I ran upon this article and thought I would share it with the list.

Thoughts?

-Hal

http://www.aikidojournal.com/?author=9

Assumptions

by Toby Threadgill

Recently I was introduced to a gentleman interested in martial arts

training. He was not really aware of what I teach or of what constitutes

Nihon Koryu Jujutsu. He just assumed that because I taught it, that I must

believe it to be "the best". When I told him I did not believe the art I

taught to be "the best", an uncomfortable silence ensued. I finally broke

this taciturn moment by explaining that there is actually no such thing as a

"best" martial art. Despite a noble effort to grasp what I was talking

about, the gentleman in question eventually regressed, unable to shake the

impression that if I was not convinced that what I taught was superior to

all other forms of martial arts, that I was somehow unworthy of teaching

him. I politely encouraged him to look around, consider what I had said 

and contact me again if he had any further questions. A few days later I

received an e-mail from this gentleman in which he explained that he 

had indeed found someone convinced that they taught the ultimate style of

martial arts. It was called "mixed martial arts" because it embodied 

only the best of all the styles. I just smiled to myself as I politely 

responded, congratulating him on his fortuitous discovery.

An ultimate martial art, huh? Now there's an oxymoron for you. Every 

Martial art is ultimately based on assumptions. In fact any training program

formulated to address conflict is based on assumptions. It's kinda like 

the old joke about bringing a knife to a gun fight. No matter how good you 

are, your assumptions define your training paradigm. Narrow your assumptions 

and you specialize, gaining the opportunity to excel at one task. Broaden 

your assumptions and you might be able address many different situations but 

at what level of expertise? It's an intriguing dilemma isn't it? 

Specialize, and be defeated by someone outside your strengths. Be a generalist and 

Some specialist will hand you your head on a platter. What's a martial 

artist to do?

Years ago my teacher Yukio Takamura taught a seminar which touched upon 

This topic. The seminar subject was a comparison between sport budo and 

Classical budo. During the lunch break a young karateka & wrestler, I'll call 

Donny, loudly dismissed Takamura Sensei's teachings as antiquated nonsense. In

response to this pronouncement Takamura shook his head and chuckled 

while fiddling with his shoes. Donny, rather brash and full of bravado turned 

to Takamura Sensei and said, "Now don't get me wrong old man, your stuff 

is fun to watch and all but your jujutsu is no match for my karate and 

wrestling.

Takamura flashed a devilish smile at Donny and said, "Okay, show me". 

Donny backed off a bit at this unexpected challenge and said "Well, I'm not 

Going to fight you, you're too old. How about him" pointing at Dave Maynard.

Takamura responded "No, you were talking about my jujutsu, not his. I 

Want you to show me." Rather pensively Donny strolled out onto the dojo mat with 

Takamura Sensei as a hushed silence overtook the room. At first Donny

appeared reluctant to do anything but when he noticed that all eyes 

were on him he revved up his courage and proceeded to execute a very nice 

double leg takedown, climbing up on what at first appeared to be a rather startled

Takamura Sensei. As Donny attempted to continue his seemingly 

Successful offense we noticed something flick around Donny's neck. Suddenly, Donny

tried to pull away, his head turning as red as a ripe tomato. In a few

seconds he fell over wheezing. At that point we realized that a 

shoelace was resting tightly around Donny's neck. Where had it come from? Takamura 

had secreted the shoelace in his sleeve and then executed a simple choke 

with it. As he revived Donny from his impromptu slumber he explained to the

stunned witnesses that Donny had missed the point of the seminar 

altogether and made a dangerous assumption. He assumed that this was a contest 

with rules and that Takamura sensei was unarmed. The most interesting thing 

to me about this whole incident was that Takamura had deliberately pulled the

shoelace from his shoe, placed it in his sleeve in plain sight and not 

one of us noticed. What a lesson rich incident this was.....

Now I'm sure that some MMA proponents will roll their eyes at this 

Interlude and remark that it proves nothing. They will say venues like Pride and 

UFC prove you must do everything in budo well and that Takamura Sensei with a

 shoelace couldn't defeat the likes of Matt Hughes or Sakuraba. That's

probably true and sounds convincing enough but such a dismissal misses 

the point. The truth is that to be successful in a venue like the UFC your 

time is best spent training to confront the challenges you ASSUME you will 

meet in the ring. Training outside such an assumption is a waste of time.

However, drop a Portuguese knife fighter into the UFC ring and the 

Mixed martial arts guy will realize he's really not a mixed martial artist 

After all, but instead a specialist in unarmed sport conflict who hasn't 

"mixed" expertise in knife fighting into his supposedly mixed martial art...

Those nasty old assumptions ....

Now don't get me wrong, I greatly admire the technical efficacy and 

Extreme level of physical training the serious MMA practitioners like those in 

Pride or UFC display but outside the paradigm they train for they can be just 

As vulnerable as anyone else. It's not the individual version of MMA 

Itself that made guys like Rickson Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Sakuraba or Matt 

Hughes champions. It's really their creativity within each venues rules and 

The extreme level of training they have devoted to obtaining their skills. 

Each of these guys within the paradigm of what they do has trained himself 

to an extreme level. That's the real secret to the best style of 

budo.....Training intensity!

So don't get hung up in training in the ultimate martial art. You will 

Be chasing assumptions forever. Instead pick an art that makes assumptions 

In line with what you value or desire and then train with a level of 

Dedication equal to what you expect to get from your martial art. If you're a 

Police officer this will probably be a very different from a college 

professor.

In the case of the gentleman who contacted me in search of the ultimate

martial art, I guess it is human nature to seek out someone else's 

version of what's best when one has scant experience to base an opinion on, but 

it is amusing to note how many people studying martial arts beyond a 

beginners level fail to progress beyond the myopic view that there could be any 

such thing as an ultimate martial art.

Remember, the only accurate assumption in budo is that your assumptions 

Are never 100% correct.

Toby Threadgill

Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin-ryu