Introduction To The Real Martial Art

Kamo: "You want me to be your master?"

Calvin: "Yes, please accept me."

Kamo: "I won't lie to you, but you will have a very hard time especially that we have just to spend together so I will accelerate things a little faster. And I want to go easy on you just because you are my favorite writer."

Calvin: "I made up my mind!"

Kamo: "Are you sure?"

Calvin: "Yes, absolutely!"

Kamo: "Very well. From now on, I am your master and you are my disciple."

A guard suddenly opened the steel door and walked in.

Guard: "Prepare yourselves, it's work time."

Kamo smiled and looked at Calvin.

Kamo: "Your training begins now."

The two fellows were taken along with the other prisoners to the mine site where they would work for 4 hours straight. But for Calvin and Kamo, they added another hour to their work, the purpose was to strengthen Calvin's body. To learn martial art effectively, it is needed to have a body that can withstand heavy blows and harsh training.

In the following 15 days, they repeated the same routine. Breakfast, training, lunch, training, dinner, sleep, and so on. Training consists of mining and carrying the minerals and sometimes they even skipped dinner to mediate. When working, the prisoners were divided into two teams, the mining team and the carrying team. Calvin was part of the two of them.

Calvin: "Master, I understand the extra hours and the working thing but meditating. What use of it?"

Kamo: "It's important to have a strong body but it's important to have a strong mind as well. Isn't it because of the rush personality you have that you are here now? You need to be calm and very decisive."

Calvin: "Your disciple understands now."

While the two of them were talking in the canteen, some bunch of guys came to them. They looked intimidating.

"The new folks."

"These are the weirdoes we've seen earlier."

"The hard work duo."

"Let's show them who's the boss here."

"We can use them instead."

Calvin: "(Oh no, Why I always get in trouble.)"

A man came out of this group.

"Shut up y'all."

"We're sorry, boss."

He addressed.

"I'm George, you heard me. I'm THE MAN around here." The man proclaimed.

Kamo: "I'm Kamo and he is Calvin. Pleased to meet you."

George: "Pleased to meet? Do you think this is a school playground where you make acquaintances and friends."

Calvin: "(Show them who's the real boss, master.)"

George: "If you want to live peacefully here, you have to follow us. That I think of it now, you're hard workers. So let's make a deal."

Calvin: "(He's trying to take advantage of us but he doesn't know of my master's true abilities. This is going to be fun to watch.)"

George: "You do our work and I'll assure full protection."

Calvin: "(That's very funny, protection? My master will show him his full power.)"

George: "So, Deal?"

Calvin: "(He'll punch him on the face, Nah. Maybe a kick.)"

Kamo: "Deal."

Calvin: "(I knew he'll pun... WHAAAAAT?!)"

George: "So tomorrow, you know what you've got to do. You all, let's go."

George took his gang and went away

Calvin: "(It wasn't supposed to happen like that, I anticipated at least a little fight like in the movies.)"

Kamo: "Looks like we will triple our work."

Calvin: "Why did you accept such a heavy task, master?"

Kamo: "First of all, it will provide us with more work to do, it's only beneficial to us. Secondly, they won't talk to us for a while, that's what we need, freedom."

Calvin: "Master is wise."

Kamo: "Let's go back to our cell and begin our first lesson."

Calvin: "(Finally! But seriously, he should have shown them some skills.)"

They went back to their cell, Kamo was starting his lecture.

Kamo: "We need to make a really realistic point about martial arts. Many people start martial arts wanting to learn self-defense. As one starts a practice, there may be some skepticism in a new practitioner, either the taught techniques actually work for self-defense, yet various martial arts have developed elaborate justifications to convince a practitioner that their practice is effective, such as: "You need to train this martial art for many years to make it work for self-defense.", or "When the time comes, your skills will naturally come into action."

Calvin: "Yeah, that's true."

Kamo: "Alas. These justifications are mainly based on false beliefs passed on from generation to generation. Having all these myths and lies in martial arts, it is difficult not only for a beginner to realize what techniques and training methods actually help a person to learn applicable self-defense but we also often times see people investing decades and hundreds of hours training in a certain practice, learning elaborate, complex techniques and traditions, only eventually to realize that they never actually learned real self-defense."

