Monday, September 26, 2016
Black Dragon Ninjitsu Competition Rules for Sparring & Jujitsu Matches
This will be the last blog for the month of September, so I wanted to address something which has been asked of me and I figure this will head off some questions. The question asked over and over again since I offered the idea of a Ninjutsu Competition has been "What are the rules of sparring or jujitsu competition in Black Dragon Ninjitsu? "
So allow me to provide some answers...
At 7th Kyu and up Competition takes on a variety of forms adding grappling & weapons sparring to the sparring allowing for jujitsu competition to become a basis for other competitions (meaning a Black Dragon Ninjitsuka would be able to use Jujitsu techniques in competition with Kendo Shinai as part of learning to use the sword as well). Such a jujitsu/taijutsu competition would also be comprised of 5 rounds at 5 minutes each, at 5th Kyu this becomes 8 rounds at 5 minutes each & 10 rounds at 5 minutes each at 2nd Kyu;
A knock or wins the match... A knock is judged by the fighter losing consciousness for 10 seconds or be struck in such a way as to unable to intelligently defend themselves due to a strike.
A Choke out wins the match, choking an opponent unconscious wins the match.
Submission is signaled by tapping the mat or opponent repeatedly or saying "Matte" when a fighter forfeits the match and surrenders.
Matches can also be stopped when the referee or majority of 2 of 3 judges during a competition decide the fighters are not of the same ability levels.
5 points for a knock down, 3 knock downs in a single round is a Technical Knock Out.
1 point is awarded for a clean strike to the chin, ribs, kidneys, temple, jaw or solar plexus.
1 point is awarded for a clean block against a strike, to include kicks, knees and elbows.
2 points are awarded for initiating a clinch/head control. Fighters are not stopped due to tying up in a clinch for 5 seconds or less.
2 points for a standing choke.
2 points for a standing arm-lock.
2 points for taking the fight to the ground
5 points for a throw or takedown knocking an opponent to the ground.
-3 points for being taken to the ground.
1 point for gaining dominant position on the ground.
2 points for reversals and taking the dominant position on the ground.
1 point for arm or legs locks on the ground.
2 points for chokeholds on the ground.
1 point awarded for showing controlled aggression & dominating the fight.
-1 point for not showing aggression during a fight.
-1 point for first act of "un-sportsman like conduct." (first offense)
-5 points for second act of "un-sportsman like conduct." (second offense)
Disqualification for third act of "un-sportsman like conduct." (third & final offense)
Un-Sportsman Like Conduct is defined as, striking to intentionally injure one's opponent, cursing at, spitting or biting one's opponent, fish-hooking (pulling on an opponent's mouth with the fingers), eye gouges, groin strikes or throat strikes or grabs, elbows strikes to the nose, temple, base of skull or sternum & head butts to the nose. Any strikes on the ground. "Tapping out" and initiating physical contact afterward, between rounds or when told to stop.
Headbutts to the Chin are Permitted while in the clinch, but not points are awarded.
Techniques which are not permitted in Competition; Finger or Wrist-locks, Neck Locks (not chokes), Spinal Locks or throws which "spike the other fighter on the head."
On the Ground No Striking is Permitted, a Fighter has 30 seconds to achieve a submission or chokehold on the ground to achieve a "Choke Out" or Submission.
So allow me to provide some answers...
Competition Matches will be divided into 3 rounds each round lasting only 2 minutes for those of 10th Kyu grade. These sparring matches will be "punching only" (essentially boxing matches). Points are awarded as follows;
- A knock out wins the match... A knock is judged by the fighter losing consciousness for 10 seconds or be struck in such a way as to unable to intelligently defend themselves due to a strike.
- 5 points for a knock down, 3 knock downs in a single round is a Technical Knock Out.
- 1 point is awarded for a clean strike to the chin, jaw or solar plexus.
- 1 point is awarded for a clean block against a punch.
For 9th & 8th Kyu grades, it becomes more of a Kickboxing style event allowing knees and elbows similar to Muay Thai. Rounds are increased in number to 5 rounds at 3 minutes per round.
