Disconnect in Martial Arts

The martial arts would have to be the most disconnected of all the subcultures I frequent. The promises that instructors make resemble that of politicians around election time. They say one thing yet deliver something very different.
 
The disconnect begins with the actual name ‘Martial Arts’ with its definition seen here from wikipedia:

‘The term is derived from Latin and means "arts of Mars", Mars is from Roman mythology the god of war. Some authors have argued that fighting arts or fighting systems would be more appropriate on the basis that many martial arts were never "martial" in the sense of being used or created by professional warriors.’
 
First of all there is a huge disparity between martial arts and its intended use, war. I’m a practitioner of combat training, not preparing for war & it would also be conceited of me to consider myself a warrior. I mean I hit the bags & pads and spar weekly, that does not make me a warrior. The fact that I sit in front of a heater in slippers watching Netflix with my morning coffee probably cancels that out! This can also be applied to fighting too because a large percentage of what practitioners do has little correlation to fighting, yet they refuse to believe that. It seems to be characterised by high levels of cognitive bias even though it’s so glaringly obvious.
 
Then there’s the people who talk the talk and then you see them train or coach & you are left wondering if it is the same person who you were just listening to. I listen to podcasts of these people held in high esteem and then I see their physical and it is so far removed that it discredits their work.Talk is cheap right?!?!  I was a street fighter growing up, in and out of prison until I joined the special forces and after all of that its evident that I can’t fight?!?! You watch them either coaching or training themselves and they are uncoordinated have little power or speed and it just looks average at best. They then have the argument that if they are angry & they are fighting for real it’s a different story. Apparently being angry makes up for a lack of skill and athleticism? I may have to add one session a week on getting angry? Perhaps I should manicure my lawn and wait for people to walk on it?
 
 
The same could be said by the droves of people on forums or social media criticising everything. They are great at giving advice but its more a case of ‘do as I say not as I do’. You often click on their link & you see something not too different from the video they are laughing at. I had a competitor often make negative comments about what we do & I used to engage with him until he put some of his training videos out. It was clear he didn’t comprehend what was happening in my videos and that he didn’t have the depth of understanding to ever figure it out so I stopped wasting my time.

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The other things that I cant rationalise is what it means to be an instructor or black belt, it appears as though that ‘qualification’ is a gold pass allowing you to do a whole lot more such as:

• Fitness: you can be as out of shape as you want & know nothing on the subject but you’re good to go! You laugh at Crossfit defence but isn’t this the same but in reverse?
• Psychology: you get an instant PHD!
• Biomechanics: see above
• Other arts: If you are a kung fu instructor apparently you can teach kickboxing, boxing, mma even though each of those are their own skillset. Its like a plumber getting an electricians licence without further study!
• Anti-Bullying: It doesn’t matter if you’re a little awkward yourself go for it!
• Fighting: Doesn’t matter if you have no experience in it!
• Parenting advice: Kids classes undo all the bad parenting and makes kids disciplined and respectful in just one hour per week!
• Life Coach: you can advise people on how to live their life!
• Story Teller: it gives you the right to exacerbate stories that would put a fisherman to shame! I have heard an instructor tell a story from a documentary as if it happened to him. The same instructor told the same story with different endings dependant on the audience.

There’s disconnect in that if you have the right surname or are attached to the right system you can teach what you want with no recourse. It would be like Picasso, if he took a shit on some canvas and called it art it would be in high demand and considered wonderful! It doesn’t take away from the fact that it is what it is regardless of who produces it. I recently saw a walking stick system, the disconnect appears again. Do they realise that the vast majority of people who use a walking stick do so for mobility? Without it they cannot move, walk, step etc? Unless it was designed for pimps but I thought they’d have a highly developed pimp hand yet the goldfish high heels would also make mobility difficult? 

Also there is a lot of tough talk, I’d do this & I’d do that. I’m a lion or a wolf & I saw someone lay down a challenge recently to a group & the response was I can’t believe how unprofessional he is!!!! We need to look at what we do with critical thought, not be blinded by our styles blinkers. Don’t be afraid to ask questions & if said person cannot justify their actions with a solid argument or science then we need to call it for what it is. You may think this is negative but what’s even more unsavoury is continuing to pay money for second rate advice that may be more harmful than helpful. ​​