Ranting and Ravings
Ranting and Ravings
Another Reason to Hate “Masters”
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
"The fundamental cause of trouble in the world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt" -Bertrand Russel
That's it in a nutshell, isn't it?
Take a look around the world. Since this is a blog about martial arts, maybe we should concentrate on that world. The folks that know the least seem to be putting out the most stuff. Go to youtube and you won't find real masters putting their stuff up. But you will find the kid that learned how to use "numb-chucks" from a book giving tutorials.
I just finished reading a book, "Confidence- Overcoming Low Self-esteem, Insecurity, and Self-doubt" by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic. I think it is one of the better books out there and if you get a chance to read it, please do.
It is kind of sneaky in that it starts out by showing that most of the people with high self-confidence and self-esteem are essentially wastes of oxygen. What Russel stated seems close to the main theme of the book- those that just don't have the skills seem certain that they can do things while those that have low self-confidence are working to get better at what they do. Instead of trying to rush to be confident, Tomas says we should be using that insecurity to build up competence, make small gains and then take confidence in that.
The book hits on a lot of things I see in the world, and especially martial arts. Humans are drawn to those that radiate confidence. We vote for them for our leaders, date them and are more likely to go to them for things like martial arts instruction. But, more often than not, in this day and age those that are brimming with confidence are the least capable people out there.
A few decades ago, social scientists decided to look at self-esteem and confidence in people. They saw that the woman who couldn't tell who was the father for most of her 7 kids lacked a positive self image and the guy that built a Fortune 500 company up from a business he started in his garage had plenty. Being the typical academic, they concluded that if you think of yourself in a good light, you will then have the power to move mountains.
Well, in the last half-century we have been trying to build up the self-image people have and as a result screwed them over pretty bad. As more recent (and rather heretical to the establishment) studies indicate, having 7 kids but no man in your life and no job tends to bring down what you think about yourself while building up a business that employs tens of thousands of people is a good way to bring up your self-esteem. Instead of trying to make people more competent and going straight to making them feel good about themselves, we have raised an extremely narcissistic society.
Take a look at the typical person who starts their own style of martial art. Are they in their 50s and spent decades getting their nose rubbed into their mistakes? Or are they still in their 30s at their latest and gotten most of what they do from their DVD collection?
Take a look at videos on the internet. How many videos by Noguchi, Oguri or Nagato sensei have those men put up on the internet? In case you didn't know, the answer is none. There are some up, placed there without their permission, but they themselves never bothered to put up their own videos for others. Contrast that with all the videos out there by other Bujinkan members that seem to have no purpose other than trying to impress others. The thing is, people seem to like those videos, where as I look at them and want to do a face palm.
Take a look at how things seem to be spread in the Bujinkan. People go to Japan and learn something. Some of the really confident folks see what is being taught in Japan on that trip and once they get back to their countries they immediately have a seminar to teach it. Others take what they saw and work on it for months and years, sometimes trying to go back to someone who knows to get feedback and only then try to pass it along to others. The guy who is confident is not only the one more eager to run out and teach what they just learned without a lot of practice, but people seem more naturally drawn toward people that show that sort of cock-sureness. This is a large part of why so much of what passes as martial arts, and Bujinkan, completely sucks.
Now contrast the typical "master" that does things like start their own martial art, has their photo pasted in an advertisement in Black Belt Magazine and join groups like, "The International Head-Masters Society" with the story of Dan Insanto.
Never heard of him? Well, if you are deep into martial arts, and Jeet Kun Do in particular, you probably will at some point. Jeet Kun Do (JKD) is what Bruce Lee called what he did. And Insanto is now looked to as the most knowledgeable person on what Lee did. The thing is, no one was expecting Lee to die as early as he did. How could they? Up to Lee's death, Insanto was considered the senior student of Lee. Notice, he was considered a student. Of course he helped out with teaching stuff, but Lee had the full spotlight. When Lee died, people looked around for the best way to continue learning the lessons he had been teaching and Insanto was the obvious answer. He had fame and responsibility thrust upon him. Ever since then, he has been trying to do his best to live up to that responsibility.
Pick up the current crapalog (half- crap, half catalog) that passes as a martial arts magazine and see what you can find mentioned about Bruce Lee's art. The guys with the advertisements, fancy titles and grandiose claims about their training in JKD aren't named Insanto. You will find mention of him from time to time, but the guys trying to get the spotlight on them aren't even a tenth as good as he.
And this is pretty much the situation in all martial arts. Those that want the fame and responsibility are most often those that are least worthy to have them. And not just martial arts, look at what democracy has brought us. We no longer have statesmen, we have politicians. Politicians are people who specialize in getting elected. We have people who have never been in the military over-riding guys that have been soldiering for decades. We have people who have never run a business telling us not to believe that businesses and corporations create jobs and telling business owners what they can and can't do. The more confident you are, the more likely you are to be elected. Someone who admits he honestly would have to research the issue before making a decision as president is going to get rejected by the voters in favor of someone that gives an answer, any answer, that makes a good sound bite.
Mind you, when you see the videos put up out there it is hard not to feel superior. If someone tells me that the Japanese don't like white rice, of course I am going to laugh in their face because I know more than they. But just because I know more than that idiot doesn't mean that I know all there is to know. When you start putting up tons of videos, you are essentially saying that you know almost all there is to know about the technique- even if you later try to play being humble and deny it.
What does all this mean? What is the point I am trying to make? Well, first of all, if you think you are good you probably suck. If you have numerous videos up on the internet of yourself doing stuff, make your students call you master, think you can make a living off of teaching, go around teaching folks when in Japan instead of working on the technique the teacher just showed, etc, then you probably suck. And it does not matter if you surround yourself with people that think your are the reincarnation of Bruce Lee. If you are confident, you need a reality check.
If you think you suck, you probably do. But you should use that to work harder to get better. Trust me, in ten years you will look back and see a ton of progress while those guys that are going to the "World Family Sokeship Council" dinners are still stuck as their low- level of understanding. Don't feel bad about thinking you suck, do something about it. And never try to completely loose that feeling. From time to time you need to look back and see that you have progressed and that is proof that you can keep going and keep improving. It is ok to feel pride, just try not to share it. Don't make a big thing about it and try to keep it from others. There is a word in Italian for the feeling of accomplishment you feel at what you have accomplished without having anyone else know what you did. The word is fiero. Try to have fiero from time to time just to keep yourself going. But as soon as you find yourself having to make others realize you have progressed, be wary of the trap that can be.
In addition, start looking for teachers that don't make a big show of things. The best teachers are ones that spend more time training than promoting themselves. In my observation, there is an inverse relationship between the amount of videos on the internet and real skill. Find the teacher that frequently says, "At least, this is how I think it goes. You should check with those in Japan to be sure if you get the chance." Fight your natural instinct to gravitate towards those that have a lot of confidence in them, because our genes are programmed that way.
But in the end, realize that true budo is probably going to be passed along by a small minority of teachers that don't take the time to promote themselves to students who really are trying their best to learn and not just turn around and teach. The majority of martial arts, without actual life and death situations pushed on them, will always be the equivalent of Justin Bieber. Best to acknowledge that and just soldier on in obscurity, keeping your spirits up by the occasional feeling of fiero.
Do you think you have skill? Then you probably suck. Do you think you suck? You are probably right.
But those that think they suck are probably going to put in a lot more time trying to fix that than the over-confident boob that is the norm now for martial arts teachers.