Blog
No Brainers
Just recently one of my Black Belt students saw a couple of ‘meatheads’ in the carpark who were so pumped up they were carrying on as if they had just won a fight in the UFC. My student asked them if they were expecting some sort of trouble. They said, “Nah mate, we just finished MMA. We’re all pumped up”.
MMA (mixed martial arts) is a great sport and there are quite a few good instructors with a lot of experience who can teach it but, with the growing popularity of MMA, they have to compete with bogus instructors who have zero qualifications.
MMA has also shown to be a calling card for idiots. The glamour of wearing shorts, rashies and tattoos and not having to worry about belts and respect for instructors would be too much to resist. Perfect for the 'no brainers' who want a quick fix for their ego and wanting to scare people with their tatoos and deep sound of their voices.
MMA is the 'in thing' now for a number of reasons. First, it is more of a reality based martial art. Its application to real-life confrontations is noticeable. Secondly, MMA students don’t have to worry about belts and honourific titles making it a much more egalitarian sport. Third, the training wear and equipment is a lot more fashionable; no need to worry about gi’s or tying belts. However, there is a strong argument the traditional arts are important in shaping effective and ethical martial artists. MMA Instructors with traditional martial arts backgrounds and values are the sort of people the industry needs to survive.
The MMA scene gives opportunity to unqualified instructors to jump into the martial arts industry without having to worry about answering questions about how long have they been training for, who taught them, what do they know and if they have anything to show for? I am sure there will be no shortage of 'no brainers' to keep them going.
GA
Be Your Own Master
Be your own Master and don’t tell the whole world about it. Talking about the martial arts than actually doing is not going to earn anyone the Master title if that is what they are aspiring to. There are instructors who call themselves Master and actually believe they have earned the right to use that title without putting in the time, effort and attain the accomplished skill level. What makes it worse is when they declare the title themselves instead by the right people who believe they are worthy of it. Unfortunately, the Master title is not an official title so it is misused and abused by the few who are often seeking recognition and acceptance. 
Masters of ‘back yard’ origin will inform people they have been in the martial arts for an extraordinary number of years. These years include the very time they may have tried out a boxing lesson at the PCYC and it will only be years later they actually start any formal training. There are others who include football and basketball training as part of their total years of training in the martial arts (now that’s funny). Others conceal the 10 year break they’ve between sessions.
This type of Master has issues. They demand respect and treat people as servants. A real Master is nothing like that and does not even like being called a Master, the other one does. It takes a lifetime to master the martial arts but even longer to be a Master. Clearly, some people can live with George Costanza’s famous quote (Seinfeld) “it’s not a lie if you believe it”.
There is only one way for these persons who can justifiably use the word Master but I will leave that to people’s imagination.
GA
It’s only Fail if you Quit
There may come a time when some people want to give up their passion because they lose focus and forget why they took it up in the first place. Long standing martial artists will always remember the original reason for taking up the martial arts. People of my vintage will often say it was because of the Bruce Lee movies in the ‘70s. My reasons were based on school yard bullying; I was tired of coming out second best because most of the bullies were usually stronger and faster than me. After a few months training I went and saw the Bruce Lee movies; this was the deciding factor the martial arts would be my lifelong ambition.
Students need to remember the reason for starting up the martial arts in the first place and should always cherish that decision. Martial arts promote a positive and healthy lifestyle as well good friendship. The martial arts had a positive influence in my teen years upbringing, I said NO to drugs, NO to smoking, NO to bad company and I said NO to quitting. Many people since, have followed my lead. However, quitting may be lead to negative lifestyle changes because the quitter starts to look for something else. This is when kids are most vulnerable and may end up doing something unfavourable.
There a few things that needs to be sorted out after promotion to Probationary Black Belt (Shodan-Ho). There is a 12 month period in which you have to show cause you are worthy to retain that belt. During that time you need to act like one, perform like one and speak like one. This is the bridging period from coloured belt to black belt.
Nearly a Black Belt is not a Black Belt as some people might think. The people around you may regard it as ‘fail’ and it doesn’t matter what excuses you give them because they will have their own opinions about why you may have quit.
Those who receive their 1st Degree ranking after their probation should keep in mind ‘the best part of getting a Black Belt is being a Black Belt’. It's only 'fail' if you quit'.
GA