The Science of the Eight Limbs

This is the knickname for Muay Thai in Thailand.  It is the eastern concept of what 'boxing' is, and it is one of the best self defense systems ever created.  It is up there with boxing, karate, and tai chi. 

Muay Thai is complete kickboxing where punching, kicking, kneeing, and elbows are allowed.  Throws and submissions are not allowed.  It is the pure art of striking and conditioning.  This style of kickboxing has been going on since the 1700s, but has only been civilized, in a ring with gloves since the 1930s when Europeans where in Thailand.  Muay Thai started as an extension of the weapons tactics of the Thai army.  Thailand was never conquered by Imperialistic European forces.  They fought for their freedom, and they stayed free.

Muay Thai is obviously very brutal and very competitive.  It takes more skill and knowledge than western boxing, but is still hardcore, competitive, and full of anger.  Had I not been a fool, I would have stuck with Muay Thai and not vascillated between Olympic combat sports like boxing and judo for so long.  I don't regret my self defense education, but I could have done it better.  But those days are gone.

The thing is, the atmosphere of a boxing gym or Muay Thai gym is very different from a judo dojo.  They are self defense athletes, so all they know is punching and kicking full contact.  It is not a real sport, it is legal self defense, and they are all egotistical and proud.  I have the strength and athleticism of a boxer, but I don't have the courage and anger and hatred.  I am not an angry man who wants to fight.  Judo is physical education, and the point is to win by countering the aggression not by attacking. 

It turns out, Judo has little to do with self defense, and nothing to do with combat.  Judo is a foundational skill like collegiate wrestling, and teaches you to stand, not fall down easily, not be pinned, get off your knees, gripfight, breakfall, and transition.  It turns out Aikido is a better martial art than Judo, but everyone wants to be the champion and no one wants to be the master. 

I trained mostly shootfighting, judo, and sambo.  The shootfighting training made me very experienced at groundfighting, and I excelled the other judoka in matwork.  But Judo was a vital part of my life, and I spent my entire prime, my late 20s, playing judo.  It culminated in playing Sambo and that was the best martial arts experience of my life.  Sambo is a combination of wrestling and judo, and is the ideal thing for military men to learn.  It was my way of serving in the military and making good on what could have been.

So I wasted my atheltic potential in boxing and muay thai but gained something else instead.  I mastered wrestling on the feet, and this made me very mentally tough and determined.  Judo makes you mentally tough, it makes you a winner.  That is why we can use it as physical education, because you learn how to win and lose and not despair.

Combat means stealth and weapons, and has nothing to do with fighting fair to see who is better.  Self defense itself is a combat sport, and you can do any sport you want to and master self defense.  I myself like wrestling on the feet, and have been good at it since my youth.  Even in my high school days I was a good wrestler, I just got pinned easily.  I quit wrestling in 1994, but started judo in 2004.  So between those ten years, a lot happened.  I am an experienced man.

Had I stayed with Muay Thai, I would have been rich, married, and established by now.  Every sparring teacher I had in youth is successful because they are hard working, outgoing, monogamous, and understand reality.  I saw Royce Gracie in the early UFCs and thought judo/jiu-jitsu is better than boxing.  I was naive because i am from a rich Jewish suburb shielded from real combat and violence.  Jews are nonviolent by nature.

At least judo and sambo made me tough, and I know self defense.  Every man in America thinks self defense is for children, and combat is what makes you 'the fittest'.  But this is the opposite of Christian virtue and wholesomeness.  Self defense makes you a good man, and Combat makes you an evil criminal.  America is all about business and warfare, and the best athletes are black, hispanic, or from Russia, where they have a different worldview. 

2020 is an Olympic year, and I will be looking forward to the judo event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  Sambo is not an Olympic sport, neither is Muay Thai.  Judo is the only Olympic sport that allows submissions like chokeholds and armbars.  The definitive moment where uki must give up or be injured or killed. 

I am now a retired athlete and can only watch from the sidelines.  But I remember the past, and will never forget what it was like to be young.  By 30, you are already old for Olympic sport, by 40, you are slow.  But there is still things you can do in martial arts and sport and fitness.  But everyone knows age 18 to 35 is your best athletic years.  Man is not immortal, at least not physically.

So I will continue to admire combat athletes like wrestlers and judoka and despise actual criminals who want to hurt you.  The hero fights the good fight, but doesn't actually fight.  The real fight is to do the right thing, and live a meritorious life. 

Had I had it all to do again, I would have trained Muay Thai and not Judo.  Some wrestlers use wrestling to stay up, not to go to the ground.  So I wasted my boxing/muay thai potential.  But as my life continues, I realize my other talent, music, is something that can't be lost.  Muay Thai is for young people. music can be done from age 8 til 80.  So I will never stop doing music, it is not dependent on physical strength or conditioning.

So the Hindus are right when they say, 'Everything you lose will come back to you in a different way.'  I lost martial arts but gained music.  And my scholastic educations didn't help me at all.  So start your extra curricular activities in youth and do what you want to do.  Do your hobbies long enough, and they become your profession.  This is what I am trying to teach the youth.

The Gendai Budo

This term means, 'The Modern Japanese Martial Arts'.  It is more than just self defense.  Anyone can get good at self defense, you don't need to go to a karate school to learn self defense.  It should be thought of as 'Zen and the Martial Arts'.  It is self defense, but has a spiritual connotation to it.  You have a right to defend yourself, but you don't have a right to start with anyone or be an asshole.

