Interviewer: Thank you for sparing us your time to give this interview sifu.
Sifu: My pleasure.
Interviewer: Sifu, I’d like to ask you to comment on the most common mistakes people make in choosing a martial art, school, or class. I guess in your forty plus years in martial arts you’ve seen and experienced a lot of martial arts schools?
Sifu: Yes, correct. I’ve seen a large number of very different types of martial arts and a very wide range of schools across a number of countries. As you’d expect there was a wide discrepancy between them in terms not only of the quality, the practicality of the arts and their ease or difficulty but in terms of the quality of the learning environment.
Interviewer: What advice could you offer someone looking for a martial art about the features they ought to avoid in choosing a martial art school?
Sifu: There are several. I’ll leave aside the issue of how to choose a specific martial art to best suit you and I’ll leave aside the positive features to look for in choosing a martial art school as you indicated before the interview that such comprehensiveness would make for too lengthy an interview. We might look at those in other interviews if you want if that’s OK?
Interviewer: Certainly. Please proceed.
Sifu: OK. I see several features of modern martial arts schools to avoid if the prospective student hopes to maximise their chances of having a happy, positive, and successful experience. These are – “the big advertisement”; proximity; bargain hunting; recommendations by friends; “big is beautiful”; the famous or high ranked practitioner; “we win tournaments”; “they were so friendly”; “the martial arts magazine said”; “we’re politically connected”; “it looked fun and easy”; “the latest thing”; and, what I call the “Magical Mystery tour”.
Interviewer: Could you go through and expand on these please, sifu?
Sifu: OK. First, the “big ad” - falling for marketing. There is no positive correlation between the quality of a martial arts school and it’s advertising. A large marketing budget has no relationship to the quality of the martial art on offer except that, in fact, mostly the quality of the martial art may actually be in inverse proportion to the marketing. Commercial martial arts schools compete not only with other martial arts schools but also with every other leisure activity on offer. Hence, they need to be aggressive marketers. Like gymnasiums they are actually not as concerned with a continuously rising membership. That’d strain their resources - both having the staff trained to instruct and in terms of hire of training space. They mostly work on throughput - the number of people constantly joining for a short period then dropping out. To maintain throughput they have to continuously market to attract the numbers. A big advertising budget tells you that the school has a focus on their business expansion. It’s simply not possible these days to develop a martial arts empire as well as offer a uniform quality in martial arts learning. In most cases, the quality is not simply non-uniform, it’s non-existent. In the past, for a time, there actually were a few large organizations that were fairly uniform in terms of high quality. But that’s gone by the wayside these days.
Interviewer: Well, I imagine that’s a trap for moderns. Today we normally think that dealing with a bigger business implies a guarantee of quality and service. It’s the “size equals success” notion.
Sifu: Yes, that’s correct. Experience tells us that big companies are not necessarily ethical, don’t automatically offer quality service or products and that you can’t guarantee consumer satisfaction based on the variable of size. In fact, psychologists have presented the convincing case that the profile of big business, if they were to have “personalities” matches identically the profile of the psychopath! (Laughs) I’ve certainly personally had the misfortune to have to deal with big bullying, mindless bureaucracies in large companies! As a psychologist I find that especially persuasive! Certainly I’ve occasionally met a few psychopathic personalities amongst martial arts identities. Very un-likeable characters, indeed!
Interviewer: Interesting, and disturbing! Can we unpack the notion of proximity then?
Sifu: I’m sorry to have to break the news but there is no correlation between the quality of a martial art school and its proximity to your home or suburb. None. By chance you may live near a quality school. Likely as not, however, statistically, you won’t. Proximity is not the variable that is most salient in choosing quality in anything. We do tend to choose our partners with proximity as one logical variable. But, even then, many relationships sadly don’t work out. Aligned to proximity is “bargain” hunting. Within the range of what can be described as affordable if you look for cheap that’s exactly what you’ll get. Not “inexpensive” but “cheap” - low quality matching low price. Mass commercial martial arts are cheap because you’re not paying for any quality! That said, no moral martial arts instructor extorts his clientele. You can’t buy self defence skill. No-one can sell self defence skill. You, and you alone, have to acquire it! Our art traditionally used to be extortionately expensive. I guess that protected it from low class people. But, it also put it out of the reach of decent poorer folk. Wealth has never been a decider of character – leaving aside the poor old folk who can’t help it, both too little and too much money often tends to indicate a lesser quality person in our society, I find. The point is if you resent paying a reasonable amount to learn a quality martial art then you’ll get what you pay for!
