Cyber Warriors

“Reality is the sum total of a person’s knowledge of themselves, others, the environment and their understanding of the interaction between these things.”

                                                                                                           Wes Doss

This year I will be completing 50 years of martial arts training and teaching. I have had the opportunity to travel extensively and train with some dedicated and skilled instructors In addition; I have trained with the same mentor for over 35 years, Grand Master S.C. Kim. He has opened many doors in martial arts training for me that are unavailable to non-Asians.

The bulk of my life has been spent in precarious situations and as a result I have met some very martial orientated people. Often, these people were serious about combat as well as martial arts training. Mostly, they could be found in various Judo halls. In those days, a student could affiliate with a particular dojo but train at other schools.  Randori was encouraged, by instructors, and for a $1.00 mat fee, you could sign up and train at another school, for the day. This was a valuable experience because you had the opportunity to train with others who held broad philosophical positions. Unfortunately, over the years martial arts, in many instances, has become more of a business and is less orientated towards providing a personal growth experience for the students.

Once this phenomenon evolved, a new type of instructor appeared. As a consequence of this new type of teacher, a new student evolved. The expected promotion, a belief in informality and their over-all belief that changing belt color meant that they had become combat ready. Predictably, a myriad of associations, with titles that imply combat knowledge, fighting or technical skill emerged. These titles provide an inducement to future members of an “implied reality”. The observable consequence of this phenomenon is curious. It is almost impossible to find an association, and website, not proclaiming to provide world renowned instructors who possess skills that one can learn in the briefest time either in person or by video instruction.

Senior students, and instructors, may remember the term “Dojo Bashing”.   Occasionally, individuals or students from rival schools would “visit” dojos for the sole purpose of sharing “ideas”.  Many still remember the cultural exchange at Pacific Rim in the 1970’s. The days of this type of behavior are over. Dojo Bashing referred to curious visitors who were not really interested in learning, as much as they were interested in letting the instructors (and students) of a school know how much they knew, or how they had improved,  an established system. Often these so called martial artists learned the “error of their ways”.

With the advent of the internet, we are experiencing a new generation of curiosity seekers who masquerade themselves as martial artists. These “Cyber Warriors”, in their feeble attempts to understand the truths of martial arts, spend time philosophizing instead of finding a qualified instructor and going through the process of learning. Mr. Morgan’s analogy of these individuals is that of an individual walking on a railroad track, thinking he is a train. This works for him until he meets a real train. Grand Master Kim describes these individuals as people who start buttoning their shirt incorrectly so when they get to the top of their shirt they try to convince everyone that their shirt is buttoned correctly and that they have a new, improved way to button a shirt. Those who have learned correctly know the difference; however, there will always be a group that believes the new way is better. There would be no way to convince them to the contrary. When we compare and contrast these individuals, with the dojo bashing mentality, one can arrive at some obvious conclusions.

Presently there appear to be as many martial arts organizations as there are McDonald’s Restaurants. They offer various instructors who posses backgrounds with little or no observable skill except to be a good salesperson. It is hard for new students to find proper instruction. The people with the dojo bashing mentality, however misguided, had the courage to go to a school, watch a class and possibly speak to a senior student. Often these individuals then had the courage to stay and train, many becoming students of good quality.

Cyber Warriors, to the contrary, gather together on the rail road track and think they are trains. They make sure that no train will ever disrupt their illusion. In order to insure their own safety, they avoid any direct training experience with qualified students and instructors. But, they are very brave in their discussion of their knowledge and martial theory. These individuals have no interest nor do they possess the courage to actually train and learn from skilled instructors. This situation poses little consequence except for the potential students who might believe what these people write.

The idea that by training with the unseasoned instructor a student will acquire enough skill to deal with those who would do us harm is absurd. If content with this philosophy, the unprepared student is cannon fodder for the aggressive cretins of society. One must “know” about combat either from a teacher who “has been there” or from their own personal experience in order to truly understand it.