Category Archives: Martial Arts & Combat Sports

Martial Arts and Language

Martial arts are, or at least should be, a lot like language. Although one important long-term goal may be controlling an opponent, be that in linguistic debate or physical confrontation, this cannot be done without first learning to control oneself. In both practices, this largely means mastery of the fundamentals, initially without resistance from an interlocutor or adversary. From there, the process is simple—though far from easy—and largely consists of the progressive addition of adaptive resistance. The period and intensity necessary will always vary according to the individual practitioner, however, all must learn and practice effective communication—verbal and/or physical conversation—for a significant period of time prior to achieving any sort of reliability and repeatability when attempting to influence another individual’s ideas or actions. Non sequiturs and violent outbursts seldom result in desirable outcomes. 

I learn and teach languages for a living. I learn and teach martial arts for life. Both are extremely important to me, and with the passing of time I find myself increasingly unwilling to countenance unsound practices and beliefs in either realm.  

I do not search for Systema videos (and there are plenty of other martial arts out there to which the present discussion applies), but they share the dubious distinctions of crossing my feed most often and being the most patently risible. I do think in analogies, and the following recently occurred to me: spurious martial arts are essentially equivalent to glossolalia.

Both are specious theatrics devoid of true meaning or content. One cannot learn or practice glossolalia; it has no alphabet, no grammar, in short, no fundamentals. And one cannot communicate using glossolalia; observe the charlatans in the videos below reverting back to English each and every time actual communication is necessary. https://youtu.be/cQ4114XO-Xo. https://youtu.be/g6how8Sp4jg. And while I am sure many people actually do learn and practice Systema, the remainder of the analogy holds. The painfully representative Systema demonstration below, like glossolalia, is supposed to depict a series of spontaneous and meaningful reactions in the moment. https://youtu.be/lJp5AwTmyTg. What is actually happening in both cases, however, is more akin to a folie a deux.

In closing, and in rather tedious expectation of all the stock attempted rebuttals, I will return to the language analogy. There are, of course, many martial arts that fall somewhere along the spectrum between truth and absurdity. But even many of those with the more realistic-looking solo and partner exercises tend to be much more like a memorized speech or dialogue—nearly always written long ago and by someone else—than an actual, alive conversation. They can often neither be added to nor built upon, only regurgitated, and in a completely staged manner at that. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with getting excited over a well-performed kata or djuru or preset drill, but it is really no different from marveling at a well-performed Shakespeare play: someone else already wrote it; everyone else is just acting.   

  • John Frankl (John holds a PhD from Harvard in Korean literature, and is the head instructor for SBG Korea)

What is a “Dead-Pattern”?

What does the term “dead-pattern” mean when applied to martial arts?

It means the direct opposite of Aliveness.

The video below is a textbook example of dead-pattern training.

Watch the feeder, not the one doing the demonstration.

Note how he locks out his arm in a manner no attacker on earth would ever use – allowing the fantasy-based martial arts instructor to add in all his make-believe movement.

Listen to the verbiage. Hear all the boy-speak?

You will hear him talk about how this blow will break such and such bone, or how this move will allow you to “kill” the attacker. It is all nonsense, it’s all childish bravado. However, that ad-copy helps sell the delusion to scared and insecure people. People, mostly boys and men, who would otherwise benefit massively from functional martial arts, i.e. combat sports training.

Nothing good will come from this.

You’re learning habits that you’ll have to break if you ever do engage in functional training.

You’re developing a false sense of confidence that, at best, will waste your precious time, and at worst, get you seriously hurt.

And, in the case of the instructor, you’re making the world a little more ignorant, rather than a little more enlightened. You are moving those asking for help further away from the solution.

It’s never hard to see through all this if you’re honest with yourself, and you know what to look for.

Ignoring it isn’t kind or polite, it’s generally apathetic. What would you say to someone you really cared about, when it comes to this sort of training? Would you let your daughter train this way?

Consider that before you drop the flippant and dishonest line that “All arts have something good to offer.”

Be kind. Tell the truth. 🦍💡

SBG Korea head coach, John Frankl and I discussed this specific topic in the spring of 2018. Coach John is a teacher by both profession and hobby. He is professor of Korean literature, with a graduate degree from Harvard, and, a world-class BJJ coach who has been extremely influential to SBG’s curriculum over the years. His insights are worth listening to.

If you’ve ever wondered just how honest is too honest, you will probably enjoy our discussion: