| If you've ever seen or been a part of a conventional | | | | The secret here is that the professional has been at |
| martial arts program, one of the things you may | | | | his field for much longer and therefor developed |
| have noticed is the level of activity of the students | | | | better and more efficient ways to handle things. It's |
| according to rank. It seems like the white belts do | | | | only logical that he or she would be able to do more... |
| little to get results - they have the simple techniques | | | | ...much more... |
| - while the upper levels do more and more. And, | | | | ...without the same wear-and-tear that someone new |
| while this is in some ways normal and natural, it's the | | | | to the job would. The question is, |
| way each level comes off the floor at the end of | | | | ...if this is true in everyday life, why is it backwards in |
| class that makes the difference. | | | | the areas of martial arts and self-defense? |
| In my experience with conventional martial arts | | | | The truth is that, in a life-threatening situation, the |
| training in several disciplines, the picture was always | | | | key to winning involves the concept of "energy |
| the same. At the end of a typical class, the white | | | | conservation." That means that... |
| belts returned to the locker room practically | | | | ...the combatant with the greatest amount of energy |
| rumple-free, while the black belts were sweat-soaked | | | | or resources at the end, is the winner. |
| and sore. Now, this might be perfectly acceptable if | | | | You just don't have the benefit of taking the long |
| all we were talking about was organized fitness | | | | road and complicating things with longer strings of |
| classes, however; in the realm of self-protection and | | | | techniques and tricks when your well-being is on the |
| personal defense, there are several problems that | | | | line. The key is in finding more and more ways to cut |
| should be considered. | | | | corners and lessen the time and effort necessary for |
| To begin with, it's difficult to imagine that a martial | | | | escaping or controlling your opponent. This means |
| arts master or self-defense expert would be | | | | keeping the defensive situation under ten seconds - |
| expending more energy than someone who is | | | | under two or thee if possible - not two minutes as |
| relatively untrained. After all, in the real world, it's the | | | | most martial artists are used to in the context of |
| "new guy" on the job who is working harder to get | | | | sparring and sport competition. |
| the job done. You would never see the professional, | | | | In the realms of personal protection, efficiency is the |
| or the person with years of experience, working up | | | | key. When training for self-defense, learn to look for |
| a sweat. Even if a last-minute project came in with a | | | | ways to reduce the number of moves as you get |
| short deadline, you can just picture the rookie running | | | | better. |
| around trying to "do stuff," while the seasoned, | | | | "How can you do more with less?, is the important |
| experienced worker says, "Stop." | | | | question. |
| "Here's what we're going to do." | | | | In the long run, learning to "fight smarter, not harder" |
| "You do "steps 1 thru 3" and I'll do "steps 4 thru 7,..." | | | | should be more than a training idea. |
| "...and we'll still have time for two coffee breaks." | | | | It should be the serious student's motto. |