Wednesday, June 7, 2023

Who Knows What and Why?

By Scott Shaw

 

I believe for any of us who have walked the path of the martial arts, in our lifetime, we realize that what we know, at least in part, was taught to us by someone else. In the world of street fighting, a person may well be their own teacher. But, in any traditional fighting art, there is training involved. As there is a formality, each of us who walks this path was lead down this corridor by someone else. 

Even as is commonly the case in the modern martial arts, where styles and techniques have become mixed and combined, any one-time student, who created their own system, was taught the basics by an instructor. Thus, no martial artist is a beacon onto themselves. 

But, here’s the question, when does a student become the master? 

It has been proven, through time, that there are two very distinct paths that an individual walks when they are intimately involved with the martial arts. One, which is perhaps the most common, finds a student always respecting their teachers and, in fact, is so lost in the belief that they could never possess the intimate knowledge that their instructor holds that they forever place that mentor upon a pedestal. I have known many martial artists, even long-trained, advanced practitioners of the martial arts, who define themselves by whom they were taught by. “I’m a student of…” is very commonly the first statement that many martial artists make. 

There is the other side of this issue. There are those students who believes that they have become better than their instructor. From this, they may go off and open their own school and even badmouth their one-time trainer. That stye of behave is not healthy or honest. Yet, it goes on all the time.

Those who practice this lifestyle embrace a misleading mindset, however. The fact is, whomever originally trained a person will forever be the individual who laid the foundations for that student’s knowledge. This is the case, no matter what new levels of expertise that one time pupil may believe they have realized.

For any of us have trained exclusively under the guidance of Asian born instructors, myself included, there is this perpetuated belief that those teachers are somehow something more, having been born into the culture where the style of the martial art we train in was instigated, and, from this, they possess some secret wisdom that we, the Westerner, may never completely understand. This being said, for those of us who have found out the underlying truth of some less than impeccable instructors, and have either been cheated by them, lied to by them, or have had other negative interactions unleashed upon us by them, myself included, we clearly know that this idealize image is a blatant falsehood. Nonetheless, they were the one who taught us what we know, at least in part. Thus, where does admiration end and the truth of reality begin?

That is a complicated question, I understand. But, it is an essential question that each advanced practitioner of the martial arts must ask themselves. 

Look to any advanced martial artist, look to any instructor of the martial arts, do they clearly and honestly state who their teacher was? Here arises another curious twist to this puzzle. Is that person lying? I, myself, have encountered well-known and respected marital artists who have lied about where and by whom they were trained. They have done this due to any number of self-motivated reasons. But, what is the truth is that they did not tell the truth. Then, what? With time, especially if they claimed training from some deceased or mythical individual, what are we left with? Their lie does not become the truth, but, through time, it simply becomes a believed falsehood.

These are complicated examples? But, the question that must ultimately be pondered, by each martial artist, who spends their life devoted to these ancient systems of self-defense, are you only a reflection of your instructor or are you a man (or a woman) onto yourself? If you are only a reflection, then you are never the central figure. With this, you are never ultimately to be praised or to be blamed. If, on the other hand, you acknowledge who you were trained by, but you see yourself as a self-standing example of the art, then you are the figurehead of your own dissemination of whatever you teach. With this, lies more responsibility, but here also lies the pathway to self-realization.  

Each person must come to their own conclusion about who and what they truly are. And, there is no right or wrong answer. But, if you do not ponder this question, you can never come to a self-defined and self-realized truth about what you do, why you do what you do, who you truly are, and who or what is ultimately responsible for the martial arts that you practice and you teach.

Are you forever a student? Or, are you a self-standing example of the martial art you embrace?

Copyright 2023 © All Rights Reserved

Originally from the Scott Shaw Blog

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International

Friday, December 16, 2022

At a Certain Point Your Style Doesn’t Matter

By Scott Shaw

 

As someone who has actively practiced the martial arts for just under sixty years, I believe I possess a fairly good understanding of how one evolves as a practitioner of these forms of self-defense.  When one begins their practice, it is often the case that they become very protective of their teacher, their school, and their style. This is especially the case if they have truly taken to the system they are training in and the instructor or instructors who are teaching them in their art are proving them with useful techniques in an agreeable manner.

            The fact is, there are some instructors who are just not very good. Maybe they are rude, maybe they are egocentric, maybe they are money-hungry forcing students to sign long-term contracts, maybe they are demeaning to their students, or, like in the case of one of my instructors when I was an adolescent, they single out one of their students and continually use them for their demonstration dummy. With this, a student may either lose interest in the martial arts all together or change schools, if not styles.

            The focus of this piece is not on the bad instructors, however. It is about the ones who truly provide a lifelong service to their students, teaching them viable techniques based in a specific style orientated syllabus.  For those students—those who stay long-term, earning their black belt, and those who possibly become instructors, they are the ones who may become very style-centric.

            If we look to history, prior to the twentieth century, very few martial artists moved between systems. This was not only based in a local and cultural programing, but it was also based in available. Generally, there were few choices among schools of martial arts in a specific community. Moreover, and the fact being, very few people chose to follow the path of the martial arts.

            It must be noted, that among most Asian societies, a person who practiced the martial arts was actually looked down upon by general society as they were thought to be one who was conscribed to a lower class, a lessor mindset, and/or someone who followed the barbaric practices of physical combat. Though modern media has all but erased this fact from modern knowledge, and has idealized and glorified the martial artist, this was not, in fact, the case throughout most of world history.