- A knock out wins the match... A knock is judged by the fighter losing consciousness for 10 seconds or be struck in such a way as to unable to intelligently defend themselves due to a strike.
- 5 points for a knock down, 3 knock downs in a single round is a Technical Knock Out.
- 1 point is awarded for a clean strike to the chin, ribs, kidneys, temple, jaw or solar plexus.
- 1 point is awarded for a clean block against a strike, to include kicks, knees and elbows.
- 2 points are awarded for initiating a clinch/head control. Fighters are not stopped due to tying up in a clinch for 5 seconds or less.
- 1 point awarded for showing controlled aggression & dominating the fight.
- -1 point for first act of "un-sportsman like conduct." (first offense)
- -5 points for second act of "un-sportsman like conduct." (second offense)
- Disqualification for third act of "un-sportsman like conduct." (third & final offense)
- Un-Sportsman Like Conduct is defined as, striking to intentionally injure one's opponent, cursing at, spitting or biting one's opponent, fish-hooking (pulling on an opponent's mouth with the fingers), eye gouges, groin strikes or throat strikes or grabs, elbows strikes to the nose, temple, base of skull or sternum & head butts to the nose.
- Head butts to the Chin are Permitted, but not points are awarded for effective strike with the head.
At 7th Kyu and up Competition takes on a variety of forms adding grappling & weapons sparring to the sparring allowing for jujitsu competition to become a basis for other competitions (meaning a Black Dragon Ninjitsuka would be able to use Jujitsu techniques in competition with Kendo Shinai as part of learning to use the sword as well). Such a jujitsu/taijutsu competition would also be comprised of 5 rounds at 5 minutes each, at 5th Kyu this becomes 8 rounds at 5 minutes each & 10 rounds at 5 minutes each at 2nd Kyu;
Belts & Colors:
Mukyu (no rank) No Belt, Student has to earn their White Belt usually takes about 15 to 30 days.
Mukyu (no rank) No Belt, Student has to earn their White Belt usually takes about 15 to 30 days.
10th Kyu White Belt
9th Kyu Yellow Belt
8th Kyu Yellow Belt
7th Kyu Orange Belt
6th Kyu Orange Belt
5th Kyu Green Belt
4th Kyu Green Belt
3rd Kyu Green Belt
2nd Kyu Brown Belt
1st Kyu Brown Belt
1st Dan Black Belt
This format would allow the Black Dragon Ninjitsu student to practice striking a moving target, at each point closing the gap to allow for infighting and then focus on grappling methods. After 7th Kyu grappling methods would dominate one's unarmed combat training. And as the student adapts to a particular area of focus adds to the foundation by "adding tools to the tool box" crafting their own style of fighting designed to fit their personality.
More so, and more importantly, this allows an instructor to train with their students to limit themselves to spar and train with their students. Not simply walking around commanding the students through drills but, training with them demonstrating the character traits of mental toughness and showing that the instructor is still seeking to build themselves up. In Black Dragon Ninjitsu instructors do not say "go forth before and do as I say..." in Black Dragon Ninjitsu instructors say "Follow me..." we seek to build leaders and leaders don't seek to command others, they go forth sometimes alone and inspire others to follow them.
More so, and more importantly, this allows an instructor to train with their students to limit themselves to spar and train with their students. Not simply walking around commanding the students through drills but, training with them demonstrating the character traits of mental toughness and showing that the instructor is still seeking to build themselves up. In Black Dragon Ninjitsu instructors do not say "go forth before and do as I say..." in Black Dragon Ninjitsu instructors say "Follow me..." we seek to build leaders and leaders don't seek to command others, they go forth sometimes alone and inspire others to follow them.
Sunday, September 25, 2016
The Collapse of America: What do if Civil Unrest and Civil War Breaks out...
