I heard an interesting conversation at Jiu Jitsu last night. We train at a gym where the owners are Tang Soo Do instructors. Both are really great people, committed martial artists (and instructors) and great stand up fighters - as well as being avid BJJ students. The students they produce, obviously, follow the same road :) Anyway, they have pictures up on the wall in a collage of their most recent black belt testing day. In several of them you can see a black belt breaking two bricks with a downward smash elbow. Well, one of our blue belts looked at it and said "see thats the problem with karate. You're not breaking both of those bricks, you're only breaking one. You can see that by the two pencils flying up from the bricks." Yep, your right. Physics says that the energy produced by the downward motion of your elbow at the point of impact on that top brick will be transfered directly to, and then through the second, because of the space created by the two small pencils sitting between the bricks. But thats not the point of the exercise....I promise you.
Having been a student of the martial arts for 25 years now I have had the opportunity to earn a 3rd degree black belt in karate, a 1st dan in Tae kwon do, a 1st in Hapkido, and an advanced instructors level in Krav Maga. Save for Krav (which involved 7 days of getting the sh#% kicked out of you for 8 hours a day) each time I tested for a black belt I have had to break something. For me, each time it was concrete. And, I am just as guilty of making my students smash through inanimate objects. This drill isn't about showing how physically tough you are by beating up trees and rocks. If a school uses it that way they are SO missing the point. Its simply about mastering your own fears and mental blocks.
During my first black belt test the breaking portion was the very last thing you did. This was after 2 1/2 hours of intense physical work running through every technique you've ever learned, but performing them full blast into body shields....and then full contact bare knuckle kumite against the blacks belts that showed up for my test (which for me was 30 minutes worth of non stop 2 minute rounds). Yep, it was that kind of school :) But I digress, by the time they laid out the concrete brick in front of me I could barely lift my arms to the soaking wet brown belt at my waist. The thought of hitting ANYTHING that solid scared the living crap out of me! But, part of what you learn over 7 years training there was to master your mind and fears. So, what did I do? I summoned every last bit of strength and courage I had and smashed through that slab with a downward straight punch knuckles first. And yes...it hurt like hell :)
So, what is my tirad about today? Simply this, before you go judging other martial arts for what you "think" they are doing, take the time to learn why the do it. Breaking in this context (like described above) is no different than running the gauntlet in my first jits school to earn your blue belt (or any other belt). Rolling with every damn person on the mat takes a lot of mental toughness after a full class of training.
A true warrior does not limit himself or herself to what they "think" they know is the best. They train for a variety of circumstances. I would never give up a day that I have studied karate or krav maga just like I wouldn't give up a day of studying jiu jitsu, shooting or physical fitness. I may not have the opportunity to pick my battle field. If your a jiu jitsu enthusiast just remember that you may not get the chance to go to the ground and choke someone out, just like a karate practitioner my not have the option to stand up and knock your teeth out. Why wouldn't you want to have options?
A samurai spent his life studying a multitude of disciplines...why wouldn't you?
Dude, fantastic post.
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