            As the twentieth century came upon us, and international cultural interaction became more frequent, the martial arts found their way to the West. From this, the early Western practitioner attempted to culturally emulate the mind, words, and techniques of their Asian instructors, mostly with less than ideal impersonations. They attempted to mimic instead of emulate. Thus, even though many of these first-generation Western instructors held fast to their systems, what they understood and what they actually taught was lacking a true sense of source knowledge.

            In fact, to this day, this mindset has not changed very much. There are many Western instructor, claiming advanced knowledge of a style, but not speaking the language of where the system originated while attempting to produce the words used in the dissemination of the system poorly, and, form this, missing some of the elemental knowledge that can and could only be had by possessing a true linguist and cultural understanding of what they are claiming to teach. Many, if not most, of these instructors have not even traveled to and/or studied their system of self-defense in the land where it was originated.

            During the twentieth century there came to be more and more Asian and Western instructors teaching the martial arts in the Western world. From this, there began to be the ability for a practitioner to view the various styles of self-defense that were now congregated in one location that had originally hailed from all across the globe. Because of this fact, some practitioners began to integrate and adapt techniques from the various system into their own singular practice. Some of the most notable people who first did this were Chuck Norris and a bit later Bruce Lee. Both of these individuals achieved great fame. But, there were also many other practitioners, who employed this method of integration, who no one ever heard as they began the process of incorporating the various styles of martial arts into one conglomerative system of self-defense in their small schools or backyards.   

            Though there were, and still are, many who believe this practice is a bastardization of the martial arts, in many ways it has freed the practitioner from being locked into only one, very stylized, system, thereby allowing them to integrate and combine the techniques from various styles into a conglomeration that becomes more effective for not only they, themselves, but for their students, as well. From this, the need to poorly imitate one culture has been bypassed. Emerging is an all-encompassing non-style of a style that is allowed to continually evolve as new understandings are developed.

            As martial artists we can learn from this integration and as human beings we can also gain from this understanding. By opening our minds to new ideas, and not being forcefully locked into a tradition that may never be truly understood, we allow ourselves to be the vessel where all knowledge may be studied, acquired, and ultimately understood in a freeform mindset not limited by dogma.

 

Copyright © 2022 All Rights Reserved

Originally from the Scott Shaw Blog

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International


 

