Technical Questions 4

Question : Stuart Mitchinson (Warrior Escrima) : 20/03/02

Dear Mitch,

At last I've got round to finishing the answer to your last question. Apologies for the lateness of reply. Not quite sure why it's taken this long but just wouldn't "sit down" on the page. Hope the wait was worth it ! It's been so long, a reminder of the questions might be useful ! They were :-

1.Do you feel to feel to train two people in the natural ways of your system, one very meek and passive,the other a very nasty horrible aggressive b!"£$%d, would be beneficial to both students.
2.How do you think it would affect the second party?
3. How would you feel about training the second party?

Answer

One of the great things about martial arts is that 99.9% of people who train (or at least of the ones I've met) are really, really nice people. Artists come from widely diverse backgrounds and have widely different value sets and objectives within the arts, but for those 2-4 hours / week we are all following similar paths (and generally have great fun in learning our respective arts). The general view of the martial art community (and one thing which is stressed in many advertising campaigns) is that training permeates all aspects of a persons life to increase confidence / self worth etc within their wider sphere of influence. The thing which is less stressed is how the instructor / training is going to do this confidence building or even whether the instructor / training is the right person / way to lead you to this "new you". Would any changes in self belief, confidence etc be achieved just as easily by getting a new lover / winning the lottery / winning a street fight etc as by the nature of martial arts training ? If so, what is the value of the arts to modify behaviour. If not, what is it within martial arts which makes this change occur in a different way to these other positive influences ? You ask me one question and I make three out of it ! No wonder these pages keep growing !

Underpinning your question is whether the training environment / the instructor / the group mentality nurtures this "niceness" or is it that students were already nice before they walked in. It's probably a bit of both but (as with all things !) it come down to achieving yin /yang balance. As you know, a club atmosphere is often a good indicator of how a student is likely to turn out after years of training. This balance should be such that it is not only the art but also the humanity of the students / instructors which is attractive. For example, if a class or students are unfriendly to visitors or the instructor (for example) keeps making arrogant or disdainful remarks about his students or other arts, there is little chance of "niceness" ever developing. People who walk through the door will generally be put off and anyone who stays will generally run with the pack (as all of us have a tendency to mimic the behaviour of others when in an uncertain environment). In this case there is too much "humanity" and too little "artist" being shown in the club and things are out of balance. Similarly if you go to a club which is functionally weak (ie ineffective in its views of the relationship of martial arts to the real world) then there is too much "art" and not enough "humanity" on show. If it's not balanced, it's not a good prognosis for future contentment in a holistic way. It's very unlikely to balance all aspects of a student's "real life" and "martial life" so that they become one thing unless the student pursues other aspects outside of the specific club. The "perfect" position for training is where the level of both humanity and art are in balance. Going back to Mr Nasty, at the point of attack during training, we should all have a bit of "Mr Nasty" inside our heads. Fighting is a nasty business so that's how we should feel. This allows us to experience this feeling (ie as part of our whole human experience) without it becoming part of us or overwhelming our innate niceness. There is an important difference between our use of "nastiness" and Mr Nasty's habitual unpleasantness. We use it, not so we can pummel our training partner, but so that if our partner ever meets this type of person "for real" they will be able to deal with it. We are being "nasty" for our opponent's benefit! Anything less and we are doing them a disservice. In this simple act of "give and take" martial arts combines the "humanity" of combat (ie the nastiness, negativity, aggression, violence) with the humanity of the "art" (ie the concern / compassion of not wishing to hurt your friend but simultaneously wanting them to succeed in the most adverse conditions). This nature of maintaining balance within the arts to improve a student's balance outside of the arts is one reason I generally don't like competitions. Competition brings in brutality and disregard for others so that someone can win a plastic cup or a fancy sash. Where's the humanity in wishing to undertake an activity that will potentially injure someone else just for that reason ? All great fun until someone gets a permanent injury or loses an eye.

