COMPETITION AND DEMO TEAM

Many of our athletes compete in different ranges( kickboxing, grappling, stick-fighting, etc.) and rules, even at different ages and stages of their lives. Here at SACAN, Competition is not pushed, but if it is your journey then we will walk it with you, for others maybe fighting to get to work or the gym on time is enough. Enjoy!!!!

WHAT IS A FIGHTER?
by DARIN WAUGH

   One of the most frequent subjects of conversation among martial arts has to do with how good or bad a person fights. One person may be noted for being a good kicker, and another for having weak blocks, etc. Every martial artist has his/her own strengths and weaknesses and at one time or another martial artists questions, such as, what is a fight, why do people fight, and what is a fighter, they may make some enlightening discoveries that may cause them to question what they once took for granted in conversation.

     We have a pretty good idea why man fights. Desmond Morris, in his book The Naked Ape, says man fights for two reasons: "either to establish dominance in a social hierarchy, or establish territorial rights over a particular piece of ground." Man has also taken that "instinct" to fight and transformed it into competition.

     We also have some idea of what a fight is. If two or more people try to do physical harm to each other, then they are fighting.

     What isn't so easy to answer is the question, what is a fighter? A person could spend hours searching his martial arts reference books and periodicals trying to find an answer to this question. More than likely, he'll find there isn't one. he won't even find one in boxing books. Since it's difficult to find an accepted or consistent definition of a fighter, each individual martial artist is left to formulate his own definition of what the title "fighter" means. The objective of this article is to better understand the person called a "fighter," by explaining what a fighter is, and what the differences are between a fighter and a martial artist.

          One way to better understand the fighter is to use the perspective of educational ethics. Educational ethics is the branch of educational philosophy that tries to determine the right/wrong ethical approach to teaching. Educational ethics has found that students can be taught in two general ways. First, whether in elementary school or in a martial arts class, students can be taught "that." In other words, students can be given information or facts about a subject. For example, students can be told that karate means, "empty hand," Second, they can be taught skills, such as addition and subtraction,, or how to do a front punch or a kick. What students can't be taught is "to like something" It's very difficult or impossible to reach students "to: like arithmetic or " to" be a fighter. A teacher can motivate a student to do math, but whether or not the student decides to enjoy math is entirely up to the student. The distinction here is that students can be taught what fighting involves and how to fight, but they can't be taught to possess all the inherent attributes that a fighter has.

     In his book The Five Rings, the legendary swordsman, Miyamoto Musasi also believed that a person can't be taught to be a fighter. "One cannot be taught fighting spirit and willpower," he said. Wanting to be a fighter is a need that emanates from within the person. He is intrinsically motivated to fight. He loves to fight, or has a habit of fighting. The desire to fight is a part of that person's makeup, just like becoming a lawyer is part of another's personality. This intrinsic force has driven past fighting champions, and many people who may or may not be in the ring today. (They may be fighting on the street, in competition, or on the battlefield.)

     A fighter has a desire to fight. This creates a dividing line between martial artists who practice little or no fighting or sparring (competition or otherwise), and those who spar, compete, or brawl on the street on a regular basis. The difference is in how they are internally motivated to perform or practice. They may just fight, or practice martial arts for other reasons than to fight - self-defense, physical fitness, character development, or discipline, etc. Some martial artists train to fight for a number of reasons. Most types of martial artists including the "fighter" and the "artist," should be respected for their chosen "emphasis" and areas of expertise. But many martial artist may be shocked to discover that they are not fighters! Just being a martial artist doesn't automatically qualify them as a fighter.

     This idea of the separation between a fighter and a martial artist can be taken a step further. Although it's true that martial artists train in order to transform their minds and bodies into fighting machines, the biggest irony in martial arts is that they are often taught to reject fighting. "Never defeated means never to have fought," Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba tells us, "To win 100 victories in 100 battles is not the highest skill, to subdue the enemy without fighting is," says karate's father Gishin Funakoshi. Other bits of philosophical advice such are: "one should walk away from a fight," or "the best techniques are the ones you never have to use," or " the best defense is no defense," (These are so common that it's difficult to identify who first said them.) This humanitarian philosophy behind martial arts training is supposed to take away the need to fight. A person should be happy knowing that he can fight - to take care of and protect his territory and family. A purely philosophical martial arts should only be used in self-defense. Thus, he is left with the "confidence" and discipline" to think he can fight.

     It's helpful now to turn to thee Random House Dictionary, to clarify even more the difference between a martial artist and a fighter. It fives three definitions of what a "fighter" is. The first definition says " a professional boxer." Thee second describes a military aircraft, and the third says " a person having the will to struggle or resist."

     The reference made to the boxer is very valid - boxing has it easy in defining what a fighter is, much easier than martial arts. Boxers train and then they fight, making them fighters. They fight in the competition format, but they are fighting! Training is important here, because combat cannot be separated from training. Even street fighters will do some type of training, no matter how subtle it may appear. Again, a majority of martial artists train to fight, but may not fight. Are they fighters? Boxing gives us the most important clue as to what a fighter is. The fact that in order to be called a fighter, one must train to fight and than actually fight!

     Boxing isn't the only form of competition fighting. Trying to pinpoint what a fighter is, has been made more difficult because of the various types of competitions, each creating a different type of fighter. Competitors are place into categories such as point karate, semi-contact karate, kick-boxer, street fighter, judo-player, etc. This complicates trying to understand the fighter because there are so may different motivations for training and competing. For example, point tournament fighters are often accused of being in "a game of tag." So, are they fighters? Yes, they are point-fighters, providing they "point fight" on a regular basis, but they may not be a total "fighter." Thee word or concept, "fighter," can't be defined as "one who trains and fights in point-karate tournaments." This logic holds true for all categories of fighters. If a person is called a street fighter, then he needs to train and fight on the street (and save his money to post bail and for lawyer fees).

