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Copyright © 2003-2004 Phil Elmore, all rights
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Investment and Ego in the Martial Arts
By
Phil Elmore
One common definition of insanity is performing the same
action over and over again while expecting different results each time.
The corollary to this definition’s implications is the tag line, “If what
you’re doing isn’t working, do something else.” There is a lot of debate
within the martial arts community regarding what does and does not work.
This debate often becomes so rancorous that one is moved to wonder why such
anger characterizes martial discussion. The answer? Ego,
investment, and resulting cognitive dissonance.
While I don’t consider myself some paragon of the martial
arts, I like to think the attitude with which I approach them is the most
conducive to effective self-defense training. I do not bring any
personal investment or ego to my training. If the arts in which I
currently train were not effective, I would not care to learn them. When
one of my teachers makes a statement with which I do not agree, I ask
questions until I am satisfied with the answers. When I find a
particular technique inadvisable, I don’t do it.
I treat my teachers with the respect and the admiration they
are due, but they treat me with equal respect. I am not their slave and
they do not see themselves as my masters. They are humble, not arrogant.
They speak in terms of the people who taught them, not in terms of
their own prowess.
Their goals are mine. They seek to produce effective
fighters, while I seek to become an effective fighter. If a
teacher or instructor has some other goal in mind, you must reevaluate your
relationship with that mentor.
I’m hinting at a pervasive problem within the martial arts
community: the use of combative programs of any kind to form one’s sense
of self. This is mentally, emotionally dangerous. If one’s art or
one’s desire to be seen as a great fighter dominates one’s sense of being, any
criticism of one’s training and any evidence of functional deficiency is
treated as a personal affront. Those who feel attacked naturally lash
out in counterattack. This produces endless hostility and interminable
arguments.
I know of a martial arts instructor , or example, whose
sense of self is so integral to his art that he becomes angry at even the most
diplomatic criticisms of that art. He publicly flatters and exaggerates
the credentials of anyone who agrees with him, while denigrating and
personally attacking anyone who does not share his opinion of his style.
He becomes so angry, in fact, that he makes enemies almost everywhere he goes.
Compare this behavior if you have any exposure to the
martial arts, I’m willing to bet you’ve seen it before to the behavior of an
instructor whom you respect. Chances are that the teacher you respect
will answer questions and criticisms with explanations of his style’s
philosophy and techniques. I’ll bet, like many teachers I know, that he
or she won’t waste a lot of time arguing with people who don’t believe in what
he or she does. Such a teacher probably doesn’t spend much time thinking
about such critics at all.
The heavily ego-invested practitioner does not cope well
with criticism of his art because he sees it as an attack on his person,
criticism of who he is and how he sees himself. Worse yet, he will
ignore evidence of a lack in his style because of the cognitive dissonance
it creates. We could define cognitive dissonance as the feeling of
discomfort that results when what we want to believe conflicts with
what is. We don’t like to learn that something in which we
believe isn’t what we thought it was. If our sense of self is wrapped up
in that belief, we are insulted by, outraged at, and fearful of ideas that
conflict with it.
Mild expressions of ego-investment include the excuses
people make when their art’s techniques don’t work. “He attacked me
wrong” and “I’m used to doing this technique on smaller people” are two
notorious examples. In extreme cases, the practitioner will accuse a
critic of being on a “crusade,” of pursuing a personal grudge, simply because
that critic is not a “believer.”
In its worst form, ego-investment becomes delusional
architecture. The martial arts world is rife with pretenders who affect
experience and knowledge they do not possess, sometimes fabricating military
backgrounds (especially those in “special ops” and “secret agent” fields) and
telling wholly made-up stories about their alleged exploits. This
fantasy behavior is the natural outgrowth of the desire to be seen as
powerful, as special, as “tough,” that is the activating ingredient in so many
pretenders’ senses of self.
Interestingly, those pretenders most deeply enmeshed in
fantasies of martial prowess often respond to critics of their made-up stories
by projecting their weaknesses. They are quick to accuse others of
having such fantasies and eager to be seen as “reluctant tough guys.”
They often hint at things they’d like to tell you about, but which they cannot
(because such information is classified, of course). Their accusations
in the course of arguments reveal much about what’s going on inside their
minds.
The only cure for investment and ego in the martial arts is
to separate the art from the artist. Those who achieve a high degree of
skill in what they do generally come to understand the difference (though if
they don’t they become those rare arrogant practitioners who can back up their
boasting). Keep in mind, as you interact with others in the self-defense
community, that to criticize the style or the techniques someone practices is
not to criticize the person practicing them. If you encounter
those who are insecure, whose fragile egos are intertwined with their systems,
know that you will be seen as an enemy for tipping their sacred cows.
Pity them, but do not accept their excuses. Face
them objectively, fairly, and critically. Understand the powerful
motivator that is cognitive dissonance.
Proceed accordingly.