Seen it all, the good, the bad, and the ugly in martial arts. I’ve meet some really extraordinary martial artists, Fighters, Grappler’s, Wrestlers, Boxers, Kung fu guys, Filipino and Military guys and seen just as many posers..cliques…quitters…and fakes.
If you say you are a martial artist, and have tried local, national, or international competitions, I have a lot of admiration for you as you have tried being a part of the greater martial arts community.
If you call yourself a martial artist, but never tried to compete under pressure, I probably don’t like you, and def won’t take you very seriously.
The martial artist who has done sport fights, testing their skills in a legal “As real as it gets” competition, with full power striking and grappling, has my admiration. If you haven’t done that, and you talk all kinds of gameness, I probably don’t like you.
If you go by Oriental titles like: Sifu, Sensei, Guru, Arjan, Kru, Lao Shir, or what have you…and are a well known fighter, (a fighter needing no verification). Good things are: the fighter is part of a fighting circuit, fight organizations that have regular competitions, boxing, kickboxing, kung fu events. Someone whose done the hard work, and did Bashi ceremony with a legit Master, I have a lot of respect for you. If you are one of those jokers giving yourself Oriental titles and you come from questionable lineages, and shady sources, I def do not have much respect for you.
If you have a school, are generating good fighters, competitors, and students, I admire your work. If you have a shady cult, attracting lost and confused students, and putting untrained students in fight events where they get their ass kicked in less than 30 seconds, you def have no business training fighters.
If you are a martial artist who has trained for many years, 3-6 days a week under the scrutiny of a trained martial artist and fighter, and who has dedicated him or herself to a school and lineage, in addition to having undergone the training and hard work under pressure, sweat, and blood, I probably already know you’re awesome, and you are A-OK with me. Props to you! The so-called martial artist who learned from a video, online membership program, DVD’s and books…and never been to a school regularly…you def do not have my admiration.
The martial artist who shows success in their life, having a good following, good relationships, good way of life, lives the kung fu life, the MMA/Muay Thai/Boxing life, or the Taiji life. Someone who is a good spouse, good parent, good instructor and teacher, good finances, and honest income… this shows me a high level lifestyle. If you are one of those guys always scamming for money, still living off your parents, living in mom’s basement, and teaching in their backyard or garage…something ain’t right with you.
The martial artist who watches, trains, learns from combative sports like Boxing, Muay Thai, MMA, realistic military systems (like Navy Seals, Army Combatives, Systema, Krav Maga), pressure testing like BJJ rolling, wrestling, Judo, Sambo, various competitions like K-1, UFC, Price, San shou, Sanda, Lei Tai, stick fighting, Vale Tudo, Pancrase, have a major advantage and I respect those guys who undergo the hard work which will prepare them in life for anything. The ones who talk about how combat sports as if they are “not the real thing” or “my art is do deadly for sport fighting” are just not in tune with the world and reality.
The martial artist who is also in the military or law enforcement, has my respect. The martial artist who claims mastery without real experience in the field, just won’t have my respect.
The martial artist that goes to open sparring events, open push hands, and/or park practices that is there to learn, get, and give pointers, is much more better than the guy who spazzes out and tries to win every melee. Most of these events are not for sanctioned competition. There is a difference in these types of players who just want train vs. guys to win and hurt others. Sometimes you have to give them a “taste of their own medicine” and then they chill out and start behaving when you give them a good whack or push. Likewise, if you go to the park and the teacher is teaching a particular style or lesson, just go along with it. Some people have gone to the park, say they learned from a particular master, then proceed to demonstrate B.S. forms. Moral of the lesson: good martial artists drop the ego and can read the situation. If you want to play hard, then agree on it before sparring, rolling/grappling, or “touching hands/gloves”.
The martial artist who started as a white belt/sash and finished as a black belt/sash, has a ton of my respect as long as they did the hard work, tested and trained under many years. The guy who bought a black sash or paid a lot of money for it without deserving it, or even worse: being one of those martial artists who doesn’t believe nor has done a ranking system with “our system doesn’t have testing, black belt means nothing” will not be someone I’m interested in. A Black belt is a white belt who didn’t quit.
The martial artist who walks the talk and has ‘been there and done that’ in terms of fighting and competition experience, has a ton of respect. The guys who talk a good game on forums, yet have not competition experience, videos, and critical of other peoples video, does not have my respect.
