The Martialist: The Magazine For Those Who Fight Unfairly

“Stay ‘unreasonable.’  If you
don’t like the solutions [available to you], come up with your
own.” 
Dan Webre

The Martialist does not
constitute legal advice.  It is for ENTERTAINMENT
PURPOSES ONLY.

Copyright © 2003-2004 Phil Elmore, all rights
reserved.

What
Credentials?
by Phil Elmore, Publisher

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You’re reading an online magazine –
an e-zine –  published, edited, and written (at least in part) by a mere
civilian.  I’m a writer, not a fighter. I’m a
citizen, not a soldier. I’m an average guy, not a superhero. I’m an everyman,
not an athlete. In the time I’ve studied the martial arts and self-defense I’ve
managed to learn concepts and make conclusions about things that I think are
worth passing on to other average citizens – in the context of sharing them as
such. I don’t try to pretend to be anything I’m not and I don’t expect anyone to
be impressed by anything I say simply because I say they should be or because of
whatever credentials I’d like to have and don’t. Rather, I think the material I
write stands on its own merits.

I can’t wave around a black belt certificate, a veteran’s record, a police
officer’s badge, or any other claim to authority as a way to support my
arguments, because I don’t possess any such thing.  What I do have is an
active mind, a respect for logic, and ability to reason, and more than a decade
and a half spent pursuing success in self-defense through varying avenues of
study (including commercial and non-commercial martial arts). 

To this I also bring my ability to write clearly,
effectively, and in an engaging and entertaining style, which I like to think is
what makes The Martialist worthwhile.  When I write an article, I
don’t simply pontificate on topics about which I know nothing – even if,
frankly, I haven’t “been there and done that.”  I apply the data of my
senses, my own research, material produced by others, and everything else
available to me, supporting my arguments as best as I am able.  The reader
is free to draw conclusions on that basis and to criticize what I write
accordingly. 

What I’ll never do, however, is tell you that I’m
some sort of expert and that you should agree with me because I’m Phil Elmore. 
That’s an attitude I won’t accept in others and I would never presume to
disrespect my readers by indulging in it.  I believe everyone has something
to contribute and every human being has the inalienable right to self-defense. 
That means the opinions and the life of a “mere mortal” – a private citizen, a
civilian, a subject – are just as worth considering when supported reasonably
as those of any other person.

There are plenty of sites, books, and training
materials produced by self-appointed experts and hard-traveled veterans of all
manner of hardship and horror.  You’re free to purchase their wares – just
as I do – but you needn’t confine your studies solely to them.  If you’re
an interested private citizen like me (or even a military or law enforcement
operative interested in what private citizens think), this publication can be of
great value to you.  I presume no particular superiority to anyone reading
this, but neither do I diminish what I think I can offer.

That’s
the respect I have for you, the reader.