Got Racism?

This is a flyer from the first professional kickboxing card held in the US. I first chanced upon this image from the book Al Weiss' the Official History of Karate in America. The organizer for this event, one Lee Faulkner, apparently took some well-deserved heat* for the inclusion of this little gem:

SPECIAL BOUT BETWEEN BLACK MILITANT
GREG BANIES & WORLD CHAMPION JOE LEWIS (WHITE) JOE LEWIS

Lewis did go on to defeat Baines (misspelled as Banies), but that's besides the point. One wonders if either man realized they were being used for race-baiting in an attempt to drum up ticket sales.

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When Bruce Lee began teaching martial arts in California in the early 60s there was outrage in the Chinese community because of Lee's open door policy of instructing non-Chinese students. A match was arranged between Lee and Wong Jack Man, another kung-fu sifu from the area, with the understanding that if Lee lost he would have to close his school down. A victory by Lee would ensure that he could teach Caucasians or anyone else he wanted to. Lee prevailed, the bout taking either 3 or 25 minutes, depending on who was asked. Within a few years, Lee would begin to instruct Hollywood's elite, charging up to $300 per hour.

Speaking of kung-fu, one of TV's most popular shows, Kung Fu, depicted the struggles of a Shaolin monk who finds himself dealing with everything from racism to barroom brawls in the American Old West. Ironically the lead role of Caine, the orphaned son of a Chinese mother and American father, was originally supposed to go to Bruce Lee (who reputedly contributed to the storyline) but was turned down. Instead, the part was given to David Carradine, an actor with hitherto no background in the martial arts. The reason: Lee was considered "too Chinese" to play the mixed-race character.

Here's a clip of Caine dealing with racism:

The method of nonviolence seeks not to humiliate and not to defeat the oppressor, but it seeks to win his friendship and his understanding. And thereby and therefore the aftermath of this method is reconciliation.

— Martin Luther King, Jr., 1956

*Mitch Stom 1970. Black Belt (Magazine). Vol. 8, No. 3, p.55.

Misperceptions

Look at this poster. The guy on the left is depicted as a musclebound thug covered in tattoos with cauliflower ears engaging in a blood sport. Maybe we should be grateful there is such a thing as MMA or this character would be in prison or the nuthouse, right?

Now observe the gentleman on the right. He's bowing in respect, an obvious by-product of self-mastery developed from a long time of training in an honored fighting tradition that ultimately has lofty, even peaceful aims. He is a disciple (and perhaps a teacher) of Budo — the martial arts.

Basically what this image is saying is that Traditional Martial Arts (TMA) are civilized and cultivate good qualities in its adherents while MMA is legalized headbashing that provides little more than a buglight for violent whackjobs. This just reinforces some unfair stereotypes, especially to laypeople. There are good and bad people in all walks of life. Don't be so fast to judge a book by its cover.

It's true that MMA has no official philosophy or written tenets of life principles like those found in TMA. But MMA doesn't automatically produce a crop of bad guys anymore than TMA can unconditionally change otherwise unsavory types into good citizens. As karate master Yasuhiro Konishi once said, "Karate aims to build character, improve human behavior, and cultivate modesty; it does not, however, guarantee it."

The Reluctant Point-Fighter

The attitude of destroying the enemy with one cut is based on the attitude of "going in" to the attack. If not, your spirit is lacking and your resolve is less than complete. You must always close in on the enemy regardless of the indications of the enemy's strength.

— Miyamoto Musashi

In karate and tae kwon do sparring, scoring is kept by counting hand and foot strikes that make contact as points. The point system came about from the idea that atemi (vital strikes) are indeed lethal. Obviously real atemi are prohibited in sportive matches, and as such point-matches morph into a game of glorified tag. What happens is that players tend to fight from exaggerated fighting ranges (ma-ai) with hands held low (especially in TKD), and at times not fully committing to techniques, especially kicks. Combatants are trying to score, but are especially leery of getting countered or "tagged." For these reasons, a point-match is nothing like a realistic fight.

This is clearly a problem if you fancy your art as a viable means of self-defense. In sportive arts like boxing, wrestling and judo, players are fully committed to hitting, getting hit, throwing and getting taken down, even in practice drills. Realize that how you train on the mat is how it happens in real life.

Somebody once told me that the difference between black belts and those at the lower echelon was really a degree of self-interest. "Black belts don't care," he said. What he meant was the BBs aren't concerned with the outcome of committing to a combination of techniques against the opponent. They're more centered in the here-and-now. That means visualizing the attack and following through without being hindered with the mental baggage of a counter. Still, judges don't want to see matches that look like a train wreck or game of chicken.

The bane of the point-match isn't whether or not a technique is so devastating that it can maim or kill, but the aversion to being hit in return. That doesn't mean to disregard defensive techniques completely during a match. Just don't be so mindful of your opponent's strategy that it impinges your game plan. The Japanese concept of kobo-ichi is just another way of saying the old adage "the best defense is a good offense."