I was having a discussion with another martial artist quite recently who was telling me all about his 5 year history of martial art study where he ONLY looks at 'Reality Based' systems such as JKD, Systema, Krav Maga, and also some obscure acronym systems that I had never heard of.
Now this guy who is in his early 20's tells me he will never study a 'Traditional' system of Martial Art as they "...don't teach you the correct tools for the job".
I had to ask him how many live self-protection scenarios he had been involved in.
His answer....
None.
I told him I felt the conversation was a wee bit ironic, as I'd been involved in numerous conflicts, including situations where people have tried to insert sharp pointy things into my body, and I survived these situations.
He asked what the irony was?
I told him that whilst I am eclectic in my studies & very open minded, and although I will cross-train with anyone who has anything of worth to teach, I consider myself to be primarliy a student of 'Traditional' Martial Arts, and have been for the last 33 of my 40 years.
I told him his outlook would be akin to someone who has jogged for the first time, telling Olympic Champion Paula Radcliffe how to run a Marathon.
The irony was somewhat lost on him as he reiterated his belief that 'Comabative' systems were more practical than Classical arts.
Now, I'm not disputing the usefulness of the methods employed by these 'Modern' systems. As a matter of fact I'm part of a Reality Based Self Defence and Protection group which is made up predominitly of JKD and Krav Maga people.
The irony was in the fact that he, someone with no real life experience in Self-Protection, was telling me, a 'Traditional' Karate-ka, who as a former Nightclub Security Manager had been involved in a fair few altercations, on and off the job, that what I was studying was not fit for job.
Therein lies the irony.
Oh well, you can't win them all.
