Know Your Environment

The dojo - the training hall - is an austere, plain structure: unadorned walls, smooth floor, matted and well lit. For these reasons, the traditional dojo doesn't accurately represent a realistic setting for a confrontation. Maybe some schools should include bar stools and pool tables as part of their training equipment. If "combat effectiveness" is what you're looking for in your art, then concepts besides developing techniques that only work in a pristine, flawless martial arts school need to be considered.

Have you ever trained outdoors or in an unfamiliar environment? Obstacles can and do get in the way, such as an alley wall or a depression in the ground. Having to defend yourself on the side of a hill or during inclement weather is not only challenging, but could get downright ugly. Attacks can happen in the most unlikely surroundings. Most robberies and confrontations take place at night. During Okinawan karate's formitive years, secretive training took place after sundown. As such, fighting techniques were developed with only the aid of moonlight. These same practitioners trained on the beach with eku (boat oars), and used their makeshift weapons to flick sand into the eyes of their adversaries. The master duelist Miyamoto Musashi would make it a point to keep the sun to his back during his bouts of mortal combat. If fighting indoors, he would plan the possibility of escape if necessary, previewing the area for doors, windows, or other avenues of exit. Musashi felt that escaping from overwhelming circumstances was compatible with warriorship, and was simply a part of effective strategy (heiho) . Live to fight another day.

Use everything to your advantage at all times.

Examine your environment...