Thursday, December 16, 2021

Is a Master Truly a Master

 By Scott Shaw

        I want to talk a little bit about the evolution and the practical development of the modern martial arts, particular focused on their development here in the U.S. This may be a bit obscure for you readers out there, not involved with the martial arts, but hopefully you may gain some general life understanding from what I write.
        First of all, at the outset of this piece, it must be understood that the modern martial arts have become a very egocentric system of human development. People are very-very focused and orientated on their style, their school, and their teacher. From this is born an enormous amount of criticism directed at other practitioners, other styles, other instructors, and other associations. In fact, from my experience, some of the martial artists I have encountered have been the most petty people I have ever interacted with in my life. It’s sad really. And, the truth be told, all any martial artists out there reading this has to do is to look at their own thoughts, their own words, their own behavior, and the words and the behavior of those other martial artists they know or have encountered to confirm this fact.
        This has always really bother me. Even when I was a child and adolescent practitioner, it really distressed me that other martial artists would so vehemently go after practitioners from other traditions and schools. Even within specific schools, students would go after other students. But, how does this style of behavior help to make anything any better?
        I remember when I was about twenty-one, I was asked to help judge a promotion test at the school of this one, then very famous, Korean-born Taekwondo instructor. The man himself was a very good practitioner. One of those guys with just beautiful kicks. Anyway, one of his students, testing for a blue belt, did not do very well in the kicking segment of the test. You know, some people just do not have the potential to be a great kicker due to their body design and things like that. The instructor just ripped into him, really putting him down. It had to be very embarrassing for the man as there were a lot of spectators in attendance. My thought at the time was, “You’re his instructor. Isn’t his technical ability, or lack thereof, at least partially your fault?”
        Later on, during that evening of testing, an old-school Korean, “Master,” gave a small demonstration. The man, obviously older, was just not technically very good. But, did this young instructor rip into him? No. So, you see there’s all this interplay of personality and projected desires in the martial arts even within a specific school. I just never believed that the martial arts was the place for this style of behavior.
        One of the other interesting, and very illustrative of an era, things that took place during this same time period was that there was this one, also very well-known, Korean-born Taekwondo instructor, here in the L.A. area. This was during the time when the names and the rank on Korean certificates were handwritten. His black belt certificate, which hung on the wall of his studio, looked to show that he was a 7th dan black belt. But, if you could read Korean, you would see that his rank number in Korean was one. Making him a 1st dan black belt. He had simply added a line to the top of the one, on the English portion of the certificate, making it into a seven.
        Another interesting illustration is that I think back to when I was in my final year of college, earning my B.A. in Geography from California States University, Northridge. One of my required courses was this group project class. For us, we were doing a spacial analysis and demographic study on the then up-and-coming community of Palmdale, California. Each Saturday we would drive out to Palmdale and do our required part of the study. At one point, I was walking through the old downtown section of the city and I saw this martial art studio. By this point in my life I was operating my own studio so I was obviously drawn to the place. I look in the window and this school owner had his certificates clearly displayed. He was a seventh degree black belt of Taekwondo, a seventh degree black belt of some brand of Karate, a seventh degree black belt of some style of Kung Fu, and he held high ranks in a couple of other systems of self-defense, as well. The certificates we all issued by the same organization that I had never heard of. Anyone who understands anything about the martial arts will know, that yes, an advanced practitioner could readily learn the techniques and the forms of another system. But, to hold such advanced legitimate ranks in all of these highly differing system of self-defense is simply impossible. The point being, this style of deception has been going on for a very long time. People bought into it then and they buy into it now.
        As a journalist, I have been asked to write articles about so many schools and practitioner’s business methods that it is not even funny. I can’t even remember how many articles I have written. Most of the people I spoke with are nice. Some are just flat out liars. But, more than a couple of the school owners would discuss the fact that they had students who when they rose to level of the black belt would leave their teacher, open their own school, and siphon many of their previous instructor’s students away from the school by bad mouthing their teacher. I mean, if where you learned all that you learned was from that man (or woman) how can you criticize them? But, that’s what is done.
        For better of for worse, I was alive, a part of, and a witness to, the birth of the modern Korean marital arts here in America. I was there and present when the first wave of Korean marital arts instructors arrived from Korea. Back then, simply because a person was of Asian descent they received preferential respect simply because they were who they were. Some of these newly arrived instructors were very-very good practitioners and nice people. Many, however, were not.  Even myself, I got taken advantage of and, in fact, cheated by some of these so called, “Masters.” The stories I could tell…
        The thing is, many marital art instructors, no matter how technically proficient they may be, see the martial arts simply as a business. From this, they do dishonorable things, make unscrupulous comments, and even lie about who and what they are. I personally know that a number of the first-generation instructors lied about where they learned what they learned and who they learned it from. You don’t have to just listen to me, ask anyone else who was there and knows the truth about the history of the modern Korean martial arts. The fact is, now many of those first-generation masters are no longer with us. Thus, their truth, or the lack thereof, will never be known. Their fabrications died with them. But, why did they do any of this? It was all based on money, ego, and outward notoriety projection. And, this style of behavior is still going on.
        Some, even famed founders, saw money as more important than the tradition of the art they laid claim to. They believed they were so technically advanced that they could teach a student in weeks or months what was understood to take years to have actually comprehended. With this ideology as a basis, they would rapidly award some of their so-called student advanced rank that took those who followed the traditional path years-upon-years to achieve. Thus, rank became the focal point of the martial arts in America, which led to an untold number of lies begin told and certificates being sold. Combine this with all of the bad mouthing that went on, and still goes on, and what are we left with? I don’t even have an answer for that but it is not good.
        What should be a true pathway to physical and mental enlightenment has been denigrated into an ego and money making machine. The fact is, it does not matter who is better at what. It doesn’t matter who can do what technique better than someone else. It doesn't matter what insult and criticism one practitioners throws at someone else. It certainly doesn’t matter what rank a person holds when ranks are bought and sold on the open market. What matters is that the martial arts should not be about criticism. The martial arts should not be about judgment. The martial arts should not be about ego. The martial arts should be about a pathway for the betterment of all.
        I don’t know how any of this can be corrected because all I see is a mess. Yes, there are some great technicians. Yes, there are some great teachers. But, more than not, mostly what is there is a lot of low-level human behavior and ego-driven individuals claiming, “I am this, you are not.”
        For you martial artists out there, how do you behave? Really think about this question. What do you say? What do you do? How do you refer to and/or discuss other practitioners, styles, schools, and organizations? As I say time-and-time again, all life begins with you. What have you said? What have you done? More importantly, what have you said to undo the negative things that you previously said? What have you done to undo the negative things that you previously have done? If you don’t critique yourself first—if you don’t tell the world your flaws first—if you don't right your own wrongs, what gives you the right to cast judgement onto someone else? If you are claiming to be a master but you base your life upon negativity, on any level, are you truly a master?
        The martial arts should be a bastion of goodness and positive instruction. Is it? I don’t know? I guess that is defined individually by each practitioner, each instructor, each school, and each organization. What I can say is, it all begins with you: what you say, what you do, and how you behave. So, (and not just for your martial artists out there), if you want to make anything better, be the source point for that betterment and stop all/any of the negativity. Turn off your ego. Turn off your criticism. Let all things be as they are. Then all life gets to exist in its natural state of perfection.

