "high level practitioner." Someone with only a few years of experience, or even a Shodan or Nidan (and probably Sandan), needs to stay off the internet. I'd say about 4th Dan is when someone has enough understanding of their system to be able to watch a video and replicate what they see accurately, and without developing bad habits their instructor will hating them for.

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In an effort to share information, each year we publish a book containing all of the articles written that year. This book is an excellent supplemental training tool for the beginner and master alike! To order the most recent volume, click the image below. For previous years, please contact our headquarters.

Articles of 2016

USAMA BLOG

Etiquette & Protocol For Supplemental Training

PSA: Ryon Connery

Knowing Where You Sit At The Table

What Is A Dojo?

What Happened To Brotherhood?

Martial Arts, Inc.

Still Only Human...

Quality Vs. Quantity: The Myth Of Time

Bullying In The Martial Arts

YouTube Sensei Has More Students Than Us All

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