In some circles of MMA, they teach an adrenal rush cannot be stopped. In real life, it can kill you.
The risk of dying from illness is 85x greater than violence; accidents nearly 4x. Where should you spend your time training?
Getting through Anaphylaxis with no Treatment
The benefits of training in martial arts and meditation became very clear to me when I first discovered I could have an anaphylactic reaction in a location where I could not access treatment.
This first thing you discover is you are about to pass out, but not in the normal sense. You are looking at serious damage. To prevent it, your heart springs into action, exploding and running well above 200 bpm. Your brain is foggy and you have to make a decision: panic or relax. Martial arts teaches you to have an immediate physiological response of relaxation - the opposite of an adrenal response - at the first signs of an emergency. Beginning a panic attack with your heart already running at 225 is not recommended if living is your goal.
The next chance came when my body told me it really didn't want to breathe. Rather than fight the process, I trusted that my body did not want to breathe for a reason, so again my immediate relaxation response allowed me to drop my respiration well below the limit issued by my reaction. There was no problem.
Standing was a challenge. The only way I could make it to the ground was by making my entire body like a whip, with my head at the tail end smashing full force while unconscious. In martial arts, you learn to ground yourself on one leg, where I was fine. As soon as I put weight between both legs, the crashing of the head scenario began. But I know home was grounded on one leg, and quickly jumped to safety.
Fortunately, my throat did not close, and in 15 minutes the symptoms began to release. Patience, meditation and deep breathing exercises when my body allowed brought me back to normality without any serious harm. I did speak with a doctor who assured me that many people, untrained, would not have had such a rosy outcome. I am grateful to have had good instruction in both disciplines and recognize the time in training was very well spent.
Bruce Lee once said that martial arts is not about fighting, it is a way of life. Is MMA really about fighting?
He had a very good reason to explain this point. The main risks to one's safety are not an assault. One is far more likely to suffer injury in an accident, as in auto or even falling, or from illness.
Combat martial arts training that focuses on fighting narrows the field of vision to one opponent. Peripheral events come as surprises and the reflexes to deal with them are weak. Extreme exercise and stress can also affect health badly.
Traditional martial arts have existed for over a thousand years because they knew this. Training open awareness and relaxation for daily life directly improves the main risks to health and safety, while also improving one's ability to defend themselves.
Lineage. Lineage is a time tested method to insure quality control in instruction. You start with one of the great martial artists of all time. That highly realized practitioner certifies his students to go out and teach. The knowledge is passed from one generation to another with teachers standing behind the instruction given by their students. If a student has a serious problem and is considered unqualified to teach, their teacher withdraws support.
Is this method perfect? Absolutely not. There are failings. However, when a teacher does not provide information on their background for you to check their qualifications, that could be a red flag to examine their school more closely.
Teacher's Character. When you accept someone as your teacher, you tend to "grow up" just like them. If their character is faulty, you might develop some of the same tendencies yourself. Then at some point when you might want to part ways, life can become complicated. Lastly, a key function of martial arts training is to clear the mind to better perceive an attack before it is launched. This function has obvious benefits in self defense. But clarity of mind is based upon a solid foundation of ethics. Someone with faulty ethics cannot develop this ability, and then cannot teach it.
This doesn't mean that they cannot be countered. Every technique can be countered. This simply means the techniques are well thought out and avoid obvious pitfalls. For example, the attacker should not throw themselves, but be thrown by the defender.
photo by Bill Aquino
Senior Students Take Care of Juniors
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This simply shows the school perpetuates the practice with a caring and helpful attitude. The environment is healthy and people are learning good character.
photo by Bill Aquino
Student are Enjoying Themselves
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This is another sign of a healthy environment. Destructive competition and unhinged egotism is eschewed. Malice muddies the mind and reduces the ability to perceive an attack.
Martial arts lowers an already low chance of an attack and improves outcomes.
Explore the Options
While we only offer classes in Aikido & Tai Chi with Kung Fu, consider: There is no best martial art...only a best martial art for you. Which martial art best fits your disposition?
MMA - Widely popularized through TV, MMA is simply a vehicle to test any martial art in a restricted combat mode. The question is whether to study many styles loosely or one to two styles well.
Aikido - The martial art of peace. Discover how compassion is the source of strength as you use the opponent's force against them.
Tai Chi for health and self defense as well. Health benefits come through training as self defense.
Kung Fu - The original striking martial art. Sophisticated and diverse with many styles and an emphasis on striking.
Karate - Kung Fu migrated through the Okinawan Islands to mainland Japan as Karate. Emphasis on striking and sparring.
Taekwondo - the migration continued to Korea where Karate fused with indigenous Korean arts and is known for high kicks.
Judo was developed from many ancient styles of Jujitsu and turned into a sport. Emphasis is on throwing and submission grappling.
Jiu Jitsu - The original empty hand martial art of Japan was formed by the Samurai for self defense when unarmed. Over 1,000 years breeds many traditions.
