Martial Arts, MMA Gyms & Compete Self Defense
When the Question is More Important than the Answer
MMA vs. Traditional Martial Arts
What are you really looking for?
-
Does MMA Teach you THIS?! - Real Life Stories
In some circles of MMA, they teach an adrenal rush cannot be stopped. In real life, it can kill you.
The risk of dying from illness is 85x greater than violence; accidents nearly 4x. Where should you spend your time training?
Getting through Anaphylaxis with no Treatment
The benefits of training in martial arts and meditation became very clear to me when I first discovered I could have an anaphylactic reaction in a location where I could not access treatment.
This first thing you discover is you are about to pass out, but not in the normal sense. You are looking at serious damage. To prevent it, your heart springs into action, exploding and running well above 200 bpm. Your brain is foggy and you have to make a decision: panic or relax. Martial arts teaches you to have an immediate physiological response of relaxation - the opposite of an adrenal response - at the first signs of an emergency. Beginning a panic attack with your heart already running at 225 is not recommended if living is your goal.
The next chance came when my body told me it really didn't want to breathe. Rather than fight the process, I trusted that my body did not want to breathe for a reason, so again my immediate relaxation response allowed me to drop my respiration well below the limit issued by my reaction. There was no problem.
Standing was a challenge. The only way I could make it to the ground was by making my entire body like a whip, with my head at the tail end smashing full force while unconscious. In martial arts, you learn to ground yourself on one leg, where I was fine. As soon as I put weight between both legs, the crashing of the head scenario began. But I know home was grounded on one leg, and quickly jumped to safety.
Fortunately, my throat did not close, and in 15 minutes the symptoms began to release. Patience, meditation and deep breathing exercises when my body allowed brought me back to normality without any serious harm. I did speak with a doctor who assured me that many people, untrained, would not have had such a rosy outcome. I am grateful to have had good instruction in both disciplines and recognize the time in training was very well spent.
-
What is COMPLETE SELF DEFENSE?
From which Form of Death do you NOT want Protection?
Did you know that your risk of dying from a violent attack is less than 1%? Did you also know that your risk of dying by age 57 if you engage in heavy contact combat sports might be 7% vs. 1% for everyone else? Some MMA gyms and hard core self defense programs have intense exercise but don't focus on the mental disciplines. The benefits are very narrow and can have collateral damage. A deep understanding of martial arts is critical, or you risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak.
Lets take a closer look. People want to live long, healthy and happy lives. In traditional martial arts, self defense means to achieve precisely that - short run safety, long run health, peace and happiness. Both philosophy and an emphasis on improving health are part of the package. The approach works on all risks of dying. But if you strip out the philosophy and health benefits, you wind up only protecting yourself against the smallest risk (death by violent assault < 1%), while locking in long term health consequences with the most difficult exercise regime. Failure to understand the complete system of martial arts actually leads to minimum benefits with maximum effort. In martial arts, we do the opposite.
Defining Self Defense
Death by Violence less than 1% RiskContact Combat Sports Risk Long Run Health
Well Studied Similar Group: NFL -
Traditional Martial Arts are COMPLETE SELF DEFENSE
How Traditional Martial Arts Work
The stripped down combat approach may focus on techniques and heavy conditioning. But the philosophy of traditional martial arts focuses first on reducing the risk of ever being assaulted - for example, the instruction that "the best self defense is not being there." Reducing your own anger and building kindness in your day to day lifestyle, for example, can open a door to turn would be attackers into friends and make you happier in general. Improved situational awareness and respect for the possibility of being attacked leads to decisions that further reduces the danger.
Then there is the emphasis on reducing injury and improving health. These are the more mainstream threats that people face. Tai chi is known for it's health benefits, and Aikido teaches safe falling while it is designed as appropriate exercise across the age spectrum. Improved general awareness reduces risks for auto and other accidents. The exercise also reduces the desire and propensity to become seriously overweight, as is roughly 70% of the population. This approach is well suited for most Americans as it avoids serious injury and health issues while providing healthy exercise for a lifetime.
One question is whether gyms are different from traditional martial arts or not. We don't define MMA so much by its physical training method as opposed to the mental discipline involved. MMA can be taught as a traditional martial art or self defense techniques. But if the latter, the benefits are limited and come with collateral damage.
Best Martial Art
What is the best martial art for you?Some people believe there is a "best martial art" - coincidentally the one they practice. In a sense this is true. The one YOU practice is the best martial art for YOU. The physical movements of any martial art can become effective if you train in it regularly and embed the reactions in your muscle memory. The point is to find the martial art that speaks to your disposition so you will train in it for a long period of time.
So if you feel called to increase your sense of safety, health and confidence, you might consider traditional martial arts as an efficient approach offering a wide spectrum of benefits over a long period of time. In fact, achieving a similar assortment of benefits with only one practice is difficult to duplicate.
