Author: Bret Gordon
Let me start off by saying that if you've ever thought the words "safe space," I recommend not reading any further because the real world is anything but safe. Now, we're all familiar with these masters and grandmasters who used to be somebody 30 years ago, who haven't trained since then except for teaching the occasional class yet still walk around like they can put you in your place if you call them out on it. But here's the thing. I don't care how good you once were. If you're not training on a regular basis, then you've grown complacent, and therefore you're incompetent.
Better example. How many times have you driven a car? How many times do you zone out and then find yourself slamming on the breaks and swerving because some idiot in front of you stopped short? It's in that split second of action we find out how good of a driver you really are, no matter long you've been driving. You either slam into the car in front of you, or you swerve around them avoiding a potentially deadly crash.
Self defense is the exact same thing. We tend to zone out during "training" and often find ourselves slamming into the car in front of us when actually confronted with an attack. To start with, the majority of martial arts schools instill a false sense of hope and security in their students. It's not their fault, they just don't know any better. In fact, this is hardly a problem limited to martial arts schools.
Better example. How many times have you driven a car? How many times do you zone out and then find yourself slamming on the breaks and swerving because some idiot in front of you stopped short? It's in that split second of action we find out how good of a driver you really are, no matter long you've been driving. You either slam into the car in front of you, or you swerve around them avoiding a potentially deadly crash.
Self defense is the exact same thing. We tend to zone out during "training" and often find ourselves slamming into the car in front of us when actually confronted with an attack. To start with, the majority of martial arts schools instill a false sense of hope and security in their students. It's not their fault, they just don't know any better. In fact, this is hardly a problem limited to martial arts schools.
Those that know me personally know that my "real job" is in private security. Now, I'll be the first one to tell you that the course we get put through in order to show proficiency with a firearm is absolute garbage. It's 28 hours of "keep your booger hook off the bang switch" and a range qualification that most toddlers who pick up a firearm (not that I condone that sort of thing) could pass. Now you have a fully licensed and certified armed security guard making slightly above minimum wage, who I doubt has even drawn his firearm since the qualification let alone been to the range, even though he still claims to be "Tacti-Cool." And while I am not a Law Enforcement Officer, I've been told the Police Academy isn't much better (at least in Florida).
Let me stop and say that I fully support our Law Enforcement, and think they've gotten a lot of bad press for absolutely no reason at all. I'll also be the first one to jump in and help an officer under attack. That being said, if you are a LEO, be honest with yourself. How often do you dry practice drawing your firearm? How often are you at the range? How often are you practicing moving and shooting, bounding, shooting from behind barricades, etc.? Unless you're constantly practicing, you've grown complacent with simply having that gun on your hip and therefore are now incompetent with it.
Self defense, real world survival, must be practiced with the same mentality. It's not enough to practice choreographed "one steps" in the dojo with a compliant or semi-resistant partner. You must go through training that continuously pushes the boundaries and dances on the line between safe and real. Of course, as instructors it would be negligent not to take every safety precaution necessary, but there are ways to create that "Oh crap, I might actually die" feeling in a student while still having full control as the instructor over the situation (if you don't believe me, I encourage you to attend our next Seminar of Brotherhood in May, 2017). There is more to self defense training than physical technique. I can teach you all the techniques in the world, but if you panic and wet yourself under pressure then it doesn't matter. You're dead. Period.
Now, I don't know about you but I'd rather my students bleed on the mat than die on the street. As cliche as it sounds, in the dojo is where we can assess the situation and address the problems that the students encounter. If they struggle with certain scenarios, we can drill it until they feel confident. And let's be honest, if you are 100% in the dojo you're only going to be at 50% in real life, so how can you afford to be anything less than 100%? How can you afford not to continuously push yourself and your students? Age, gender or fitness level are not excuses. "Please don't attack me, I'm old and out of shape" isn't enough to make the assailant rethink their actions, but ripping out his jugular certainly is. You're going to get punched in the mouth. You're going to get stabbed and sliced. You might even be shot. But where and how many times is up to you.