This is a touchy subject and a sensitive matter I am going to discuss politics, race relations and police killings. Yeah, I can already see my haters lining up to try to start trouble but fuck'em... If my cursing offends you or seems unprofessional welcome to America and my right to say fuck'em, now grow up and quit being a pussy... Yes I called you a fucking pussy, if being offended hurts your feelings then lets get right to it.
This is America and it is an issue not of political parties, races, cultures or income levels, it is a matter of ideas and expectations. What is coming to America is a financial collapse, race wars, civil unrest, terrorism and martial law. What is coming is a matter of personal survival and how well we as a nation survive this together. We are not a unified nation, we don't have a common history like the other nations and our nation was built on conquest of the native population simply because they were technologically under developed compared to most of our European Ancestors.
America has had some laws and policies which discriminated against, abused and degraded people in this nation simply because of the color of their skin and the home of their ancestors. I won't apologize for it, I didn't have a say in it and it happened before I was even born. Should we forget it? Hell No! That is a part of American History, a dark part of our history but a part none-the-less. However, many of those crimes against our citizens have been resolved and people like Colin Kaepernick who address those crimes of the past are in my eyes diminishing the sacrifices and fight of those who came before to remedy the situation. Imagine an act where some protested Blacks being forced to sit on the back of the bus... They aren't forced to do so now because Rosa Parks already fought that battle. It is not saying we should forget the past but, that fighting for the wrongs someone else has already fought to right is a bit unrealistic. Think about Colin Kaepernick's whole claim about the National Anthem being racist because American Slaves took up arms for the British in Canada to win their freedom. Yes, that is a historical fact and one in which Kaepernick was right about, however it says nothing of British slaves who were still slaves, long after the US ended slavery by-the-way... So what is my point? That Slaves fighting against slave owners for their freedom in support of another nation which was slave owners and kept their slaves in chains is a bit, repetitive... Ever hear the saying "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Well this is Kaepernick's argument especially since it makes zero sense to protest something that is a) a historical event which we can't change (unless Marty or Dr. Brown will let borrow their car) and b) why protest something so pointless... if you want to gain attention to an historical event then god their are other and better ways to do so (at least in many people's eyes, I don't care it nothing I can change but thanks for the history lesson).
Now Colin Kaepernick's newest protest which makes more sense has to do with Police Abuses of Power and American Civil Rights, but only if you are black or a minority. This offends me... So much on so many different levels first that such protests only go to provide for the Race War Narrative. This is just bad because Black cops kill more blacks then white cops, regardless such a narrative only pushes racial targeting of whites by black criminals who feel they are justified in doing so. This prevents Americans who ahppen to be black from seeing the real amd greater problem that this is an issue of those with political power and those without political power being victimized by those with political power.
I cannot in good continence simply obey orders that violate the rights of others. Having gone through my own trials of being falsely arrested and having my name slandered. My life virtually destroyed by lies and false evidence. I won a huge portion of my fight by openly challenging said corruption using a rather graphic hypothetical legal argument. Hell i even proved the Prosecutor of Raleigh County falsified evidence in my case. But... I DID ALL THIS USING THE SYSTEM AND MY RIGHTS. Calls to violence in self-defense are fine but, they must be balanced with work within the system to change it.
Look this is America and the issue of civil rights is an American issue. I agree we still have issues of racism in this country but you cannot solve them by acting like a bunch of thuggish criminals. Doing so only divides people when we will need each other the most.
Add to this the approaching financial collapse of the many bubbles propping up the economy. Once this happens then many programs will cease to exist, including Social Security which has less people paying into it as jobs move overseas. I truly do think Trump will be a Savior in this area but, i am afraid of abuses of power under his watch from the police. Which gets up back to the American issue of Civil Rights violations and murders carried out by police officers.
The depreciation of our dollar backed by the rising cost of fuel will bring us into a world of rising crime. People often talk about the rising cost of living, the rising rates of substance abuse and fail to see why people turn to drugs... Becoming a scenic is popular and being mean to others is considered cool. Adults act like children and depending on the police is a joke... So people feel alone and hopeless.
