Have you ever wondered how you would fair in a real fight? I’m talking about you against a big bully, somebody who pushed you until were pushed too far and had to break out some skills. How would you do? What would you do? Would you take him down for some “ground and pound,” then tap him out? Or would you use your tremendous kicking ability and knock them to next Tuesday? Maybe you’d use some of your boxing skills, bobbing and weaving until you came in with an incredible combo.
I’m not trying to poke fun at anyone…well, maybe a little. I cannot speak for women, but I bet the majority of men out there have fantasized beating up another dude or several who really deserved it. It’s that fantasy that a lot of martial arts schools have capitalized on since people started selling lessons. Spend any time on the internet and/or social media and you see ads like, “End a fight in three moves.” “Don’t waste your time on traditional martial arts.” A lot of these folks purportedly have a background in Special Forces and are willing to share their secret combat moves with you for a price. And don’t forget the people who love to comment on martial arts videos. I love it when YouTube trolls say, “I’m sorry, but that (whatever martial art) won’t work in the MMA” or a real fight. Now, I have to admit that in many situations that’s probably true.
What is a real fight anyway? Let’s look at an extreme example. On June 6, 1944, the allied invasion of Normandy, D-Day, took place. It’s estimated that over 10,000 men lost their lives that day. 10,000 in a single day. The average United States soldier in that battle was between 18 and 24 years old. He had a steel, one-size-fits-all helmet, a semi-automatic rifle with a few magazines (bullet cartridges), modest supplies and two days worth of rations. The landing craft were nothing more than fast-moving barges with a draw-bridge type of door that a lot of those guys never made it onto. If you did make it into the water, you were chest deep trying desperately to make it to the beach while your friends got picked off all around you. If you miraculously made it to land and found some cover, you had a chance to survive for the next few minutes.
Let’s think about these guys for a second. They were kids, sent to Hell on earth to save a nation and the world. I’m willing to bet none of them had a black belt in any type of fighting style. Aside from a few playground scuffles, most probably didn’t have much fighting experience except for football, wrestling and boxing. None of those skills help much when you’re being shot at. Many of these young men found themselves in close-quarter combat scenarios throughout the war and had to rely on shear luck and willingness to do what it took to survive. No “master” status, no secret fighting method other than the few things they learned in basic training. How did any of them survive?
Perhaps it’s not fair to compare war to “real” fighting, but to me, that’s what real fighting is. A threat of severe injury or loss of life. The men mentioned above were not preparing for a title bout or for the olympics when they went to basic training. They were preparing for war. Real bombs, real bullets, real bayonets. Martial (military) arts had this same purpose. Over the years many of these fighting forms were able to stay relevant through sports and the pursuit of health and greater awareness. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with those things, but I do believe we miss out on something if we are not constantly training for the possibility of a confrontation.
When you enter military basic training, it’s not a two-night-a-week type deal. It’s every day. Every day you are being indoctrinated into the military way of life, into discipline and into the warrior mindset. And while each service has a different mission and role, the primary objective has remained the same since we became a nation; “defend the country against all enemies foreign and domestic.” That means training for a real fight. It means training for war. Not competition, not a fight between two pissed-off dudes. While both have the potential for lethal consequences, both can be avoided. War, on the other hand, is not typically a choice between combatants.
There’s an old saying that’s been around for quite some time now that goes something like this: You cannot only focus on Do (the way to enlightenment) and go to war, but you can train for war and include Do in your practice. If you expect your style of martial art to be effective in a real confrontation, you have train like a soldier with the intent to make it home alive no matter what it takes. That means being mindful of your diet, how often you train, what you put in your body, etc. It also means not focusing on the tangible things like money, titles and trophies, but the intangible things, like being around for the next sunrise. That is enlightenment.
Train like a warrior every day and you will learn to appreciate peace.
Dave Magliano
Jissenkan Budo
Dojo Cho
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