Interviewer: So there’s a balance between mass market, bargain basement prices and the “pay big learn big” approaches?
Sifu: Definitely. OK, recommendations by friends is yet another difficulty. Neighbours and friends being what they are, who hasn’t had advice, on something or other, from time to time? Solicited or not! Your friend or neighbour is unlikely to know what they’re recommending because most likely they’ve not had wide exposure, not had much experience, nor have a valid reference point by which to evaluate what they do or have done. Listen to your friends if you like, sure. But, then go look and independently evaluate what you experience for yourself.
Interviewer: And what of “big is beautiful”, sifu?
Sifu: Well, it isn’t in this case! People often want to belong to a big, powerful organisation. It seems to be a tribal sort of thing with some people - “our tribe’s bigger than yours!” Again, logically, big may mean it’s been heavily and consistently marketed but there’s no necessary, logical connection between an organisation being big and the quality, morality or truth of what it stands for. Hitler and Saddam both had very big armies! Martial arts is no different. If anything, you’ll likely just be one of the crowd if you join a large organisation. Certainly you’ll likely not get to meet, let alone get continuous, comprehensive, quality teaching from the top master or masters. If you like to be part of a big organization, then OK, that’ll be your thing. Good luck! The days when there were tightly controlled international martial arts organizations with high and uniform quality are long gone, I’m afraid. Nowadays, big is usually synonymous with mass teaching and uneven and poor quality. We can add it is probably wise to avoid the “famous” or “high ranked” practitioner, too. The notoriety of a “famous” practitioner is one of the myths most martial arts trade on. The implicit assumption is that if the famous person is so famous, that merely practising this art made him famous. Being “famous” or having a “high rank” is equated with being effective at self defence. In some cases it might actually be the case - the famous person is an effective martial artist. Maybe they’re not great or the best as they’re marketed - but OK. In most cases, it’s a matter of PR, marketing and advertising and opportunity to exploit powerful and influential contacts. Rank, to be blunt, means nothing - utterly nothing. There are so many arts, organisations and criteria for rank that it means nothing in the absence of a common metric by which to measure it. This is not to mention that a very large number of supposedly “highly ranked” individuals are quite bluntly fraudulent! If they didn’t grade themselves they were graded by someone who had done so! Many highly ranked individuals literally bought their rank. I know a number of martial artists that have been teaching commercial martial arts for decades who are - to put it very bluntly - utter charlatans with severe personality difficulties. They graded themselves or bought their ranks. In evaluating the “famous” person you need to think about the qualities you ought to look for in a self defence instructor which I’ll elaborate for you in another interview.
Interviewer: You also mentioned the marketing hype of “we win tournaments” being a distractor from assessing genuine quality in a martial arts school, sifu?
Sifu: I did. Absolutely. Tournament wins are no measure of the average quality of teaching or skill in a martial arts school. The top individuals in a school who win them exhibit skill in sport martial arts, that’s all. A few of these “champions” may even be able to defend themselves, in fact. But to assume that if a school wins tournaments that this says anything about the quality of the art, the teacher or the capacity of all members of the school to engage in realworld self defence is simply nonsense. This is not to even comment on the whole area of the type of rules involved, the fairness and impartiality of judging, nepotism, favouritism etc in tournaments. Like the word “rank”, forget “tournament” if you seek genuine realworld self defence skills. If you’re looking for a sport – then go for this.
Interviewer: And friendliness, sifu?
Sifu: Friendliness has nothing to do with self defence skill, or the ability to impart it! It’s a great attribute - especially for a good salesperson, though! I mean we’ve all experienced those obnoxious car salespeople who treat you as a best friend the moment they meet you! It’s really great if a group or individual you talk with or visit are friendly. We all like that! However, don’t be conned! Used car salesmen are “friendly” - or what they think passes for friendly! Politeness is a fine quality in anyone. In my dream world I imagine all martial artists are polite, respectful and friendly. But, as I say that’s my “dream world”. Many in the realworld are decent folk, of course. Many have serious personality problems, too, if I may add, as a psychologist! But this friendliness quality has no correlation with self defence skill or the ability to teach it! People can be two-faced. Who doesn’t know people who are friendly to their face but stab them in the back behind their back.
