A recently added VLOG on the same topic. Listen to the one on video and read the one here. You’ll get more out of both.
When we take up a practice like the martial arts, specifically those styles where you are at least somewhat serious about protecting yourself, we train hard. We put in long hours with a lot of sweat and soreness. We love it. Truly. Or like so many people we’d quit after just a short time.
Part of the reason we put in all that energy is we want the assurance that, if we need to protect ourselves, we’ll have the skills necessary to do so.
As a teacher, it is always my goal that you’ll leave with something you can apply after every practice. Because of that promise to myself and you, I do everything within my power to keep pencak silat Pertempuran simple. Effective. Personal.
To do that I strive to keep my teaching clear, organized, and my skills growing and I know that’s true of the teachers that have earned their titles working with me. They all strive for excellence and I will not promote someone who is not performing their best.
But here’s the thing…I can do everything within my power to prepare you and you can do everything I ask of you in my training and we can all still be unprepared.
Preparedness is not a moment in time. Being. Prepared. Is a current state of living. It requires attendance. It requires study. It requires training. It requires practice. And it requires testing. (See previous blog post.) It doesn’t just happen.
What do I mean? Here are a few questions I’ll ask to get you started down the path of preparedness.
What kind of pants are you wearing right now?
Are they tight? Could you kick in them? Perform Siloh? Perform sliwa? Could you kick? In other words, does your everyday clothing restrict the skills you’ve been developing? If so, you must figure out what the boundaries are and be comfortable with them or change them in order to BE Prepared.
What kind of shoes are you wearing?
Are they heavy? Slick soled? Gripping? Go through the same process as you did previously with the pants. And so on, with all of your clothing.
When you go to a public place do you scan the area as you arrive?
As you exit your car-noticing the people around you?
As you approach the building do you keep aware?
As you walk down the street are you aware of the people behind you? On side streets?
Or is your head down looking at your phone or thinking about some OTHER place you are supposed to be?
When you’re stopped at an intersection are you aware of the other cars?
Are you aware of people on the street? Are you watching traffic?
Or are you mentally checked out listening to the radio?
When you notice someone do you scan for weapons?
Lumps under jackets and shirts? Are you aware of pocket clips?
Or are you somewhere else mentally?
When you sit in a restaurant do you choose to face as many people as possible?
The doorway? The exits?
Or do you leave it all to chance?
Being. Prepared. Is a living state. If you leave it to chance, then you are squandering the hard work you’ve put into your training. It’s not about living in fear, it’s about acknowledging what makes your training effective and setting your environment up in ways to utilize your strengths and bolster your potential.
Set Points are references for recovery, but they are also launching points for our own techniques! Take that idea and begin to apply it in your environment to reduce the variability that will leave you unprepared to use your training.
It is a failing in the martial arts, and in particular, self defense focused systems to resign ourselves to simply not knowing what will happen. It has been my own experience that combat is a relationship and while it is true that we must be responsive to the antagonist, it is also true that the antagonist must be responsive to you as well!
Guru Sean
#dirtyboxing #boxing #silat #combat
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