How to Avoid Making Yourself a Target

Paying attention to what your body language says about you is one of the main concepts that we take for granted. It's one of the key concepts to ending a conflict or escaping one before it even begins.

Before we can even discuss body language, we need to talk about the Predator Mentality. Encompassed within the title of predator is your average bully/thug/criminal. The predator mentality is how predators pick their next target. A predator doesn't want to go to alot of effort to get what he wants. Ergo he's not going to pick the 250 pound body builder. That would be foolish and most likely the sign that you're dealing not with a predator but with a mentally ill individual. Your average predator picks his target based on who he perceives is going to put up the least amount of resistance. That's why people perceived as "nerds" and "geeks" are picked on the most, because they are perceived as the least amount of threat to them.

It's important to be mindful of how you present yourself to the rest of the world. Predators are mindful to pick targets that lack  two key traits and that's confidence and your level of alertness. We change those things through the following, since these are primarily what predators look for:

-Your arms and your hands. Are they in your pockets? This tells a criminal/bully that you don't have quick access to your hands, if they were to assault you right then and there. Plus it screams insecurity and a lack of confidence, to predators if your hands are in your pockets. How your arms sway as you walk tell alot too. Do they rock back and forth as you walk, exuding a confident person, or are they at your side most of the time?

-Headphones/Sunglasses/Hoodies. If you are wearing any or all of these in public, you are cutting off your greatest assets, your senses. Your headphones cut off your hearing, making it difficult to tell if someones approaching you from behind. Sunglasses not only darken your vision, but they provide mystery to where your eyes are on. You no longer look alert and watchful, but for all your attacker knows, you could be asleep under those sunglasses. And finally hoodies cut off your peripheral vision. All of these things, are what bully's look for when picking a target.

-Your posture. Are you walking hunched over, looking down, are you walking with your chest puffed out, looking straight ahead? Nothing will set a criminals eyes on you faster than someone slouched over, hands in their pocket, looking down. Walk confidently, back straight, eyes forward at all times. 

-Alertness. Are you texting on your phone/reading a newspaper, with blaring headphones to where you are completely shut out from the world around you? Or are you being mindful of everyone that is around you, keeping tabs on everyone who enters and leaves a building, keeping track of who's behind you, etc..? Criminals aren't likely to pick a target that knows that they are already there. They want the element of surprise on their side, and if your watching them the whole time, this kills it, and the predator will most likely move on to another target.

Back to the subject of eyes. Your eyes are some of your greatest assets. Unlike us, animals like elk are capable of spotting trouble before they even lay eyes on it. They can smell it, hear it, sense it. While we still carry those senses, they're not nearly as heightened as some prey. This will be more discussed in the part two, of this article. Let's turn back to humans. For us, our eyes spot trouble before any of our other senses do. Use your eyes to your advantage. Scan an area before you start walking into it. Ask yourself a few questions: Is it well lit? Where are the immediate exists? Are there people around? Get to know the environment. If you are in coffee shop, pay attention to everyone that comes and go's. Profile anyone that looks suspicious to you and be aware of their relative position to yours. By asking yourself all these questions and following these exercises, you're putting your brain into active and alert mode. This grants you the ability to act and move at a moments notice. If you hadn't been paying attention, and an event occurred, you would have been thrown off guard, and likely frozen in place.

So these are just a few tips on how to be mindful of how you present yourself to the world, and how exactly a predator thinks. If you can follow some of these concepts and rules, you can end a conflict before it even starts.

Sport: Context and Elitism in Martial Arts

     A term I've come to learn to hate when discussing martial arts is 'sport.' The term 'sport' has grown a few new synonyms in the TMA community and that's limited and inferior. When discussing systems like MMA, and arts like BJJ, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Boxing, , etc..a sentence that typically follows is that they are "just sports." From this I've come to learn that 'sport' is an elitist title dubbed by the traditionalist community to separate themselves from, and create a false sense of superiority to more modern systems. It's a meaningless word. This is not to say that these arts don't have sports applications. It would be ridiculous to suggest otherwise. But sport in this sense is just being used to demean arts.
     As I stated earlier, 'sport' is a meaningless word. Why? Members of the traditional community say you have to train in self-defense in order to be able to defend oneself? Why exactly though? As discussed in earlier posts, muscle memory is one of the key traits in learning to fight. Muscle memory are neural pathways that are created from doing a repeated action over and over again, similar to how one would develop muscle memory in pulling out a phone when your bored, or learning to type on a keyboard. It becomes instinctual, as you make no conscious effort to perform the action. Traditionalists claim you have to train within a self-defense context, but your body will react the same way when conflict arises. It doesn't matter if you trained for an opponent across the ring, or for a mugger. The bottom line is:

"The context in which you train doesn't matter. What matters is how we train."