Other aspects of the arts come back to the benefits of undertaking exercise. A body that is being used is generally much happier / fit than one that is not. Some of this is external (eg muscular) and other bits are internal (eg energetic). From a Kung Fu perspective, internal arts should work on the energy of the body which in turn reflects the energy of the organs which in turn reflects the emotional / spiritual / mental state of the person. So, internal training should bring you to wherever your personal balance is. This internal balance then affects the "external" world balance of a person and so does often show as the personality changes that correctly applied martial arts can achieve. These balance points aren't always where you expect them to be, but dedicated training does get you there.

In your example, some people are nasty or meek because of social conditioning rather than because of their own internal balance. Sometimes it's a matter of showing a "front" of a certain type to hide whatever it is that we really are. As a person becomes more "balanced" the imbalance between what is external (ie the front) and what is internal (ie the "real" person) may become less pronounced. Its very stressful to maintain this front rather than just "be" so taking this away makes life better. This is not to say that when a person reaches balance that you will like them any more than when they were fronting it out ! Some people are put on the earth to be irritating / unpleasant so the rest of us can experience the joys of the human experience ! Maybe I should encourage these people to keep up their front rather than showing their true self ! In reality, students with a "negative" outlook would hopefully be affected by the "positive" nature of training working on their internal / external balance and so affecting them to discard these negative influences. (We constantly change our balance points as they transform across a yin /yang boundary, that's why sometimes we have a bad day and other times we are on top of the world !).

Add to all of this that many people like to have a "reason" for changing their personality (and in some cases like having something to "blame" !) then the arts can be very useful.

Most truly psychotic / cruel / underhand people (ie this is truly their balance point rather than because of internal / external imbalances) don't normally view "learning stuff" as being of any value to them and so avoid situations when knowledge might be thrust upon them against their will. The value of the martial arts (in all their guises from spirituality to fighting) is low when applied to many of the objectives of this type of person. The number of techniques needed for, for example, a successful street attack or an attack against a weaker opponent / victim, are very low. There's no need to have to learn loads of stuff to achieve these objectives (in fact, probably only needs sufficient skills to be able to hold a knife by the right end, be able to find a suitable location for victims and to be able to turn on the aggression when needed). The present "cult of stupidity" that appears to be manifest in many people in the UK also reinforces this position ie that being "clever" or "learning stuff" is anathema to being "cool" or getting "respect". This leaves a lot of people reliant on their baser instincts (eg violence) rather than finding other ways to progress in life. This cult again stops a lot of people who could benefit from the arts walking through the door. The "let's over laugh, over fight, be over loud and do anything "bad" as long as our peers think I'm cool and I can remain part of the gang" is sort of a "excess yang" condition for most people who cling to this condition. If they learned stuff or had some quiet time (ie the yin to balance their lives), they might gain the ability and time to assess themselves and see themselves for what they are. In the present climate, it's better for many people to not look as they know it'll only be a disappointment; no wonder so many young men kill themselves or self destruct between the ages of 15 and 25. Their friends whose opinions they so need to be favourable gradually leave and the "yin time" is forced onto them and they wake up to the reality of what they have become. By their previous actions, they've alienated everyone in their local community (who haven't got an obligation to "forgive and forget"; only periods of sustained "good behaviour" can achieve deep felt forgiveness. Forgiving before that time perpetuates the problem as it is given tacit social acceptance) and so they get little or no support. Drugs, drink and adrenaline (eg via fighting or doing dangerous / illegal activities etc) are useful escapes for a short time but we always have to come back down and that's when it hits us. These "times of change" are really the time when martial arts can help people who have these cruel / psycho / underhand tendencies but the change has to be driven from the person (and sadly seldom is).

(Just as an aside on the "cult of stupidity", one of the saddest things I remember from when I was teaching Hok Koon was one Summer's grading day. One of the children (a young girl) was a truly excellent student and really loved her Kung Fu. Her quality shone through on the grade day (and before) and Grandmaster Fletcher awarded her a 1st class pass for her efforts (quite a rare event). Great happiness for the parents and instructors. The sad thing of this was that there were all these smiling faces coming up for "normal" grade successes but when this "1st class" student came up, her face was as sad as could be. From her perspective, being better than average made her "not one of the group" and so she could get no joy from it. What a sad indictment of the UK policies of not encouraging competition and excellence ! I spoke to her about it afterwards to explain how well she had done and how she should be proud but I think from her perspective it was a "adults just don't understand" moment. Maybe she was right).

