The Dojang Expereince

By Scott Shaw

Here is an article I wrote and published in the first collection of writings for The Scott Shaw Zen Blog in 2011. You can also find it in my first blog based book, Scribbles on the Restroom Wall. I recently was thinking about this article so I thought I would repost it. Enjoy…

            The Korean term, “Dojang,” is used to describe a martial art training facility. The Japanese term, “Dojo,” is perhaps the more commonly known word, used to describe the same training space.

            Most people have the belief that a dojang is some sort of scared space where only the higher learning of the martial arts is transacted. For me, this was amusingly not the case.

            My first martial art training began when I was six. Though, in fact, I had always possessed a rudimentary understanding of the martial and fighting arts as my father earned his black belt during World War II and my uncle had been a professional boxer prior to World War II.

            My first teacher was a Korean born Hapkido black belt. This man was probably one of the first Hapkido black belts to immigrate to the U.S. Though he never owned a formal school, he was one of the first people, I know of, to have taught Hapkido in the U.S.; though he referred to it by one of its earlier names, Ho Shin Moo Do. Me, as a six-year-old, I just thought I was studying Karate.

            This man made his living as a gardener and he trained a group of young South Korean student in his back yard. As he was a friend of my father’s, I was allowed to train with them.

            I always remember how nicely groomed his yard was. He had a couple of nicely trimmed trees and nice flowers and plants lined his fence. I mean, he was a gardener after all...

            The man would train the five or six of us, as he walked around with a bamboo staff to smack us with, if we did something wrong, and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. I didn’t really think that much about it as both of my parents smoked. In fact, even my dentist, who was also Asian, used to sit overlooking his dentist chair, with a cigarette burning behind him, as he examined my teeth. It was obviously a different era. :-)

            After earning my black belt, I eventually went to a couple different dojangs through my teenage years, as we moved around the L.A. area more than a little bit. All were operated by Korean born teachers. And, though they didn’t walk around the training floor smoking as they taught their classes, they all would sit at their desk or in their waiting room, smoking.

            By the time I was twenty-one, I was helping a newly arrived Korean master I had met in Seoul establish his business. I taught virtually all of the classes for him for years. Though he had a No Smoking sign behind his desk, he constantly smoked in the dojang. Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that each day he would have his friends come by and they would go out to the central dojang floor, sit there smoking, drinking, and playing Ma Jak. Ma Jak is more commonly know as Mahjong. Ma Jak is a Korean gambling game that they would play all day.

            If you have ever watched Koreans playing this game, it is quite a site. They get all excited as they yell and scream as they toss down the small tiles, (which are kind of like dominos), and are used to win or lose the game.

            He was actually one of my two most influential teachers. He was already in forties when I met him but was still a great physical technician. For those non-martial artists out there who may not be aware of this, by the time you reach your forties, having practiced the martial arts for your entire life, your body is most commonly rapidly breaking down, maybe even already trashed, due to all of the harsh training that goes hand-in-hand with the martial arts. But, he could still fly through the air quite gracefully.

            We became good friends. He and I would go out and get drunk at the Korean hostess bars in Koreatown, at strips clubs, and occasionally partake of other substances. But, those are other stories…

            One thing that most people probably don’t understand is that, even though most South Korean men are avid churchgoers, they are very old school. They, like I, judge a man by how much he can drink. Though I was only twenty-one when I first began working with this man, I had already, long ago, developed the ability to be able to drink round-for-round with the best of ‘em. So, I was readily accepted into their community. Few non-Koreans are ever let inside this world.

            Eventually, he got remarried, stopped the partying, and several years later, he and I had a major falling out. I never saw him again. But, that’s fine. “Falling out,” lets you move away from one situation and chart out new territories.

            But, I always fondly remember his school and how for the years I worked with him, he and his friends would sit around the training floor, smoking and playing Ma Jak each day as they yelled while they threw down the tile pieces and screamed at each other.

            Dojangs, they are not always what they seem. :-)

Copyright © 2011 – All Rights Reerved.

Originally from the Scott Shaw Blog

The Dojang Experience @ Scott Shaw.com

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International 

Is Deflection Ever Enough?

By Scott Shaw

            I had an interesting experience last night. I was out and this guy, who had a few drinks under his belt, knowing who I am, comes up to me. Trying to break hard in front of his friends he throws a few insults my direction and then sets up to punch me. Before I had the chance to laugh it off and walk away, he unleashes his punch. I blocked it with an open palm upward block to the bottom of his fist.  As I caught it just at the right time, it caused his own fist to be driven into the bottom of his jaw. BAM! Certainly, it was not enough to do him any real damage but what it did do was to cause him to rethink his motivation. After he exclaimed, “Ouch,” he looked at me, smiled, and said, “Much respect.”  I reached out my hand to shake his but, instead, he leaned in and gave me a big hug.

            Now, the outcome of this situation is a rarity.  First of all, this is a very precise blocking technique; you have to be fast, well-focused, and know how to unleash it. But, more than that, in street altercations, it is rare that an attacker is going to concede so easily. Normally, once you have rebuked their initial attack this is only going to make them madder and more adrenalized. This is why you must always question, “Is deflection ever enough?”

            As conscious martial artists, we each enter into any combat situation with the intention of using the most refined method of self-defense that we can employee.  For those of us trained in the deflective arts, this first-line of self-defense is most commonly the use of deflection. But, the problem with simply deflecting an attack it that, in most cases, deflection does not debilitate the attacker. Their attack is simply deflected then they come back for more.

            This is the same with bobbing and weaving. Most adrenalized fighters are so locked into the forceful course of their attack that, for example, if they unleash a punch, the power of that punch controls them as opposed to their controlling it. For this simple reason, it is very easy to move your head slightly out of the path of that punch. Thus, the punch misses you.  

