Two Senseis — One Philosophy

I have a friend in Nevada who teaches martial arts. I call Alan my “virtual sensei.” I like him a lot, but I don’t write about him much. Mainly because I can’t point my friends to his blog because the photos there are extremely racy. And since I, and most of my friends, are Christians with strong convictions about that sort of thing, well … I can’t point my friends to his blog.

But Alan is a really great teacher. I’ve learned a lot about body mechanics and puke-worthy workouts from him. He believes in really pushing the body to its limits, and somehow the limits always seem to be a little further than I expected. Alan encourages me when I need it, and (virtually) kicks me in the pants when I need it. Good friend.

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time at all, you know that I adore my “real life” sensei, Robert, who is also good with the encouragement and the occasional kick in the britches. And who is a wonderful Christian man with the most amazing family. His wife is a trusted prayer partner (and I’m very selective about my prayer partners), and his two older sons are wonderful friends who can be counted on for good help when I’m in a bind with the house, car, or yard.

So, I have two senseis. (Actually, I have three, but the third one doesn’t factor into today’s topic.)

You might think that my two senseis would be very different in philosophy, as they have different world-views, teach different systems, and live thousands of miles apart in very different environments. I guess I kind of thought that, too. But….

I was reading Alan’s blog this morning, and choked on my green tea. Because Alan posted, almost verbatim, the same spiel that Robert gives us periodically. It goes like this:

… the sole purpose of what I teach is to win street fights.  It’s not pretty.  You won’t become one with the Universe.  You aren’t going to learn any rules for fighting other than the three that I was taught:

1. If he can’t see, he can’t fight.
2. If he can’t breathe, he can’t fight.
3. If he can’t stand, he can’t fight.
4. Take away at least one, try for two, and go for all three when you can.

My system attacks the eyes, ribs, and knees . . . a lot, plus a good share of strikes to the neck and groin because those can affect multiple goals.

Self-defense.  This is why I am working hard to learn all that I can from my two senseis. This world is becoming a more and more dangerous place, especially for women, since they are traditionally viewed as weak and helpless. (Whatever. Robert’s wife is a second-degree black belt, and I’m pretty sure “weak” and “helpless” are the last two adjectives that anyone would apply to her. She’s a beautiful, kind, compassionate woman, but she’s strong and capable, and I pity the fool who attacks her.)

Would I like to be able to do cool flips and flashy stuff with my body and my weapons? Sure. But it’s not very practical. I can’t think of a lot of times when cartwheels, backflips, or 540-degree kicks would be helpful against a mugger or pickpocket. It looks cool, sure. But I don’t expect “cool” to save my life.

I want to be able to render any low-life cretin that attacks me or my kids unconscious — or at least immobile — long enough for the police to pack him up neatly in their pretty car and lock him away so he can’t hurt anyone else. I don’t care if what I do looks cool; I just want it to be effective.

We do some pretty weird stuff in class. Stuff that freaks me out, because, unlike Robert’s wife, I’ve been more the “weak and helpless” type for most of my life. And I have an aversion to touching or being touched by other people. Handshakes, yeah. Hugs … okay if I know you really well and trust you. (I don’t hug a lot of people … so those of you who get them should feel special.) But poking people in the neck, messing around with pressure points, touching people’s hair, getting hip-to-hip with them … UGH.

I’m getting over it. Slowly. Thank God Robert is a patient person, or I’d be spending most of class doing punitive pushups or something. Because there are lots of times when he says “We’re going to ….” and I say, “No, I don’t think so. That is just WAY too far outside of my comfort zone.” But he’s patient and he’s persistent. I don’t doubt that one day he’ll have me throwing people and getting thrown and yelling my head off ….

But for now I’m just going to marvel at the similarities between my two very different senseis.

Tags: karate, Philosophy