     Studying only one type of fighting will produce a biased view of what a fighter is, just as a fighter with a certain competition "title," is not (in most cases) a complete fighter, but a biased fighter. No fighting system or competition form of fighting, including boxing, knows or incorporates all the multifaceted and limitless possibilities or views of human combat. Therefore, the "total: fighter can never exist. The fighter who can come the closest to being a total fighter is able to, through training and combat tests of skill, cross the boundaries of one type of competition and be successful in every area of competition or street fight he encounters. One such artist, Benny Urquidez, has fought successfully in point and full-contact karate, and even Thai Boxing. He and others like him give the martial arts community someone to be proud of, and are held in high regard.

     Beyond training and fighting on a regular basis, and having the internal drive to fight, a fighter must know the reality of fighting. The reality of fighting is found in the raw emotion and motion of human combat. Being a fighter is tapping into one's killer instinct, and controlling it with the use of functional and flowing technique. It is one of the ultimate tests of human spirit and will. It requires one to forgo ego, and all thoughts of self, in order to see reality. A fighter commands fear. He doesn't fear the fight. He know confidence and winning attitude allows him to always give his all, persisting through pain and other personal hardships. A fighter is constantly learning and improving to meet bigger challenges, or obtain higher levels of skill, and is always decreasing the limitations of his own fighting knowledge. This must come from training, experiencing "the fight," and being aware of and utilizing human emotion. Without knowing the emotion and motion of the reality of fighting, a person cannot go beyond "fighting" to reach the higher levels of martial art. A person may know the "art" in martial arts, and be fully capable of fighting, but not know the "martial" or "fighting" part of it. If he never experiences the fight. He must experience it in order to know whether or not he can exist there.

     The answer to the question, "what is a fighter," requires that martial artists look closely at themselves and what they in the past have assumed a fighter to be. To say that a person is a fighter, just because he studies martial arts, may indeed just create a false sense of security. The word "fighter" is difficult to define objectively because it's used to categorize any number of different types of fighters, fighting competitions, and a person's willingness to persist. If a person is concerned about the reality of fighting (being able to apply his marital arts skills in actual full-contact situations), gears his training towards this goal by training as close to reality as possible, and competes in actual tests of skill on a frequent basis, then he is a fighter. Anything less means that he must take on a competition title, or embrace the philosophical side of martial arts that de-emphasizes fighting. Again, it's necessary to accept that a fighter....fights!

*(Note: This article was written before the advent of mixed martial arts fighting events, in which we now see many fighters who are able to fight in all ranges)

                 

THE ONE PERCENTERS - Martial Artist Above the Norm
Concept-Neal Rowe/ Alex Trinadad
Written by Darin Waugh                        

     It's sad to report, but not only does martial arts have a high drop-out rate in general, but of those who stay in martial arts past five years, very few become an elite practitioner. At Sacan Martial Arts we encourage you to become a "One Percenter (1%)" -that rare practitioner who takes martial arts to a very high level. Exactly what is a 1%er and how does a martial artist develop the unusual drive to become one, is a fantastic journey that is only briefly explained in this article.

     Most people who study martial arts are content with attending classes and learning their chosen system or systems of martial arts. They don't have the need or desire to change anything about what they are learning. They are satisfied with the benefits of the physical and mental training that martial arts offers and to do what ever their instructors ask of them Essentially then, they practice the art as many before them have and as many in the future will, without changing anything and without making the art personal or unique to themselves. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with this, most arts have gone through many years of development, and are effective for both self-defense and for health benefits. But, for those few who are driven by some internal force to create a unique experience and expression of martial arts training, fighting and teaching _ they have to step out of the role of follower and become a leader.

     To make this transition from typical practitioner to 1%er, one has to do much more than just workout, spar and participate in fighting competitions. The 1%er makes a commitment to a larger and broader practice of martial arts -- to look at martial arts as one does a higher education and then ultimately pass along the wisdom he/she has obtained in unique ways.

     So how does on become a 1%er? There are three basic steps. Obviously, the 1%er needs to train hard and gain a solid advanced knowledge of martial arts technique, fighting, training, and philosophy. But, 1%ers must be more than just a great martial artists on a physical level, For there are many examples of martial artists who are great fighters, but don't contribute much to the development and promotion of martial arts. 1%ers are pioneers, who find ways to be unique, by not only developing superb physical skill, but solid innovative philosophies and training methods to go with their skills.

     Secondly, to open new doors in the practice and thinking in martial arts, the 1%er has to spend time outside of physical training in personal growth and in the propagation of the knowledge and philosophical side of the martial arts. Approach your life as a martial artist as if you would a college education. Find good teachers and mentors and spend time studying, reading, and writing.

     Thirdly, the 1%er gets involved in promoting the martial arts by doing such things as teaching sponsoring martial arts events, writing books producing training videos, etc. Some 1%ers go on to even create their own martial arts systems. Here's a list of some of the activities that one can do on their path to becoming a 1%er.

Study different types of philosophy
Become a personal trainer
Get a degree in sports science, philosophy or martial arts, etc.
Run a martial arts school
Write martial arts books
Start a martial arts organization
Study martial arts, in different countries
Study alternative medicine, meditation, and self-help
Create martial arts products to market
Find a mentor - emulate a hero
Experience Martial arts at an extreme, such as Ultimate Fighting- MMA When one percent is a high accomplishment, it means that the martial artist does what the ordinary martial artist is not motivated to do. Enjoy the journey!

For question or comments on articles contact Darin Waugh JKDMan@aol.com