In Meditations of a Modern Warrior Book 1 I wrote about 'The Perfection of Technique Through the Totality of Presence'. This was in relation to 'Mushin' 'No-Mind', here though I am going to look at the perfection of the actual techniques or lack of perfection is it would appear.
Before we go any further let me make this statement:
Every physical technique and mental or theoretical application that you choose to learn in order to protect yourself, your family or your principal must be perfected. Not to the best of your ability but perfected.
The internet is awash with training clips from instructors who have either limited physical skills or poor theoretical knowledge and in some case both. These instructors give the self - protection world a pretty bad name and image to say the least. Not to mention the passing on of dangerous (to oneself) and realistically useless information.
You would think that the perfecting of your skill sets would be a given, a basic understanding that if these skills are going to save your life, then nothing short of perfection will do.
There will be those of you who will be saying that perfection can never be attained, that is for a different discussion, but perfection is still the goal. Having this goal of reaching perfection is all well and good so long as perfection is seen as a means to an end. The end being 'Getting the Job done'. The end result of you being perfect in the training hall is winning in combat, on your battlefield.
Which brings me on to those less than perfect instructors.
A combat situation is going to debilitate you to some extent, depending on you, how well you are trained and most importantly how you are able to cope with being in a combat situation. One large factor that encompasses all of the prior is how de-sensitised to violence and violent situations you are.
Just like your fitness, both aerobic and anaerobic, so too will your physical capabilities and thought process be similarly affected through the release of the chemical cocktail into your body, the situation you find yourself in and the level of violence that you may or may not be prepared for.
Considering this then, why would you settle for anything less than 100% perfection.
Great, you are 100% in the training hall which means you will be operating at a lower percentage of effectiveness in real time. So if you are only 90-80-70-60 or 50% perfect in the training hall then your real time capabilities are going to be detrimental to your combat effectiveness to the point where you may not be combat effective at all.
Anxiety - slows action picture
Fatigue - slows action time
In the past choosing an instructor was a problem for students, 'Who do I train with'? 'How do I judge the competence of the instructor'?
Today it is a whole lot different with so many forums on social media and clips on YouTube. The would-be student now has a platform to judge standards and get better informed opinions on potential instructors.
There is no problem; and I like other instructors do not have a problem with students showcasing their abilities both good and bad at that particular stage of their development.
The problem lies with the so called instructors who are clearly not capable, due to poor skill sets from to being poorly trained themselves, from picking up bad training habits or mixing and matching skill sets as they see fit without fully understanding what they know or teach. These instructors who purport to be experts would seem to have never had an original thought of their own and who find it difficult to even explain in a cohesive manner basic fundamentals, or who try to baffle novices with technical jargon and theories that when questioned do not add up. There ability in all aspects is far lower than the standard required of someone who is responsible for their students lives. These so called experts are only teaching you one thing and it's not how to defend yourself, it's how to get killed.
So if you are a student looking for a new instructor or you are a complete novice looking to train, then ask around. Like every other industry someone always knows someone else. Find the instructor who is not only right for you but has the physical skills, mental applications, theoretical knowledge and who also knows how to pass all of that knowledge on.
Are you the right sort of instructor?
Stay Dangerous
Rock
Before we go any further let me make this statement:
Every physical technique and mental or theoretical application that you choose to learn in order to protect yourself, your family or your principal must be perfected. Not to the best of your ability but perfected.
The internet is awash with training clips from instructors who have either limited physical skills or poor theoretical knowledge and in some case both. These instructors give the self - protection world a pretty bad name and image to say the least. Not to mention the passing on of dangerous (to oneself) and realistically useless information.
You would think that the perfecting of your skill sets would be a given, a basic understanding that if these skills are going to save your life, then nothing short of perfection will do.
There will be those of you who will be saying that perfection can never be attained, that is for a different discussion, but perfection is still the goal. Having this goal of reaching perfection is all well and good so long as perfection is seen as a means to an end. The end being 'Getting the Job done'. The end result of you being perfect in the training hall is winning in combat, on your battlefield.
Which brings me on to those less than perfect instructors.
A combat situation is going to debilitate you to some extent, depending on you, how well you are trained and most importantly how you are able to cope with being in a combat situation. One large factor that encompasses all of the prior is how de-sensitised to violence and violent situations you are.
Just like your fitness, both aerobic and anaerobic, so too will your physical capabilities and thought process be similarly affected through the release of the chemical cocktail into your body, the situation you find yourself in and the level of violence that you may or may not be prepared for.
Considering this then, why would you settle for anything less than 100% perfection.
Great, you are 100% in the training hall which means you will be operating at a lower percentage of effectiveness in real time. So if you are only 90-80-70-60 or 50% perfect in the training hall then your real time capabilities are going to be detrimental to your combat effectiveness to the point where you may not be combat effective at all.
Anxiety - slows action picture
Fatigue - slows action time
In the past choosing an instructor was a problem for students, 'Who do I train with'? 'How do I judge the competence of the instructor'?
Today it is a whole lot different with so many forums on social media and clips on YouTube. The would-be student now has a platform to judge standards and get better informed opinions on potential instructors.
There is no problem; and I like other instructors do not have a problem with students showcasing their abilities both good and bad at that particular stage of their development.
The problem lies with the so called instructors who are clearly not capable, due to poor skill sets from to being poorly trained themselves, from picking up bad training habits or mixing and matching skill sets as they see fit without fully understanding what they know or teach. These instructors who purport to be experts would seem to have never had an original thought of their own and who find it difficult to even explain in a cohesive manner basic fundamentals, or who try to baffle novices with technical jargon and theories that when questioned do not add up. There ability in all aspects is far lower than the standard required of someone who is responsible for their students lives. These so called experts are only teaching you one thing and it's not how to defend yourself, it's how to get killed.
So if you are a student looking for a new instructor or you are a complete novice looking to train, then ask around. Like every other industry someone always knows someone else. Find the instructor who is not only right for you but has the physical skills, mental applications, theoretical knowledge and who also knows how to pass all of that knowledge on.
Are you the right sort of instructor?
Stay Dangerous
Rock
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