Friman, Richard and Rick Polland

Journal of Asian Martial Arts
Volume 3, Issue 4, pp. 47-51 (1994)

Recommended

This article emphasizes the importance of balanced and proper martial arts instruction, especially for law enforcement officials. The authors focus on the hazards of poor training, and the benefits of proper training. They focus on the proper transmission of techniques as well as "mastery of the self." The authors call on police and trainers to spend more time on compliance techniques, and to become more mindful of defense and strategy.

These authors call on students of martial arts to focus on four elements of training that they feel have been overlooked. They advocate the teachings of Zanshin (awareness), Maai (combative distance), Kuzushi (Balance with control of mind and body), and Kimeru (Timing and Rhythm). All of these principles are discussed at further length in this article. These authors feel that these principles could be the difference between life and death in certain circumstances, thus take special note of this theory! The overall theme of this article is that the "Perpetuation of poor, untested instruction due to improper training or the ego of the teacher hurts everyone, especially in the context of a law enforcement environment."

Annotated by: Christopher Abukhalaf (February 2004)

Martial Arts:

Topics: crime | philosophy | self-defense | training/exercise science |