The old old story, why people start martial arts training

Ever since i can remember i was always a victim of bullying, one of My most vivid memories was being made to blow up a condom full of water untill it burst . I was 10 years old , wet and trying to peel off the condom framents that had stuck to my face as i entered Mr. Stewarts maths class, far from the sympathy i was expecting from Mr. Stewart, He started to shout and rave about entering his class in such a state, and then proceeded to cain my backside with 6 of the best shots he probably had ever done. Tears streaming down my cheeks and unable to sit down because of the extreme pain, and enduring more humiliation as the class burst into laughter seemed almost normal to me. That was in the 1960s , In this day and age Mr. Stewart Would be in prison.

Unfortunatley bullying is not a thing of the past , it is still as prevalant today as it was in the 60s. The condom incident was just one of countless incidents i had to endure right into my late teens when the bullying turned to real violence that had me frightened for my life.

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THE TURNING POINT My turning point came in 1973 when depressed and loneley i went to see the movie Enter the Dragon staring Bruce Lee, amazed at what i saw i wished i could fight like that. Reality, i knew i never would, my confidence was zero . a few days later i bought a magazine at my newsagents featuring Bruce lee i was amazed to learn that he was only 5ft 7 and 135 ibs sufered from a back injury and was near sighted requiring him to wear contact lenses or glasses. He had overcome all of his shortcomings to become allmost superhuman in his ability.

Eventualy i found a Karate club in my area and eagurly joined, as the weeks and months went by i got stronger , gained more confidence, now 20 years old i met my main protagonist from my high school days, his attitude had not changed, he was still an arrogant bully, he grabed me by the lapels, i threw him over my shoulder and punched him on the chin as he hit the ground. I was more amazed than he was at what i had done. i continued on with my training up untill black belt 3rd dan . In all those years leading up to my black belt i was never involved in any other fight.

Changing my thinking. Everything i was ever taught in traditional Karate i believed in, every stance every punch every kick. my world was sent tumbling upside down in a local bar when a guy with too much drink inside him did not like the way i looked. I had been minding my own business when this guy started insulting me. I started to go into a Karate stance , then wham i was on the floor bleeding and semi concious. I was put down by the standard street fighter haymaker. My confidence in traditional Karate was gone, it lacked fluidity ,spotanaeity and was to robotic.

This stance leaves you completely open to attack in a real fight, no use whatsoever

.My next foray into the martial arts came with the introduction to a couple of Thai boxers fresh from Thailand who had just opened a gym. At the demo i saw i couldnt help but be impressed, full contact ,fluid ,powerfull and no stupid stances or silly techniques. After 3 years of training in Muay Thai i took a job in a night club as a bouncer and that is where the real training began. No ammount of training in a gym can prepare you for the real thing which is bloody, nerve wracking and violent.

After training in Thailand, some years later i crossed over to the Philippines and learned stick fighting otherwise known as Escrima, i became very dissatisfied with traditional Escrima ,much the same way i had with traditional Karate. Back in my native England i began to train in Krav Maga a martial art that is taught to the israel armed forces

Still not satisfied, me and my training partner began to realy test what worked and what didnt. sad to say Bruce lee was right when he said 90 percent of most martial arts are bullshit.

For instance take knife disarms, most simply do not work, dont believe me, take a big marker pen then tell your training partner to take it away from you. bear in mind you give no co -operation and you agressivly try to mark him with the pen, as though the pen were a knife. and no set routines and no set distance. By the time you are relieved of the pen your partner wil have quite a few pen marks on him, Now imagine that was a real knife or stick or other weapon. Unfortunatly the guy or woman you are fighting in real life has no set routines, its pure animal agression. Again doing the same as above , both of you have a marker pen, then have a marker pen knife fight, then count the marks on both of you afterwards. remember no co-operation no set moves just free style agression. You will see its virtualy impossible not to get stabbed ( marked with the pen)

In conclusion our tests over the years have shown that an armed opponent ,Gun ,stick, knife, nunchaku, are very hard to beat if you know how to use these weapons. We are all physicaly different and need training accordingly, its no use trying to train a guy who is 4ft 11 to kick a guy in the head who is 6ft 6 or a guy who is 7ft trying to hip throw a guy who is 5ft 5 .

Simplicity may not look flashy like in the movies, but it works.

1 Finger jab to the eyes . 2 Strikes to the neck and throat. 3 Punches kicks or strikes to the groin. 4 Kicks to the knees . 5

Stomps to the ankle and wrists of a downed opponent. Not pretty but efective . I was once showing a female student all the potential weapons she was carying in her handbag , keys can be thrust into the eyes or inside the ear canal. Long handled comb same targets , perfume spray, hair spray to the eyes, her reaction was OH i could never do that can you show me some throws or something ? The bigest chalenge anybody faces in a dangerous situation is your own mind , if you have allready accepted defeat in your mind then no matter what your physicality you have lost .