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Copyright © 2003-2004 Phil Elmore, all rights
reserved.
Tenth Dan in Bul Shi Tsu: Absurd Claims and Martial
Efficacy
By Phil Elmore
Can a martial art with a fabricated history or lineage be effective?
How
should we react when confronted with practitioners selling the latest
“ultimate” or “most efficient” art, something so
secret and so powerful that it has only recently been made available to
the public?
Should you believe marketing that claims, for two hundred
dollars and a video tape series, that you will “fear no man”
or “defeat any attacker?”
The martial arts world is rife
with absurd claims. More common, if slightly less hyperbolic than
claims of Ultimate Best Super Efficiency, are the assertions within
established arts whose official histories are shaky at best — and
completely manufactured at worst. Should these arts be shunned,
dismissed, derided, or otherwise avoided?
There are two components one
must consider when evaluating a martial art or combatives system:
history and technique. History includes any and all marketing
claims and background associated with the art. Technique,
obviously, is the actual physical efficacy of the art’s theory and
application.
The two have no relationship to each other — except for
the insight the history offers into the mind and ethics of the
individual making claims about the technique.
HISTORY
When
you encounter someone claiming to teach the martial art of the ancient
Egyptian Pharaohs’ fry cooks or foot soldiers, demand that he or she
attempt to substantiate this rather odd claim. We know precious
little about ancient Egyptian society in comparison to the totality of
it. Can anyone alive today tell you for certain how the ancient
Egyptians even pronounced their name for themselves? Does
it stand to reason that specific techniques would be handed down from
generation to generation to the present day?
If an
instructor tells you his videotapes are hot stuff because he teaches the
ancient combative art of Roman gladiatorial janitors, ask yourself
seriously just how possible it is that these techniques have managed to
travel from the blood-soaked Coliseum floor to your VCR through the
mists of time. If you’re being asked to believe that the cost of
shipping and handling is all that separates you from the explosive power
of vampire gypsy acrobat ninja from the steppes of Romania, be
skeptical.
While you’re being skeptical, however, ask yourself
this: Why is this instructor trying to sell me on this? Why,
if his art is worth learning, should he feel it is necessary to snow me
with absurd and unverifiable pretense? Does this instructor know
that the lineage or history of her art cannot be verified? If not,
what excuse is there for ignorance of this type? If so, why is she
lying to me?
There are a lot of earnest instructors out there
who lean hard on marketing hype. Usually, they’ll be honest about
what they’re doing. They’re business people and they need to sell
themselves. It’s unfortunate that the hard sell often looks just
like the absurd claims made by charlatans, but when you examine teachers
like this more closely, you’ll generally see them for what they are.
If,
however, your examination reveals someone who surrounds himself with
ridiculous claims of history and lineage, you’re dealing with someone
who desperately wants the dubious credibility such affections
provide. Be wary of this. Even if that
Romanian-death-ninja-vampire-acrobat-Gymkata style is superbly effective
on the street, the foundation of all good teaching is trust. Can
you trust someone who would knowingly lie to you?
TECHNIQUE
“Fear
no man!”
“The most effective art of all time!”
“Learn
to defeat any attacker in fifteen minutes!”
The surest way to
spot a questionable art is to be confronted with unbelievable
marketing. The more fraudulent the system, the more outlandish the
assertion. You’ve seen the web sites and the full-page
advertisements in Black Belt. Be extremely suspicious of
anyone claiming to offer the “ultimate” anything, and run fast
and far from anyone who thinks you’ll be a black-belt-thrashing terror
after a half hour of video “courses.”
When you see this sort
of business, question it. Here’s a tip, too: testimonials
aren’t proof. No matter how whacky the system, there will always
be rubes who fall for it. Their glowing recommendations are simply
their means of combating cognitive dissonance, that discomfort caused by
the conflict between reality and our contrary desires and actions.
Demand proof. The burden of proof rests with those who make grand
assertions.
Keeping these warning signs in mind, you may decide you
wish to check into a questionable art for yourself. If you have
the time and the resources, by all means, do so. And don’t be
swayed when the marketer in question becomes indignant or otherwise
outraged, demanding to know who you are to question him.
You
see, fraudulent histories combined with outrageous claims of technique
are the two-pronged attack that Virtual
Tough Guys use to create and defend their delusional
architectures. When you question these, you are attacking their
fragile self-images. Wouldn’t you become angry and defensive when
your self-worth as so challenged? When pressed, such people will
trot out long lists of credentials. This Appeal to Authority is
designed to stop your substantive criticisms before they begin.
While those confident in their abilities and secure in their
personalities don’t often trouble themselves over questions of paper
certifications, those who are terribly concerned that you see them as
they wish to be seen rely on these. Remember that the truth or
falsehood of a statement is not found in the resume of the
speaker. Words stand on their own.
DOES IT MATTER?
The
martial arts are a lot like religion. There are true believers who
can be dissuaded by nothing, regardless of the tenuous nature of their
beliefs. And there are solid individuals whose conduct and
knowledge are impeccable — even if one doubts the veracity of the very
foundations of that knowledge.
Much as a religion invented wholesale
centuries ago can attain credibility and legitimacy over time, even arts
with fabricated histories can be effective. Given enough time,
these arts can even become worthy of respect, as the assumed credibility
of historical assertions gives way to the real credibility earned
through application of the art.
The key is in the approach of the
individual practitioner or instructor. An instructor who clings to
dubious assertions about her art’s background, who becomes angry and
defensive when questioned about them, should not be trusted. A
teacher who claims to know devastating ultimate secrets only recently
made available to the public, who cloaks himself in an aura of SpecOps
BlackBag mystery, should not be taken seriously. Even if the
individual in question is capable of taking on all challengers, whipping
Bruce Lee’s ghost, picking up a tree and killing legions of ninja
assassins, or poking holes through cinder blocks with his index finger,
you cannot afford to trust those who place such a high value on
pretense.
Can you?