The popularity of training in martial arts as a method of improving one's health and overall strength is at an all time high as I write this in mid 2011. Martial Arts have for many years enjoyed a steady increase in popularity for a variety reasons; of course lately a significant portion of this can be attributed to the current popularity of MMA (mixed martial arts). Having trained in traditional Japanese Karate as far back as the early 1980's, I thought it would be important to put down on paper some thoughts on disturbing trends I have seen firsthand in some local martial arts training centers.
First of all, who is George Dillman and why should I care? Well George Dillman
was (and still is) a very accomplished martial artist with an impeccable pedigree of martial art accomplishment. You can simply research his bio to see how he has a stellar history of dedication and contribution in both the study and teaching of martial arts for many years.
In spite of such an honorable lifetime of serving, it is also well known that some of his teaching has essentially been "de-bunked"; for example the National Geographic report on his Chi methods. My intent here is not to 'bash' this dedicated person; but simply to remind the reader that errors in instruction can and do occur. The 'master' can be fully convinced in his own mind that he has the secret knowledge that works. The followers will also be dedicated to the teaching and hang on every word as gospel truth.
Dillman introduced revolutionary instruction in the areas of pressure point applications. Unfortunately he also promoted no-touch knockouts, chi-balls and using the third eye.
The parallel to other areas of popular instruction is almost inescapable. Imagine a highly talented and intelligent man that was honored by the highest ranking political figures of his time and had thousands of followers that treated him with the utmost honor and respect; unfortunately in his later years, he fell into error of such serious magnitude as to even cause the death of innocent people. Take your pick of well known cult leaders to expand on the example.
Now please don't get me wrong, George Dillman is not a cult leader; far from it; he is obviously a sincere and dedicated instructor with a huge amount of talent and years and years of valuable martial arts experience. The simple point here is that erroneous instruction can have disastrous consequences. In any situation of teacher-student relationship, there is always the potential and danger of abuse in all its forms.
Case in point - traditional Japanese Karate teaching would often see the instructor demonstrating techniques at the front of class with one of his advanced students. The method would be displayed with such precision as to come within a hair's breadth of contact with the student. Of course there would be occasion when contact was accidentally made; this would inevitably be a moment of pride for the student and awestruck wonder for the junior members. "Wow! Did you see that?"
It is important to remember that unnecessary and abusive contact was NEVER a part of demonstrating a technique, there was more than enough of that to be experienced during the actual practice and training!
Today you will see 'masters' using their senior students as punching bags in the twisted belief that this is how it was done "in the old days". Now were there demented instructors in the past that got a kick out of intentionally inflicting pain on their students; of course and there still is today. But study closely the teaching of traditional karate masters and you will never see that as a prescribed method of instruction. On the contrary, the core teaching would always include mutual respect and dignity.
The sparring was where there was real danger of bruises and injury; that is, amongst the participants in their training; not when a technique was being demonstrated on a passive student volunteer.
As a martial arts student, you have a responsibility to keep your BS detector on alert at all times. Ask yourself, "Is the king wearing any clothes?" Here are a few things to watch out for in your training that can protect you from error.
1) Does the 'master' look more like a couch potato than someone dedicated to a lifetime of training? If the person at the front of class looks like they would have a hard time running a few laps that should be a red flag that you just might be dealing more with self-deception than self-mastery.
2) Does your 'master' train with rubber knives? At the risk of alienating all the 'self-defense' enthusiasts, if you really enjoy para-military/modern training, then go nuts but please remember how traditional Japanese karate was originally taught. By the way, have you ever been attacked with a rubber knife? Many techniques taught to defend against a knife would leave the defender in a bloody mess if practiced with a real knife!
3) Does the 'master' regularly use his or her senior students as a punching bag using the excuse, 'well they have to be able to take a punch'? Such an instructor has no sense of respect or dignity for their juniors but is simply on an ego-driven power trip. Find another place to train as quickly as you can unless you actually get a kick out being abused.
4) Does your 'master' bash other styles or MMA as 'useless' while at the same time promoting their own 10th Dan status. Chances are they are more intent on self-aggrandizing than appreciating the benefits of serious training in other disciplines.
5) Does your school hand out black-belts like candy in "genuine Gracie Jiu-Jitsu" or "genuine Shaolin Temple Kung-Fu" or "genuine modern karate". Make sure you have some verifiable lineage you can trace. Refer to the documented history of your style, its founders and the recorded literature that they produced.
One final note. Ask yourself seriously how flashy or money motivated is your dojo? Traditional Japanese karate was often introduced on University and College campuses on a more or less volunteer / non-profit basis. Students would seek out the karate expert, study and train and pass on this knowledge out a sense of honor and duty. To this day, you can find some of the best training for the lowest cost at your local College/University campus.
Storefront style mega-dojos are a common sight and they are filling a demand in today's marketplace but extreme care should be taken to differentiate between valuable serious training, self discipline and mutual respect; and disastrous error that can easily creep into any club, traditional or otherwise.
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