JessOBrien wrote:Although perhaps wartime may not be the most leisurely time to train martial arts, many of the Chinese martial arts were developed for warfare. The founders of many of these arts had been soldiers and had extensive direct experience of battlefield combat.
There are aspects of these arts that can only be experienced through actual life and death situations. In my opinion one must undergo such experiences to reach the height of martial arts skill....for those who seek to "take it to the top", there is no substitute.
I totally agree. When I was inducted into military service as a USMC Force Recon Team operative in 1969, I already had over eight years of varied martial arts experience which had included Korean, Okinawan, and Chinese styles. I had done a lot of hardcore, 'old school' Asian style sparring without protective equipment, since there was none available in those days, both in the schools where I had studied and in tournament competitions, and had used what I had learned in a number of unavoidable street fighting encounters. As a result, I believed that these varied experiences had provided me with a sort of 'on the job training', or OJT, which had prepared me to realistically deal with any kind of 'live' fighting situation that I would ever encounter.
However, I can say without any reservation, that the 'live' hand-to-hand combat encountered during 27 months in the jungle of Southeast Asia, where defeat meant life altering wounds or injuries, immediate dismemberment, or death on the spot, was a totally different experience. Unfortunately, IMO, there's simply no way that anyone can fully prepare for such horrendous events in advance of actually being there. You either already have skills that work in the worst possible scenarios, or you don't.
There's usually only
one momentary chance to react and respond effectively, with no opportunity for a second shot at survival, no opportunity to review the post-fight videos for a better showing next time, no opportunity to polish your form, and no opportunity to test your technique applications in preparation for the lethally dangerous events that regularly occur everyday without forewarning.
Thankfully, nonetheless, my martial arts training saved my life again and again, for which I am most grateful!
Doc