Interviewer: I know you’re a great fan of martial arts magazines, sifu (laughs), can you comment on that factor?
Sifu: (Growls). Ah, yes, accursed martial arts magazines! The greatest source of misinformation on martial arts the world has ever seen! Martial arts magazines are possibly the worst thing that ever happened to genuine martial arts! By far the vast bulk of what appears in most martial arts magazines is nonsense! I can certainly attest from my own art, Wing Chun, knowing a great deal of the “behind the scenes” material and personalities first hand over the decades that almost all that’s published is utterly misleading. Martial arts magazines are commercial endeavours. They sell not only their publication but the products of their advertisers and are often linked to a martial arts merchandising company. They market personalities likely to increase circulation and sell products or services. Factual information has nothing to do with sales. Editors are invariably martial artists, often also-rans, in quasi-retirement who have networks of old mates. If a martial artist is an old mate or his teacher is - they get publicity. If another is a commercial rival of those people or a threat to their PR mythology - what more effective a business strategy than to deny the competition publicity? Caveat emptor! Let the buyer beware! If an un-knowledgeable reader reads about Wing Chun I guarantee they inevitably get a great deal of misinformation - much of it opinion masked as fact. It’s not much different with other arts.
Interviewer: And what of political connections, sifu?
Sifu: My approach is: So you’re politically powerful? Wonderful! How’s your martial art and teaching skill stack up? How would you rate against the criteria I’ll talk about later in another interview against the qualities of a good martial arts teacher and school. Political power, like all these variables I’m debunking here is not connected to martial arts skill. If the person in question spends so much time on developing and maintaining his political power how much less time can he afford to focus on martial art? A general rule of thumb I found useful in finding the top traditional, genuine martial arts instructors was to move as far away from the politically powerful industry figures as I could. To Australians I can say a politician is a politician and ask you what do you think you’ll learn from a politician? Would you really trust any politician? Maybe it’s the same elsewhere? I suspect so!
Interviewer: You mentioned that a criteria some people use is that when they visit a martial arts school that it looked fun or easy?
Sifu: Yes. If “fun” and “easy” are what you’re after, fine! I’d reckon there would be lots of other activities that are more fun and easier other than learning genuine self defence. Genuine self defence skill may be an enjoyable or fulfilling activity to engage in, and children’s classes need to be fun, but “fun” isn’t an adjective I’d attached to training so as not to be bashed, raped, maimed or killed. If you want “easy”, sit home and watch TV. Self defence skill development isn’t easy. Most people find it challenging, empowering, maybe rewarding. “Easy” is not an adjective anyone who knows anything would apply to learning a realworld self defence skill. If it was “easy” it wouldn’t take much to learn, oughtn’t cost much, and more people would be good at it! Self defence skill ought not be trivialised - it’s a serious business!
Interviewer: What of “the latest thing”?
Sifu: Some folk hunting for a martial art will inevitably get caught up in the marketing hype selling - that’s the operative word - the “latest thing”. Martial arts go through fads in being the “flavour of the month”. The martial arts media and to a lesser extent movies drive this. In media studies they talk about “agenda setting” whereby the media tell their consumers not only what to think about but also how to think about it. Lots of emotive hype based on - utterly unsubstantiated opinion and conjecture features big. The martial arts media and marketers tell their readers, viewers and listeners what to think. The line is “I think this so therefore this is fact!” The martial arts media are no different to other mass media. Because a martial art or martial arts trend is new doesn’t mean anything except that.
Interviewer: And the “Magical Mystery tour”?
Sifu: Ah, yes! Some folk sell their art based on pandering to the seekers of some diffuse sort of New Age-like spiritual truth. The people promoting “find your true self through martial art” are themselves on another track to those who espouse realworld self defence skills in the realworld. Promises or intimations are offered that somehow - (it’s never spelt out even in outline - except it’s usually implied without effort) - their students will obtain some sort of magical power or control of some unseen force. It is often said to take decades (presumably fee paying decades) to perfect. Talk abounds and magical tales of - usually dead - masters abound. Fine. Fun to hear but excuse me, what does this do to help me defend myself in my lifespan?
Interviewer: Thank you, sifu. OK. Well, hopefully those looking for a martial arts school will avoid those mistakes! In another interview we’ll turn to what one should look for in a martial arts school and instructor
Sifu: Thank you. Yes, I’m happy to discuss that.