Are You Still a Black Belt?

Recently, my wife and I had a discussion about black belt status which came down to one question, "Are you still a black belt?"

I've decided that to answer that question, (the answer will be different for every person) one must define what it means to still be a black belt.

If earning a black belt, and being a black belt means that once upon a time in my life I met all the requirements to pass my black belt test. Then anyone who ever passed that test is still a black belt. That is kind of like being a high school graduate. Even if you've forgotten the quadratic equation and the location of the first battle in the civil war, they don't take away your high school diploma.

Personally, and this only counts for me, still being a black belt means that today, I could still pass the test I took to get mine, it means that not only have I maintained my knowledge and abilities, I have increased them. For me, to keep calling myself a black belt, I have to earn it every day.

MMA, RBSD, TMA What's the Answer?

So if you ask most of the Mixed Martial Arts guys they will say that Traditional Martial Artists spend too much time on technique and not enough time fighting, and Reality Based Self Defense guys spend not enough time on technique and fitness with too much emphasis on adrenal response.

If you ask the Reality Based Self Defense guys, they will say the Traditional Martial Artists and the MMA guys spend too much time in controlled scenarios and not enough time with adrenal response.

If you ask the Traditional Martial Artists they will say that the MMA guys are too focused on sport, and the RBSD guys don't spend enough time practicing the basics and building new techniques.

So who has it right? Who has the answer for how to learn to make martial arts real, viable self defense techniques.

I think they all do. I think that, like the 5 blind men who argued over what an elephant is like, they each have a piece of the puzzle.

If you spend all your time on technique in a sterilized situation with a compliant partner you miss a piece of the puzzle.

If you spend all your time sparring within the confines of the rules of a sport, you miss a piece of the puzzle.

If you only do an intensive two day course and never train again, you miss a piece of the puzzle.

While I'm at it, if you don't work to improve your relationship with the world around you, or your leadership skills, or acts of kindness. . . you miss a piece of the puzzle.

Honor Thy Body

Your body, that thing you move around in. That collection of bone and muscle and organs and sinews that contains you. How important is it to you.

I believe that we are all here for a reason, that we have something to do here, a job or a mission or whatever you want to call it.

I also believe that part of that mission is to honor our bodies. Our bodies are the vehicles that allow us to do whatever it is we are meant to do.

Imagine if you gave someone the gift of a classic car, or a new car, or whatever kind of car you like and they absolutely trashed it. They never changed the oil, they left cigarette burns in the upholstery, never changed the air filter. They decided to see what would happen if they put sugar water in the gas tank.

The car would be ruined they wouldn't be able to travel in it, and neither would anyone else. They would have destroyed a very useful machine and would be in need of a replacement.

We have each been given one body, one vehicle to get through life in. It is a wonderful gift, and we should honor that gift. We should avoid filling it with empty calories, we should avoid cigarettes and other drugs that will destroy our bodies, we should eat our veggies, we should exercise.

My body is important, is sacred. I need it to get through my life. I am certain my daughter would like me to make it last as long as I can.

Finding Time Versus Making Time.

I caught myself thinking, "I just can't find time to. . .". So I started thinking about that phrase again. "Find time", what exactly had I done to try to find time? It turned out in this instance I had done nothing to try to find time. I was just passively hoping to find time. That's kind of like hoping to find a check in the mailbox, or hoping that without practice I'll just get good at my kung fu (or whatever other endeavor I'm taking on).

So I started thinking about actively finding time, maybe that would work. So I start looking at my daily schedule and realize that there were lots of spot where I might have time to do something. I hadn't found it because I hadn't been looking for it. So hooray I found time.

I still didn't follow through with what I had found time for. Something else always got in the way.

To meet a new commitment/goal/whatever, I have to MAKE time. I have to set aside time in my day that is dedicated to whatever thing I couldn't FIND time for. Sometimes the schedule can be very exact (12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday). Sometimes I need it to be more flexible (as soon as my daughter goes down for her nap at least three days per week).

The Ten Tigers Program last year really taught me how to do this.

Give What You've Got

I believe that a person who has, should give to a person who has not. A recent example in my life: I have a willingness and ability to crawl into small, inhospitable, natural openings in the bedrock. A man whose dog chased a raccoon into one of these spaces did not. So a friend and I tried our best to get in there to get that dog out. This particular cave quickly became too small for us to get far enough to get the dog, but we tried our best.