            As those of us who have trained in the fighting arts for long periods of time understand, though we may have the ability to easily deflect or dodge an attack, this does not stop the onslaught of the attacker. At best, it simply gives us the upper hand to counter attack.  But, here lies the problem, this world has become so litigious and filled with dishonest people that even though they may be the one instigating the attack they are going to lie to protect their own self-interest.

            I have written many editorials about this fact. I have also long discussed that, for this reason, it is far better to walk away than to fight in these modern days; as getting arrested just because you can kick somebodies ass serves no purpose to the overall progression of your life nor does it contribute to the great good. The simply fact is, people are liars. Especially, those unconscious enough to only think about themselves and to not take others into consideration.  All they try to do is save face for themselves while inflicting as much pain to other people as possible. Though we all know this is absolutely the wrong way to behave, think how many people act in exactly that manner.

            My secondary advice has always been, if you are accosted and physical combat is brought to you, and there is no way to walk away from it, then allow your attacker to make first contact and then defeat them. By preforming your self-defense in this manner, you are far less likely to end up on the wrong side of the law. I have had students come to class with a black eye and I would inquire, “What happened?” “I let them hit me first, then I took them down,” was the answer. Not ideal but a good way to keep yourself out of legal trouble.

            It is quite commonly a foolish world we we exist within in these modern days, fueled by unconscious, uncaring people; lost in their own lie of self-worth. First of all, fighting is barbaric. There is no reason for it. Secondarily, people are self-centered lairs. Again, there is no reason for it. If you are whole onto yourself, you never need to attack any-one by any-means for any-reason.

            So, what is the moral of this editorial? If you are accosted and you want to win the confrontation at any cost, then quickly punch your opponent first, with full-force in their face. This will, most probably, knock them to the ground. But, this is not the way of the spiritual warrior. To be whole and true to yourself, you needed to understand the motivation of the other person, you need to care, and then you need to only defend yourself once you are physically attacked, and only with the minimum amount of expended energy.

            Is deflection enough? Rarely. But, in times like the aforementioned situation, it was. Thus, never fight unless you have to fight. Then, only deflect and let your attackers own negative energy lead to their demise.

Copyright © 2016 – All Rights Reserved

Originally from The Scott Shaw Blog

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International 

Understanding the Black Belt

By Scott Shaw

            To the non-martial artist, the person who wears the black belt is viewed as the ultimate depiction of the individual who has mastered all realms of mental-control and physical combat. But, to the true martial artist, they understand the black belt to be simply a physical representation of them moving towards a more refined understand of physical and self-knowledge. They know that it certainly does not mean that the one who wears the black belt is all-knowing and the perfect combat technician. In fact, the true black belt should have learned through their years of training that a black belt is only a symbol of an accomplishment within a school’s environment and holds no true bearing in the combat realities that exist on the street. Unfortunately, many of the true definitions and deeper understandings of the black belt have been lost to this modern world.

            To begin this discussion about understanding the black belt we must first look back to the history of the black belt. The fact is, the entire concept of the black belt is just a bit over a hundred years old. Though, throughout history, there has always been a ranking system within the martial arts, the modernization of the martial arts is what brought the, “Black Belt,” into keen focus. Sadly, from this fact, much of the true essence of what the black belt actually stands for has been lost – as it has now commonly become an unrefined quest of all those who train in the martial arts and a method to make money for those who teach the martial arts.

            A few years ago I was speaking with Bill Superfoot Wallace in regard to an article I was writing about him for a magazine. In part, the article was about how he was having a problem with a person whom he had promoted to black belt. During our discussion he said something very profound. In essence he stated, “Back in the day if a person was a 1^st degree black belt they were impossible to touch. If they were a 2^nd degree black belt, forget about it, they would tear you apart. Now, everyone is an 8^th, 9^th or 10^th degree black belt and they are terrible.”

            For those of you who may not know, black belt ranking progresses between 1^st to 10^th degree. In terms of the Asian standard, and the standards accepted among the traditional martial arts community here in the West, a person who is a 1^st through 3^rd degree black belt is only considered an advanced student. They are not yet believed to be a competent enough practitioner to formally teach the art. It is only at the rank of 4^th degree or above that one can actually be understood to be a competent teacher. But, here is where the problem begins. People desire rank. Teachers desire money. So, they promote people through the ranks in order to fill the practitioner’s ego and the school owner’s pockets. Thus, the vast skillset that was once possessed by the black belt practitioner has now been all but lost.

            Again, for those of you who may not know, it is not free to gain the rank of black belt. It costs money. And generally, the higher up the ladder you climb, the more money it costs. Sometimes it costs a lot of money. Thus, in many schools of self-defense the pathway to black belt has now become solely a money making opportunity.

            In times gone past, particularly in Asia, there was a very formalized structure to advance from white to black belt and beyond. This included time and skill level requirements. The problem was and is, once these forms of Asian combat made their way to the States, the rules went out the window. In some cases, people made students wait much longer than was required by the timescale set forth in Asia to rise to the level of black belt. This was based upon the fact that the school owner hoped to keep them as a student for as long as possible.  The adverse was and is also true. People have been pushed through the ranks much too fast in order for the school owner to have assistant instructors to do all the teaching for them and/or to open new schools. In either case, as most people who train here in the West have never actually trained in Asia, they have no true concept of what is or is not the true essence of their art. You can call this the Westernization of the martial arts. But, by whatever name, the true essence of the pathway to black belt has been altered. And, it has not been altered for the better.

            As someone who has been training in the martial arts for the past fifty-one years (so-far), I have witnessed the changing attitudes about the rank of black belt. A couple of weeks ago I was sitting at Starbucks with one of my Hapkido brothers. He, like I, is an old-timer who has witnessed the changing landscape of the martial arts. We each exchanged stories about how the entire panorama of the martial arts and the route to black belt has deteriorated. We both agreed that from this, the true understanding of what the black belt actually means has been radically distorted.