Copyright © 2021—All Rights Reserved

Is a Master Truly a Master @ Scott Shaw.com

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International

Thursday, August 19, 2021

Humbleness Verse Prestige in the Martial Arts

By Scott Shaw

        I earned my black belt in Hapkido in 1969 when I was eleven years old. I had worked towards in since I was six. I had a Korean instructor and when it came my time for promotion he simply removed my red belt, tied the black belt around my waist, and shook my hand. I was, of course, ecstatic. There was no big ceremony, no certificate, or anything like that given to me. It was just the belt and the knowledge that my instructor believed I deserved it.
        My father, who earned his black belt in jujitsu during his military service in World War II, also never had a certificate. At least none that I knew about.
        What I am saying is that times were different back then. A student studied, learned, progressed through the ranks, and was awarded a belt based upon their developed understandings. It was based upon an instructor to student relationship.
        When I was studying the martial arts as a young boy, through adolescent, and onto becoming a young man, none of my instructors, (who were all of Asian descent), ever asked to be called, “Master.” Yes, it was a formal relationship but the students simply referred to them as, Mr. (Whatever their family name was). This idea of, “Master,” was not a part of the equation. From this, I and my contemporaries, were taught and learned to respect the teacher without being forced to place an idealized image upon who and/or what they truly were.
        It wasn’t until the time when a large number of Koreans began to immigrate to the U.S., in the early 1970s, that things begin to change. With the large number of newly opened Taekwondo schools, that was taking place, somewhere/somehow this ideology that your instructor was a, “Master,” came into play. 
    It must be noted, that my first Taekwondo instructor, who was also a newly arrived Korean immigrant himself, (that I began studying from when I was about twelve), never asked to be referred to as, “Master.” Mr. Kim was fine with him.
        But again, somewhere along the way, the newly arrived Korean teachers, particularly those out of the schools of Taekwondo in South Korea, decided they should be referred to as, “Master,” or the Korean equivalent of the word. With this delineation, everything in the modern martial arts began to change.
        I always would downplay this titling to being more akin to British English, where a school teacher is sometimes referred to as, “Master.” This being said, this was not what was in the minds of these martial arts instructors. To them, they were a, “Master,” and they deserved that labeling.
        As the U.S. is where these people relocated and opened their schools, their primary students were Westerners. Through time, and rank advancement, these Westerners rose up through the ranks and became the next generation of instructors. Thus, they too took on the title of, “Master.” But, were they/are they? Or, are they simply perpetuating an ideology based upon ego but not accomplishment? In fact, what actually constitutes a master?
        Having been at the source point of a lot of the evolution that took place with the Korean-based martial arts in the U.S., and being located at one of the central cities involved in the expansion of these Korean martial arts, I witnessed a lot of the hidden undercurrent of what was taking place among these new schools of self-defense and the people who owned and taught at them. And, a lot of it was not pretty, honest, or honorable. There was a lot of lies being told, and a lot of deceptions put into place, which have now become solidified and believed truths due to the fact that these fabrications were spoken so many years ago. The fact is, these newly arrived instructors needed to earn money so they found a way to do so, oftentimes this was at the expense of their students.
        As Western martial artist rose through the ranks, became instructors, and opened their own schools, many of these, less than ideal, trends of school ownership and the need for external validation came to be the hallmark of these expanding systems of self-defense. As some of these Westerners decided that they were, “Good Enough,” and no longer needed the support of their Asian instructors or organizations, they founded their own associations. As many of these instructors also believed that they were progressing faster in their understanding of the arts than their instructors believed, they looked for ways to accelerate their movement up through the ranks outside of their original student to instructor relationship. From this, from this belief in the Self, the rank structure of the modern martial arts became so convoluted that everyone began questioning everyone. But, it shouldn’t be this way.
        Rank is nothing more than Ego. It is a name and a number on a piece of paper. But, what does that even mean? What does it mean when so many people are claiming so many things and so many organizations have arisen giving recognition to someone who simply believes that they should be referred to as, “Master?” From this forced evolution, no matter where or whom that certificate comes from, it no longer has any absolute meaning as there is no solidified standard for rank promotion.
        My primary focus, through my many years of involvement with the martial arts, has been the Korean systems of self-defense. This being said, as I have spend a lot of my life in Japan, I have been lucky enough to have also trained in the Japanese arts. No one there, none of my instructors, ever asked to be called, “Master.” “Sensei,” which means, “Teacher,” is the respectful title which was assigned. And, that was that.
        One could argue that this goes to the cultural identity of Koreans verses the Japanese. And, that may be the case. But, like I have long said, “If you are referring to yourself as a Master that probably means that you are not.”
        First there was, “Master,” then there became, “Grand Master,”
then “Supreme Grand Master.” But, what do any of these titles actually mean?  What makes a person a, “Master,” or a, “Grand Master?” Isn’t it simply a name and a number on a piece of paper?
        I fully understand that there are a lot of Asian and Westerners that have devoted their life to the study and the teaching of the martial arts. I applaud all of these people. But, how many of those people have forgotten the primary principle of the martial arts; humbleness?
        If you feel that you must proclaim what you are, then what are you? If you feel that you must be referred to by an exalted title, who are you? Where is your humbleness and is what you are doing, (studying and teaching the martial arts), truly based upon helping others and making this world a better place or is it simply a means for you to fill an internal lacking within yourself?
        As for myself, yes, I did earn some certificates. As I say, “I thank all of the instructors and the organizations who found me worthy.” And, even I, when I was younger, fell prey to the ego of being, “That Something,” when I was teaching the martial arts on a full-time basis. Thankfully, I caught myself and woke up. Now, my certificates are all in a brief case in my storage unit. At least I think they are? I haven’t looked at them in years. When I am teaching seminars, I only have the students refer to me as, “Scott.” I know this sometimes upsets the school owners who have invited me. But, I refuse to be dominated by a title that has become so convoluted in this modern era.
        In closing, I believe for all of the true marital artists out there, we really need to return to a simpler, less ego-filled time, when the martial arts were an instructor teaching a student in the refined levels of physical and mental awareness without the need for all of the glorifications.
        Humbleness should be at the heart of all martial art training. Isn’t that what all of the ancient sages have taught us?

Copyright © 2021—All Rights Reserved

 Originally from the Scott Shaw Zen Blog

Humbleness Verse Prestige in the Martial Arts @ Scott Shaw.com 

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International

Friday, March 5, 2021

The Hapkido Cane

By Scott Shaw

            I received an interesting email from a man who is sixty years old and lives in Detroit who is interested in learning self-defense applications with the cane to protect himself and possibly protect his dog from attacking hounds, as well. As the man had never trained in the martial arts and had read an article I wrote where I stated that the Hapkido Cane should only be taught to advanced students of the art he was curious if I had any suggestions about where he could gain some additional information because as he put it, “Cane defense information online is crap.”

            Interesting question. It set me to thinking. So, I thought I would answer it here so that other people who have wondered about Hapkido Cane techniques may gain some insight.

