Kung-Fu Beach

Mr. and Mrs. Conley have just recently spent a great deal of time on the Oregon coast enjoying marine life, light house hopping, and martial arts on the beach.

A lot in martial arts is taken for granted when a person trains in a building with flat floors and sheltering walls. The safety of the dojo can also be seen as a hinderance just as dangerous as an armed assailant. This thought comes from many concepts. One is a psychological one in which a person comes to the dojo to unpack and use the tools of the arts and, when finished, puts those tools away when leaving, not planning to unpack them until at the dojo again.

Another concept, and one more visibly proven, is the effect of the surroundings on an artist. Back to the dojo for a moment, there are walls and a ceiling, a nice flat floor to train on with no obstacles in the way, just open space all around. Safe.

Some of the things we encountered on the beach were immediate changes in our training routine; the shift of the sand under feet, strong winds checking our stances, driftwood and rocks along with other foot entangling obstacles, the waves testing our balance with every crash, bringing your foot back down from a kick to encounter a different terrain than when your foot left the ground...on top of these elemental challenges we enjoyed, there were others, the most notable of which is the human interaction. The onlookers that point and talk, the curious that stare, the insecure that mock, and the inquisitive children.

This is not the first time we have trained in the elements, not by a long shot, but it is the first time we have gotten to discuss it with you. We would strongly encourage outdoor training, be it at the beach or some other fantastic locale or simply at the park or your backyard. This will help you understand your relationship with your surroundings in an organic way as well as help you become comfortable unpacking your tools and using them whenever and wherever you are. Ultimately, the arts are not just for the dojo.

NO MORE TRAINING!

Martial arts is a phenomenon that has steadily swept the United States in the last couple decades and now, as it continues into its stellar orbit with the UFC and amateur MMA rings across the country, many people are getting into the art of whoop-ass. A lot of them actually do really well with their matches and get the ability to walk away with inflated egos that they fought hard to carry.
Some folks don't want to learn Jiu-Jitsu and take other classes like Tae Kwon Do or Karate in order to become better fighters. In addition to that, many boxers are stepping out of the hidden gyms. It seems that we are teaching our country how to fight and defend pretty adequately with no shortage of training camps.

• One thing I see less and less of, it seems, is the ability to teach that the arts are not for fighting, the arts are for peace. Training schools from any background churn out great athelets and fighters but where is the great discipline? What happened to great self control?
• What did the sensei teach the "karate guy" from Pensylvania who assaulted another man with a baseball bat? He made threats and followed up with violence!
• How about the woman from Arkansas that knocked out another girl and then, continued beating her while she was down. Where was the discipline training here?
• This problem even sits in the professional field of MMA (though, it rarely happens) with 'Rampage' Jackson and his driving antics. (Notice the support he gains from the reporter, this type of encouragement is trouble.)

I don't mean to imply that martial arts is a bad thing for our society. I would just like to see more responsibility coming from people that practice martial arts. As is the case with any undertaking in which you develop more power than others, without the self discipline to take on the power of martial arts and treat it (and now, yourself) as a weapon equally as dangerous as a shotgun, or a nuclear warhead, you are a danger to yourself and to those around you...including the people you love the most. I urge you to consider these things before taking up martial arts. If you are already in a school or training privately, please understand there is a time and place for war but peace is the desired result, not destruction. If you are a teacher, please consider teaching from the path of peace, even while training cage fighters.

Maybe it is a bit cheesy, but I often think about Spider-Man and the lesson he learned early in his crime fighting career that, "With great power, comes great responsibility."

What does God say about martial arts?

Image via Wikipedia

An interesting article was passed to me just yesterday from the religious magazine, Awake!, in which martial arts is discussed from a Christian standpoint. I will quote some from this article so, when you see the quotations, I am citing Awake!, June 2008's article, The Bible's Viewpoint- When is Self-Defense Justified? Before I go on, I would like to say that I am NOT Jehovah's Witness and tend to not deal with religions outside of Taoism while dealing in the arts.

