|
Interestingly enough, when it comes down to comparison between different styles of martial arts, we often see a kind of „Kindergarten effect“ between the opposing parties.
There is a permanent struggle to „show and prove“ that our own style is better than other styles.
To me, this behaviour is common to children, who are comparing things with each other, to show that their thing is better.
That’s why I call it the „Kindergarten-effect“.
The whole thing has to do more with the ego of the participants than the actual comparison of possibilities in martial arts. Nobody wants to practise an art that could be „less good“ than the others. This leads to a lot of silly discussions.
In the case of Systema for example, every practitioner is quick to state that this is a combat orientated art for real self-defense situations and that it is not a sport.
A few Systema practitioners even look somewhat down to the competitive martial arts, which shows immaturity and disrespect.
A lot of times, they don’t really know what they were talking about, because they never had a serious confrontation in their life. Their statement is influenced by what they think Systema is or what they heard from others, but not based on their own personal experience in potentially dangerous or life threatening situations.
On the other hand, you will very rarely find advanced practitioners, who had serious experiences in their own life, who will participate in those comparisons especially publicly. Why do you think that is?
In my case, I truly consider Systema as a combat art.
I often see that other martial arts practitioners are not able to see what is actually done in Systema, thus, they doubt the real value of this work and say "this will never work for real".
In a real confrontation, nothing is like in a competition. You will have to grab everything at hand to use for your advantage and surprise tactics are some of the most important elements for survival.
Moreover, underestimation of Systema is normally a factor for prevailing in a situation.
So then, why argue with people about things they doubt being real?
It’s a great gift that a combat orientated art like Systema hides its potential very successfully from the outside. This gives you the advantage of surprise if needed.
There is no need to explain the real value of Systema to people who argue against it, or even to show them how Systema really works if they don’t come to learn the art.
That doesn’t mean, that one should keep a big secret about it. I myself try to answer questions about the art always to the best of my ability. I learned this from Mikhail and Vladimir, who are always willing to address any question, even when they know that their answer would not be fully understood.
It seems that after 20 years of training in Systema, still when I see Vladimir and Mikhail working, there are more questions than answers...
Just practice, have fun and get more experienced. Don’t care what other people think about your training style, as long as you are convinced it’s the right thing for you.
That’s the way it works I suppose.
|