The martial artist that comes from a recognizable lineage is 1000x much more worthy than the martial artist that comes from questionable sources. Do you want to learn a martial art or do you want to learn magic, wizardry, and a bunch of hocus pocus with your martial art?
The martial artist who trains hard, lives a healthy lifestyle, eats healthy, maintains good fitness and strength in body into old age, is way better than the martial artist with a huge beer belly, eats fast food, and other unhealthy choices, with lifestyle issues, medical problems, weird character traits, and mental personality issues.
The martial artist who are well versed educationally and licensed in a science of the body and mind: physical therapist, personal trainers, massage therapy, traditional medicine, chiropractic, etc. has my admiration. The martial artist that talks about buzzword theories, new age things, and is not certified… or worse is one of the fascia fascists…I’m pretty sure I don’t like you.
The martial artist who is humble and continues to progress and train, continually seeking out high level teachers and fighters, is way better than the martial artist that is complacent and feels they are at the top. Many great “Sifus” I know continue to learn from masters within the lineage or with better fighters to refine their skills, inviting high level teachers to their schools for seminars to help advance themselves and students.
The martial artist who trains with Championship level fighters is 1000x better than the martial artist who doesn’t.
The martial artist who studies Oriental medicine like acupuncture, massage, tui na, cupping, herbology, diet, etc. has a ton of my admiration. Fighting requires knowledge to heal thyself from training and other injuries and wounds during combative sports. To learn to fight and damage someone also requires knowledge on how to be merciful and compassionate and to heal the person you may have injured. Not having skills in this is a big gap in the physical body knowledge, anatomy, and physiology.
The martial artist who shares his skills, techniques, and demos in public and online, if from a legit source (nothing woo-woo or over-the-top)… has a ton of my admiration. The guy who never shares, has “secrets” and very opinionated on others without showing their abilities is a true dunce. Those that comes up with new gimmicks and buzz words are just a marketing goofballs and do not have my respect.
The martial artist who debunks fantasy martial arts techniques like “no touch knockouts” and “invisible pushes” is much respected than the guy who markets and promotes these fantasy techniques and those who are naive enough to believe it. Sitting in a chair and having compliant students flop around is not real martial arts, it deserves to be put into a cage with a real MMA fighter and see if it works.
The martial artist who has worked hard for everything to afford martial arts lessons and school tuition without support from parents or having everything financially, I admire very much. Those who are rich and have everything handed to them, support from parents, and never had to pay for anything, I do not care much for. There is a huge difference between the warrior/military class and the wealthy class. Those who work hard from nothing and make a name for themselves, I admire them very much.
The martial artist that lives a good moral life is 1000x way better than the martial artist who runs a life of controversy. When I mean controversy…I mean people who run cults, or inappropriately touch children through the name of martial arts, teachers who take advantage of students like sexual relationships with students, teachers who sadistically bully their students mentally or physically by using knowledge of skills a student doesn’t have. This is immoral at its highest level and I def will not like you at all.
The martial artist with a high level of education like a PHD, or master’s degree, diplomas, etc. and uses those academic skills to teach others martial artists accurate and educated knowledge in history, translations, lineages, philosophy, medicine, physical culture, through books, media, websites, etc. I have a deep level of respect for them. Being able to balance a arduous lifestyle between career and martial arts takes skill. The guys who have questionable sources of information, no verifiable education level do not have this respect.
The martial artist with a fight record and has tried all sorts of competitions, yeah that is the guy I admire. Even if they failed got back up and tried again. As a former part-time fighter with a full time I.T. job, getting in the ring with a full time instructor/fighter who was a 7x Lei Tai competitor took a lot of guts, I lost by decision, but walked away satisfied having tried my best with adrenaline and nerve overload. This type of courage and bravery will ALWAYS outlast the guy who talked gameness but never tried. The martial artist who never fought will have to live with himself that he never took that chance and settled for arm chair warrior status.
Why you wanna be like that?
Some fight coaches were not always the best fighters, and the best fighters are not always the best fight coaches. However, there are exceptions to this because I have met and trained with people who were not only phenomenal fighters, but were also phenomenal coaches. Great fighters who can coach like this know what it takes to take a fighter to that level. Same goes with the martial artist that is great at doing “forms or kata” are not always the best fighters. Some of the best fighters aren’t that great at “katas and forms”. Again, there are exceptions to this as I know some great competitors who have won full contact fighting event were also great at forms and scored high.