And how we train is important. When we develop muscle memory, we are training correctly. When we participate in full contact sparring, and training in aliveness, we are training correctly. When we live in delusion by limiting our main training tools to kata's and other dead, scripted drills, and we dismiss sparring as mere "sports apparatuses," that's when we are training incorrectly. 

    The next logical argument would be that 'sport' arts don't train in weapons. This is a fair point. However I take issue with arts that train in nunchakus, bo staff's, sai, etc..it's funny at this point that these arts have anything worthwhile to say at all. Hypocrisy runs deep in these arts. They quibble at the fact that 'sport' arts don't train for self-defense, but then you have guys training with bo staffs that say they are. Unless you plan on carrying said bo staff around with your ninja fanny pack of goodies, then you aren't training for self-defense either. You're participating in LARP'ing (Live Action Role Playing). 

The only logical weapons training is with firearms and knives. I'll often encounter hardcore Kali/Escrima practitioners, that pride themselves on the hardened level of training. If they're not beating the shit out of each other with sticks, they're regularly utilizing shock knives into their training, that can produce a 7500 volt shock, to mimic the burn you'd feel from being cut by a knife. So what's not to be scared of? It's gotta be legit at that point. People that have been in knife fights would probably disagree. They know that there are no winners in a knife fight. One person is just internally bleeding a little less than the other guy. Knife training is fictional. And if a gun is introduced, by a guy that know's how to use it, no amount of martial arts training will save you. I don't care if you hold two heavyweight Champion titles, you aren't walking away without a new hole in your body. 

     Speaking of the hypocrisy from earlier, it's convenient when arts, like Tae Kwon Do, Karate, and Judo, are almost always looked over, when discussing "sport" arts. For some reason, since these arts fall under the traditional banner, they are frequently given a pass and improperly labeled "self-defense." Well if we're playing fair, then they're "just sports," since Karateka's regularly trains for tournaments and Judo and TKD are regularly featured in the Olympics. That's about as 'sport' as you get. BJJ/MMA have yet to be watered down from their former selves, as a result of being placed in the Olympics.
    But at the end of the day, arts have a sports and a self-defense application to them, whether you like it or not. Some train it with the intention of doing one over the other, but regardless that muscle memory is still hardwired into our bodies. Like pop issues in the media, silly titles are put there to distract us from the important things that matter. When we start focusing on substance, accountability and the manners in which we train, instead of silly titles, perhaps then we can begin to eradicate the fat and bullshit that have plagued the martial arts community for too long. 

Empiricism in the Martial Arts

Scientific empiricism is an important concept when discussing a contested subject. If the subject isn't empirical, like the existence of God, then what's the point of discussing it? Nothing will change either arguer's mind. There will always be moot subjects. But the subjects of martial arts, the best art, art vs. art, etc...are very much empirical subjects, despite the efforts of the traditional martial arts community. Now the subject of martial arts is more limited when it comes to discussing more concrete subjects, like how many atoms are in a Hydrogen molecule. We don't have the necessary testing procedures available to determine the 'ultimate' martial art, because the reality is there is no 'ultimate' martial art. But there are better arts than others. That's a different subject for a different day though.
    When I talk about empiricism in the martial arts, what I mean is, how we verify the effectiveness of our training. In a laboratory, scientists would likely go through the scientific method, a concept we've all undoubtedly heard of, being something most of us learned in the 3rd grade. Scientists use the scientific method in coming up with and proving a hypothesis. It should be our job as martial artists to do the same. In a convenient world this would look like: address an issue or problem you're trying to solve (doing background research), coming up with a new technique to address the issue (constructing a hypothesis), testing this technique out against an opponent that's both unaware and unaware to what you're doing (testing your hypothesis), but regardless knows what he's doing (a skilled partner), and finally to regard or disregard the technique depending on the results (analyze and draw conclusions).

     To many, this shouldn't sound too controversial at all. It's perfectly reasonable. But to the shady individuals and scammers that encompass the martial arts community, empiricism is their worst enemy. What could be worse than testing to see if you're really full of shit? It would ruin many of these people's businesses. This also goes for a large portion of the TMA community, that is not purposefully trying to scam anyone, but prefer shadier methods of testing skill such as kata's and board breaking. I state that these are shadier methods because there's absolutely no empiricism involved in the process of doing kata's and board breaking. There is no one there to resist your efforts to perform a kata, and the only thing stopping you from breaking a wooden board is physics. Some will argue it's just a different training tool, and that's fine, but plenty of schools rely more on it than sparring, or even use it as a replacement for sparring.
    Bottom line is that empiricism serves as a form of quality control in the martial arts community. It not only weeds out bad styles from good ones, but it helps our styles get better, by holding us accountable for the things we say and teach. And it doesn't have to be a conscious effort on your part or your teachers part for it to be empirical. The acts of doing full contact sparring should be more than enough. It's when a library of our techniques go untested, and we hide behind kata's, board breaking, and other smoke and mirror tactics, that we should be worried.

