By Gavin King, 2nd Dan Go So Kempo

Last night after training we found ourselves in the unfamiliar surroundings of the local pub. As unsettling and strange as this environment was, we soon settled in, got a strange exotic drink called a “lager” and started with the Karate speak. Comfortable in this alien setting, the topic of conversation turned to real self defence

Firstly, I’d like to say that I’m airing my own opinions, not those of the other Kempo Instructors. Secondly, I know I had a bit of a rant in my last article, but I’m afraid I’m going on another one. I promise to give a decent informative Martial Arts article next time; this one is for me…….I feel the need to vent! Please bear with me!

Let the rant begin! A local Martial Arts school, with a huge following, has recently taken out full page Ad in the local paper promoting themselves as a Self Defence system. Through the grape vine I heard that they signed up over a hundred people through this, successful promotion! Now I have trained with experienced members of this school and am appalled with some of the stuff these guys are telling them. Most of it has absolutely no basis on the street in a real blood and guts conflict, none whatsoever. Now we have 100 extra poor souls, believing that after training with these guys they are going to survive on the streets. To me this is nothing short of profiting on peoples fears!

My Dad inherited ferocious combat system, and has pressure tested the theories and methods many many times. From my Dad we have inherited an even more advanced and ferocious combat system which we are continuing to test! On the street you have to be prepared to deal with scum that have no morals or standards of fair play. I’ve seen five guys kicking the hell out of a single guy, I seen girls stick glasses in each other, and if you expect the police to help you can generally think again! In order to stand any chance of surviving on the street you need to be prepared to shove your fingers in someone’s eye socket, tear their testicles into small pieces and chew their nose off. You need to be able to do this with your adrenaline pumping, your heart beating so hard you think its going burst, and all of your bodily waste trying to escape! So if you don’t condition yourself to perform under the heat of a real life encounter, then the chances are very good that you're going to get very burnt!

I can tell you free of charge 95% plus of all of your training will not mean jack on the street. It is that last few percent that will save you, your bread and butter techniques. A good analogy of this is that of a debate compared against a heated argument. In a debate, you have time to use big fancy words, clever and complex sentences and basically have a chance to think about what to say carefully using your whole vocabulary. In an heated anger filled argument, you use pure, basic, and usually strong language. Most people revert to using unlogical and unthought out rantings when arguing. Argue against an English Professor, at it's a different matter. They will use a much more extensive and precise form of language, but they will still not have full command of their entire lyrical repertoire. The analogy of the English Professor is also true of a trained Martial Artist. The Martial Artist will still have a much more precise and extensive arsenal of moves in which they will fight with, albeit not their entire "Dojo learnt" arsenal. The techniques you'll throw will be those that you know, beyond a shadow of doubt, you can deliver fast, without thinking, and most importantly extremely hard !  The question could be asked if only 5% of what you know will be used, why practice the other 95%? Without learning the 100%, you have no chance of achieving the 5%!

If you are serious about learning to defend yourself, please make sure your instructors are teaching you the real stuff. Ask yourself honestly, if I had a 250 pound animal trying to attack me have I got the tools to deal with it? Is my training really preparing me to survive a “real” street fight? If not, its not self defence, you are simply studying movements that were once used in a fighting system. If you are taking money off of people by teaching them unrealistic self defence, you’re putting people at risk. Giving them false hope, and a dangerous sense of security!

Believe or not I fully care about each and every person who trains under my instruction. I feel it is my duty to ensure that these people have the best preparation to go out and survive in the real world. A parent tries to give their offspring the tools to make it in life; the same is true of Martial Arts instructors and their students. Students are there for teaching, not to be cash cows to buy your next car with! Make money by all means, but make sure it’s with integrity and honesty, our students safety is at stake!

Naturally, please accept that this is merely my personal opinion.  I'd appreciate any thoughts or feedback!