Calvin: "So what makes a martial art effective for self-defense?"

Kamo: "That's a good question. When we think about self-defense, most people first think of self-defense techniques. Often times in their imagination, they resemble some stylized kung fu movements, which were once seen in an action movie. These complex movements can be learned by training the same elaborate technique for hundreds of times with full attention and focus."

"Yet in reality, when a person is faced with potential violence, our brain goes into the "fight or flight" response, which in turn releases a surge of adrenaline, and that will make our mind and body not functioning as usual. The effect will boost our strength physically but negatively mentally, on which many martial arts techniques are based, making us incapable to defend by using the technique we invested in. Many martial arts offer a safe training environment."

Kamo: "They are soft, safe is for the soft."

Calvin: "What is the ideal training environment, master?"

Kamo: "You really asked? what's better than a prison cell, fighting dangerous thugs with your life on the line and working extra hours of labor work? The key is experience."

Calvin: "(I will die for sure.)"

Kamo: "By wanting to make the practitioner feel good about himself, the training, and also to give the impression that the presented martial arts works. Many schools and styles are basing themselves on a cooperative training method, where both practitioners know exactly what the other practitioner will do. As the attacker starts the attack, he also knows what movement the defender will do, and he knows how to exactly respond to this movement, offering no resistance whatsoever."

Calvin: "That is a cooperative play!"

Kamo: "Exactly. In reality, an actual attacker will not be concerned to play a cooperative role and responds very differently. Live resistance will be offered, which will dramatically change how the techniques will be applied. An actual will not stop after a single attack, he will not wait for a technique to be applied and most importantly, he will not want the technique to be done onto him. For a person who has never experienced a live resisting opponent, the difference will be so drastic, that almost all of the techniques learned with a cooperative partner will be rendered useless."

Kamo: "A saying from a famous person: if you are not hitting the target when you strike, you are not practicing striking, you are practicing missing."

Calvin: "That's philosophical!"

Kamo: "It is of utmost importance to train with a live, resisting opponent during training to get used to this type of pressure and to learn to apply our techniques under more realistic conditions. We are fortunate to have such an environment, you will learn quickly."

Calvin: "(Me and my mouth.)"

Kamo: "While complex techniques which are trained with a live resisting opponent may very well come into action when faced with a real attacker, many martial arts teach hundreds of different techniques, oftentimes each one as a unique different response, to each different attack. But the chance is slime."

Kamo: "That's where my martial art comes in, with different techniques that's can be used in various situations, you will have no trouble. I called it Ningen Honno."

Calvin: "(What a lame name.)"

Kamo: "Let's call it a day, you need some time to digest the information."

Calvin: "Understood."

Kamo: "How about talking with each other, it will improve our relationship and bound us."

Calvin: "It's a pleasure."

Calvin and Kamo talked about their life, their goals, their regrets, and so on.

Calvin: "The guy who offended you must be really dumb, master!"

Kamo: "I haven't seen him for 5 years, 10 years to go. I'll let him know a little secret."

Calvin: "5 years, that's pretty long."

Kamo: "I got used to it know, prison life isn't that bad as you think."

Calvin: "(I won't have the strength to endure this prison anymore... Wait a minute... Secret..)"

A short moment of silence.

Calvin: "OBJECTION!"

Kamo: "What?! Why did you shout?"

Calvin: "Sorry master, I got it from a friend. Whenever I see a contradiction, I yell."

Kamo: "*hahaha* You think this courtroom?"

Calvin: "*hahaha*"

Kamo: "Anyways, what do you object for?"

Calvin: "Master, you said you were convicted 5 years ago, right?"

Kamo: "Yes, that's right."

Calvin: "But it's impossible, I began writing 2 years ago. If so, how did you know me in the first place? After all, you were here in the prison."

Kamo: "I.. I.. I said it?"

Calvin:"(5 years? it seems legit. but...)"

Calvin: "Yes, you said that I'm your favorite writer. This fact proves one thing. Master, you didn't lose your touch with the outside world, did you?"

Kamo: "I have a sharp disciple."