30 years 80 Coaches by Bart Martin
30 Years, 80 Coaches. Fighters, Hools, Sensei and Lessons (Not) Learned by Bart Martin
Some say you can learn more life lessons from martial arts than documentaries and journalists’ reports. This book is about fighting, learning, and studying people. Based on my training in different striking and grappling disciplines for 30 years, it’s about whether one could become a better person through sports. I try to pinpoint some aspects of fighting, self-defense, and the learning process that can be helpful for everyone.
Why fight? What can I get from it? How much effort is it worth? How do you learn combat efficiently? Which martial arts are currently martial, and which have become an art? How can my insecurities be related to my need to fight? Can I become better and fulfilled through fighting? How being an adrenaline junkie and my ego can harm me and others? Why are there so many weird guys in the gyms? Where are the true sensei? What can meditation techniques have to do with all this?
It’s for people looking in martial arts for something more than the primitive pounding, who feel they should be about something other than “ripping the opponent’s head off” and getting a shiny medal. Such skills are important, but we hope we never have to use them in actual combat. This book should serve as a shortcut for not wasting your time and health on some people. Instead, I hope you will take care of sensible, methodical physical and mental development for yourself and others.
I wouldn’t say I like to fight. But I dislike aggressors and abusers even more. I’ve been doing it all these years cause I wanted to learn all dimensions of combat and self-defense. I haven’t become enlightened thanks to this, and I still can’t believe it. And I don’t think just fighting people makes you much wiser.
But I have seen and felt things supposedly worth writing about. I’ve gathered lots of info on techniques and experiences. These include behavior patterns of different instructors and groups, which get surprisingly repeated. It’s mostly ‘studies of humans’. “You do not truly know someone until you’ve fought with them.” – I’ve seen a lot of truth to that cause your mentality reveals itself under stress. In life, like in a fight, you can’t fake it or talk bullshit like politicians.
I’ve seen abuse of power and witnessed ideals and values misinterpreted and misused by instructors whose mouths were full of beautiful words of wisdom. They could cripple or kill 99% of others walking down the streets in less than a minute, and they often turned to the dark side. And then they chose to influence others.