            To tell my story of training with the cane… When I begin training in Hapkido, in 1964, the art was taught, at least to me, in its purest, most original, form. There was no weapons training at all. It was all about hand techniques, throws, deflections, punches, and kicks. It was not until I begin working with my third instructor, in the 1970s, that I was exposed to Hapkido weapon’s training. I was already a black belt. I operated a studio with the man, who had just arrived from South Korea, so he was much more in tune with the new techniques being embraced in the art in Korea at that time. He taught me swords, (Kumdo), the short staff, and the cane. I had already been practicing, on my own, with the long staff and, of course, the nunchaku, which had become somewhat of cultural phenomena in my late childhood and early teen years.

            As we ran a school together, we begin teaching weapons to our students at the blue belt level. We felt that was an appropriate time, as they would then possess enough experience to understand the fundaments of body movement in association with a weapon. We would begin by training them with the long and the short staff as these weapons truly teach body/mind coordination. At the red belt level we would then begin their training with sword forms and cane self-defense techniques. As the movement associated with these weapons is much more advanced, we felt it was at the red belt level that the student could actually understand the subtlety of the physical movement necessary to operate these weapons from a refined perspective. Thus, as a teacher, I always felt it took at least a year of training for a student to actual comprehend weapons such as the Hapkido Cane with a cultivated understanding.

            All this being said, a weapon is a weapon is a weapon. And, anything can become a weapon. Any item you garb can become a useful weapon to defend yourself if necessary. This is also true with the Hapkido Cane.

            The cane is an ideal weapon for the trained or the untrained individual. All you have to do is swing it and it can become your weapon of self-defense. Though this is the case with the cane, as with any weapon, a refined understanding of how the weapon most ideal works, in association with how it best can be used in association with the body, helps in any applied self-defense application.

            The reason I believe that training in the fighting arts is important is that what they provide any practitioner with is an understanding of physical combat. Though combat in the studio may be limited to sterile sparing, physically interacting with a supposed opponent trains the body and the mind in how to remain calm during combat and react with precision. This is why I still believe receiving at least basic training is the fighting arts is something anyone should do if they hope to be a proficient self-defense technician. But, as in the case with the person who emailed me, this may not always be possible. Thus, any weapon one decides to employee, as a means of protection, must be understood as best a possible.

            As stated, the cane is a very natural weapon. One moment you can be using it to aid in your walking and the next moment, if you are attacked, it can be swung at an opponent. But, how do you swing it?

            Wildly swinging any weapon leads to limited results. Yes, you may get lucky and hurt your opponent. But, maybe not. It may only infuriate them. Thus, to understand self-defense with the cane, you need to study its self-defense applications.

            I really need to say this… Hapkido Cane self-defense should really be precisely studied over a long period of time as its self-defense applications are very subtle. In a pinch however, you simply need to understand the three elements of the cane that I discuss in the article I believe the gentleman has read. Here’s a link to it, The Hapkido Cane. There, you can find out a lot more precise information about the Hapkido Cane and its usage.

 

The three elements are:

1. The Length of the cane

2. The Shaft of the cane

3. The Hooking Handle of the cane

 

            In brief: The length of the cane gives you the ability to strike out at an opponent. The shaft of the cane can be used by the untrained user as a striking weapon. The hooking handle allows the person to not only maintain control of the cane but can be directed toward the attacker as a stronger, larger striking weapon. In addition, due to the fact that the length of the cane give you distance between your attacker and yourself, be it a person or a dog, simply by bringing the cane up and jabbing it into your opponent, you can use the tip of the cane to strike your opponent multiple times in a rapid manner.

            The main thing to kept in mind, whenever you plan to use anything as a weapon is, whatever weapon you choose, it is only as effective as your ability to use it in a precise manner. Thus, whether you are a long trained martial artists or a novice, you need to practice with whatever weapon you plan to employee. Meaning, yes, you can use anything as a weapon, but if you hope to use it effectively, you need to know how it moves and how it feels. Thus, if you want to develop the ability to use a cane as a weapon of self-defense: practice, practice, practice. Swing it in the air. Strike at objects. Experience how impact feels with the cane. Come to understand how you can best use it as an effective weapon of self-defense. Imagine opponents coming at you via various means. Develop the ability, in your mind, to understand how to best use the cane in each of those imagined attack scenarios.

            Though I suggest everyone, who hopes to become a competent self-defense technician, train under the guidance of a qualified instructor, this may not always be possible. If this is the case, and you hope to protect yourself with any specific weapon, the only way it can become truly effective is if you understand its mechanics. Meaning, you’ve got to practice with it. From this, you will hopefully come to understand how the cane, or any other object, can become your ideal tool of self-defense.

 

Copyright © 2021—All Rights Reserved

Originally from the Scott Shaw Blog

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International


Friday, January 15, 2021

The Black Belt and What it Means Today

By Scott Shaw

            For those people are not directly involved with the martial arts, when they hear someone has a black belt, they immediately assume that person possesses some advance and cunning skill of potentially deadly self-defense. For the person who is involved with the martial arts, when they think of the black belt, they see it as a goal but from there the degrees of that black belt, and the stripes on that black belt, must go up exponentially if they hope to compete in a world of the massive amount of so-called advanced black belts that exist in the world today.