The article starts out with a hypothetical situation in which a burglar breaks into the home. It then opens into sermon, saying "The Bible condemns violence and those who resort to it." From this point, I was already building up judgment of the article and had my defense mentally prepared, especially when the column stated, "The Bible observes: 'Where there is no wood the fire goes out, and when there is no slander contention grows still.' (Proverbs 26:20) Calmness often defuses anger and deflects violent confrontation." Again, my defenses were prepared, yet I continued reading, hoping that the 'turn the other cheek' method was not their answer in the event of a break-in.

The next paragraph not only raised my defenses but also my concerns. Is this magazine telling its readers not to raise arms ever?! Are these people learning to roll over and die if put into a life threatening situation?. I continued and, just over a paragraph later, I read, "The Bible thus indicates that a person may defend himself or his family if physically assaulted. He may ward off blows, restrain the attacker, or even strike a blow to stun or incapacitate him. The intention would be to neutralize the aggression or stop the attack." Now, I breathe a great sigh of relief. The explanation in the magazine goes on to clarify, "When escape is not possible, there is no Biblical injunction against reasonably defending ourselves. Still, the course of wisdom would be to do our best to avoid situations with a potential for violence." This is indeed wisdom and responsibility when providing information regarding martial arts to a large reading audience.

This is a wholesome mindset that every single person would benefit from, going into martial arts. We train to fight not for war, but to prevent war. I applaud the Awake! magazine for providing this article to its readers.

Escrima in action

Image via Wikipedia

Thanks to one of the adult class students and his desire to develop a relationship with the Escrima rather than 'learn how to use it', the Beginner's Mind Dojo has played training grounds for working on more than mere drills and exercises with the rattan sticks.

With proper safety gear, training escrima sticks and an open mind, free of damaging ego, teacher and student began working through thirty second drills of escrima fighting to further enhance the relationship and understand the combative nature of stick fighting. After each half minute round, we had a two minute break to share what each round has taught us and elevate one another's skill level.

When these micro rounds provided less threat, other elements of fighting were incorporated, including disarming, throws, and grappling. After developing a comfort level in this realm of fighting, an additional modifier was incorporated- multiple attackers.

Each element and modifier brought a different understanding of the escrima stick and its use in an applicable situation. Some of the important lessons learn today were as follows:

• If you lose your stick, don't waste too much time trying to retrieve it.
• The escrima loves momentum and movement, the more you feed it, the stronger it becomes.
• Don't spend a lot of time blocking your opponent, instead, block as you swing.

Though, each participant walked away with a couple more dings or bumps than before, every one enjoyed themselves and each person developed a better relationship with his escrima sticks.

Grab your own escrima. I have ordered through this place and enjoyed their service.


ALWAYS REMEMBER- TRAIN WITH A RESPONSIBILITY AND WITH A SKILLED INDIVIDUAL! Goofing off hurts people needlessly, so treat your weapons and friends with respect and don't attempt this sort of activity if you are untrained.

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Arts in the park

One of the great things about warm seasons is that, a school can take their training into outdoor environments without catching cold. It is exactly this that the Beginner's Mind crew did today!

The youth class turned the playground equipment from Tietan Park (in Walla Walla) into a junior Ninja Warrior obstacle course and ran a few rounds, modifying the course after each child has gotten their chance to succeed.

Though, this exercise seemed like a great thing, the adult class opted for challenges of their own as they worked punching and kicking drills while strengthening balance. Moving from mitt and resistance drills to escrima stickwork, the crew began their foray into Earth Six and then transitioned to some defense / combat work. Today was also sparring day, but rather than looking like a fight club in the park, BMD decided to flag spar, which was so successful, a pair of spectators eagerly jumped in for their own fun matches.

Thanks to all attendees and we look forward to training in the park more in the future!