Surviving all I went through with constant harassment by the police did involve some drug use on my part (I won't lie about it, psychiatrists call this "self-medicating" basically the only way to take my mind off threats to my family and myself was to lose touch with reality & I needed some chemical aid with that) but so did my faith in God. In fact, God played a very important role in my life during the Darkest of times for me. No... I am not going to convince you of my religious beliefs and I am not talking about religion. I am talking about faith, to steal a line from the movie Serenity "I don't care what you believe in just believe." I would like to think God was preparing me for the Darker Times I know are coming and the Bible even warns Christians (originally called Nazarine Jews, the term "Christian" was invented by the Romans) to prepare, if you read all of Mathew chapters 24 and 25 completely. I even covered this in Living Without Rapture. Am I trying to convince you of my religion now... No, I am saying Scripture Teaches "X" and if you are taught it is something else you might want to do some research because faith isn't something that is established with religions, it is simply what you choose to believe. So if you are "Christian" I suggest you read the Bible and follow the instructions of Jesus Christ, forget what your preacher, pastor or priest tells you if it is different from what Jesus taught.
We know what is coming but none of us can stop it and there is nothing you can do to stop it... Not petition, no protest and no amount of bitch and crying will stop this. The economy will collapse, civil unrest with break out and their will be different little factions trying to kill each other, as well as different little groups of people who aren't in a "faction."
Look at the Chaos in Charlotte, North Carolina... Did you know 70% of the people rioting and looting aren't even from the state? And that George Soros who used to work with the Nazis, even says it was the happiest time of his life. Now Soros is Billionaire puppet master who uses none profit groups to control politics and funds revolutions around the world, Soros even has a hand in the ACLU which explains why they only file suits for minority claims to abuse by the legal system (when in reality everyone benefits from removing problem cops, prosecutors and judges). All this adds up to a very powerful man who learned from working with the Nazis to divide people, everywhere he has used is influence has lead to war, strife and chaos which uses to influence policy (and there are hacked memos to prove it). So what am I telling you, I am telling no matter who wins the election there going to chaos, civil breakdown due to political/ideological views and many of the groups involved are be a threat to anyone.
So now that we know the problems... What are the answers?
First off there are hundreds of forums, facebook groups and web sites giving away free information and there are many books on survival at my own publishing company Shadow Warrior Publishing, as well as able to be bought at book stores and publishing houses.
Money might still be of value, the lights might be on & water might still come out the sink with your toilets still flushing but, you could just as easily face an increase in crime, rapes, murders, muggings and home invasions. Because if our nation's streets turn into a war zone, we might have no choice but to fight pitched battles to make it out alive... As for police protection? Well they will protect their families and the government, we the citizens don't mean much in that regard. Cops have no duty to protect the general public, so we to do whatever we need to do to get by.
This is America and it is an issue not of political parties, races, cultures or income levels, it is a matter of ideas and expectations. What is coming to America is a financial collapse, race wars, civil unrest, terrorism and martial law. What is coming is a matter of personal survival and how well we as a nation survive this together. We are not a unified nation, we don't have a common history like the other nations and our nation was built on conquest of the native population simply because they were technologically under developed compared to most of our European Ancestors.
America has had some laws and policies which discriminated against, abused and degraded people in this nation simply because of the color of their skin and the home of their ancestors. I won't apologize for it, I didn't have a say in it and it happened before I was even born. Should we forget it? Hell No! That is a part of American History, a dark part of our history but a part none-the-less. However, many of those crimes against our citizens have been resolved and people like Colin Kaepernick who address those crimes of the past are in my eyes diminishing the sacrifices and fight of those who came before to remedy the situation. Imagine an act where some protested Blacks being forced to sit on the back of the bus... They aren't forced to do so now because Rosa Parks already fought that battle. It is not saying we should forget the past but, that fighting for the wrongs someone else has already fought to right is a bit unrealistic. Think about Colin Kaepernick's whole claim about the National Anthem being racist because American Slaves took up arms for the British in Canada to win their freedom. Yes, that is a historical fact and one in which Kaepernick was right about, however it says nothing of British slaves who were still slaves, long after the US ended slavery by-the-way... So what is my point? That Slaves fighting against slave owners for their freedom in support of another nation which was slave owners and kept their slaves in chains is a bit, repetitive... Ever hear the saying "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Well this is Kaepernick's argument especially since it makes zero sense to protest something that is a) a historical event which we can't change (unless Marty or Dr. Brown will let borrow their car) and b) why protest something so pointless... if you want to gain attention to an historical event then god their are other and better ways to do so (at least in many people's eyes, I don't care it nothing I can change but thanks for the history lesson).