Anyway, back to the question.

For me, the only way that martial arts can change a student is if :-

1) They wish to take control of their own Kung Fu and get it to live within themselves
2) They wish to change themselves by their own efforts
3) They are able to see themselves in an objective but non-critical way
whenever they are being "true" to themselves

These are the critical steps within Kung Fu and are at the root of some of the positive changes which martial arts can achieve. The club environment / training is just a method to facilitate these changes. If a club is unwelcoming or the instructor unpleasant, then why would any person choose to train there unless that is what they wish to become ? That's why a club should try to accommodate anyone who enters. However, this is a 2 way thing. If a potential student walks in with a chip on his / her shoulder then he / she is less likely to be welcomed with open arms (due to their own actions). In this second example, is that student wishing to change themselves or are they expecting the instructor to put up with their "chip" ? Do they expect the instructor to force change onto them without them making any contribution ? Obviously, if the student takes charge of any change then it will happen, if the instructor is expected to do it we are back in the "as if by magic" realm. Same happens if a student just goes through the motions of any technique rather than "being one" with it. Being one with a technique doesn't necessarily mean getting it right, but it's more about being attuned to the good and bad points in it. A student who is expecting to learn without effort / contribution will never truly understand Kung Fu as he / she will only be learning it by proxy (ie giving sole control of Kung Fu to the instructor). They will never see / consider any changes and so not see any benefit from the arts in their wider life.

Another problem that the arts suffer from is that there appears to be an unreal perception of what a "true" martial artist should be and therefore what training will "turn you into". Depending on your personal view, this might be someone who is serene, pious, all knowing, wise, fair, trustworthy, a carrier of arcane or secret knowledge, an invincible fighter, or someone who embodies aspects of life that we should aspire to. This perception gives the impression that by following an art, a martial artist is somehow different to "average" people and some people seem to relate this "difference" to being "better than". Sorry to burst any bubbles here but all of us in the World shit in the same hole. Being great at any specific skill doesn't necessarily mean that the same person is a great human being. It's just as likely that you will find a truly great person to admire / inspire you at in your local chippy, at a church or in your street. It's not solely the arts that do this for you, there's great people all over the place. I always suggest to my students that if they haven't found something that they don't agree with me on (or sometimes something about me they dislike) after 12 months of training, then they are probably not looking hard enough. Think about it. What are the chances of a student walking through the door with views that align exactly with mine in all areas ? It might only be that I talk too much (a common complaint !) that niggles them but they should still recognise it. All instructors have feet of clay and under all of the pomp, uniforms and skill, we are still human. That means that sometimes I'm a bit of a dick (no comments on the magnitude of this last statement please !) but my Kung Fu is still of value (not least to me). Which part of Peaceful Fight art do students want to emulate (or would I want them to emulate) ? Hopefully not the "me being a dick" part. They should value their Kung Fu because it is belongs to them, not because I say that they are good / bad or indifferent. Every martial artist should aim to be a fully functioning human being as well as being fully functioning artist. As a consequence, every artist should be different and be more of a mirror of the arts rather than a clone of any individual. By following the arts in a conscientious and realistic way, every student will find their own way; this is the value of the arts. An instructor just puts their view of how to get there. Other instructors might say totally opposite things to me and they will still be as "right" as I am, especially if their views are more on a student's life path than my own.