            You see, in the early days of martial arts, here in the United States, there was a one-on-one relationship between the student and the teacher. The teacher personally guided their students towards their own level of excellence. Back then, people were not certified by large organizations. They were certified by their teacher. This was both good and it was bad. As I have discussed in the past, back then, if you earned the rank of black belt and you went to another school, they would, at least for a time, make you return to white belt. For me, this was a very enlightening and humbling experience that I went through a couple of times. It taught me about the true meaning of rank. But, for others, if they moved away from their original teacher or their teacher’s school went out of business, they never recommenced training due to their ego being involved – as they refused to be demoted. From this, many a person opened their own school of self-defense when they were not qualified to do so. Yet, they became a teacher and propagated their limited understanding of the martial arts to the masses. Again, this is a sourcepoint for where many of the problems within the path to black belt in the modern martial arts arose.

            As time moved on, several large Asian based organizations came to dominate the martial art landscape here in the West. This was especially true with taekwondo. The thing was, there was virtually no way for a Westerner to communicate with these organizations. Thus, the practitioner was dominated by their instructor’s link to the association. This was even true for me. For example, though I spent a lot of time in South Korea, my instructor, who I taught the martial arts in association with for years-upon-years, kept dodging getting me the advanced rank certificate I had earned and had paid for from a large federation. Sure, he gave me the school certificate and I was registered with the Kwan but I paid a lot of money for that international rank certification. The fact was, this man was terrible with money and he always spent our school’s income. So, he never had the money to pay the organization. And, I have heard similar stories, time-and-time again, from many practitioners of that era. The funny thing was, years later, another Korean-born instructor got me that rank certificate through the large organization. He did it, so he told me, to make things right. I appreciated that.

            The reason I tell this story is that it shows what goes on within these large martial arts organizations in relation to individualized black belt ranking. As I worked for years in association with my instructor and I went to Korea for him several times, I really saw the inside workings of this global organization and, I can tell you, there was a lot of tomfoolery going on – things that no one but someone who was on the inside would have seen. The stories I could tell… Though I have absolute respect for this organization and what it did for spreading taekwondo across the globe, it was what I personally saw and experienced that caused me to move away from them.

            So, what does this tell us about the black belt?  It explains that the black belt is not a universally defined concept. It is simply a thing that is commonly observed to be an entity but it is not. Instead, it is simply something that someone has assigned their own specific definition to. There is no one-universal understanding about how a black belt is to be awarded and what should be expected of the individual who wears it. This being said, there are factors that are commonly understood that one must embrace if they hope to rise to the level of a true black belt and once they are a black belt there are certain formalities they should practice if they hope to do the black belt they wear justice. But, it is essential to note, there is no one person and no one organization making sure that they do so. Again, this is where the problems begin.

            One of the essential elements of the black belt ranking that needs to be understood is that, as detailed, the black belt is a progressive ranking system. The way the various levels of the black belt rank were formulated were done so to lay a foundation for the advancing understanding within the martial arts. For example, in Asia, the lower ranked black belts always pay homage to the higher ranked black belts. Just as with age, the older and more advanced a person is in their skill development, the more respect they should command from their subordinates. If you are going to claim to be part of a tradition you must hold fast to that tradition. But, here in the West, this essential level of understanding has been forgotten and replaced by individualized ego. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard one black belt say about another, “I don’t think he has good technique.” Or, “I am better than him.” Maybe, “My students are better than that person.” Or some other form of directed negativity or personality based criticism. The fact is, who is anyone, especially a black belt, to cast judgment upon anyone else, especially if they hold a lower rank of black belt than does the person of whom they speak? Is a person who behaves in this fashion honoring the accepted traditions of their art?

            Being a black belt is not about allowing your ego to control your actions and your conversation. If fact, it should be just the opposite. A true black belt understands that each individual masters the art to the best of their ability and presents it in a manner that is most appropriate to their body type and body functionality. In other words, each practitioner progresses to the best level that they can achieve. Judgment is no part of this equation. But, applied understanding is.

            If a person is a true black belt they honor tradition as that tradition was set forth by the people who established the style of the martial arts that they practice. If a person is a true black belt they should be secure within themselves. They have no need to cast judgment. As we all understand, casting judgment or attempting to criticize or diminish another person’s accomplishment is simply the act of insecurity. It is simply someone trying to make themselves look more by making someone else look less. This is never the action of a true black belt. Yet, it is sadly rampant within the modern martial arts as practiced in the West. And again, here is an example of a sourcepoint for where many of the problems of the modern martial arts have arisen.

            As the years have progressed the understanding of the black belt has changed and evolved. Some would say, it has diminished. But, at the heart of any true black belt is the understanding that a belt does not define the individual. A belt is only an item of clothing. What is in a person’s heart, what is in their mind, and what they give back to the world while keeping their ego in check is the true demonstration of their inner knowledge: combat orientated or otherwise. That is what makes them a true black belt.

            It is very easy to know who is or is not a true black belt.

Copyright © 2016 – All Rights Reserved

Understanding the Black Belt @ Scott Shaw.com

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International

The Historical Background of the Korean Martial Arts in English and French By Scott Shaw

Here is Scott Shaw's, The Historical Background of the Korean Martial Arts, published in both English and French. Click on the link to read the dissertation.

http://tae.kwon.do.free.fr/index.php?static/Histoire-des-Arts-Martiaux-Coreens-Par-Scott-Shaw

Everybody Wants to Fight but Nobody Knows How to Fight

By Scott Shaw

            I forever find it very curious how people in this world are so confrontational. I find this particularly interesting in a place like the United States where people are so on the edge of anger for absolutely no reason at all.

