We train like killers in order to learn how to protect ourselves from killers, this was an old adage that my late martial arts instructor, Grandmaster Art Gonzalez, would ramble off every so often. His view of the world was different than most, people were either prey, predators, or hunters or defenders against the predator/predators.
He referred to these predators and street thugs as “The Bad Boy” they are people in our society who lack honor, compassion and or empathy, and take advantage of the kindness of others and of societies kindness. There are no rules of engagement for the bad boy and they don’t have to mentally prepare themselves before inflicting harm upon another human, they have already been mentally conditioned through a life of violence. For many and most law bidding citizens facing such an opponent will put you at an immediate and severe disadvantage unless you have been trained to fight, with physical contact and under extreme duress. There are countless videos of a bully or bullies verbally and then physically assaulting people who don’t appear to have any clue of what to do, in the minds of the assaulted they are most likely still trying to figure out why they are being harassed, as there upbringing consisted of consistent reprimands when it came to verbal assaults, hitting our kicking someone. No hitting, no kicking, no biting, or you will earn a time out or get a spanking. This is the first and primary mental hurdle that many in society will face if and or when you are forced to fight back to defend yourself.
I can recall my first physical confrontation in high school, I was punched in the face in the gym locker room and at the time I was not armed with martial knowledge or mentally conditioned for a physical confrontation, I simply resorted to basic survival instincts and held my attacker against the lockers to avoid getting hit again, and I can remember thinking oh man I am going to get into a lot of trouble if I hit him back. My instructor would often tell his me and his other students, hey man I may not be teaching you how to win trophies but rather something more meaningful and that is how to survive in the street, against the bad boy, the bad boy doesn’t give a shit about your martial art rank, or what you do for living there intent is to hurt you and even kill you, so you have to be ready, that’s why we train under duress and why we train like killers in order to learn how to protect ourselves from killers. Over the past few weeks, I cannot stop thinking about these mental lessons my teacher shared with me as I am currently inundated by the never-ending news of the violence occurring across our country. Repeat offenders/criminals/bad boys are being released due to a pandemic and people who have a propensity for violence are now free to act on those feelings with little to no recourse.
In such times we must continue to prepare ourselves for a violent encounter, not just the physical aspect of our techniques but the mental training that goes along with it, it is the symbiotic relationship of these two aspects that is the key to our survival. For our training, GM Art would say you have to be able to turn off and on your switch Mikie, when your switch is turned one way you are the gentlemen, the nice guy people know you to be, but when you turn the switch the other way you “Key up” become a hunter who will turn the table on your attacker and make the predator fear you, but hopefully you will be skilled enough that you will not have to be forced to kill your attacker out of fear. So when in doubt train, when you are scared train, when you are worried train, when you are tired train and hopefully after all your training you too will learn to survive and protect yourself and your loved ones from the Bad Boy. To the hunt!
He referred to these predators and street thugs as “The Bad Boy” they are people in our society who lack honor, compassion and or empathy, and take advantage of the kindness of others and of societies kindness. There are no rules of engagement for the bad boy and they don’t have to mentally prepare themselves before inflicting harm upon another human, they have already been mentally conditioned through a life of violence. For many and most law bidding citizens facing such an opponent will put you at an immediate and severe disadvantage unless you have been trained to fight, with physical contact and under extreme duress. There are countless videos of a bully or bullies verbally and then physically assaulting people who don’t appear to have any clue of what to do, in the minds of the assaulted they are most likely still trying to figure out why they are being harassed, as there upbringing consisted of consistent reprimands when it came to verbal assaults, hitting our kicking someone. No hitting, no kicking, no biting, or you will earn a time out or get a spanking. This is the first and primary mental hurdle that many in society will face if and or when you are forced to fight back to defend yourself.
I can recall my first physical confrontation in high school, I was punched in the face in the gym locker room and at the time I was not armed with martial knowledge or mentally conditioned for a physical confrontation, I simply resorted to basic survival instincts and held my attacker against the lockers to avoid getting hit again, and I can remember thinking oh man I am going to get into a lot of trouble if I hit him back. My instructor would often tell his me and his other students, hey man I may not be teaching you how to win trophies but rather something more meaningful and that is how to survive in the street, against the bad boy, the bad boy doesn’t give a shit about your martial art rank, or what you do for living there intent is to hurt you and even kill you, so you have to be ready, that’s why we train under duress and why we train like killers in order to learn how to protect ourselves from killers. Over the past few weeks, I cannot stop thinking about these mental lessons my teacher shared with me as I am currently inundated by the never-ending news of the violence occurring across our country. Repeat offenders/criminals/bad boys are being released due to a pandemic and people who have a propensity for violence are now free to act on those feelings with little to no recourse.
In such times we must continue to prepare ourselves for a violent encounter, not just the physical aspect of our techniques but the mental training that goes along with it, it is the symbiotic relationship of these two aspects that is the key to our survival. For our training, GM Art would say you have to be able to turn off and on your switch Mikie, when your switch is turned one way you are the gentlemen, the nice guy people know you to be, but when you turn the switch the other way you “Key up” become a hunter who will turn the table on your attacker and make the predator fear you, but hopefully you will be skilled enough that you will not have to be forced to kill your attacker out of fear. So when in doubt train, when you are scared train, when you are worried train, when you are tired train and hopefully after all your training you too will learn to survive and protect yourself and your loved ones from the Bad Boy. To the hunt!
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