Repost: Selling The Dream

Ok - we've had several threads lately that have prompted me to dig out this old chestnut again. I feel a new generation of MAP members will benefit from it...

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SELLING THE DREAM
A forum post from Mark Tripp
The guy who trained Dan Severn for his first win in the UFC​

As we look at the BJJ/GJJ "fad", and it really doesn't matter what side of it you are on, you eventually have to come to some simple but honest conclusions.

First, this is nothing new. The "tricks" of Japanese Jiujitsu came first; Then the little "Judo Experts"; Then "Karate Masters"; Which begat the "Kung-Fu craze"; Somewhere in there was the "Bruce Lee/JKD" era; Which gave way to the "Ninja Warriors" and finally the current GJJ/BJJ fad.

Am I being insulting when I call all those a fad? I don't think so; But I will say that when all of those things were "hot" the majority of people in them were there because of "The Dream", which has nothing to do with reality. Let me explain the "Dream".

My first exposure to it came when I saw my first Charles Atlas ad. What skinny, awkward kid, with low self-esteem, is NOT going to be moved by that ad! As I read it I knew that man could change my life! After all, I had been doing Judo for about seven years (began at 5), and I was still a skinny awkward kid! (Notice how being in Judo, I knew there was no "magic" in Judo) This ad promised magic!

I still have the course, I did all the exercises. They were very odd things like "To make your neck stronger, squeeze your neck with both hands as you tighten your neck as hard as you can. Hold this for 30 seconds!" This could explain my brain damage today, but I digress. However, six months after working on the course, I was no bigger, no better looking, and I still was a skinny awkward kid. However, I was still a sucker for the Dream!

You see, the "Dream" is created by "magic thinking". For the martial art dream to work you must do three things:


Show that small people can beat up big people with it.

Show that it does not require strength

Show that it takes no skill to learn.



Go back to the Fads I listed. Every one of them followed the top three rules, AT LEAST IN THE MIND OF THE PUBLIC. The second the paying public becomes "enlightened" about the system, they move on to the next fad...BECAUSE THEY WANT THE DREAM, NOT THE REALITY.

The Dream is about the fear in us. Fear of not being accepted; Fear of failure; Fear of rejection; and on and on. We are willing to suspend all logic when it comes to the dream, because we cannot face the truth about our fears.

Bruce Lee was a little guy; Royce and Helio were little guys; the Chinese/Japanese masters were small people. When we saw the demonstrations, all of which showed rule #1 and #2, we bought into the dream.

When we read the ad that said "10 easy lessons" or "home study course" (now we have video for that), bang, off went our money. When it didn't work for us, we just bought into a different person selling us the dream. Time to wake up...

1. Show that small people can beat up big people with it.
2. Show that it does not require strength

When the average Japanese fought the average American, hand to hand, in WW2, the Japanese was usually beaten. The very fact that events like Judo and wrestling have weight classes tells us the truth about #1 and #2

"A good little man can beat a big man, but, a good big man will always beat a good little man"

People don't like talking about the Bruce Lee/Gene LeBell or Helio/Kimura fights, because they dispell the dream. The fact is they were both beaten by men who were almost as good, and much bigger and stronger than they were.

3. Show that it takes no skill to learn.


How silly, it takes a huge commitment of body, mind, and soul to master any martial art system. You are NEVER going to get there by training once a week, one hour at a time. Think about John Saylor getting up every morning and doing 1500 squats, as a warm-up for his daily training!!! Now do you think "everyone" can train like that? Do you really believe you need to skill to master martial arts? Think about how many kids play football in high school; Now how many of those make it to play College ball? How many less than that make it to the pro's? How many of those pro's get into the hall of fame? Like it or not, there are going to be people who cannot do things as well as the "other guy". Usually because they lack the desire and drive to get there.

Whenever I bring up the dream, I always talk about when I was teaching magic classes to kids. I foolishly thought the kids were there to learn magic. I would show them a trick, and they'd go "Wow, teach me that". But when they saw that it wasn't magic, but rather something they had to practice they would say "Show us another trick". What they were really saying was "You aren't teaching us "magic", this is hard, and requires work!" They were waiting for me to tell them the "magic words" that put the rabbit in the hat! When they learned THEY had to put the rabbit in the hat, without getting caught putting the rabbit in the hat, their interest in magic "disappeared"!

The same is true with the martial art fads. Sadly there are those who are afraid to let go of the dream and face their fears head on. The truth, and this comes from doing martial arts for over 38 years, follows:

NO martial art will make you an unbeatable fighter. If so, we wouldn't have created all the weapons we have to get the job done.

IF you want to study a system, do it because you want to and it's fun to do so. Don't listen to anyone tell you what is best for you.

NO unarmed martial art system will protect you from "gangs of skin heads" "knife fighters" or other such hype. The best "self-defense" systems are "avoid", "evade", "escape", and finally "fight". If self-defense is your martial art goal, then read Peyton Quinn's books and train in the manner he recommends.



HERO's are great as a guide for people, but you must become your own hero in your life! Simply put, I would rather study with the people who trained Bruce Lee, not Bruce Lee.

I know, as so many things I write are, that this will be twisted by some. But take the time to reflect on this. I do not write this because I think those "Selling the Dream" are bad. Who is to say? People want to buy the dream, let those who want to sell it, sell it to those who wish to buy it.

But for those of you who look to me as your "Coach".....

WAKE UP AND GET YOUR ASS OUTTA BED...IT'S TIME TO GET TO WORK!!!!

 

Thank you!

 

Great article, thanks for re-sharing it

 

Yay! hallelujah! the simple truth contained in 1 relatively short article! A plea for honesty and an end to the silly backbiting and politics that go on! Yoda for life president of the galaxy!

 

Really good article, I can see why you brought it back up. Its like the kiesh that will never go down.

 

The real fight is with your mind ?

 

Should be a sticky in ALL of the Styles forums!!

 

Great stuff YODA. Great article, by a man who knows what's up.

 

wow didnt fiinish yet, but me likey!

 

* Dusts off his nunchakas once again and starts whipping them about because he enjoys doing so! *

 

That was more helpful than recent threads on similar topics.

People, take note:

Somthings i've always believed in.

 

B E A utiful! Hopefully this gets read by everyone who buys into the propaganda. The imperfections and realistic probabilities are one of the reasons we call it Martial ARTS!

 

Nice

 

Very good article.

Just missing one point... that article didn't say which martial arts style is the best...

 

Great Article! never exactly thought of it that way

 

A very good read and very wise words.

 

Yep, you are......

See? Nothing wrong with studying an art.......He just doesn't want us to do it for the wrong reasons. I'd say that's reasonable.

 

Originally Posted by YODA
IF you want to study a system, do it because you want to and it's fun to do so. Don't listen to anyone tell you what is best for you.

So then we shouldnt listen and read Peyton Quinn's books and train in the manner he recommends ???

 

Wow.