            During the late 1960s and early 1970s, via people like Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee, it became quite acceptable for people to study and train in varying forms of the fighting arts. Though this certainly moved the evolution of the martial arts along rapidly, there also came to be a problem with this method of intermingling. Previously, up to this point in time, a person studied one form of the martial arts from one instructor or within one organization. From this, an individual’s actual understanding and necessary advancement within the art could be correctly assessed. When an individual was ready to earn a black belt, they were tested and upon passing that test were awarded that belt. When they were ready to move up another dan, (degree), after additional years of training, they were tested and if they passed that test they were promoted. It was all done via a very defined and pronounced method. What happened with the modern intermingling of the arts was, however, that defined ability became lost to eclecticism. Thus, what was once an expected definition of technique and/or ability became muddled.

            Certainly, when the martial arts became widely accepted and taught in the West, traditions began to be lost. As the western mindset commonly focuses on self-advancement, business ownership, and self-adoration, numerous schools, new styles of the martial arts, and organization were given birth to. In many cases, these groupings lost contact with their Asian origins. From this, again, tradition was lost.

            I am often reminded of a conversation I had with pioneering western martial artist, Bill, “Superfoot,” Wallace, when I was asked to write an article about him for a magazine. He profoundly stated, “Back in the day if a person was a 1st degree black belt they were impossible to touch. If they were a 2nd degree black belt, forget about it, they would tear you apart. Now, everyone is an 8th, 9th, or 10th degree black belt and they are terrible.” This fact has become a byproduct of the modernization of the martial arts, particularly in the western world, and why the entire definition of what truly is or is not a black belt has come to be less understood. As I often say, “Change does not necessarily make something better, it just makes it different.”

            I remember beginning in the 1960s, one could purchase black belt training courses in magazines. Upon the completion of this course one would be awarded a black belt diploma with no testing required. Certainly, an intermediate or advanced practitioner of the martial arts, with a lot of actually physical training under their belt, may learn from written and/or illustrated material but for the novice that is virtually impossible. And, to earn a black belt via this method is perplexingly unrealistic. Yet, how many people earned a black belt in this manner?

            As the 1970s dawned, and more and more westerners became black belts, the need for advancing one’s black belt dan ranking continued to rise. Again, initially via magazines, numerous organizations arose that offered various forms of un-tested promotions. All of the organizations looked and sounded official. The diplomas they issued were well printed, making the barer appear to be all that they claimed to be.

            These traditions of intermixing the martial arts, defining new systems of the martial arts, and creating new organization to back up the credentials of practitioners has continued forward onto today. What has been created? From my perspective, an eclectic mess of people marketing themselves, their schools, and their systems to the masses but possessing little true relevance of authenticity.

            Remember, a diploma does not make a person a black belt. In fact, diplomas declaring a person’s martial art ranking are a relatively new chapter in the very long history of the martial arts. Who and what a person is on the inside and how they treat and interact with other people on both a physical and a humanitarian level is what defines a true black belt.

            So, what does this leave us with and how should the black belt be viewed in this modern, (particularly western), world?  The answer is not entirely clear. But, what must be understood is that someone claiming to be a black belt today no longer means that they are truly that advanced master of physical movement that the wearing of the black belt once defined. Moreover, as more and more of the modern martial arts have placed their focus on the kill-or-be-killed mixed martial arts orientated physical moments, it must be comprehended that just because someone has learned how to beat someone up does not mean that they possess the advance understanding of human movement that the true, traditional, martial arts provides the practitioner.

            In closing, the true martial arts are about physical mastery and advanced mental awareness. They are not about ego. They are not about what degree black belt a person claims to hold. In fact, a person’s black belt degree should never be the reason you do or do not study from them or define how you evaluate them as a human being. The holding of a black belt or the degree of the black belt a person claims can only be truly defined by who and what that person is and what they do for the greater good of the martial arts and society as a whole.

            Judge any person by the goodness they say or do, not by whether or not they claim to be a black belt.

            The true black belt gives without taking. They help without hurting. They give instead of receiving. They compliment instead of claiming.

 

Copyright © 2021—All Rights Reserved

Originally from the Scott Shaw Blog

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Hapkido Knee Fighting

This article was originally published in Martial Art Masters Magazine, September 1994
 
By Scott Shaw

            Close contact fighting has always proven to be one of the most complicated situations a martial artist can find himself in. The reason it is difficult to rapidly and successfully defend yourself, once your opponent has moved closely in on you and possibly taken a hold of your clothing, is because in close proximity your available counter strike techniques become very limited.  First of all, there is not enough distance between your body and that of your opponent’s to effectively kick him.   And, with the exception of the uppercut punch, your punching defense is limited to wildly thrown roundhouse punches which at best will make contact with the side of your opponent’s head.  There is, however, an effective method to close contact In-fighting which many martial artists do not fully investigate or develop.  That method is the use of the knee as a powerful striking weapon.

            The knee strike is an excellent close proximity fighting tool.  This is because there is not much space needed to make its attack effective. 

            A knee strike takes no advanced training to perform. There is, however, certain limitations to the use of the knee. Therefore, we must fully explore the science of knee fighting to first gain knowledge of what not to do, before we can understand what the knee can effectively accomplish.

            The knee is one of the most sensitive joints on the human body.  It is quite easily damaged. When you strike with the knee, it is very important you do so in the proper manner.  For if you perform a knee strike improperly, you stand the chance of injuring your knee instead of defending yourself successfully.

            Your knee should always be bent when you attack with it. By bending your knee, you not only isolate its impact point but keep it from bending unnaturally against itself; tearing your ligaments, cartilage, or in more severe cases, breaking your knee altogether. 