            Have you ever been in the middle of war zone? Have you ever been in the middle of a riot? Have you ever been attacked by a gang of thugs? In those situations, there you have a reason to be confrontational – for in those situations it is kill or be killed. But, in the modern civilized world we live in a place where peace and prosperity abound. Yet, people are dominated by their anger, leading to confrontation(s). Why is this?  

            To provide a couple of examples. I was driving down the street today, a guy was at the stop sign in front of me, playing with his phone or something. When he didn’t drive on when the traffic was clear I gave him a little honk to wake him up to the fact that there are other people in the world. He dove on but was giving me dirty looks like he wanted to fight. He was a late middle aged man with a handicap plaque handing on his mirror. But, he wanted to fight. I laughed at him.

            Yesterday, I was driving along and was about to change lanes. I put on my turn signal. As I did the car behind me immediately raced into the lane to intentionally cut me off. My initial thought was this was one of those people who try to get into accidents so they can collect insurance money. But, I responded quickly and stayed my course. The car pulls up next to me and it was female Latin woman, yelling and screaming at me. She wanted a fight. I smiled.  

            In a world of plenty, why doesn’t everyone have enough? Everyone wants more. When they do not get all the ALL that they feel they deserve, they embrace anger; be it road rage or whatever. They look for a fight. But, is a fight what they really want?  I don’t think so.

            As I often discuss, in association with the martial arts, there are those of us who train a lifetime to refine our fighting skills, solely so that we will not need to use them. Most people are not like that, however. They are not a trained fighter, yet they feel they have ability, based in anger, to go up against someone who is. Here is where many of the problems of the world begin. People enter into confrontations over their anger, when there is no reason to do so. And, in doing so, they are easily defeated.

            As I always tell my students, the moment you enter into any physical altercation you must size up your opponent.  As a trained fighter, you can quickly tell if the opponent you are encountering is a trained fighter or not. As I also always tell my students, the moment you realize that you are a going up against an untrained fighter, turn it down a notch. For, though you can easily beat them to a pulp, the entire reason you train in the martial arts is so you will not have to do so.

            Certainly, if you are attacked you have every right to defend yourself. But, you should only fight as hard as you must fight. You should never demolish your opponent simply because you can. This is what true martial art training is all about.

            Moreover, one of the main reasons one trains in the martial arts is so that they may learn mastery over their mind. From this, they will not be dominated by uncontrolled and misguided anger. Without the need to express uncontrolled, unreasonable anger, your life become so much less confrontational and free from conflict; both external and internal.

            Anger, only dominates the unenlightened. Anger is the most animalistic emotion of all emotions. One who is dominated by anger exits at the lowest level of human consciousness. Yes, you may encounter people like this as you travel through your life but you do not need to allow their anger to instigate it in you. Be more than the aggressive individual(s) you encounter. If they attack you, defend yourself, but only to the necessary-end of keeping yourself free from injury. You do not have to annihilate them to win.

            Just because someone is angry at you, (for whatever reason), does not mean that you have to be angry at them. Use your martial arts training to cause you to forever raise above those dominated by anger.

Copyright © 2016 – All Rights Reserved

 Originally from the Scott Shaw Blog

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International

Remove All the Extras

By Scott Shaw

            In every school of the martial arts, particularly those that teach a traditional system of self-defense, the students are taught a plethora of techniques. They are taught how to stand, how to punch, how to kick and in some cases how to joint lock and throw. They are taught these techniques and then they practice these techniques over-and-over again in order to develop exacting precision with each of them. Once they have learned these techniques they are then graded at how well they perform them. Thus, the martial art belt ranking system. As one moves their way through the martial arts, they do the same techniques over-and-over again as they are told this is the only way to gain true mastery over them. There is one very large problem in this equitation, however. The teacher who teaches them has most likely never been in an adult street fight. Thus, they have no true understanding as to whether or not they actually work. They are told that they do. They teach their students that they do. But, they have no first-hand knowledge.

            When a student of the martial arts is preforming one of the forms or katas of their system, striving for exacting precision is essential. At martial art competitions or demonstrations there are some practitioner who do what they do with exquisite beauty and perfection. Is this a part of the martial arts? Yes, it is. Is this part of the, “Martial,” “War-like,” part of the martial arts? Not really.

            There is a great divide between performing a specific technique with exacting precision and using that same technique as a tool of self-defense. In the classroom and on the demonstration floor, technique perfection is what is sought after. In physical combat, however, the belief that a specific technique must be preformed in an exacting manner is what may cause the student of the martial arts to lose a fight.

            There is an old saying among practitioners of Aikido and it can stretch across all of the various styles of the martial arts, “Thank you for letting me throw you.” If you have watched and studied the techniques used in an Aikido demonstration, (or any other style of the martial arts that focuses on elaborate throwing techniques), you will understand that though they are beautiful to watch they would not work in street combat. You are not going to cause a two-hundred-pound attacker to fly effortless through the air. And, this is just one exaggerated example. If you begin to break down any of the very-formalized techniques within your system of self-defense you will soon discover that in the rapid and undefined movements of a street fight the more you stick to structure and formality the less effective your techniques become.

            The martial arts are a great training ground to teach your body how to move and perform techniques that they average person does not understand. This being said, there is a grand illusion that simply because an individual can perform a perfect side kick in the studio that it would be effective on the street.  

            The martial arts, themselves, project this illusion. It is believed that the practitioner can defeat any opponent due to their ongoing training and the mental and physical development they gain in their school by preforming each technique over-and-over again as exactingly as possible. Again, this is where we must come to understand that there is a great difference between an idealized understanding of the martial arts and a practical one.