On Learning Martial Arts at Home

 

    A common question that seems to be asked is if you can learn martial arts in the comfort of your own living room. I know any answer other than yes, sounds like I'm trying to scam someone into buying something, but the bare truth is, you cannot learn martial arts on your own at home. Bad news for those of you that purchased Master Bob's 48 disc self-defense box set for the low, low price of $699.95. The fact is the ability to fight and defend yourself is acquired through years and years of intense, repetitive, live drilling with a resisting partner that knows what he's doing. You practicing moves on your buddy in the backyard doesn't count.
   The notion we can teach ourselves is a silly one. How can we teach ourselves something we don't know? We would have to pull knowledge from other sources, that's not the same as teaching ourselves. These sources are not here to tell us if we're doing something right or wrong. They aren't there to correct or reinforce behavior. So we're always left in this state of not knowing. This is never a good place to be in, especially when it could mean our lives. These sources can vary from DVD's, Books, or articles and videos off of the internet. When we try to learn from these sources, our bodies are only mimicking the things we see. This is different from actually learning it and developing it into muscle memory.
    Muscle memory are neural pathways that are created after an action is completed repetitively over time. This grants our body the function to compete said action, without even thinking about it. This would be something like walking, flipping through our phones or typing on a keyboard. Muscle memory is the key in learning martial arts, because when conflict arises, our body dumps adrenaline into our system. Adrenaline is a biochemical reaction in our bodies when conflict arises that puts our bodies into a "fight or flight" state. By doing this, our bodies are put into an emotionally fragile state. Common emotions are fear and anxiety. Remembering our training at this very critical juncture, can be difficult, if we don't have muscle memory. It's almost in fact, impossible. But with muscle memory, our bodies go into an almost auto-pilot mode. We react automatically despite our weakened emotional state. Unfortunately as I stated, this isn't something we get through casual drills.
   At the end of the day, supplementary materials weren't created to trick or deceive you. They are great teaching tools. But they can be abused like anything in life. They were designed (hopefully) as supplementary materials, meant to accompany your training, not as a replacement for the gym/dojo. Sources that try to use their materials as an excuse to not train in a gym/dojo setting, but rather through them, are trying to create a dependence on them for improving. This merely paves the way for you handing them your wallet for rank, belts, and more training materials. Stay away from these places.

Common TMA Excuses

   

When a particular subject is breached over and over again, one begins to notice particular patterns and inconsistencies in one’s argument. When the subject of MMA vs TMA is discussed, that is exactly what happens. I've began to notice a series of logical fallacies when it comes to the excuses that the traditional martial arts community uses on a regular basis to defend their fraudulent practices. These are just a few of them.
   “These arts are as old as time, so they must work.” This is a fallacy known as an appeal to tradition, which is the defense of something, merely because it’s something we've always had, or always practiced. But the fact remains that just because something has existed for a long time, doesn't mean it’s always true or correct. Christianity has been around for 2000 years, and it’s no truer now, than it was back then. For 1400 years, we followed a geocentric model and believed that the Earth was the center of the universe. Terrible concepts, ideas and practices can easily be passed down through the ages. In the end, people pass down things that are important to them, or have meaning to them, such as their Kung Fu or Ninjutsu training. It doesn't mean it works, by any stretch of the imagination. Not to mention the fact that someone with martial arts training may never use their training at any point in their life, therefore never verifying their application.
     “My style is too deadly for the Ring.” This is a combination of an Appeal to Ignorance and a Red Herring. Appeal to Ignorance basically states that you can’t say something doesn't exist, because there is no evidence to suggest that it doesn't exist. An obvious example is the existence of God. Except here with Traditionalists, they themselves are the reason that there is an absence of evidence in the first place. By refusing to participate in sparring and competition, they don’t have to validate the application of their arts, and continue to peddle their fraudulent practices. It’s also a the classic case of a Red Herring, because it also serves as a great distraction from the bigger issues, and it takes our eyes off traditionalists. After all, who would want to fight someone in the ring that was deadly, and who would want to fight someone knowing that you were too deadly? Too deadly? More like too convenient.
      Regularly when this subject is brought up, and I point out a piece of evidence, or something that’s basically hard to refute, I’m met with a “you are Ignorant” or a good ol’ fashioned “You have no understanding of martial arts” These are both clear cut cases of ad hominem.  Seems silly that we resort to personally attacking one another, and making such wide and sweeping generalizations, like that I have no understanding of martial arts, because I choose to question an art and its application. This brings up the fact that conformity is rewarded more than rebelling and asking questions, in the martial arts community. But that’s a subject in of itself.
     “There are rules in MMA.” This is more stupidity than it is an actual fallacy. Traditionalists have created this idea in their heads that MMA and other modern systems are plagued by rules. But are Traditionalists practicing by poking each other in the eyes, full contact? Are they hitting each other full contact in the testicles with no cups on? No? Then those are rules. Traditionalists live in this fantasy land that they aren't part of this construct of rules, when the reality is that they are part of it more than anyone else, by adhering to more rules of gym decorum, such as uniforms, bowing, character development, etc…
     “If you trained in a traditional style, but you don’t like traditional styles, you didn't train in a real traditional style.” This one is my favorite of all time. I trained in traditional martial arts for 10 years, and of course, because I rebelled against the traditional ways, my training comes into question by Traditionalists. This is called the No True Scotsman Fallacy. This basically asserts that no true member of a community would do such a thing, such as denouncing traditional martial arts. It’s a way to distance themselves, a way to destroy your credibility, and as a way of redefining the category of something, so that you were never really part of it to begin with. It’s probably the cleverest of the excuses I've heard. It’s also the most desperate.

