Several years ago, I placed a sign up over the mirror in our dojo.
I painted the sign while sitting on the back patio on a late Saturday afternoon, drinking a beer after a long day of teaching and training.
The sign says, “You should have blocked that.” I intended it to be a joke because earlier that day one of our students got tagged in the eye during advanced partner training with shinai, the bamboo swords typically used in kendo.
The student was not severely injured and realized that he literally “walked” into his opponent’s sword. It was a casual mistake made because, as he would admit later, “I wasn’t paying attention.”
The same student returned the following Monday for class sporting a “shiner.” I took him over to the mirror and had him look at my hastily painted sign. We both laughed and got on with training.
I forgot about the sign until a couple of weeks later, when another student took a punch to the cheek during a kumite session. He didn’t say anything about it at the time, but I noticed he was checking his face out in the mirror after class. When I asked him if he was ok, he simply pointed the sign and laughed.
The sign has been up ever since.
“You should have blocked that.” A simple phrase with a lot of meaning.
Awareness is arguably one of the most important aspects of budo (martial arts) training. Awareness of yourself, your surroundings, your emotions, your intentions. If you happen to be training in what I consider a good dojo, your awareness is challenged all the time and the moment you forget where you are or what you are doing, you typically get some sort of physical reminder. A sore shoulder from a poor rolling technique, strained hamstrings from going past your limits or not hydrating enough…or a black eye.
These things are typically avoidable if you simply pay attention. But what about sparring?
One of the things I stress in our dojo, especially with kumite training is the aspect of control. Of course, I expect people to keep their emotions and egos in check and not try to destroy each other during these contact sessions. You simply stop learning when that happens.
However, I have no problem reminding my students that it is ultimately their responsibility to avoid getting hit or seriously injured no matter who their partner is. Not their fellow students. Not mine. Theirs.
If you happen to be in a physical altercation, there will be no ref or instructor telling people to "slow down." Your adversary is not going to use any type of control when attempting to hurt you. So, you’d better get use to the idea that you will most likely get hurt during an exchange. I believe this is one of the most important things I can teach somebody. Once we understand that pain and injury can result from our lack of self-control or awareness, training usually becomes a lot more focused.
As a school owner, I have to worry about liability just like everybody else. I go out of my way to make the environment as safe as possible, but I cannot eliminate the risks associated with martial arts training, nor would I want to. In fact, I think it’s my job as a teacher to more or less present opportunities for students to get hurt.
I know that sounds weird if not irresponsible. But if you expect me to teach you how to deal with physical confrontation, help you change and push your body or find self-discipline and worth, we can’t do that with your seat belt securely fastened. You have to learn how to deal with the possibility of getting hurt. Trust me, I’ve been in the game long enough to know that most of the time injuries can be avoided if people just pay attention.
There is a life lesson here. We can use the same principle if we apply it to our personal lives. Everyone has made mistakes with money, relationships, investments, saying awkward things at the wrong time that you regret for the rest of your life. We’ve all done it. And when we think back on whatever it was, we realize that we should have seen it coming and we should have blocked that. Lesson learned.
Dave Magliano
Jissenkan Budo
Dojo Cho
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