            As MMA has come to be embraced more-and-more over the past two decades, traditional martial art practitioners have been given the opportunity to witness, within the confines of a controlled environment, what one-on-one street combat actually looks like. It is not pretty. It is not defined. And, there are no rules. The two opponents do whatever it is they can do to win.

            From this understanding, within you own training facility, it may be time for you to begin to put aside the tradition of attempting to perform each technique a perfectly as possible. At least in association with your understanding of true self-defense.  If you want to know what truly works within your system, put it to the test. Glove up and let your opponent actually try to punch you. See which of your traditional punching defenses actually works. Do they same with kicks, body grabs and choke holds. Do not allow your opponent to know what self-defense you are going to employee nor allow him to react in the expected manner. Instead, make it like an actual street fight. Then, take it to the mat. Get in a ground fight for this is where many a street fight ends up. Do this, for this is the only way you will ever understand what truly does and does not work within your system of self-defense.  Once you have defined what does and does not work, in actual combat, you will then know what additional training you will need to prepare yourself if an actual street fight finds you.

            Every school of martial arts has a set of basic, intermediate, and advanced techniques that it teaches its students. Learn those techniques. Master those techniques and then put them to the test, leaving the extras behind. From this, you may emerge as a true martial artist.

Copyright © 2016 – All Rights Reserved

Remove All the Extras @ Scott Shaw.com

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International 

They Never Say Thank You By Scott Shaw

By Scott Shaw

            To the untrained individual, a martial artist is the person who can defeat his or her opponent or even an entire onslaught of attackers in the most powerful and expedient manner possible. With punches, kicks, and throws the opponents are quickly sent to the ground. To the trained martial artist, they understand that the fighting arts are much more than that, however, only after years-and-years of training and mental refinement does the true martial artist emerge embracing the mindset that it is far better to not fight at all than to ever go hand-to-hand unless it is absolutely necessary.

            In martial arts schools the novice and the long trained individual alike train their bodies to become the most proficient and effective self-defense machines possible. They initially learn and then master the basics of self-defense. After this point they constantly refine their fighting methodology to become not only the most competent self-defense technician that they can be but also the most thoughtful and complete human being that they can become. As their years of training progress, the true martial artist comes to understand that though they can most likely defeat any attacking opponent, they may not even need to forcefully do this as they can allow their attacker to defeat themselves.

            When I lead martial arts seminars I oftentimes base the class upon something that Bruce Lee said in his film, “Enter the Dragon.” When accosted by a boisterous and sure-of-himself martial artist onboard the boat to Han’s Island, Lee did not respond to the man's challenges to fight. Instead, when asked what was his style Lee stated, “The art of fighting without fighting.” I believe that the screenwriter of this film truly captured the essence of the true martial artist in those words, for it depicts the ideal mindset of the truly advanced fighting technician – they don’t need to fight to prove who they are. Thus, they do not fight unless it is absolutely necessary.  

            In these aforementioned seminars I commonly teach the participants to defend themselves without the need to enter into a punch-by-punch, knock-down, drag-out fight. Instead, I teach them how to defend themselves in the easiest, most direct, least confrontational manner possible. Though this style of self-defense is the best way to keep yourself free from incurring the injures of a forceful fight; such as broken hands from punching or twisted body joints from grappling, the sad fact is, the person who is defeated in this manner is never the wiser for your fighting them in this fashion. They never say, “Thank you,” for you not tearing them apart though you could.

            In my life I have encountered physical confrontations, generally, but not always, brought on by somebody trying to rob me of something.  Instead of losing my peace, I have defended myself in the most rapid manner possible and then walked away. I did not beat them to a pulp once they were sent to the ground just because I could. In fact, in a few cases, I have actually helped the attacker back up to his feet. Did they say, “Thank you?” No, they did not. They usually walked away making further threats. There has also been times when someone has attacked me and though I could have easily defeated them very quickly, I realized that this was not the best course of action. For example, a man once charged at me when I was standing at the top of a staircase. All I had to do was sidestep his attack and perhaps give him a little shove and that would have been the end of the confrontation. The problem was, as we were at the top of the stairs, had I done that, through his own momentum he would most likely have plummeted down the stairs, face first; obviously hurting himself very badly. But, I consciously did not let this happen. I knew he was no competition so I took the initial hit and defended myself from that point. Did he say, “Thank you?” No, he did not. Did he say, “Thank you for not beating the crap out of me,” after I defended myself with a simple deflection upon his secondary attack? Nope, not a word of thanks.

            The fact of life and the truth that you need to understand if you hope to rise to the level of a true martial artist is that your defeated opponent is never going to say, “Thank you,” even though you did not hurt them as badly as you could have in a confrontation that they instigated. Your attacker is never going to appreciate the fact that though you could have physically destroyed them, you did not. Instead, you took the high road. You may have defended yourself, but you did not send your opponent to the hospitable while doing so. You behaved like a true martial artist, not like some street ruffian.

            I believe that it is better not to hurt someone, even an attacking opponent, unless you must absolutely do so. It is for this reason that the true martial artist takes the time to research and understand the true essence of the body dynamics of physical confrontation and from this understanding is willing to take the first-hit if that means that their opponent will not be seriously injured in the confrontation. 

            But remember, no, they are not going to say, “Thank you,” after the fact – though they most likely should. Why? Because they are obvious not a conscious enough person to understand the true facts of physical combat, nor are they a conscious enough person to understand that if they are the one instigating the confrontation they are the one who should be defeated.

            The ultimate truth of the martial arts is to be more than your opponent. Not only a better fighter but a better person. Strive for this distinction. 