Once in a while someone from "left of centre" comes through the door (eg Mr Nasty or Mr Meek) and they are both assessed by the same criteria. This is because neither of them are necessarily any more desirable than the other. If Mr Nasty wants to change but Mr Meek wants me to change him, Mr Nasty may be a better student. Peaceful Fight vets the potential students who come through the door by assessing them on the intuitive level and also watching their performance during their practise. If anyone doesn't "feel right" to either myself or the students or repeatedly trains in a manner which will endanger the other students, then it's up to me to convince them that the system is not for them. However, this doesn't mean that just because a person doesn't fit in with my personal value set that they would not be welcome. The criteria for acceptance are a lot more subtle than my personal prejudices. The most important is that they don't have objectives opposed to those of the style. It's not much benefit to the wider World if you take a student who is cruel but weak and training to make them cruel but strong ! Both of your hypothetical meek or hard case visitors would be assessed by these same criteria. This is because neither type of student is necessarily any better or more desirable than the other. In specific circumstances, both of these visitor types have a place in the real World and are exactly the right person for the situation they find themselves in. Sometimes it's worth having a "nutter" living a few doors down in your street especially if he has a view that drug dealers are scum (and so his presence persuades them to keep out of my neighbourhood). Doubly good if Mr Nutter happens to like you ! It's always better to aim to have few enemies than to need lots of round the clock protection ! Similarly Mr Meek is in his element when you need a deep thinker who doesn't get too distracted by other people. Both are perfect in their own niche. Assuming that they both are wanting to change themselves then any changes which occur within training work mainly to extend the areas in which they can function rather than trying to make them a "new person". So, Mr Meek starts to feel more confident in company and Mr Aggressive stops staring at passers by !

Each of us affects the World in which we live, be it in a positive or negative way. However, when either student walks into my World (ie Peaceful Fight), then their behaviour may have to modify itself in order to not have a negative effect on anyone else within the club. The meek guy might have to "toughen up" a bit otherwise the other students would feel they have to "make it easy" for him. This means their training suffers but also Mr Meek is not getting the training he needs. Making him think he's effective when he's not is dishonest and out of balance. Mr Nasty may have to become more compassionate towards his fellow students so as to still be "Nasty" whilst but not hazardous. Over time, the club atmosphere will reflect the objectives of the students (which should hopefully align generally with the objectives of the style). Other character traits (eg not taking training seriously, disagreeing just to "score points", seeing the arts as a game, compulsive lying to try to impress etc) are just as likely to result in potential students being identified as being unsuitable for instruction as being Mr Meek or Mr Nasty. We are all unique and, as much as possible, Peaceful Fight judges students on how they are and what they do rather than preset criteria of "good" or "bad".

So, overall, the arts do have a place in modification of behaviour. It very much comes down to whether a student's "real" and "martial" lives are in or out of balance. For example, if a student is fantastic at the arts but depressed in his real life, it's probably better (overall) that they stop practising the arts for a while and find a loving partner. Conversely, if a potential student has a loving family but is seriously unfit then the arts will benefit the student greatly. Judging the value of the arts in isolation from real life probably loses much of the "power" of the arts to help people. Other arts might have other objectives, but Peaceful Fight sees this attainment of internal / external, real life / martial life balance as being of great value.

Hope this answers the questions, if not, feel free to get back to me.

Apologies again for the long delay. Doug

Question : Ruth Huson (14/06/02)

A question at last (but only a short one). Is there a difference between "Dao" and Tao ? Hope they are both the same as I'm just getting the hang of that !

Answer

Dear Ruth, I nearly fell off my chair ! A question from my senior student that doesn't involve the minutiae of injuring someone ! I'm just glad you understand what Dao is (even if you can't quite pronounce it !). Dao and Tao are the same thing, both meaning "the way". The confusion all comes down to transliteration of Chinese into English. Essentially, there are more different sounds within Chinese than there are within English and so with some sounds we have to take a "best guess" at how it sounds. Both Tao and Dao have a "soft" first letter, bit like you are trying to throw the sound out of the front of your mouth whilst keeping it closed. I always try to say "Tdao" with a soft "T" and even softer "D" as this is probably the closest I'll ever get to getting it right ! Hope this (notice, short) answer is OK. Ask me some more and be immortalised on the website (yet again!). Take care, Doug

Question : Tom (14/05/03)

Ive only just started learning kung fu, but my friend who has been going there for over a year now thinks that his instructor maybe putting him and others through gradings
just for the money. but what bothers him more is that he is teaching people stuff they should know and feels that they aren't ready and that he teaches more than he learns. And that he might not be as good as he has been graded to be.he's quite interestd in learning more not just externally but internally and hasnt come across much yet. however I myself have no complaints with the style which does not really need to be named as it is not important. What do you think he should do. as he has talked to the instructor and feels he was just being told what he wanted to hear. thanks for your time, Tom

Answer

Dear Tom, thanks for the E-mail and your situation is not unusual; the important thing is that you see that there might be a problem ! It is all too easy to go along each week and ignore that you are not happy with your training. Today is always the time to do something about any problem !