Political Correctness in the Martial Arts

   Face it, we live in an age of political correctness. Before you get any ideas, no, this is not an article excusing racist/sexist/homophobic opinions nor is it ridden with such hidden subtexts. This is rather an examination into the mindset that many martial artists seem to carry. A notion that all arts are infallible, equal and delicate creations of man, that must never be questioned or ridiculed. A notion so dangerous, its time we start examining it.

 Respecting All Arts 

        Here's a concept I've never understood. The concept of respecting all martial arts. It's this politically correct ideology of never speaking out, against or contradicting any martial art. And we're made to believe if we don't respect all martial arts, that we're terrible people and we're terrible martial artists. Basically, we're meant to treat martial arts as if they were people with feelings. I hate to break it to those people that feel the need to treat arts as delicate glass ornaments, but martial arts are intangible concepts, similar to political ideologies that do not cry, laugh, take enjoyment or feel pain. However, there are people behind styles and ideologies, that do cry and feel pain. Is this what they mean perhaps? Respect all martial arts practitioners?
 If what people mean by saying they should 'respect all arts' that they should 'respect all martial artists,' then I would agree to a certain level. Should we respect all martial artists as human beings? Yes of course, everyone should be granted that right. Should we respect that someone has a right to have an opinion or to participate in an activity? Yes again. Do these rights grant them the ability to not have their opinion countered or even made fun of? No. Part of being an adult, means you have to learn to take things like an adult. If you think your old and mature enough to have big grown up opinions, then that means your old enough to be able to take criticism and flack for the things you stand behind. Don't get me wrong, you are not in any way obligated to justify the decisions you make, or the opinions you have, but you can't get mad at others for voicing their opinions.
      The beauty of martial arts in my opinion, is in their ability to defend themselves. If something is good, it has the ability to stand on its own legs with it's own merits. It really doesn't need to be defended. It doesn't need for you to coddle it, and use fraudulent devices to deceive others into believe it is a legitimate art. If you have to go to extraordinary lengths to defend your art, then I would start being concerned in the legitimacy of your art.

Are All Arts Equal? 

   The notion that all martial arts are created equal is a ludicrous concept to me. Even more so than the notion that we have to respect all arts. All martial arts were not created equal. Every branch of martial arts has a distinct method of doing something, as outlined by their head organizing bodies. From how to throw a basic reverse punch to your round house kicks. Granted that there are some schools that may have subtle nuances to how they do things, it's not an immediate overall or revolutionizing way of doing things. If it were, that means they no longer carry out their bodies guidelines and cannot be affiliated with them. Basically what I'm saying is that, I can walk into a random BJJ school in any part of the world, and I'm going to know what to expect. They may set up armbars or triangles a little differently, but I'm not going to walk into this school and see these guys doing somersaults and gymnastics. Nothing should catch me by surprise basically.
  Within these distinct styles, are their guidelines for performing various techniques. These ways are either the efficient way to do something or the inefficient way to do something, granted that there is more than one way to do something efficiently or inefficiently. But what traditional martial artists are basically expecting me to believe is that, all arts do things the efficient way. I don't buy that for a second. If we're all doing something differently, we can't all be right. But what makes an art, an art, is that they have a distinct way of doing something that differs to the next art.