Karate, Judo, and Jujutsu is Budo.  Aikido means with weapons, and Ninjitsu means stealth and deception.  So the Japanese have a martial art for each aspect of self defense.  Karate is just punching and kicking, Judo is throwing and pinning, Jujutsu specializes in the submission holds, Aikido deals with weapons situations, Ninjitsu teaches you how to be sneaky and deceptive.  Other Asian countries have one style that teaches a mish-mosh of all ranges and aspects, but the Japanese are so obsessed with Budo that they have a different martial art for every aspect of Budo.

The main thing in self defense is awareness.  Most people will not fight fair.  They will sucker punch you, blindside you, shank you, bite you, gouge you, etc...  But the main thing in a fair fight is punching, pinning, and weapons tactics.  A pin is a type of submission.  So is a choke or armlock, but pinning is better than choking and armlocks hardly ever work in streetfights.

Before 1993 and the UFC, people thought just training Karate was enough.  Karate is mostly punching and kicking.  But now we know what Jujutsu really means.  It means being a wholistic practitioner with an answer for everything.  Real Jujutsu is more like Combat Sambo, a sport that allows punch, kick, throw, and submission.  Then there is weapons and stealth.  To be a budo master, you must be complete, so eastern martial arts and wholistic medicine is based on the same concept, wholism.  Not seeing one thing and one thing only, but seeing a rich tapestry of factors.  A good martial artist can punch, kick, throw, do submissions, disarm someone with a weapon, and is aware of stealth and deception.  If you can do all those 6 things, you are a Jujutsu master.

I don't particularly like MMA because it is vicious and commercial and not in the spirit of Budo.  But I like Combat Sambo, because of several factors.  First of all, there are uniforms, which allows for more grips to throw from.  There is no cage, so if you want to take someone down, you have to throw them in the center of the mat.  A knockout, a throw, or a submission ends the bout.  There is a point system where you are rewarded for throws and pins.  And they wear protective gear so it is less harmful to the practitioners.  The Russians know what Jujutsu is about.  It is about fight science, and the Russians are crazy about all combat sports, even boxing and Tae Kwon Do.

So the meaning of the martial arts is not learning how to win an ego beef and be Cassius.  It is about mastering the self, living in peace, and attaining clarity into the human condition.  Budo can be a type of religion just like Judaism or Christianity can be a religion.  It is a moral principle, physical training, and insight into the human condition.

The ultimate teaching is violence always backfires.  The best fighter is never angry, and knows he can use his strength to be benevolent not harmful.  That is why we can use Judo as physical education, because it makes you a better member of society.  Self Defense is for children and all warfare is based on deception.  Nobody cares if you are objectively better than them, business is not based on talent or merit, it is based on stealth and guile.  You don't have to be extremely talented to be rich and successful.  Oftentimes, the richest people are worthless punks and the poorest, humblest people have the most talent and merit.  Life is not fair.  But through Judo and self defense, you can learn to be a better man, and this gives you an inner contentment that can't be bought or sold.

There is a big Judo tournament going on in Tel Aviv right now, and I am happy.  I wish I was there.  I am a citizen of Israel.  But I hardly ever visit because I can't afford the plane ticket.  But Judo is important to all modern people, especially to the modern state of Israel.  In Israel, the Jews there are different from other types of Jews.  They are more tough, more fit, more secular, and more confident.  Judo is the ideal sport for them.  The Jews of the diaspora such as American Jews seem soft in comparison.  Judo is sport, and sport teaches you to win or lose and not complain.  I wish I could be a Judo teacher in Israel, I speak both Hebrew and English.  But life didn't turn out the way I thought it would. 

So the message of the martial arts is to get tough, get fit, get a job, and do exceptional service.  Business is warfare, and there are samurais and there are ninjas.  I'd rather be a samurai than a ninja.  I work with enthusiasm in an honorable way to do the right thing.  I hope you join me.

Battlefield Earth

This is going to be a far reaching, all inclusive post and feature my three most recent art designs. 

Life is a battle.  Everything in life is a fight, even getting out of bed in the morning.  But you don't have to be angry, violent, or aggressive.  Life is hard enough.  Be gentle.

When I was young, before I started guitar or judo or chinese medicine, I liked fairy tales, mythology, kinghts with swords and armor, and fantasy movies.  I thought fighting was cool.  It was later I found out fighting involves loss, and loss hurts.  So I stopped liking battlefield warfare and started liking non lethal combat sports like boxing and judo.  At least you don't die if you lose.  There's always next time.

A lot of my imagination was shaped by young adult mythology books at the local library, which I still visit from time to time.  It's free entertainment and knowledge. 

I especially like Celtic, Scandinavian, and Hindu Mythology.  As well, I am fascinated by the shamans of Mexico. 

Below are three recent artworks, done in 6 by 6 inch fashion, regarding battlefield skills and tactics. 

Jousting

The King Departing

Sambo

The first is called Jousting and portrays two knights doing a tournament for the entertainment of the king and queen of the nation.  The second is called The King Departing, implying the king is going on an expedition or journey and the friars are praying for his success and return.  And the third design is called Sambo, and portrays a sambo wrestler shooting a single leg pick against a rugged opponent.  Sambo is a battlefield skill, and the Russians value military service and judo.

So this is the direction my art has gone in the past couple of days.  I've been fantasizing about mythology, warfare, sambo, and my past, when I was young and didn't know much about reality.  

Back in the Saddle

Lately, I've been obsessed and thinking back on my years training judo (and some sambo).  Sambo, which to the uninitiated is a sport that combines elements of wrestling and judo, has always gripped my imagination ever since I first saw it.  My dad said, sambo is Russia's sport tradition.

I created this art work because it makes me happy.  The only thing I didn't realize is that my scanner didn't pick up on the colors, so it is in grayscale. 

I figure, if I'm not in shape to be an athlete, I can still explore my obsession with martial arts through drawing.