Let me stop and say that I fully support our Law Enforcement, and think they've gotten a lot of bad press for absolutely no reason at all. I'll also be the first one to jump in and help an officer under attack. That being said, if you are a LEO, be honest with yourself. How often do you dry practice drawing your firearm? How often are you at the range? How often are you practicing moving and shooting, bounding, shooting from behind barricades, etc.? Unless you're constantly practicing, you've grown complacent with simply having that gun on your hip and therefore are now incompetent with it.
Self defense, real world survival, must be practiced with the same mentality. It's not enough to practice choreographed "one steps" in the dojo with a compliant or semi-resistant partner. You must go through training that continuously pushes the boundaries and dances on the line between safe and real. Of course, as instructors it would be negligent not to take every safety precaution necessary, but there are ways to create that "Oh crap, I might actually die" feeling in a student while still having full control as the instructor over the situation (if you don't believe me, I encourage you to attend our next Seminar of Brotherhood in May, 2017). There is more to self defense training than physical technique. I can teach you all the techniques in the world, but if you panic and wet yourself under pressure then it doesn't matter. You're dead. Period.
Now, I don't know about you but I'd rather my students bleed on the mat than die on the street. As cliche as it sounds, in the dojo is where we can assess the situation and address the problems that the students encounter. If they struggle with certain scenarios, we can drill it until they feel confident. And let's be honest, if you are 100% in the dojo you're only going to be at 50% in real life, so how can you afford to be anything less than 100%? How can you afford not to continuously push yourself and your students? Age, gender or fitness level are not excuses. "Please don't attack me, I'm old and out of shape" isn't enough to make the assailant rethink their actions, but ripping out his jugular certainly is. You're going to get punched in the mouth. You're going to get stabbed and sliced. You might even be shot. But where and how many times is up to you.
No, you cannot train for every scenario. Those who think you can forget that the assailant gets a vote too. They haven't been to your class, and they don't know they're supposed to step forward with the right foot as they throw their punch, land in a crisp front stance and stand there while you throw 57 strikes before throwing them down and striking them 23 more times. There's nothing in the rule book that stops them from walking up to you, drawing their firearm and blowing you away before you can blink. But that's called fate. That's God, Jehovah, Allah, Odin, Buddha, Mother Nature or whatever divine being you believe in calling you home. There's nothing you can do about it and in all honesty, there are a lot of scenarios where compliance is the safest way to ensure you get home alive.
But if you're not out there striving to prepare yourself and your students for the realities of the world we live in, you haven't earned the right to call yourself a martial arts instructor (in my opinion) because no matter why they joined, every student who walks through your doors expects to learn how to protect themselves. Every student, every mother or father, every brother, sister or cousin of those people on your floor looks to you for protection whether you like it or not. They are putting their life in your hands. If that's too much for you, shut your doors and walk away now because unless you are training your students to deal with the psychological aspects of a real attack and how to control their adrenaline, unless you're teaching them how to overcome their body's natural response to freeze and instead fight back, then you are selling false hope. If you've grown complacent with the status quo, then you, my friend, have grown incompetent.
But if you're not out there striving to prepare yourself and your students for the realities of the world we live in, you haven't earned the right to call yourself a martial arts instructor (in my opinion) because no matter why they joined, every student who walks through your doors expects to learn how to protect themselves. Every student, every mother or father, every brother, sister or cousin of those people on your floor looks to you for protection whether you like it or not. They are putting their life in your hands. If that's too much for you, shut your doors and walk away now because unless you are training your students to deal with the psychological aspects of a real attack and how to control their adrenaline, unless you're teaching them how to overcome their body's natural response to freeze and instead fight back, then you are selling false hope. If you've grown complacent with the status quo, then you, my friend, have grown incompetent.
