It took me many years to learn these lessons. If you are a beginning to intermediate martial artist my wish is that I can save you from years of FAT (f@ck-around-training) and time wasting, but I doubt it. Most people need to walk through the fire themselves.
But for what it is worth, here are the top lessons I have learned in martial arts/combatives.
If you don’t like what I have to say, go find someone who agrees with you 100% and live in mediocrity.
Top Lessons In Martial Arts
- Just because it looks hard-core doesn’t mean that it will really work… in fact it probably won’t.
- Anything that takes 10 years to master is useless. Better wait 10 years before you get attacked.
- Knife disarms are B.S. They only work against compliant partners or that rare once in a million time in real life. I don’t know about you, but when my life or health is on the line I don’t have a million times to fuck up!
- Mixed Martial Arts are for the ring. Don’t bring MMA to a knife fight.
- You need to be competent on your feet, on the ground, with and against knives, clubs, guns and multiple attackers.
- Always wear shoes you can run or fight in… because you might have to.
- Train to defeat the sucker punch / sneak attack.
- Simple, direct, violent and urgent is almost always the correct response.
- Use too much force, go to jail or get sued.
- Use too little force and you give your attacker(s) a chance to win.
- When in doubt use just a little more force than you think you need.
- The above lines may or may not apply when the rule of law does not apply (war, civil disorder, etc.)
- If you are in a position of authority such as law enforcement, you need to hold yourself to higher standards. Don’t use violence unless you have to and don’t overdo it.
- If you do not know much about firearms, learn.
- Guns are the natural evolution of martial arts. Marines don’t throw punches unless they are out of ammo, out of grenades, their sidearm jams, their knife breaks and they can’t find a sharp stick or a rock.
- However you feel about guns (and other weapons) is irrelevant. The bad guys have them so you better learn how to deal with that.
- If you think a gun is all that you need for self-defense then you are in BIG trouble.
- Arguing for and against styles of martial arts is for people who aren’t busy training.
- No martial arts style is perfect, each person must must modify the martial arts to suit their own athletic abilities/ limitations.
- There is at least one thing you can learn from any martial art style, but sometimes you should leave the rest alone.
- Tactics trump techniques, full-stop! But if you have both you are exponentially better.
- If you want to be quicker, train slower.
- When it comes to training, Slow = Smooth, Smooth = Fast, Fast = Powerful
- Sooner beats faster every single time.
- The person who sees quicker reacts sooner.
- If you aren’t training visual skills then you will never be as quick as you could have been.
- If you don’t know how to train visual skills or what the heck they are, seek out someone who does.
- There is nothing new in martial arts and there never will be: attack, defend, fake, counter, grab, choke, hit, kick, stab, shoot, etc.
- Stop being impressed by moves, gurus and styles. Learn what is useful, focus on what will work realistically.
- In my experience, the people with the most impressive looking demonstrations are the ones with the least ability to actually win a violent encounter.
- Just because someone can fight doesn’t mean they can teach you how to fight.
- You CAN defeat multiple attackers, but probably not the way you were taught to be a martial artist.
- You win in your mind first, then you win in the physical world.
- Doubt yourself and it is 2 against 1. (your mind and your attacker vs. you)
- Loser / victim talk: “What if it hurts?” “What if it doesn’t work?” “What if I lose?”
- Winner talk: “I am going to win, if a move fails I’ll keep fighting till I win… period!”
- Learning to fight isn’t about hard work, sweat, cardio or ego. It’s not about straining.
- Learning to fight is about creating habitual patterns of movement and responses to stimuli.
- Learning to fight is also about creating a winner’s mind-set.
- Learn the difference between pain and effort in training. Effort is good pain is bad.
- Pain is only occasionally necessary in learning to be tough. Experience pain too often and you will suffer, move slower, hesitate more. Never experience pain and you won’t know how to deal with it. Once you overcome pain and have won there is no need to continue putting yourself through it. But regular doses of effort are required for growth.
- One of the stupidest things I have ever heard was, “all things being equal the stronger person will win.” Well first off, all things will NEVER be equal. Even if they were equal random chance will trump strength. Funny, the person who said it doesn’t practice combat, they do practice strength training. I guess a marathon runner might say, “all things being equal the person who can run 14.2 miles in less time will win a fight.” Bullocks!
- Don’t neglect strength, train it weekly… don’t think strength is going to win the fight for you either.
- Statistics show that martial artists lose street fights 70% of the time.
Favorite Martial Arts Quotes
“Never mistake the trademark for the truth.” – Tony Blauer
“A bad idea embraced by millions is still a bad idea.” – Tony Blauer
“Its not the daily increase but the daily decrease, eliminate the unnecessary.” – Bruce Lee
“The lack of cultivation leads to ornamentation.” – Bruce Lee
“Be the first-est with the most-est.” – Paul Vunak
“We have no honor is how we fight, our honor lies in why we fight.” – Paul Vunak
“Before I learned the art, a punch was just a punch, and a kick, just a kick.
After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick, no longer a kick.
Now that I understand the art, a punch is just a punch and a kick is just a kick.”
– Bruce Lee
“Train until your idols become your rivals.” – unknown
“All progress begins by telling the truth.” – Dan Sullivan
“Everything should be made as simple as possible but no simpler.” – Albert Einstein
“The world doesn’t need more soldiers, it needs more scholar/warriors who study the precious balance of life and death, and understand both how to wield force mightily and show restraint and compassionate at the appropriate times.” – Steve Cotter
“Learn avidly. Question repeatedly what you have learned. Analyze it carefully. Then put what you have learned into practice intelligently.” – Confucius
When asked; ‘What would you like every martial artist to know, that they might not know at the moment?’ “The secret to your success lies not in your style or method, it’s intrinsically connected to your internal beliefs and wiring. This may seem like a cliche, something obvious, but what you think, what’s in your head, is a lot more important to self-defense, to your ability to defend yourself, than what physical techniques or strategies you know.” – Tony Blauer
“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training”
– Archilochus, Greek Soldier 650 BC
“When you can control your breath you can control yourself mentally and physically. You can really understand your fears and emotional stress.” – Rickson Gracie
“The height of strategy, is to attack your opponent’s strategy.” – Sun Tzu
“Everyone has a plan until they get hit.” – Mike Tyson
“Perhaps today is a good day to die!” – Mr. Warf
