The myth of the martial arts expert

The myth of the martial arts expert.

We all know one. You can’t open your front door anymore without falling over a 12yr old 4^th dan black belt. Or even worse, the instructor that claims to know how to disarm a knife wielding attacker when the nearest they have ever come to real danger is waving a shock knife around in a sports hall. The unspoken truth is that a lot of black belts can’t fight. I mean that they can perform well in a stylised, sanitised version of combat, but in the outside world they would come unstuck very quickly. I know this will offend some people, but I think it is a fair statement.

The absurdity of the situation is beyond ludicrous. Imagine taking your child to swimming lessons where the instructor has never been in a swimming pool, but once a wise man described swimming to him and now he is convinced he is the best swimmer ever and loudly decries anyone who thinks you can swim in a different way.

Welcome to the world of the martial art expert. Now I am not saying that genuine experts don’t exist as they do, I am also not saying I am one, but at least I have been in the proverbial pool.

 My beef is with the so-called experts that have never done the things they teach, never had what they think they know tested for real, never had to perform their made-up techniques under stress and genuine fear. Yet these types are the first and loudest when it comes to rubbishing other people.  

My beef is with the buy a black belt mentality that has run rampant through a lot of martial arts. I have always believed the teacher student relationship to be far more than just a financial transaction.

You don’t buy a black belt, you earn one!

My beef is with the martial arts that claim to be self-defence, but in reality would get people hurt. On its most basic level punching another human being with handwraps and gloves on is a completely different thing to punching a person with a bare unprotected hand. Giving someone that false sense of ability in themselves is not only dangerous but immoral. Misrepresenting and lying about a product in any other industry would be a criminal offence.

Modern day experts are out there but they are overshadowed by the self-proclaimed masses all claiming to know everything and anyone else is wrong. Martial arts are famous for it. In a future utopian world we would have experts in sport fighting, self-defence, traditional arts and everything in-between all admitting the limitations of what they do while acknowledging the worth of other ways of doing things. But I fear it will never happen as it is easier to sit behind a laptop furiously typing about how the “expert” knows better than it is to push yourself through the physical and mental boundaries required to become one.