             A knee strike should never be delivered in a side-to-side format.  This is to say, never attempt to impact with the side of your knee.  The side area of your knee joint is very sensitive and your lower leg can easily be sent in the opposite direction of your upper leg if you incorrectly attempt to strike with it in this fashion.

            The part of your knee that should be used as a striking weapon is the upper part.  Reach down to your thigh and follow your upper leg muscle to the point where it meets the knee bone; this is the ideal strike point for knee attacks.

            A proper knee strike is accomplished by rapidly lifting your knee up and into its target. The power of the knee strike is initiated at the hip, and is driven forward with the muscles of the upper leg. 
  
            The first strike point most people think of when utilizing a knee attack is the opponent’s groin.  This is, in fact, a good location to aim for, especially if your opponent has grabbed you in a straight forward choke hold or similar frontal attack. In this type of attack, your opponent’s groin region is easily accessible and a powerful knee strike can make instantaneous contact and lead you to victory in the confrontation. 

            Though the knee can virtually strike any location on your opponent’s body, given the right set of circumstances, there are several location which are ideal knee strike targets; they are: the groin, the ribs, the kidneys, under the opponent’s jaw, and to a lesser degree, the inside of the opponent’s upper leg.  The time to strike at these various targets is only dominated by the type of encounter you find yourself in.

            One of the most important thing to remember when using the knee as a weapon is, you should never use your knee to strike at a location on your opponent’s body where you have to travel to.  This is to say that the knee strike is not an ideal long distance reaching weapon; as is the case with the various punching techniques and many of the traditional martial art kicks.  This is due to the fact that the very elements that make the knee an ideal close contact weapon, makes it inefficient in distance applications.  

            The knee cannot reach out as does the arm or leg.  As well, if you leave the knee in a “Cocked-to-strike” position and attempt to launch yourself, at a distance, in towards your opponent with the momentum you can gain from jumping off of your non-knee kicking leg, you not only leave yourself in an off balance position, but you will be leaving your body open and exposed to powerful attacks from your opponent, as well. Therefore, the use of the knee as a striking weapon should be limited to close quarter “in-fighting.”

            A well placed knee strike is dominated by two factors; one, is it an easily reachable target and the second, will the strike you make with your knee have the debilitating affect on our opponent you desire?  If the answer to both of these questions is yes, then that is the time to perform a powerful knee strike.

            Now that we understand the basics of the science of knee fighting, we can investigate the best knee fighting tactics in order that we may efficiently and effectively knee strike our opponent in each applicable situation. 

            As previously mentioned, when grabbed in a forward hold, a knee to your opponent’s groin is a very effective defensive measure.  But, what can you do in the few seconds before your opponent has actually taken a hold of you; especially if his intentions are obviously violent and he is moving quickly in your direction? 

            First of all, it is never a good idea to allow an opponent to grab a hold of you, if you have the option.  Therefore, when an opponent is rapidly moving towards you, this affords you an ideal opportunity to use his momentum to your own advantage. This is accomplished in one of two ways. The first method of achieving momentum advantage over your adversary, as he closes in on you, is by deflecting his arms outward, with an in-to-out knife hand block, once he is close enough.  After this deflection has been performed, you can maintain substantial control over his movements by grabbing a hold of his elbow region, once his arm has been blocked.  By first deflecting his arms outward, while allowing his momentum to continue forward, you have opened his body up for you to easily attack him with a powerful knee strike.

            Though this deflection leading to a knee strike happens in a second, with the momentum the two of you have gained by moving towards one another, you can powerfully knee strike him either in his groin, solar plexus, or easily launch yourself upward and deliver a very debilitating knee strike under his jaw.  

The second avenue we can take for an oncoming opponent, who is either attempting to grab or strike at us is to deflect his extending arm inwards, with an out-to-in forearm block. Once his arm has been deflected, you should maintain a controlling hand on his elbow, so he cannot perform a secondary strike at you with say a back fist.  By performing this type of block, you allow your opponent to continue through with his own forward motion. Thus, leaving his forward ribs or back exposed to an easy counter attack with your knee. 

            In this case, if it is most effective for you to strike at his ribs, you simply allow his motion to continue as you guide him down by taking control of his extended arm, as your knee powerfully meets his ribs.  If you choose to knee strike his kidneys you can simply deflect his arm and allow his developed momentum to continue him moving forward, slightly past you; thus, exposing his back to your powerful knee attack.

            As the key to all successful defense is to strike your opponent before he has the opportunity to strike you, knee fighting is no different.  Therefore, now that we understand how we can easily open our opponent’s body up for knee strikes, let’s evaluate how we can effectively maintain control over him, while we are accomplishing a debilitating knee attack.

            Whenever you are going to use your knee as your initial form of self-defense, in close contact In-fighting, you must do two things.  First of all, as we now understand, the knee is not a good weapon at a distance. For this reason we must keep our opponent from retreating or moving back out of the way of the effective knee strike range. The most efficient way to accomplish this is to take a hold of him in order to keep him from moving out of the range of your impending knee strike.  Secondarily, once you have set yourself up to knee strike your opponent, you must keep him from powerfully counter striking you in the process of your knee attack. To do this, there are three areas of his body you must become very aware of; they are: his arms, legs, and head.

            If you control an opponent’s elbows, you can effectively control his entire body.  Thus, as we have learned in the previous examples of deflecting any grabbing or striking attack on the part of our opponent, we should either leave our block in place at his elbow level or grab his arm so we can keep him from launching any secondary hand strike.

