Thursday, December 8, 2011

How the Martial Arts Came to the United States

It was during the Japanese-American war that our American soldiers ran up against an enemy that surprised them completely by their fighting prowess. The Asian people due to their genetics are generally much smaller than the American who tend to be bigger, taller and heavier in weight. However, when Americans came face to face in close quarter combat with the smaller Japanese soldier, they found his fighting skills to be superb. In many cases, the larger built and stronger American soldier fell to the fighting tactics of the smaller Japanese soldier. This was his country's first encounter with the so-called martial art called Karate, and anotherr art form known as judo. The very nature of the system of karate is to enable this smaller, weaker individual to overcome the larger, stronger individual. This is accomplished, by use of sophisticated techniques and the ability to hit vital areas of the human body.

It wasn't until the end of the war that many Americans who stayed in Japan learned this art and brought it back to the United States. Today our own armed forces are trained in the use of hand-to-hand combat using many of these methods. Up until this time these Asian fighting arts were not known in the United States, and one of the first to introduce these arts was a man named Bruce Tegner, who wrote a series of small books displaying the arts of judo and karate.

Without getting into sophisticated anatomical weaknesses of the human body, it is safe to say that there are many points that cannot be developed to withstand certain strikes employed by the martial arts. To name a few, the eyes, throat, the brain stem, the solo plexus, the groin, the kidneys, and the bladder. There was once a book written called "the medical implications of martial arts blows." This book was written by a doctor who described the damage that could be employed by use of the strikes to these vulnerable areas of the human body. The result of hitting some of these areas could range from complete blackout, blindness, extreme pain and even death.

Because of the effectiveness of the strikes, it was of little consequence how big your opponent might be. With proper training, the smaller person could overcome the larger. What is needed to be proficient in these arts is muscle memory training so that you move instinctively, and with precision to hit the point. Of course, speed helps, but with proper muscle memory training. Speed is naturally increased. As for physical power, much less is needed due to the vulnerability of these target areas. It is said, that 12 pounds of snapping power can break almost any bone on the human body. If you were to pick up a bathroom scale, and squeeze it with all your strength, you would see this scale register very little. However, if you take the scale and making quick snapping motion with your hand, you will see this scale jump significantly. Even a child can learn to break a piece of wood 1 to 2 inches in thickness through the use of these techniques. This is more than sufficient power to take down the strongest individual.

Of course, learning the martial arts, does not come easy. It does take years of practice and dedication and the ability to endure the hard workouts necessary to train both the body and mind. Each individual is different and how fast they will develop sufficient skills to defend themselves in a brutal street attack. In reality, there is no one art or one technique that in itself is sufficient to defend yourself in all situations. The ways we can be attacked are too numerous to list. Therefore, it takes years of practice in a multitude of techniques that must be learned and developed to their perfection. You must have no fear of hitting or being hit, as well as having no reservations to employ these techniques for your personal safety, as this is the very nature of fighting. No matter how good of a fighter, you may be, if you cannot take a blow, no matter how good your skills are you will lose. Therefore, we naturally train to strike other people, but we also learned how to deal with being hit ourselves and not falling apart.

In conclusion, we must always keep in mind there is no such thing as a fair fight. There's no such thing as dirty fighting or even illegal blows. Someone who attacks you in the streets has no qualms of using anything necessary to overcome you, therefore, you must be willing to go to any measures if you wish to survive a street attack. What you see on television, in fight scenes is pure fiction. Real fighting in the streets can be vicious and brutal. Keeping this in mind, you must always train as if it was the real thing. Fighting for survival is not a sport, it's real. And if you are unwilling to do what is necessary to protect yourself, you just might be the next victim of a vicious attack, which could mean the cost of your life. The martial arts presents us with a chance to survive street attack, but how well it works depends on how hard you work to attain it.

1 comment:

  1. Hello, I'm here again, seeing updates. Excellent post, congratulations.
    Greetings from:
    http://artesmarcialesdelmundo-oz.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete