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Kit LeBlanc
12th July 2001, 18:12
Reading through the posts of Stephen Sweetlove, Ken Good, and James Williams in the SCARS thread (will it EVER die?) brought to mind one of the areas that I am deeply interested in with the interconnection of classical martial arts and modern CQB training: Mindset.

One of the articles that really got me interested in delving further into classical Japanese martial arts traditions was Dr. David Hall's "Marishiten: Buddhist Influences on Combative Behavior" in Meik and Diane Skoss' Koryu Bujutsu. I was also very intrigued after reading Bruce Siddle's final chapter in his Sharpening the Warrior's Edge; Survival Mindset.

Something of the sort popped up last night when I watched CHOKE for the first time. For those unaware, CHOKE is the story of the 1995 Vale Tudo (Brazilian for "all in fighting") championships in Japan. The video follows primarily Rickson Gracie but also an American and a Japanese fighter in their preparation for this event.

The pieces on Rickson are fascinating. Here is a man who is arguably the world's best mixed martial arts fighter, in an art that many here at E-Budo would not even consider "Budo," yet who certainly treats his family's version of the jujutsu discipline as a way of life bordering on the religious.

In CHOKE Rickson talks about many things involving his mindset and his view of the body/mind connection, heavily laced with yogic practices and ideas that are far more traditional than many would realize. Yet he has seamlessly melded this onto a practical and no-nonsense modern fighting art and sport.

Clearly Ken has explored this in the midst of force on force encounters and real world situations with his comments on breath control and fear. I think controlling fear and the adrenal response are at the core of the esoteric aspect of the classical combative arts.

So how important do you all think the esoteric aspect is for real world CQB encounters?

Personally I view it as of paramount importance, but I do not think it is confined to the Indo-Sino-Japanese approach. Rather I believe that the same concepts and principles are operative and that individual cultures fit their understanding of the same emotional and physiological experiences into their own paradigms.


Kit

Rhomyn Escalante
12th July 2001, 20:45
The word esoteric just doesn't quite fit what your getting at. Your position is much deeper and I don't know if you can explain it in English much less describing it without getting into metaphysics, but you are absolutely on the right track. If you could nail it, write a book about it. And with out a doubt, it is the most important aspect of surving CQC/B over a life time.

Kit LeBlanc
13th July 2001, 05:37
Rhomyn, for your input, it is particulary welcomed as you are among those who truly have "been there done that."

I guess I said esoteric because I think in traditional arts this is where it seems the highest level teachings come in...controlling your own mind and dominating your enemy's. Since the East Asian (Sino-Japanese, that is) traditions were based in Buddhist, Taoist and Shinto paradigms they borrowed the practices and psychological terms and concepts from the religious traditions and applied it to their experience dealing with the stress of combat and trying to understand it (the Chinese martial classics, for example, are full of this stuff.)

Using such practices, meditations, visualizations, etc. seem to have a lot to do with the religious experience in these cultures, or at least were described from that point of reference, and thus I think are seen as *esoteric* when in fact they are about at mundane and primal as you can get. It seems a lot the "secret" teachings and the explanations for the phenomena that many people assign mystical qualities to in martial arts practice are pretty commonly encountered stuff if you have had enough experience in high stress situations; or when encountered meditatively the physical manifestation mimics the adrenal dump. As Ken as so aptly demonstrated, it is all in how you understand it, and what you do with it.

There is definitely a book there, but I am a relative novice and in no position to write it. I would love to see someone with both the scholarly knowledge and the practical experience tackle it, though.

Kit

Derek McDonald
13th July 2001, 21:28
Kit,

Your post got me to thinking about my own efforts to control fear, my reactions, and/or my adrenal response. I’d like to add some rambling thoughts related to the subject of fear and its mastery.

