In an effort to provide the readers of this blog with something of a “training manifesto” for the Göteborg Dynamo Club of Russian Martial Art, in the first part of this series of articles I tried to pinpoint the similarities and differences between conventional training in martial arts, and the training we do at the Dynamo. Now, since Russian Martial Art is widely marketed (and often understood) as a combat system that has been developed used by units of the Russian military Special Forces, in this second part, I will attempt to clarify where we, at the Dynamo, stand in relation to this marketing identity.
So… do you train at a system of combatives for “professionals” (military and law enforcement) at the Dynamo?
To put it simply: no, we do not. The reasons for this are multiple and I will try to explain them all in the following paragraphs. Ι must point out here that some of the explanations offered below are based on my personal experience and partly my political ideology.
1. Military combat systems are basic sets of combat techniques that are used as tools and can be taught within 50 hours of training, because military people, especially the ones deployed in combat zones, do not have the time to consistently train. Once you go through that type of training (based almost exclusively on the utilization of gross motor skills and aggression), all you need to do is go through a “refresher” course every couple of months and you’re good to go. When you hear or read about “military systems” in which you get to train for year after year, what you’re basically dealing with is martial arts marketed as military combatives, which means that their target group is civilians who get attracted by the military image. What do we think about the military image at the Dynamo? Well, let me just say that wearing cammo is NOT allowed in our training sessions. Plus, we train because we enjoy training and we find inherent value in it, not because we just want a set of tools.
The main difference between army combatives and the training at the Dynamo: we don't take ourselves too seriously.
2. Now, regarding the true military combatives, i.e. the 50 hours of training on fighting skills based exclusively on gross motor skills and aggression: I have practiced one such system, namely Paul Vunak’s Rapid Assault Tactics, about ten years ago, as a member of a Filipino Martial Arts training group. Although the system was extremely effective and pretty easy to learn, what I noticed after a couple of months of training was that I was getting very aggressive as a person, and my “violence trigger” was becoming extremely sensitive. Later, my good friend, JKD instructor Vagelis Zorbas (who is certified in Rapid Assault Tactics) and one of his students (who is an LEO, by the way) confirmed my findings. All in all, I strongly believe that for a soldier deployed in a war zone, hyper-vigilance and paranoia might be a small price to pay for survival, but the people I train with are civilians and I am not in the business of turning normal people into rabid pit-bulls.
3. Strangely enough, the LEOs that have contacted me in the past inquiring about joining our classes (quite a few) described what they want, more or less, in the following words: “I want to learn the most effective techniques and be able to use them immediately, but I cannot train much, because my work does not allow for it”. I simply told them that we could not help them. Because, what we offer at the Dynamo is a training method based on the idea of perpetual sophistication of movement. Mastery is our ultimate goal and the only way one can achieve it is through endless hours of deliberate practice. To put it simply: no practice, no learning.
4. The self defense needs of professionals are very different from those of civilians. A special forces operator might find an AK-74 disarm useful, while a police officer should be able to restrain and handcuff a suspect, but what civilians need the most is awareness of the dangers around them, so that they can stay out of harm’s way. Now, the Dynamo is not a club focusing in a niche market; we are just fine with both professionals AND civilians in our training sessions, and that includes forty-year-old-plus managers, twenty-something computer geeks or jocks who enjoy the occasional knuckle sandwich. In this sense, the skills we need to focus upon in our training are generic ones: power punching, evasive movement, absorbing force, engaging the ground safely, breaking structure, manipulating the joints, etc. These skills are of utmost importance and apply universally, whether you’re a professional or a civilian. If you understand the function of a joint and the ways you can manipulate it, it is fairly easy to learn how to disarm a knife or a firearm. The opposite is not true.
5. There is a view out there, quite popular in military and law enforcement circles (especially across the Atlantic), according to which the members of this society are either wolves (criminals), sheep (ordinary citizens), or sheepdogs (military personnel and LEOs) [1]. According to this view, the sheep are unable to protect themselves because of their diminished potential for violence, so sheepdogs are left the sole guardians of this society, the only ones with “real” self defense needs. I disagree with this view: I believe that it is our duty as citizens to be able if needed to protect ourselves, our loved ones, our property, and our country. As much as I admire the military and law enforcement people for what they offer to our society, I feel exactly the same for doctors, teachers, engineers and people who work at slaughterhouses or in garbage disposal. And, while our society will never require from an LEO to come up with a cure for cancer, a doctor might be forced by circumstances to defend him/herself. When I recently found out about Dr Sergey Shvets’ Martial Art – Russian Style and visited their webpage [2], I was surprised by how much the system’s motto resonated with me: “Intelligent and kind people MUST know how to defend themselves”. It is simple as that. One last thing: besides our duty as citizens, there is also our genetic inheritance as mammals. It is not just the “sheep dogs” – we ALL have a built-in self defense mechanism, honed through hundreds of thousands of years of evolution: it is called “the fear reaction system”. Now, in order for us to become more complete human beings (and less of “sheep”), we need to explore our fear reaction system, in order to familiarize ourselves with the violence that often accompanies its activation, and be able to control it. It is my firm belief that it is complete human beings that make for better citizens and ultimately, a more evolved society – not more, or better trained, or non-subject-to-the-same-laws-as-the-rest-of-us sheep dogs…
Let’s sum it up then: what we practice at the Göteborg Dynamo Club is not military combatives that will turn people into killing machines with minimum training. What we do practice is much closer to a geeky folk-style martial art: a scientifically structured series of exercises, drills and competitive games that provide ordinary people (military personnel and LEOs not excluded) with substantial combat skills and some of the mental toughness needed to apply them.
In the next installment of the series, we will compare what we practice at the Dynamo with combat sports.
Notes:
[1] I first read about this view a few years ago in the book On Combat by Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman.
Fantastic words. Thanks for the clarity.
ReplyDeleteVery good article, as usual. Thanx Spiro.
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