Now Colin Kaepernick's newest protest which makes more sense has to do with Police Abuses of Power and American Civil Rights, but only if you are black or a minority. This offends me... So much on so many different levels first that such protests only go to provide for the Race War Narrative. This is just bad because Black cops kill more blacks then white cops, regardless such a narrative only pushes racial targeting of whites by black criminals who feel they are justified in doing so. This prevents Americans who ahppen to be black from seeing the real amd greater problem that this is an issue of those with political power and those without political power being victimized by those with political power.
I cannot in good continence simply obey orders that violate the rights of others. Having gone through my own trials of being falsely arrested and having my name slandered. My life virtually destroyed by lies and false evidence. I won a huge portion of my fight by openly challenging said corruption using a rather graphic hypothetical legal argument. Hell i even proved the Prosecutor of Raleigh County falsified evidence in my case. But... I DID ALL THIS USING THE SYSTEM AND MY RIGHTS. Calls to violence in self-defense are fine but, they must be balanced with work within the system to change it.
Look this is America and the issue of civil rights is an American issue. I agree we still have issues of racism in this country but you cannot solve them by acting like a bunch of thuggish criminals. Doing so only divides people when we will need each other the most.
Add to this the approaching financial collapse of the many bubbles propping up the economy. Once this happens then many programs will cease to exist, including Social Security which has less people paying into it as jobs move overseas. I truly do think Trump will be a Savior in this area but, i am afraid of abuses of power under his watch from the police. Which gets up back to the American issue of Civil Rights violations and murders carried out by police officers.
The depreciation of our dollar backed by the rising cost of fuel will bring us into a world of rising crime. People often talk about the rising cost of living, the rising rates of substance abuse and fail to see why people turn to drugs... Becoming a scenic is popular and being mean to others is considered cool. Adults act like children and depending on the police is a joke... So people feel alone and hopeless.
Surviving all I went through with constant harassment by the police did involve some drug use on my part (I won't lie about it, psychiatrists call this "self-medicating" basically the only way to take my mind off threats to my family and myself was to lose touch with reality & I needed some chemical aid with that) but so did my faith in God. In fact, God played a very important role in my life during the Darkest of times for me. No... I am not going to convince you of my religious beliefs and I am not talking about religion. I am talking about faith, to steal a line from the movie Serenity "I don't care what you believe in just believe." I would like to think God was preparing me for the Darker Times I know are coming and the Bible even warns Christians (originally called Nazarine Jews, the term "Christian" was invented by the Romans) to prepare, if you read all of Mathew chapters 24 and 25 completely. I even covered this in Living Without Rapture. Am I trying to convince you of my religion now... No, I am saying Scripture Teaches "X" and if you are taught it is something else you might want to do some research because faith isn't something that is established with religions, it is simply what you choose to believe. So if you are "Christian" I suggest you read the Bible and follow the instructions of Jesus Christ, forget what your preacher, pastor or priest tells you if it is different from what Jesus taught.
We know what is coming but none of us can stop it and there is nothing you can do to stop it... Not petition, no protest and no amount of bitch and crying will stop this. The economy will collapse, civil unrest with break out and their will be different little factions trying to kill each other, as well as different little groups of people who aren't in a "faction."