I’ve enjoyed watching CHOKE more than once, and Rickson really stands out as the Eye of the Hurricane. Very professional, focused, and seemingly detached from the outcome of each match. Hmm…what is the difference between Rickson and me (there are many obvious ones, but lets play along). Rickson began training as a family tradition, probably before he had his first playground fight and attendant adrenal dump. Many of us (myself at least) had a very unpleasant first experience of fighting, whether it was with a playground bully or a heavy-handed father. Sometimes these experiences led us to the practice of martial arts. Maybe the result of this first-experience is a deep-seated memory we spend the rest of our life either overcoming or capitalizing on.

Rickson trains on a regular basis in an art that is practiced with an opponent in much the same way as a real altercation would occur. In my first art, less than 10% of the class time was devoted to actual conflict with a partner and most of that 10% was fairly structured and unrealistic.

I guess what I’m saying is that Rickson has a lot of realistic experience (even before he entered his first competition) and he also seems less concerned with being beaten then with just being as good as he can be. Which, incidentally, is where I often find myself coming up short when grappling with a partner. When I find myself being dominated by my grappling partner I go into a "survival" or "shark" mode where winning becomes secondary to "not losing", in other words I become very attached to a particular outcome. When that happens I fall back on my tried and true techniques, and win or lose, I rarely learn anything that makes me a better grappler. My current focus is to let go of this behavior even if it means (gulp) allowing myself to be submitted and feeling like I am out of control (like most behaviors, this pattern shows itself elsewhere in my life). Even my use of the terms "winning" and "losing" is indicative of a mindset that may not be the ultimate expression of my human potential. And that’s what I see when Rickson grapples--no fear, no attachment--just a professional who loves his art and wants to see how far it will take him.

Maybe we should talk about fear. It’s an emotion right? And where does an emotion exist, does it have a physical structure, can it be seen, or touched? No, it only exists because we allow it to. They say that we are only born with two fears: loud noises and falling. So where do the rest come from? Obviously, they are either taught to us by others or by ourselves. In which case we should be able to re-train ourselves with a behavior that better serves us.

Ever have one of those traffic encounters that make your hand and middle finger act on their own? I have, and it seems that the chain of events goes like this: Other driver does something that may or may not be directed at me (cuts me off, slams on brakes) I perceive a threat (either to my body or sense of self) and am momentarily fearful (this starts in my brain as an interpretation). I then feel a massive surge of energy (chi/ki) that starts in my gut and moves up into my chest, this is followed almost immediately by an adrenal dump, then I lose control and shed some of that energy by frothing at the mouth and saluting in the Italian fashion. The whole experience is similar to what I would imagine a demonic possession would be.

The good news is that I no longer (almost) have those reactions to the actions of other drivers. That started as soon as I realized how ridiculous it was to take these events personally, as soon as I had detachment I had calm, and with it, control.

So based on these observations, experiences I have had through meditation (not contemplation or concentration), and general life experience I draw the following conclusions about how one might train themselves to fight without fear.

1) Recognize the underlying source(s) of your own fear (know thy self)

2) Don’t take the opponent’s actions personally (detachment)

3) Don’t worry about the outcome--focus on the process (mindfulness)

4) Practice control over the life energy within your own body (call it chi, electricity, spirit, atomic resonance, whatever).

5) Meditate on a daily basis to give your mind the experience of "no-mind"

6) Practice regularly and realistically

[b]So how important do you all think the esoteric aspect is for real world CQB encounters?[b/]

Very. In fact, I think it would be safe to say that these so-called esoteric aspects would be useful in the full experience of any aspect of human life. The first thing that comes to mind being interpersonal relationships. Who among us has not, at one time or another, had an encounter with a spouse during which we experienced most, if not all, of the psychological and physiological stresses encountered in combat?

I have had some exposure to the principles of Aiki (which many would consider esoteric) such as blending with an opponent, circumnavigating force and realigning from behind, not defending at the point of attack, taking the center, etc. Far from being esoteric, these concepts--which simply recognize the laws of physics—are so obvious as to illicit the DOH! response. Again, not only do these concepts seem well suited to battle, but to the overall experience of life as well. So why are they so hard to put to practical application? In my case at least, it’s because I can’t seem to get out of my own way. To paraphrase Pogo, "We have seen the enemy and he is us."

Respectfully,

Derek McDonald