There are certainly some instructors out there who are more interested in keeping you training / grading to make money out of the situation whilst teaching things that are of little worth but (thankfully) this type of instructor is comparatively few and far between. More commonly, you encounter an instructor who is teaching what he truly believes is the "right way" but has to charge the students money to make ends meet. There might be better or worse "right ways" out there for you to follow but you can't knock an instructor for sincerely doing what he / she believes to be true and helping the students (the only possible criticism is that of being blinkered towards change / personal development).

As for whether your friend knows more about certain aspects of Kung Fu than his instructor, that's always a bit of a difficult point. This is certainly sometimes the case (eg an acupuncturist will be much better at point location than me) but sometimes it comes from not seeing "the big picture" ? For many people, Kung Fu has to be developed in a linear fashion (not my personal view but hey, I'm a Taoist !) and so when you start much of it is so, so obvious that you think the style is weak or incomplete. It is only after a while when you start putting things together that it makes sense. For example, let's say you know an all powerful death strike which your instructor obviously doesn't. You might know it in great detail but have no real knowledge of how to step forward in balance. You go to a club and all they seem to be teaching you is to step forward (a very simple act - we do it everyday so how complicated can it be !) but without it you can't use your technique. Maybe stepping forward is all that a particular instructor knows but he knows it in absolute detail. Does that mean he knows more than you or is better than you ? Maybe yes / maybe no as it depends on each of your objectives in teaching / learning but you both need each other to get the full effect !

That said though, however much one person' has their own "right way" students who choose to follow it blindly just serve in achieving a wasted life ! Talking to your instructor is certainly the first thing to do to try to understand his / her motivation more deeply. I see that your friend has already done that but seems unhappy with the outcome and so you should pursue things further. If you have any degree of distrust about an instructor's methods / motives / system at this starting point in your studies then you are sort of following his / her ideas for no great benefit to yourself (as in the end you will look back and see time you've spent training that you could have used more profitably doing something else ). Kung Fu should be very much a matter of personal development (rather than for the good of a style or instructor) so if you are unhappy and are still not satisfied with your situation then it is maybe a good time to evaluate (or reevaluate) why you train in the first place. What is it that you want to achieve from training ? This should always be the first question for a martial artist as there are as many reasons for training as there are students ! The second question has to be "Does your training achieve your personal objectives ?" and if the answer is "No" then it's time to look elsewhere. There are literally 10000s of schools around so go and do the "meet and greet" with other local clubs / instructors / students, checking their syllabus / ideas etc against your own objectives. You will find one that "clicks" with you and that is the one where you should be training. Some people get all stressed about changing styles and losing their hard earned "grade" but, at the end of the day it is you as a person that is important not the sash /belt that you wear so let it go. That's why it doesn't much matter if your friend thinks he is good enough for a grade or not - it's only an opinion and one "snap shot" of one moment of your life. There will be a lot more snapshots when you will be better and others when you are worse so don't stress it ! Remember that life / love / friends are the important things to work on not just knowing 10000s of techniques to kill a man or number of trophies on the mantelpiece. Check the relative value of being a "killing machine" against the value of bringing up your family to give and receive love and feel that they might just change the world you'll see that the arts can sometimes miss the point of being alive in the first place. Try to gain a black sash / belt in perfecting "life" during your studies and you'll see what I mean. Kung Fu is one route to achieving this but it is not the be-all-and-end-all of any person's life.

I hope that this helps you and your friend and please feel free to write again if you would like anymore advice. Good luck in your studies! Doug

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