Look at the Chaos in Charlotte, North Carolina... Did you know 70% of the people rioting and looting aren't even from the state? And that George Soros who used to work with the Nazis, even says it was the happiest time of his life. Now Soros is Billionaire puppet master who uses none profit groups to control politics and funds revolutions around the world, Soros even has a hand in the ACLU which explains why they only file suits for minority claims to abuse by the legal system (when in reality everyone benefits from removing problem cops, prosecutors and judges). All this adds up to a very powerful man who learned from working with the Nazis to divide people, everywhere he has used is influence has lead to war, strife and chaos which uses to influence policy (and there are hacked memos to prove it). So what am I telling you, I am telling no matter who wins the election there going to chaos, civil breakdown due to political/ideological views and many of the groups involved are be a threat to anyone.
So now that we know the problems... What are the answers?
First off there are hundreds of forums, facebook groups and web sites giving away free information and there are many books on survival at my own publishing company Shadow Warrior Publishing, as well as able to be bought at book stores and publishing houses.
- Living Without Rapture: A Christians Guide to Doomsday Preparedness.
- Poorman's Guide to Prepping: Economical Doomsday Survival.
- TM 725-15 The American Homeguard Anti-Terrorist Handbook.
- With Poorman's Guide to Prepping 2 being an in the works project...
- Be prepared, develop a Strategy to Bug-In (hold down the house, apartment or whatever) AND Bug-Out (evacuate your home). That means yes getting gear, food and water stocked up. What gear do you need?
- Lets keep it simple start with a bug-out bag, a good gun has to double for hunting and defense (AR15, AR10 or any AKM style weapon should be the primary tool here) & a handgun (doesn't matter because its a back up weapon, so if you need it you are in a very bad place to start with)...
- Develop a Re-Supply Plan: You can't store enough food or water, so develop a plan to collect and filter water, grow food and raise small tasty animals (I suggest squirrels and chickens, maybe a goat) and yes this can be done in an apartment if you know how...
- Develop a Survival Data Base or Virtual Library (Yes I have an old SHTF-Laptop just for this) & a Physical Library as well, the Physical Library needs to be small & potent (You might to bug-out with it)...
- Develop multiple Bug-Out Plans, by vehicle, by water, by bike and on feet. You need a place to retreat to (family or friends) in all four cardinal directions...
- Practice your plans at least once a year (though I am thinking it will start to break apart in far less time, like after the elections at this point), all of them...
Money might still be of value, the lights might be on & water might still come out the sink with your toilets still flushing but, you could just as easily face an increase in crime, rapes, murders, muggings and home invasions. Because if our nation's streets turn into a war zone, we might have no choice but to fight pitched battles to make it out alive... As for police protection? Well they will protect their families and the government, we the citizens don't mean much in that regard. Cops have no duty to protect the general public, so we to do whatever we need to do to get by.
Monday, September 5, 2016
Street Vs the Ring 2: Get Out the Dojo, Dojang & Kwoon to see where your art really works...
While I had posted and discussed how the Street is so much different then the Ring and how it allows for a wider array of options that limited training in a specific form or application of martial arts just can't cover. I decided to do a little piece on guess what? How training in self-defense without competitive application is a possible form of self-harm to developing one's own training.
Traditional Martial Arts, no not the Neo-Traditional Watered Down schools teaching "karate" in a Gi but ignoring classic training methods like exercise, weight lifting/strength training and combat applications, have always placed a heavy focus on philosophy and even in some regard religious aspects of the culture in which said martial art was developed. This was because all conflicts are human conflicts and dealing with people (social self-defense or de-escalation principles as known to us Modern Budoka) was a critical part of dealing conflicts. The highest form skill was not in fighting your opponent but in simply redirecting his intentions away from harming you.
Things that were regarded as "correct actions" such as showing humility were not just to be a "good person" or "good citizen" but a form of social self-defense. Many people want to be known as a "bad ass" or "tough guy" but do so because deep down they are weak and want to have the safety of being intimidating to others. They mistake fear for respect, because the "bad ass" demands your respect. However, if you beat your chest and declare yourself a "tough guy" someone who wants that same reputation will challenge, even if they lose the fight they gain the "respect" of stepping up. The problem is when you get known for being a violent thug, most people will avoid you and sure they will demonstrate some common curtesy or look the other way when you break a social standard. This isn't because of how "threatening" you are it is a matter of seeking to avoid trouble and this means avoiding you, the trouble maker with the reputation as a "bad ass tough guy."
