A View From Outside

Martial arts can look goofy if a practice is not understood

It was one of those moments when I saw the practice with outside eyes. It was also a moment of helpless amusement.

One of our class locations was a rented space in a church. It was a lovely room with sunlight streaming through stained glass, polished hardwood floors, and just the right size for our purposes. It was near the entrance to the set of rented rooms so there were people constantly walking by the doorway.

The door had a small window and there was a constant stream of faces coming and going in it as they were curious to see what we were doing.

Sometimes the timing of someone looking at our classes had me wondering what kind of impression they were forming based solely on what they saw at that moment.

One of the practices we had was an introduction to a tactical skilled called the Wedge. It was a partner exercise in which one person held an arm straight out in from with a closed fist and walked towards the other person. That one then applied the Wedge to the extended arm in order to learn its effect. Each time one did this, the Wedge could be adjusted as needed in order to learn how it is optimized for the desired outcome.

So imagine you are seeing for the first time, a room of around 15 or so people in 2 lines facing each other. One side is those with their arm extended straight out walking forward while their partner meets that extend arm with some kind of unidentifiable motion.

As the practice was happening I happened to glance over at the window in the door. In it were 2 faces, obviously laughing at what they saw. One said something to the other and the laughter increased. I had this sudden sense that they thought they were seeing the most useless martial art on the planet! A punch comprised of a straightened arm while merely walking forward and the defense of which was nothing more than pushing the attacker slightly sideways!

Part of me wanted to go over and explain, “No, no! This is a learning exercise for a very functional and sophisticated self-defense tactic…really it is…honest!” But they were already gone.

Thankfully, I saw the amusement in this and remarked to everyone that it was possible they would be hearing a rumor about the silly martial art they were learning in which attackers punch by sticking out and arm and walking forward!

Alas, we cannot control what others think. But at least we can smile.