A friend of mine who has enough money offered to give gas money and buy supplies for people who would be willing to try to get in.

There are lots of ways to help out in the world around you. Think about what you have that you can give, and chip in. Maybe you don't have money, but you have time to volunteer, or maybe you have money but no time. Find a way to use the gifts you've been given. You've been given them for a reason.

If anyone out there has been given the gift of amazing shrinking powers, there is a coon dog that could use your help.

Facing Danger

Master Tom recently posted this great quote on Facebook.

One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never! - Winston Churchill

It reminded me of something that happened to a friend of mine in college.

This particular friend was about 5 feet and 6 or 7 inches tall, and at the time probably weighed about 110 to 120 pounds. He was a very happy-go-lucky guy and never did anyone any harm. In fact at the time of this event he professed himself to be a pacifist.

One night, while he was walking on campus some guys jumped out of a truck, made accusations about his preferred company, and proceeded to beat him up while he shouted, "Stop! I'm a pacifist! I'm a pacifist!"

He told me that he realized that perhaps there was room within pacifism for self defense.

A few weeks later while walking across campus, (apparently he was perceived as an easy target for this sort of activity), a truck pulled up near him and some guys jumped out of the truck, making accusations about his preferred company. This time my friend grabbed a broken bottle he saw next to the curb and turned to face them with determination in his eyes. He told me later that he figured he was going to get beaten up again, but this time he was going to make them think twice about going after anyone else. The guys took a look at him and jumped back in the truck.

There are never any guarantees, but part of self defense is making yourself less of a target. This can be accomplished in lots of different ways, don't walk alone at night, walk with awareness of your surroundings, walk with confidence. If you take are successful with self defense ahead of time, you may never find yourself in a face to face self defense situation.

www.franklinkungfu.com

What "Self Defense" Means to Me.

I recently asked via Facebook what "self defense" means, and got back a great variety of answers.

Click here for the thread.

Now, for what self defense means to me.

I believe that self defense happens in stages or steps.

1. Awareness/assessment of possible threats in general.
2. Awareness of the likelihood of facing a threat in a specific situation.
3. Using the knowledge gained in the previous steps to reduce the chance of encountering a threat, and to increase your ability to face the threat if needed.
4. If, despite previous efforts, a threat arises, fight or flight (or some combination of both) will be necessary.
5. Follow up. Knowing how to respond after the threat has been avoided or eliminated.

Now for a couple of hypothetical real world examples of the five steps I've listed.

1. Each year during busy shopping days of the Holiday season parking lot robberies rise and we see all the reports on the news of how to keep yourself from being a victim.
2. Suppose on the local news it is revealed that on three different occasions in one week someone was violently robbed in the parking lot of a particular store at a particular time of day.
3. Sally decides to avoid that store at that part of the day, buys herself some pepper spray to carry in her purse, and practices how to carry and use her new personal protection device.
4. Unfortunately, Sally is approached in the parking lot where she was shopping. She had practiced staying aware and saw the person coming. She raises the pepper spray she was holding in her hands and starts backing away towards the door of the store and escapes unharmed.
5. After she is safe, she calls 911 and reports the event.

Hypothetical situation number two.

1. John looks up the top causes of death in the USA and finds this. Seeing that number one on the list is heart disease with 631,636 deaths he decides to learn more. (He also notices that assault is not even on the list.)
2. John suddenly realizes that all of his grandparents died of heart disease and decides to go to the doctor and see what his health situation is like. It turns out that his diet which is high in saturated fat and his family history put him at high risk for heart attack.
3. John changes his diet and starts an exercise program to try to decrease his chances of heart attack.
4. Despite his lifestyle changes John's blood pressure remains high, so he goes to the doctor to get a prescription to help lower it.
5. John makes regular trips to the doctor to assess his condition and educates his children about what he has experienced.

So, as you can see, I believe that self defense encompasses more than what to do if someone grabs your purse, arm, or neck, but how to prevent that from happening in the first place. I also believe that self defense involves protecting your heart, lungs, and brain from disease.

Are we, as martial artists focused on the assault side of self defense? Of course we are, and we should be. We should, however, also be focusing on the other aspects of self defense, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

One of the great things about martial arts is that, if approached properly it can address all these issues. As for the top causes of death, fitness acheived in martial arts classes can reduce the chance of heart disease, some cancers, stroke, chronic lower respiratory diseases, and diabetes which are all in the top ten causes of death in the USA.