            As no rule holds undisputed for all fighting situations, maintaining an elbow block or grasp while continuing through with your knee assault may not always be possible.  If elbow control is not feasible, the secondary locations that you should concentrate your attentions on to give you added control over your opponent is his shoulder or wrist region. 

            By grasping at or leaving your arm in ready position at your opponent’s shoulder level, you can quickly foil any oncoming fist attack while your knee strike is in progress.  The same is true in the case of a grasp at or near your opponent’s wrist.     

            Not only by taking control of your opponent’s arm, once his initial attack has been deflected, do you control his ability to strike at you again, but by controlling his arms you also can effectively guide him to your desired knee strike location. This opponent guidance is accomplished either by using his own forward momentum and passively directing him to your desired knee strike or by forcefully pulling him downwards by his arms, powerfully onto your knee, once you have deflected his initial attack.

            Commonly, in professional kickboxing, knee attacks are launched to the inside of an opponent’s leg.  Though the legs of an opponent should always be monitored in a street altercation, there are two very serious problems with using your opponent’s legs as knee strike focal points. First of all, this type of attack does little debilitating damage to your opponent, so there is virtually no point in using it as an attack zone in a street confrontation.  Secondarily, by moving in that close to your opponent, if you have not taken effective control of his arms, he has the ability to powerfully strike you with his fists or elbows.  Therefore, this is not an ideal primary strike point for knee fighting.

            Finally, in controlling your opponent in order to effectively knee strike him, there is no better source of control than his neck and head region.  This region is easily accessible; especially in the case of close contact In-fighting as your two bodies are already in close proximity. 

            To effectively take control of your opponent’s motions is as easy as rapidly reaching in and grabbing him in a frontal grip by his throat. This type of grab will not only momentarily distract him as to your strategic intentions, but will allow you to maintain control over his movements long enough to powerfully knee strike him in the groin.

            Controlling your opponent’s head is equally easily accomplished. You should go for head control immediately after you have deflected your opponent’s arm out of its forward aggressive motion. At this second, your opponent’s initial attack has been nullified and he is most prone for a rapid and unexpected counter defense.  Once deflected, you can strongly grab a hold of your opponent’s head, with one or both of your hands, and shove it downward, in position, for a jumping knee strike to his face.

            Traditionally, martial art schools have advised that once your opponent has moved in tight on your body, you should attempt to shove him back in order to effectively kick him or deliver a powerful punching technique.  Attempting to utilize this type of defense promises limited results, however. This is especially the case if your opponent has already taken a powerful hold of your clothing or does so in the process of being shoved back.   As we have learned with the use of the properly placed knee, there is not a need to expend unnecessary energy, attempting to shove or grapple with your opponent. Simply deliver a well-placed knee attack and your opponent will be instantly injured.  At this point, if necessary, you can effortlessly continue with further counter attacks.

Copyright © 1993—All Rights Reserved
 

Friday, September 6, 2019

Finding Your Target


By Scott Shaw

In the martial arts, one of the primary things that the trainee focuses upon is developing the skill to accurately see a vulnerable point on their opponent and then deliver a precisely targeted strike to that location. Where as most people who enter into physical combat do so with a wild and undefined barrage of offensive techniques, the martial artist understands that style of combat is not only unreliable but also causes the person who is utilizing it to expend a lot of energy. For this reason, precise targeting is part of the primary curriculum for all schools of martial arts.
Life is not much different from this. Some people, for whatever self-defined reason, choose an individual and then focus a targeted attack upon that person. Look around, you see it everywhere. You see it in the news, you see it in conversations, you see it in internet posting, and you see it in bar fights. What is occurring in all of these cases is that one person has targeted another person and is attempting to overpower them via a precisely target attack.
The motivation for this style of attack can be wide-spanning but the one reality of it is that one person has decided that they should hurt and/or defeat another person. But, as we all understand, the definition of attack is based upon the concept of winning and losing. Just as no boxer or MMA fighter is the champion of the ring forever, this too is the case with the person who instigates attacks. They may win but they will eventually end up the loser.
In the martial arts, the true martial artist always avoids physical confrontations. They say nothing and do nothing to escalate personal conflict. From their training they understand that they posses highly developed techniques of self-defense thus they have nothing to prove. But, the world is not like that. Many people do not want to exist at a level where they understand that each person is their own person and defined by their own reality. Instead, they want to judge, they want to attack, they want to sucker punch, they want to hurt other people so that they will appear to be more than the individual they are attacking. But, are they?
As people living on the path of consciousness, we are the one’s who do not partake of that level of intoxication. But, again, it is all around us—there is no way to avoid it. So, what should we do when we witness it?
Though there is no absolute answer to this question, perhaps the best thing to do is to simply not participate. Do not allow yourself to be brought down to the level of the person who attacks. Do not encourage them. Do not cheer them on. Say nothing, do nothing; that would be the ultimate example of Zen. Or, if you have the ability, create a situation that completely alters the course of the confrontation and redirects it to a positive place. For in the martial arts this is the ultimate level of self-defense, not to fight but to not fight. Just as Bruce Lee so ideally stated in the movie, Enter the Dragon, “I call it the art of fighting without fighting.”
Ultimately, be more than the person who targets other individuals. Make the world a better place by not contributing to or participating in that style of attack. Exist in the space of understanding that each person is who they are and because they are who they are any attack on them is an attack of all of us. Thus, the person who is instigating the attack is doing nothing more then sending everybody who listens to them or is inspired or invigorated by their actions to make the everything worse for all of us.
I believe we all want our life to be better. I believe we all want the everything of the world to be better. How do we achieve that? Never attack.

Copyright © 2019