Copyright © 2016 – All Rights Reserved

Originally from the Scott Shaw Blog

They Never Say Thank You @ Scott Shaw.com  

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International

   

Learning How to Take a Punch By Scott Shaw

By Scott Shaw

            At the heart of any form of physical hand-to-hand combat training is the developed ability to emerge victorious from a physical altercation. The various schools of self-defense each have the own set of developed techniques. Some are street-worthy and very effective; some not so much. The fact is, most schools of traditional martial arts teach a method of self-defense that is far less street-worthy than the teachers of the systems would ever admit. In class, all practice sessions are very orchestrated and expected. If there is sparring at the school, it is generally light or no-contact. Though the practitioners of these systems certainly come to master a heightened sense of physical movement, in many cases, when paired against a savvy street fighter they are quickly defeated as they do not know how to react to rapid and very directed physical assaults.

            Boxing is an ideal self-defense system where the practitioner quickly learns how to react to a specific type of assault. They get punched and they punch back. Simple but very effective. But, more than just that, a boxer learns how to take a punch and this is one of the most essential elements in the training of any fighter. You have to be able to take a punch and immediately continue on afterwards with your necessary self-defense or any defensive technique you may have learned at the dojo becomes useless.

            When the Asian martial arts hit the Western shores after World War II: karate, judo, and jujitsu became the idealized forms of self-defense. In the movies, the practitioner of a traditional form of martial arts always defeated their opponent. When taekwondo hit the West in the 1960s, its beautiful kicks again came to redefine what was possible with self-defense. But, again, if a stylized practitioner of these systems was put up against a competent boxer or seasoned street fighter they would, more than likely, be defeated.

            The reason for this is very simply, within any street fight the rules go out the window. All that matters is what works. People who have actually gone hand-to-hand with other fighters, on a frequent basis, are the ones who most clearly understand this and it is they who immediately, without thought, adapt to whatever is being thrown at them by their opponent. If they get hit, they know how to take that punch and not let it debilitate them. They simply move forward with the fight. This, while the stylized practitioner thinks about what they should be doing and why. It is this mindset that ultimately leads to the street fighter emerging victorious in a competition against a trained traditional martial artist.

            Throughout the 1960s and onward, more-and-more traditional martial arts practitioners began to open their minds and their styles to allowing other influences to come into play.  They would study what other systems had to offer and then integrate that ideology into their own system of self-defense.  Though schools of traditional martial arts are still in abundance, more and more training facilities emphasis leaving behind formalized tradition and learning what works and how best to use it.

            Here lies they ideal training platform that should be integrated into every school of self-defense. Teach your students the basics and then allow them to go hand-to-hand in a non-defined, unexpected manner, (within a controlled environment, of course). Let them learn what it feels like to actually fight. From this, they will emerge as true martial artists and ideal combat technicians.

            For anyone who has followed by writings on the fighting arts over the past three decades they understand that my focus has always been on developing and using what works best for you. Learn your techniques, study your environment, study your opponent, and then do what you must do to defeat them. I have long detailed the necessity of landing the first strike as that may be all it takes to emerge victorious from any confrontation. But, as time has moved on, I have come to enjoy studying the more refined elements of my opponent’s combat skills and then deciding how best to overcome their attack. To understand this, let me explain…

            Every person you enter into a physical altercation with has their own set of predisposed skills and fighting techniques.  With most people, they have virtually none. They will either come at you throwing wild punches or if they have no developed skills at all, they will try to tackle you. But, once on the ground, they have no idea what to do next. In each case, they immediately show their hand. They implicitly tell you what they are capable of doing. And, more importantly, of what they are not capable of doing. 

            Of course, there is the other side of the issue; this is where you come face-to-face with a highly trained fighter. Whether they come from the traditional martial arts, MMA, boxing, or something else, again, what they are going to initially unleash at you is their best technique. Meaning, if they have a really powerful side kick or a highlight developed right hook, they are not going to walk up and slap you. They are going to attempt to hit you as hard as they can with that technique for that is the best they have to offer.

            From my person perspective, what I have truly learned from is to let the opponent unleash their best technique. Once they do, then you know what they have – you understand what they can do. From this understanding, the moment they unleash their secondary attack, they have already illustrated how they can most easily be defeated.

            Certainly, this method of self-defense can be precarious if you go face-to-face with a highly trained fighter. But, most people who would step up to you aren’t highly trained fighters. They are simply an adrenaline filled individual, lost in their own anger. And, this is why they can easily be defeated. By keeping your focus, studying their technique and movement, you can quickly and consciously defeat them by understanding what they will most likely next unleash and then countermanding it with the most appropriate technique in your arsenal.

            At the heart of all self-defense training is learning to anticipate and then defeating your attacker. Yes, if you are a trained practitioner you can go up and probably easily knock a person out with one punch or kick. But, what is the fun in that? Moreover, as I always warn my students, that style of self-defense leaves you highly vulnerable to legal repercussions. On the other hand, if you allow your assailant to be the attacker, then you are simply defending yourself and personal self-defense is always legal.  

            Most people train in the fighting arts in order to learn how to defeat an opponent in the most expedient manner possible. This is fine. You should learn all the basics from kicks, to punches, to take-downs, to joint locks, and most importantly deflections. Plus, you need to know how to take a punch! But, once all that has been understood, then you must come to understand the individual body mechanics of each style of attack.  From this, you gain the ability to consciously observe your opponent while not being overpowered by them and then defeat them in the most appropriate manner, dictated by their own defined style of attack which you have previously witnessed.

            Practice with this in your training environment. You will find that it will make you a much more competent martial artist.

Copyright © 2015 – All Rights Reserved

Learning How to Take a Punch @ Scott Shaw.com

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International

Adapt and Readapt

By Scott Shaw

            I was doing a workout over at my studio today with, dare I say, some of my aging contemporaries. These people forever impress me for they, like I, have been practicing the martial arts longer than most practitioners have been alive. These people really know their stuff and though some of them have gained some weight, lost some of their flexibility and endurance, they each understand that the key to the martial arts is to Adapt and Readapt. They work with what they have and they make it work.