So personality traits like humility, showing respect and acting with compassion were all intended to make one seem very un-bad ass like... This allowed one to 1. Conceal their skills and ability until needed, making it many more times effective and 2. Allowed one to avoid situations and places which would make one's need to fight even more required then normal life. There is also the third point, that these traits don't attract those who makes such situations a social issue. The only people who flock to the be in the crowds around "tough guys" are either a) other tough guys or b) wannabe tough guys. So if you act like a loud mouthed trying to prove how tough you are, you will either attract others wanting to prove how tough you are or you will prove how tough you are in some way.
So keep in mind there are some aspects of martial arts philosophy that aren't Asian mysticism or fanciful ideas or even New Aged Thinking. They are practical methods of social-self-defense meant to prevent a fight, prevent conflict by abiding my social norms and action with respect to other. True respect isn't about how intimidating someone is but treating others as you would have them treat you. Sure there are people who like to cross the line of what is acceptable by social codes (not merely laws).
This also becomes an issue of ideologies and cultures. In my Culture of an American from the South standing up and fighting someone who threatens or challenges you is illegal, called Assault & Battery but it is Social Acceptable as standing up for yourself. Because in my Culture in the South of the United States of America standing up for yourself is a sign of your willingness to stand up for other things like family, your children and even your country. Fighting isn't a right of passage it is a fact of life, we all have to fight for something, even if only ourselves but, fighting should not be entered into lightly. Fighting is about survival and sometimes survival means avoiding a fight. The core idea of martial arts philosophy is avoiding needless fighting, de-escalating situations and avoiding trouble. When trouble cannot be avoid we must respond with a force needed to end the threat. Needless fighting only attracts the reputation and attention of those seeking a reputation for violence.
Our problem, however, is both philosophical and legal... How much force is enough, how much mercy is too much? Legally, you can use excessive force in Self-Defense and then what started as Self-Defense becomes Assault, Battery or Malicious Wounding perhaps even Murder. Philosophically speaking, who are? what are you? and how do you justify harming another human being?
Many times it seems that traditional martial artists are so focused on History or identifying themselves as "warriors" they don't even realize the practical applications of what they are taught. Far too much have traditional systems been watered down to a fun but unrealistic sport or even a form of "day care" or personal development where the practical application of the philosophical and ethic conditions is seen as a way to improve the self and never viewed as a practical survival/self-defense method for social self-defense. In the same way, many Self-Defense experts like Dr. George J. Thompson the Founder of the Verbal Judo Institute (the only tactical communication course in the world) applied the basic principles of judo in redirecting physical force to sociology and psychological principles to de-escalate and control a situation by reducing conflicts. While this is a "tactical course" it is based on the same ideology as traditional martial arts of judo and jujitsu.
Traditional Martial Arts are not just about adopting martial traditions, wearing a gi or learning Japanese, Korean or Chinese terms. They were first and foremost combat techniques for the battlefield, they were adapted with philosophical ideas that are a foundation for the sciences of psychology and sociology. And, it is the lack of this understanding by traditionalists that creates the most fundamental obstacle to Traditional Martial Arts, a lack of "real world" application. That real world application isn't just a matter of fighting styles but of philosophies...
Traditional Martial Arts, no not the Neo-Traditional Watered Down schools teaching "karate" in a Gi but ignoring classic training methods like exercise, weight lifting/strength training and combat applications, have always placed a heavy focus on philosophy and even in some regard religious aspects of the culture in which said martial art was developed. This was because all conflicts are human conflicts and dealing with people (social self-defense or de-escalation principles as known to us Modern Budoka) was a critical part of dealing conflicts. The highest form skill was not in fighting your opponent but in simply redirecting his intentions away from harming you.
