Kodokai Martial Arts

Things you should know about self-defense and the martial arts.

Martial arts consist of specialized skills designed to be effective in for specific purposes.

"Specialization" means that certain things have been selected for, or against. For instance, karate, judo, and MMA are specialized for specific types of competition. For instance, karate matches do not allow grappling, judo matches do not allow striking, MMA matches allow certain grappling moves and certain strikes, but not others.

Each of these sports has adapted to the rules of sport. For instance, in MMA or Brazilian ju-jitsu there is only one opponent. Fighters can spend considerable time on the ground since no unseen enemy will jump in to stomp anyone's head. Also, when on the ground, ones adversary cannot grab a rock and give you a wack, poke your eyes, bite you, or bend your fingers back (against the rules). These limitations allow some techniques to appear very effective, when, in a self-defense situation, they could be disastrous choices.

What do you want?
Many people confuse rule-based sports with the reality of an actual assault. If your interest is in becoming a competitive fighter then you certainly should join some type of gym. If, however, your interest is in learning how to protect yourself and your family, you should consider the following.

Here are a few other differences between sport training and our Palace Hand classes:

We assume that a second adversary may jump in at any moment. This changes everything.

We use whatever we can as a weapon. Our techniques are designed to take advantage of weapons of opportunity.

We use our environment to our advantage. Snow, hills, stairways, parking garages, curbs, public rest rooms and vehicles all pose unique situations that render many "popular" techniques useless.

We assume the enemy has a weapon. Always. Again, this changes strategy, tactics and techniques.

We assume the enemy is bigger and stronger than we are. Skills musn't rely upon strength. In sports, competitors are divided by weight because a small person can seldom defeat a larger one using sport martial arts.

We teach things that are against the rules. Violent assault is not a game. Second place is not an option.
 
In self-defense you can't get saved by the referee. We must end it or escape, quickly.

We do not assume that the enemy will be in front of us and that our hands will be free. An assault can come from any direction and without you being in a "fighting stance".

We learn to protect ourselves from unnecessary lawsuits. Okay, you have the bad guy in a submission hold. He gives up....now what? In the eyes of the law you are no longer defending yourself once he gives up. So how do you let him go without having him resume his attack or without hurting him further (followed by you being arrested and sued)? Once he submits you are the attacker. Don't doubt this for one minute.

We need to be able to earn a living. Injuries that keep you from work or make you vulnerable to attack are not good self-defense. While no method is without risk, our training methods are safe, time tested and less damaging to your body.  

Every school or gym thinks that they teach skills that can translate to dealing with multiple attackers, larger bad guys, or someone with a weapon. But these situations require dumb luck or specific strategies and techniques specialized for these cases. And if you are counting on luck you don't need martial arts of any kind!

It is important to understand the difference between self-defense and sports- understand which type of training is best for you.
If you want to become a competitive athlete choose a gym. If you want to focus on self-defense skills we might be the place for you.