Ever since martial arts was commercialised, there are lots of opinions and ideologies about it roaming around. Unfortunately not all are true so I wanna clear a few up.
1. You can't beat an army
Sure, Tony Jaa fights through an entire building full of bad guys in Tom Yung Goon. Michael Jai White fought a bunch of cops while handcuffed in Never Back Down 2. But it doesn't work in real life. It is crazy difficult to fight multiple opponents together. My sensei always told me, if you're against more than 2 guys, you're best weapons are your legs, by which he meant, run.
Unless you're a super specialist who know 5 or 6 martial arts, like Bruce Lee, don't try to fight.
2. A black belt isn't the end
The prestigious black belt, every karate kid dreams of having one. Even I was excited when I earned mine. But my sensei looked at me and said, this is not the end. It's only the beginning. The black belt doesn't miraculously make you and expert, the real deal starts after it. The black belt only means you have learnt all the basics necessary to practice the proper teachings.
3. Fighting takes time
Mr. Miyagi prepared Daniel to fight Johnny in a matter of months. Daniel wins even though Johnny has years of experience over him. Reality is not as inspiring. You can't learn a few punches and kicks today and win fights tomorrow. It takes a years of practice. My sensei said I had a gift for the martial arts but still made me train for 3 years before he let me compete in a fight. You need proper technique, endurance, conditioning, the sharpened senses. Even after so much practice, I couldn't score in my first fight and washed out in the try outs. It took me another year before I was a proper fighter. It takes time.
4. Beware of McDojos
This one is more of a warning. After martial arts became popular, there seemed to be loads of dojos opening everywhere. And some promised black belts unusually quick. I remember seeing a kid in my school who was in second grade and already a black belt, whereas it takes at least 4 to 8 years to complete a black belt in karate. I talked to him, expecting him to some prodigy but the kid had no idea of many basic principles. He studied at a dojo where they just had to pay and receive a belt for a few tricks. Such dojos teach useless and bad techniques which may have dangerous outcomes.
A few signs of a fake dojo are:
They value money over knowledge.
Which means they value how much money they gained rather than how much you have learnt.
They do not teach based on reality.
They teach practically according the world, not according a person's perception of the world.
Quality over quantity.
They place emphasis on how much you do rather than what you.
Thank you for reading and I hope to see your views on this.
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