Things that were regarded as "correct actions" such as showing humility were not just to be a "good person" or "good citizen" but a form of social self-defense. Many people want to be known as a "bad ass" or "tough guy" but do so because deep down they are weak and want to have the safety of being intimidating to others. They mistake fear for respect, because the "bad ass" demands your respect. However, if you beat your chest and declare yourself a "tough guy" someone who wants that same reputation will challenge, even if they lose the fight they gain the "respect" of stepping up. The problem is when you get known for being a violent thug, most people will avoid you and sure they will demonstrate some common curtesy or look the other way when you break a social standard. This isn't because of how "threatening" you are it is a matter of seeking to avoid trouble and this means avoiding you, the trouble maker with the reputation as a "bad ass tough guy."
So personality traits like humility, showing respect and acting with compassion were all intended to make one seem very un-bad ass like... This allowed one to 1. Conceal their skills and ability until needed, making it many more times effective and 2. Allowed one to avoid situations and places which would make one's need to fight even more required then normal life. There is also the third point, that these traits don't attract those who makes such situations a social issue. The only people who flock to the be in the crowds around "tough guys" are either a) other tough guys or b) wannabe tough guys. So if you act like a loud mouthed trying to prove how tough you are, you will either attract others wanting to prove how tough you are or you will prove how tough you are in some way.
So keep in mind there are some aspects of martial arts philosophy that aren't Asian mysticism or fanciful ideas or even New Aged Thinking. They are practical methods of social-self-defense meant to prevent a fight, prevent conflict by abiding my social norms and action with respect to other. True respect isn't about how intimidating someone is but treating others as you would have them treat you. Sure there are people who like to cross the line of what is acceptable by social codes (not merely laws).
This also becomes an issue of ideologies and cultures. In my Culture of an American from the South standing up and fighting someone who threatens or challenges you is illegal, called Assault & Battery but it is Social Acceptable as standing up for yourself. Because in my Culture in the South of the United States of America standing up for yourself is a sign of your willingness to stand up for other things like family, your children and even your country. Fighting isn't a right of passage it is a fact of life, we all have to fight for something, even if only ourselves but, fighting should not be entered into lightly. Fighting is about survival and sometimes survival means avoiding a fight. The core idea of martial arts philosophy is avoiding needless fighting, de-escalating situations and avoiding trouble. When trouble cannot be avoid we must respond with a force needed to end the threat. Needless fighting only attracts the reputation and attention of those seeking a reputation for violence.
Our problem, however, is both philosophical and legal... How much force is enough, how much mercy is too much? Legally, you can use excessive force in Self-Defense and then what started as Self-Defense becomes Assault, Battery or Malicious Wounding perhaps even Murder. Philosophically speaking, who are? what are you? and how do you justify harming another human being?
Many times it seems that traditional martial artists are so focused on History or identifying themselves as "warriors" they don't even realize the practical applications of what they are taught. Far too much have traditional systems been watered down to a fun but unrealistic sport or even a form of "day care" or personal development where the practical application of the philosophical and ethic conditions is seen as a way to improve the self and never viewed as a practical survival/self-defense method for social self-defense. In the same way, many Self-Defense experts like Dr. George J. Thompson the Founder of the Verbal Judo Institute (the only tactical communication course in the world) applied the basic principles of judo in redirecting physical force to sociology and psychological principles to de-escalate and control a situation by reducing conflicts. While this is a "tactical course" it is based on the same ideology as traditional martial arts of judo and jujitsu.
Traditional Martial Arts are not just about adopting martial traditions, wearing a gi or learning Japanese, Korean or Chinese terms. They were first and foremost combat techniques for the battlefield, they were adapted with philosophical ideas that are a foundation for the sciences of psychology and sociology. And, it is the lack of this understanding by traditionalists that creates the most fundamental obstacle to Traditional Martial Arts, a lack of "real world" application. That real world application isn't just a matter of fighting styles but of philosophies...
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