            You know, there is something really beautiful about a martial artists or a boxer in their prime. The things they can do and the moves they can make are really exquisite. For example, when you watch a boxing match when a great fighter is in his prime, it is pure poetry. This is the same with a highly trained martial arts practitioner who can propel his body into the air and perform a perfectly executed flying kick or opponent throw. But, it is the wise practitioner who understands that the agility of youth does not translate into the person of age. This is not to say that by adapting as age comes upon a person that they cannot produce beautiful movements and techniques. For example, as we reached the portion of the workout today where we met face-to-face on the mat, again, I was so impressed with these people. Through their years of training they each know what to do and they know how to do it in their own unique manner. Though their bodies have become older, they have each individually devised ways to make what they do effectively work for them. They do not try to fight as if they were twenty-five, they fight as if they were thirty or forty years past that point. But, from their knowledge, they could easy defeat someone twenty years their junior.

            This is the great thing about the true martial artists and here is where the difference between the individual who trains in the traditional martial arts and the individual who is more focused upon, "The fight," comes into play. Whereas the traditional martial artist learns all he can and works with what he has, they never desire to hurt anyone or focus upon defeating anyone, as does the fight-orientated practitioner. The true martial artists never desires to go in for the kill, when there is the opportunity to move the fight in a different direction. They choose to deflect rather than attack.

            I have been writing about the martial arts for a long-long time now and this is something I have always discussed; the street is not the same as the training hall. On the streets it is kill or be kill. But, the true martial artist never wants to follow that path. They want to be more. They desire to raise their consciousness rather than to raise their fists. And, this is an important distinction to make. As long-term martial artists I believe that most of us walk away from fights rather than to engage in them. For what is the purpose of fighting when we have spent our whole lives training to do just that? We don’t need to follow that path for we understand that the martial arts is much more than simply a means to learn how to defeat an opponent.

            And, that is what I witnessed again today. As ever-advancing martial artists, the people I worked with have learned and accepted what their body can and cannot do. Then, they have adapted with the times to keep their bodies in shape and their minds focused. And, they have done this knowing that a fight is never the answer when a fight does not need to take place. From this, I witness true beauty based upon interactive fighting techniques that were taken to the ultimately level of understanding and used as a means of mental training and not simply that of winning a fight.

Copyright © 2015 – All Rights Reserved

Originally from the Scott Shaw Blog 

Adapt and Readapt @ Scott Shaw.com 

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International

Ego, Dominance, and Defending Against the Sucker Punch

By Scott Shaw

            Recently, here in the Los Angeles area, there was an incident where an Uber driver was attacked from behind by the passenger in his car. Luckily, the driver had a dash-cam recording the entire attack.  The passenger sat there smacking the driver from behind over and over and over again. It was very troubling to watch for just like the coward who accosts a person from behind with a sucker punch, being seat-belted into your car seat and attacked from behind leaves you in an extremely vulnerable position. The attacker was wearing a short sleeved shirt and you could see that he worked out, so the attack had to be very painful. Due to the fact that the attack was recorded, the passenger was arrested, was fired from his senior position at a fast food company, and, in addition to facing several charges, is being sued by the driver.

            If we look at this situation more clearly we easily come to see that no matter what instigated the attack on the driver, the attacker was using his positioning to his advantage – knowing that he would easily emerge victorious as how can a person effectively defend themselves from the position that the driver found himself in?  This is simply a coward’s way to fight.

            As martial artists I believe that we must truly study our own inner nature and come to clearly define the person we are when we find ourselves in any physical confrontation. Certainly, one of the primary reasons for studying the martial arts is to gain a mastery of self-defense. But, many practitioners go far beyond this understanding and simply use their skills to beat up other people. This is simply the wrong mindset to possess as you move your way towards martial arts mastery. 

            If you are a trained fighting practitioner and you use your skills to defeat an opponent simply to stroke your own ego or to falsely attempt to prove to yourself that you are better than someone else, then you are missing the entire point of martial arts training. You are simply walking down the path of ego in an attempt to fill a void that exist somewhere inside of you where you desire to be dominant over other people.

            The truth be told, this ego driven mindset it very common in the martial arts. Everywhere you go you will hear a certain caliber of martial artist disusing how their style, their school, their teacher, or they personally are the very best. You will hear people saying that some other practitioner is not as a good as them. In fact, you will witness many lies or altered truths being spoken about other martial artists simply to make themselves, their teacher, or their school appear to be better. Though this is a common practice, it is sheer foolishness and this style of behavior is, in fact, against the entire inner teachings of the martial arts.

            What I always suggest to an individual who wishes to gage a person’s true inner knowledge about the martial arts is to simply listen to them. What do they have to say about other people, other students, and other instructors? Is their dialog based upon who is better and who is worse? Is it based upon criticism? Or, is it based upon mutual understanding and respect? Listen to a person and you will know who they truly are.

            An individual’s developed mindset defines how a person will react to the physical elements of this world. Yes, there is conflict. For this reason, a martial artist trains their body to effectively encounter any style of physical attack. But, once the attack has been nullified, it is what the martial arts does next that defines who they truly are.

            As I often discuss, as a martial artist you train your body to effectively defeat an attacker. But, what is the limit of effective self-defense? Is it letting them know that they cannot over power you? Or, is it you beating the crap out of them?

            In a physical altercation it is quite easily understood how some people, when they are being attacked, block and then hit and hit again until their attacker lies knocked out and motionless on the ground. As a martial artist you certainly possess the ability to do just that. But, is that the best strategy? I do not believe it is. Yes, you defend yourself. But, you only need to do that until your opponent has come to understand that you can and will defeat him. Then, you halt your counterattack for you have made your point. You do not have to hurt them further simply to hurt them. This is the true essence of the martial arts.

