Read this book!

[sinanju]

I can't recommend this book highly enough! Rory is a friend of mine, but whether he was or not, I'd recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Whether you're a martial artist, interested in self-defense or even just curious about the reality of violence, it's a terrific introduction to the subject. It's a distillation of what he's learned from many years of martial arts, as well as lots and lots of practical experience with violence as a bouncer, as a corrections officer and CERT leader and trainer.

He starts with a comparison of the rhinocerous and the unicorn (his original title for the book, in fact). One is the reality; the other is a fantasy based on incomplete descriptions of the reality and heavily embroidered with imagination and "facts" deduced by reason from said imagined attributes. Violence is the rhinocerous; large, powerful, unpredictable and dangerous. The fantasy of violence we read in novels, see on television and in films, and--all too often--learn in martial arts classes is the unicorn.

Which is not to say that martial arts training is useless. But every art was developed for a purpose. Is that purpose sport? Is it self defense--and if so, under what conditions? Do you know? Does your instructor know? Has the art been watered down or altered--intentionally or otherwise--so that it no longer serves its intended purpose? As Rory points out, every training system has flaws built into it, otherwise people would be getting crippled or killed routinely in training. To the extent that one fights as one was trained* you're learning bad habits unless you deliberately work around the flaws. Do you know what those flaws are? Does your instructor know--and compensate for them with other drills with different flaws?

This is not a "how to" book filled with techniques. It's a study of how real violence happens, and the physical, emotional and mental effects of stress and adrenaline on human beings. Rory begins with a section on how to think about violence, about assumptions and truths (specifically, epistemology--how do you even know what is true?) about violence. The GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) principle is in play here. Most people, even most martial artists, have little real experience with violence. Most of us have read or seen countless acts of pretended violence and may have accepted "truths" presented because they look good or exciting.

If you never have to deal with real violence, that may never present a problem. But if your truths have never been tested, your map of reality may be sadly--and painfully--exposed as nonsense the first time you run into real trouble. Reality checks are essential, but also dangerous and potentially deadly. This is an ongoing problem for any and all martial arts. Rory discusses ways of thinking about violence, and how goals lead to strategies, and strategies to techniques. If your goal is to avoid being attacked, your behavior will be different than if your goal is to flee an attack in progress or to disable an attacker; flexibility is important, though. If you fail to avoid an assault, your previous goal is irrelevant and escaping or disabling an attacker is going to require a quick change in strategy.

The next section discusses types of violence, from the "monkey dance" of posturing and fighting for status to cold-blooded assaults by predatory criminals. Rory writes about the effects of adrenaline, and how it influences your behavior. It's great for strength and speed, but your mental and fine motor skills are going to suffer. Without experience or good training, it's all too easy to experience shock and freeze up mentally or physically under this stress.

I could go on--this book is full of insights that need repeating--but suffice it to say that it's well worth reading. Rory gives some suggestions for how to adapt training to be more effective. Again, no "how to" techniques; he's looking at the bigger picture of how to prepare mentally, and to a lesser extent physically, for the shocking reality of violence. Literally shocking given that a surprise attack, and the sudden chemical cocktail of adrenaline, can leave you seriously impaired if you're not ready for it. If you can't react immediately, or can't recognize that you're in shock--stunned and not reacting, wondering "why?" when you should be moving--and break out of that state, things are going to go poorly for you. It's possible to learn these things, but unless you're specifically training for them, it isn't likely.

Read it. Buy it!

*Another reality of real violence is that skills degrade badly under the influence of adrenaline. Enough experience can alleviate this somewhat--but even the most experienced fighter, when presented with a situation unlike those he's become accustomed to, can find himself right back at the beginning.

Comments

[jedibuttercup]

Bookmarking this: I can't afford to buy it at the moment, but I'm definitely interested in the subject, both because I'm darn curious, and because I have problems writing fight scenes in a realistic manner. =)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear it--it's well worth reading!

And as an extra, added bonus, I'll give you the URL for Rory's blog (http://www.chirontraining.blogspot.com/). That's where he posts a lot of his thoughts on these subjects when he's still working them out. It covers a lot of the same subjects, albeit in not so organized a fashion.

So knock yourself out! It's chock full of information.