U.S.C.A. Award for Best Martial Arts School in Flagstaff
"Water Mountain... is a very supportive place to train. The instructors really understand how to work with you to achieve success, and to continually build upon and reinforce your successes. Everyone, students and instructors, work together to form an extremely positive environment. When I walked into the studio for the first time, I immediately felt at ease--sometimes I come in early just to relax in the calming environment. I feel sincerely respected by everyone I've met here. WMMS is like a supportive family, always encouraging me to new levels...."
--Alan Kaufmann, East Flag
"Water Mountain has improved my health so much-sometimes I can hardly believe it! When I first started coming here I was having so much pain, I was just about disabled. Now I'm energetic, feel younger, and I'm nearly pain free. Water Mountain has changed my life for the better....You can come here to handle stress, have a more balanced life and receive lots of positive support both from the staff and from all the friends you make here."
--Maureen White, West Flag
"Water Mountain Martial Arts has been a huge asset for my sons now ages 11 and 13. They not only benefit from the strength and skill building, but also are learning self-defense and discipline. They have learned that it takes a lot of hard work to accomplish some goals in life, but also that it is worth it all in the end."
--Judy Stratton, Upper Greenlaw
"Master Steenrod, I am writing you this letter to thank you and Water Mountain Martial Society for providing martial and lifestyle programs that have been part of my life for several years now. WMMS allowed me to achieve success, and continually build upon my successes, by reinforcing my positive frame of mind, and by cultivating the processes that move students toward imminent objectives using a clear agenda."
--Josh Edwards, East Flagstaff
"Water Mountain Martial Society is a great place to train. Besides the beautiful facility, every instructor is professional, respectful, easy to get along with, and concerned with your progress. The lessons are always very useful and practical, and techniques are demonstrated in a way that makes them quite easy to learn and do, often with surprising results.
A question I've often found myself asking after a class is: "Was I really just able to do that?".
Training at Water Mountain has also improved my health in a long-term and lasting way, both physically and mentally. After training there I find myself with much less stress, as well as an increased drive to do well in life, with the skills and confidence I need to do so.
I would encourage anyone interested in training to try it out. You won't be sorry!"
--James "Bolt Cutter" Patton, West Flagstaff
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5 Major Tactical Problems
There are a wide variety of martial arts and I wanted to show you a classification scheme that is used within the Water Mountain theory class that can help you make sense of that variety.
Martial arts emerge to solve different problems. Often times, in the modern era, people have forgotten, overlooked, or simply never learned to look at martial arts from a problem based approach. This leads to matching the wrong tool to the job.
Let’s say you have a box of tools. It’s a great box of tools and you have spent years building it. You have an excellent screwdriver, an excellent hammer, a terrific saw, and a shiny set of wrenches.
What could possibly go wrong with such a great set of tools? How could you ever fail with them?
Your job--Paint a house with those tools. With a screwdriver? Can’t be done.
It’s not that those tools are wrong. It’s not even that you don’t know how to use those tools. It’s that there is a mismatch between the tools you have and the task that is at hand.
The 5 Tactical Problems
- Combat
- Fighting
- Self-Defense
- Escort
- Well-Being
(If you are a lecture attendee then you see that I have added the fifth category of well-being. My reason for doing that is because I am presenting a wider classification system. The lecture was working on classifying tactical applications).
Combat Problem—
The basic problem of a combat art is the elimination and pursuit of threat. Now, I am not using a euphemism for killing when I say elimination. Elimination includes killing but can equally involve disabling, or the removal of weaponry. Threat means someone or something that possesses the ability to render damage. For example, in the ancient era a threat could cover something as unusual as a war dog. Combat also covers the defense and preservation of others.
Fighting Problem—
Fighting is typically done for pleasure (of the participants or an audience), establishing alpha dominance (who has the bigger pair), self-development (the struggle makes you better), sport, or reward (dollars in the pocket). These goals do overlap, and that is the reason they are included in the same category.
Self-Defense—
The function of self-defense is to create an opportunity to flee. The reason for this is very simple. You can not be harmed, if you can not be touched. An attacker can not deliver force into your body, if your body is out of reach. Now, sometimes to create that opportunity for flight, you can use your voice. Sometimes you will have to gouge out an eye.
Escort—
Escort is the movement of a person from one place to another, typically with minimal harm. Escorts often involve some form of restraint.
Well-Being—
The need to exercise, relieve stress, and learning how to fully use the body. Often times, this vital need is poo-pooed by martial artists that are focused on other problems. However, the lack of fitness is the source of almost all disease in America and kills many more people than an attacker could even remotely approach. Let us also not forget, that it is physical tissue that performs a martial art, and the more fit the tissue the better the technical elements of an art can be performed.
What Does A Mismatch Look Like?
You can plug any art into this scheme that you want, and you see very quickly where it falls. It is certainly possible for an art to cover more than one area, but remember, each additional problem increases the number of training man hours that are needed to become skilled and the number of hours you need to keep your skills well-maintained.
The most important thing to do is to get a right match between the problem you’re trying to address and the solution set (tool kit) that you are working with. Knowing what your solution set can and can’t do for you allows you to avoid mismatches that can have very bad consequences. Let’s look at a few examples.
In the Heaven Fist, the first weapon that black belts learn is the garrote. The garrote is an ancient weapon that exists in most cultures world wide and is basically the use of a cord to quickly and efficiently strangle someone. It is also, when done correctly, among the most peaceful ways of dying. The Heaven Fist is primarily a combat art, and the garrote is a combat solution (which I really teach to teach the mechanics of choking and strangulation). Let’s place this into each of the other schemes…
Fighting—Two people square off, and one promptly garrotes the other.
Self-Defense—You have a threatening person, so you garrote them.
Escort—You have a belligerent person, so you garrote them.
Well-Being—You’re out to improve your fitness, so you garrote your training partner.
As you can see, just a little comically, it is the wrong solution to these problem sets.
An Important Lesson to Learn About Tactics
I also often teach escort technique, partly because this is one of the potential occupations of a martial artist. One question I often get during escort training is, “What do I do if the person does this or that? The escort falls apart.” My response is, “Yes, it does.”
Escorting is politeness that is rendered on to an individual. Many escort techniques can be escaped from if a person escalates, either through knowledge or strength. In which case, more aggressive escort techniques can be escalated into. At some point, however, a person resisting escort can change the situation from an escort into a fight situation or into a combat situation. Knowing when that border has been crossed is very important, because you stop trying to use an escort technique when it isn’t an escort job. However, it is equally important to not use a combat technique for an escort problem.
The safest tactical solution is always to kill the opponent. A dead person can not deliver force into you, and can not present a threat. However, killing is not necessarily the practical solution or the moral solution or even legal.
Safety Versus Humanity
In an escort situation, you willingly put yourself at risk by not harming the individual, and by basically giving them opportunity to respond to the technique. I call this sparing the blow, because while you could use much greater force you have chosen not to.
In a combative situation, the basic tactic is exactly the opposite. It is the overwhelming and dramatic use of force, because each moment your threat remains is a moment you could experience a life ending injury. You should never spare the blow.
Self-Defense is of course the constant pursuit of an escape opportunity, and people really do need to be conditioned to properly escape. Most people linger way past the good time to be there.
The questions for you:
- What problems do you have the tool to handle?
- What problems do you want to be able to handle?
If you would to explore further what art fits you and your needs, you can do so in this free online course. Please sign up below.
Warm regards,
Master Mikel Steenrod
www.h2omt.com
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