            At the heart of your martial arts training must be your inner development. Yes, learn how to block, deflect, joint lock, kick, punch, and throw but consciously allow yourself to move beyond that level of physicality. Become more. Never become like the person who beat on an Uber driver from behind. Never be the person who unleashes a sucker punch. Defend yourself if you need to but do not allow your ego, via your martial art training, to cause you to hurt a person unnecessarily, no matter who or what that person may be, just because you can.

Copyright © 2015 – All Rights Reserved

 Originally from the Scott Shaw Blog

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International

Ego, Dominance, and Defending Against the Sucker Punch @ Scott Shaw.com

This is Very Dangerous

By Scott Shaw

Author’s note: I've been asked to write another book on the self-defense aspects of the martial arts so I was going through some of my previous writings to get some ideas and inspiration. I came upon this editorial that I wrote for Inside Karate magazine that was published in the December 1997 issue. I realized that it still provides some important thoughts about self-defense training. So, here it is...

            I was invited to watch the graduation exercise at a school that taught a widely publicized two-day self-defense seminar. It was basically geared towards women, but there were two men in attendance, as well. The ages of the participants ranged from a fifteen-year-old girl to approximately mid-thirties.

            At the beginning of the ceremony everybody got up and gave their testimonials about how confident they felt after the course. Some of the students claimed that they had studied traditional martial arts for years upon years and it proved fruitless, but after this two-day seminar they felt they could truly handle themselves in any confrontational situation.

            I was expecting to watch some very interesting and effective techniques but when they started demonstrating what they had learned I was in disbelief. They begin by fighting imaginary opponents and unleashing misdirected techniques that would never work in a real street combat situation. Then, the students went up against the seminar trainers, who wore massively padded suits, and pretended to be affected by their misdirected self-defense techniques. A friend who was with me said it best. He stated, “This is very dangerous, letting these people believe that they could actually defend themselves.”

            As a martial artist who has focused his entire career upon the study and development of scientific self-defense, I am one hundred percent behind the empowerment of people -- especially women, learning how to successfully defend themselves. But, what I am one hundred percent against is individuals claiming to teach street worthy self-defense and instead leading people down a road to injury while charging them excessive amounts of money to do it -- whether it be a two-day or a two-year program.

            As a first line of self-defense, the instructors at this seminar, taught the students to initially make a strange comment or ask the attacker some bizarre question if they were accosted. This, it was claimed, would distract the attacker.

            This subtle psychological technique is, in fact, a good preliminary method of self-defense. By distracting your opponent, even if only for a moment, you give yourself the opportunity to unleash a powerful counter attack. The problem with this method of initial self-defense is, however, most people, particularly women, who have never been involved in a street altercation are not going to have the mental presence to be able to remember to ask a foolish question of an attacker. Instead, they are just going to freeze. The better, more effective, method of verbal self-defense the seminar instructors taught was screaming the word, “No,” in the opponents face. This verbal assault was, however, the end of effective self-defense training that took place at this training program.

            The students were taught to unleash knee kicks to the groin and knife hand strikes to the throat. Both good self-defense techniques if they are delivered correctly. But, they must be delivered with exacting precision or they are useless. A knee to the groin must hit its mark exactly or it will have little, if any, effect on the attacker. So too the knife hand strike to the throat.

            This is where the long-term training that takes place in traditional martial arts schools becomes invaluable. Through continued training drills you learn how to effectively deliver a knee strike and how to correctly snap the elbow out when you unleash a knife hand.

            None of the students at this seminar delivered correct striking techniques; even the one’s who had claimed years of traditional training. Unleashing any strike without the proper technique is fruitless and would only help to further enrage an attacker.

            The scariest thing, of the supposed self-defense techniques that these seminar students were taught was, how to get a two-hundred-pound man, who had grabbed them from behind, off of them when he had a knife to their throat or a gun to their head. I don’t care how good of a martial art technician you are, if you have a two-hundred-pound guy on top of you, holding a gun at your head, and ready to use it, prayer is your best option.

            The students went through poorly executed self-defense techniques for the aforementioned situations. They uselessly grabbed at the knife of the attacker and effortless flipped the men off of their backs.

            If you grab a knife in a street confrontation, you cut yourself. If you try to get a two-hundred-pound man off of your back, without exacting techniques, he remains on your back and tightens his grasp.

            The most notable flaw of this seminar was that the students were never taught how deflect an oncoming attack or how to properly disengage an opponent’s grasp upon them. Without these basic skills, street self-defense degenerates to useless grappling on the ground.

            The truth of the matter is; you cannot teach anyone how to successful defend themselves in a two-day seminar. What’s worse is that you can, however, make a person believes that they can defend themselves in a two-day seminar.

            Learning how to successfully defense yourself is a life-long process; with each new life event and understanding you come to define your own methods of self-defense more accurately.  From this, we as martial artists, can expound this understanding onto other people.

            This was perhaps the main problem with this self-defense seminar. The people who were training these unsuspecting students were not true martial artists. They had only studied enough rudimentary self-defense to have something to teach and then went out and claimed the techniques to be their own. They never had to truly put what they taught to the test and, thus, may even themselves have believed that what they taught was valid.

            The moral of this story is: Number One: Be careful whom you study from. Make sure that your instructors are well trained enough to truly impart viable, useful knowledge. Number Two: Take the time to truly learn what your instructors have to teach you and then put it to the test, in a training environment, so that you will personally come to understand what does and what does not work if you ever find yourself in an actual street combat situation.

Copyright 1997 – All Rights Reserved

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International