© COPYRIGHT 2009 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Sword and Pen – July 2009 Issue
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
THE techniques of close combat and self-defense are fairly simple. They can be easily understood, learned in a reasonable period of time, acquired initially with no tremendous physical prowess or athletic talents, and — once acquired — they can be retained pretty well. However, anyone aspiring to be really good in the art of close combat, to achieve a level of great personal confidence and skill, and to be able to handle just about any adversary under any conceivable conditions, anywhere, must understand that there are no short-cuts. The only path to practical knowledge and reliable skill is through practice, practice, and more practice.
Regularity and persistence, much more than prolonged and extensive all day sessions in the practice hall, are the keys to mastery. This is especially true in practical close combat work, since workouts of two, three, or even more hours duration are quite customary for classical/traditional "martial arts", while sessions lasting between 30 and 60 minutes are quite sufficient for the combat trainee — but those 30 to 60 minute sessions need to be put in with the regularity of a chronometer and the persistence of a religious fanatic!
We neither kid nor exaggerate. The person who, taking a few lessons in self-defense, now believes — because what he was taught is simple and was easy to physically perform once he was shown how to do it — that "now he‘s got it", is a fool. To use an analogy: A person of average intelligence and average physical ability can be taught the basic boxing punches, how to stand and move, and how to hit using simple combinations, within a few hours — maybe even less time than that. But that doesn‘t mean that the individual can box! The hard part comes only after the technique of boxing has been taught and understood by the pupil. Now TRAINING can be done effectively; and if the individual wishes to be able to box, then he must train. And he must train assiduously and hard, even to become a mediocre boxer, let alone a champion.
You get out of something that which you put into it. This applies to the study of any discipline, not merely to the art of close combat.
Most teachers of the martial arts face certain inevitable problems in running their schools. One of these problems is maintaining students by keeping their interest. And "keeping their interest", as far as most people are concerned, translates into ―always teaching them something new "just so they can 'feel‘ that they are getting their money‘s worth". We
KNOW that, with zero "padding" and fluff in our program we give people considerably more than their money‘s worth. But we also know that only a small percentage of people have the brains to appreciate that fact, unless the typical industry practice of "teaching them something new all of the time" is followed.
Fine. We‘ll settle gladly for those students with the brains to appreciate the right way of training in the combat arts! "Feeling" that you are getting something worthwhile does not always or necessarily mean that in fact you actually are getting anything worthwhile. You are getting something "worthwhile" in a combat arts and self-defense program when the right principles are endlessly pounded into you, and when you are drilled and drilled and drilled, and drilled some more in the proven techniques that work, and not merely in "more and more techniques".
Is that way not boring? Actually, not for everyone. For dilettantes, probably; but dilettantes become good at NOTHING except prattling to similarly shallow entities such as themselves, at social events and during coffee breaks at the office. Serious minded individuals can appreciate the need for hard and regular practice of fundamentals, and for the thorough mastery (not just "learning how to do") of core skills.
"I‘ve always wanted to learn self-defense!" What teacher of martial arts has not heard that comment? We learned, decades ago, that it is normally a guarantee that the student will — more often than not — be a complete dud (if he enrolls, at all). Unless the person is in his late teens and perhaps has honestly never been given parental consent as a child to train, or had the opportunity to find a school where he could learn, or even possibly not yet found the type of instruction that he has been looking for so far, the obvious thought (not necessarily to be articulated!) in the teacher‘s mind should be: "Hmm. If you‘ve 'always wanted‘ to learn self-defense, then why haven‘t you taken steps to do so previously?" In other words, the "I‘ve always wanted to learn . . ." bleat is most often indicative of a rather weak, impulse-dominated mentality — not of an enthusiastic, no-nonsense, serious student. Oh yes, the impulse-driven do "want to learn self-defense". They want to learn it today. But tomorrow, after they appreciate that it requires discipline and effort, and that they will need to work at it, they will not want it any longer. Oh, certainly, it will be the "system‘s" fault, or the "teacher‘s" fault, or "they‘ve realized that they can‘t afford it", or that they "don‘t have the time", ad nauseum. The simple truth, which is never faced by these types, is that the fault is their own, and it derives from a serious personal flaw: The unwillingness to face the fact that nothing good in life comes easily, and that if they wish to really learn how to defend themselves, effort is required, and will continue to be required for quite a while, before their desire is realized.
What about boredom? Well, what about it? Who the hell has not experienced boredom in his life? DEAL WITH IT! REFUSE TO GIVE IN TO IT. PERSIST. Remind yourself of the tremendous value of the pursuit in which you are engaged and go back at it with renewed determination and resolve.
Learning the art of close combat and self defense requires an investment of money, time, and energy. People always find the money, time, and energy for that which they want the most. There are people who protest that they "can‘t afford" professional level instruction in combat arts. But they manage to afford spending about $10 a day on cigarettes (that‘s $300. a month! — to kill themselves) and perhaps an equal amount on liquor. Others say they "don‘t have the time" to train. But they manage to waste hours every day on pointless gossip or television viewing, or chasing one-dimensional morons of the opposite sex, for the most pathetically shallow "satisfactions" of meaningless involvements. Still others complain that they "lack the energy" to train. Yet these same people find the energy to fritter away on far less healthful pursuits than disciplined training in combat skills.
Look — people have a right to do as they wish. It is not for us to determine how others should and should not spend their money, their time, and their energy. However, since we are presumably addressing in this Newsletter those who are sufficiently interested in the combat arts to read about them, it is probable that a high percentage of these people also want to acquire genuine proficiency in them. Therefore, please heed our words. If they sound harsh it is not because we are trying to put anyone down. What we are trying to do here is provide, where it is feasible to do so, a much needed "wake up call".
We know in our heart of hearts from personal experience that there are few things in life that will pay you as well as investing the money and then spending the time and the energy that is required to become skilled in close combat and self-defense. We also know how that project ought to be undertaken. We have spent more than half a century acquiring that knowledge. We are being honest with you, and we have no desire here save to help you to adopt a realistic, self-actualizing, long-range beneficial philosophy and motive to action.
The skills and techniques are simple. But you‘ve still got to apply yourself and commit yourself if you want to master them and enjoy the attendant confidence and ability that comes with such mastery.
Give 100%, and you‘ll get 100% back. And when it comes to being able to defend yourself, protect those you love, walk, talk, and act with poise, self-assurance, and confidence, 100% is a hell of a lot!
Bradley J. Steiner
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