Martial arts instructors condemn bully bashing

National Post [Canada] ^ | Tuesday, August 25, 2009 | Matt Preprost

[canuck_conservative]

WINNIPEG -- Martial arts instructors are condemning a Winnipeg mother's decision to enrol her bullied son in kick-boxing classes and give him permission to retaliate against his tormentors.

The mother, who asked not to be named, gave her son the green light to "kick the snot out of " his alleged tormentor when school starts next month.....

The mother said a bully has been tormenting her son for years. Both boys are in their early teens, and have attended the same school in Louis Riel School Division.

"It's about time he took a stand and stood up for himself," she said in a recent interview with the Free Press. "He has my full permission to kick the snot out of [the other boy] if he comes up to him."

Mr. Beltran and Mr. Pabuaya both stressed that selfdefence preaches mental discipline before physical training. Both emphasize verbal interaction to avoid heated confrontations.....

[xcamel]

[Lets Be Frank]

I agree with the mom..kick the snot out of him. How many years of bullying is one supposed to take? (Since bullies seem to grow up to be SEIU/Acorn types lets teach them lessons earlier in life.)

[Just another Joe]

If you can walk away, walk away.
If you can't walk away go stark raving, snot out of the nose, foaming at the mouth crazy on them.

[LongElegantLegs]

So the kid should just shut up and allow himself to be used as a punching bag?

How lame.

[MetaThought]

Why are martial arts instructors such wusses, atleast verbally ?

If you want to stop a bully, let him know you're willing to stand up and fight.

[knittnmom]

Good for mom!

[skimask]

That is pretty much the way I feel about this type of situation.

[Joe 6-pack]

"In a heart that is one with nature, though the body contends, there is no violence, and in the heart that is not one with nature, though the body be at rest, there is always violence. Be, therefore, like the prow of a boat. It cleaves water, yet it leaves in its wake water unbroken."

[Paradox]

The whole "Martial Arts is supposed to be used only as the last resort" thing is such a myth. I know thats what they TEACH you in MA classes, but the truth is, those skills are used by jerks much more often than they are used as a last resort.

We've mystified the (Asian) Martial Arts so much in the west, its pathetic, which is why I was such a huge fan of Mixed Martial Arts, when it showed that hey, its just another way to fight.

This kid needs to be shown how he can be quiet, confident, and avoid confrontation when he can. But when he can't, he needs to be able to defend himself with whatever means neccessary.

I have two young sons, whom I plan on personally teaching some wrestling skills, as well as enrolling them in martian/mixed arts classes, and hell yes, they'll know that if they must, then they have my permission to defend themselves, and that incluces kicking the snot out of someone.

However, something that I found out is that, once you have that confidence, you will seldom, if ever, actually need to do it. Other kids will just know..

[B-Chan]

Why are martial arts instructors such wusses, atleast verbally ?

L-I-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y

[Hodar]

The guiding principle of martial arts is SELF-DEFENSE. It is not intended as an offensive art; no responsible Black Belt will ever knowinly teach this art to someone who has the intention of using it as a weapon.

Consider, it is far, far easier to kill and maim; than it is to simply beat up. The ‘Beat Up’ is an advanced belt training level, and it typically found in the movies.

The lower belts learn to break arms by hyper-extended the elbow, blinding the opponent (permanently, as in sticking the fingers into the eyes until they hit bone), breaking the knee with a kick placed do cause the knee to buckle and let the opponents weight do the breaking; they are taught to strike the throat to rupture the juglar, the knife strike to rupture the diaphram (ie make them suffocate on their own blood), and to strike the skill at the bump in the back of your head (take out Obdula Oblongata).

Is this what you are telling the instructor to do; teach a student bent on revenge, so that he will kill another?

Having taken years of this; I agree with the teacher. Martial arts are NOT like the Kung Fu flicks where people get slapped about and fall down, then run off threatening to teach them a lesson next time.

Martial arts are designed to Kill, much like a sword. You do not beat someone up with a sword.

[texmexis best]

Just what the h3ll is that about?

[ConfusedAndLovingIt]

Why are martial arts instructors such wusses, atleast verbally ?

Fear of lawsuits.

[GonzoGOP]

If you can't walk away go stark raving, snot out of the nose, foaming at the mouth crazy on them.

Bingo. You don't start a fight. But if a confrontation is unavoidable hold nothing back, there is no prize for second place in a street fight.

The thing I blame the mother for is advertising this. You keep your mouth shut about what you can do. The best chance you have against a bully is to catch them by surprise. "Know your enemy, know yourself and you will fight a hundred battles and never loose. - Sun Tzu". You want to keep the enemy ignorant of your strengths until it is too late for them to do anything about it. In other words, don't brag, just do. With luck and skill the bully finds himself laying on the ground looking at the sky through swollen eyes and wondering what just happened. While you walk quietly away.

[xcamel]

Ok.. your Sensei apparently deprived you of the “irony” and ‘humor’ parts of your lessons.

[willgolfforfood]

Exactly. I took an extended self defense class. We were warned - as adults - that if you are involved in an altercation and end up beating the crap out of someone that you are quite likely to be sued in civil court.

If you overdo it and really hurt someone, there may be criminal charges filed in some jurisdictions.

And if you have to testify under oath that you have had special training for self defense, the right kind of lawyer can talk a jury into bankrupting you.

Still, the skills are very useful to have.

[meadsjn]

L-I-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y

In a nutshell.

[JimRed]

Self defense is just that. You defend yourself if attacked. Discipline means that you don’t go looking for confrontation, but you handle it if it comes Your way.

Discipline also means that you only use the force necessary to eliminate the threat, be it warning, bruising, breaking, maiming or killing.

So the kid, when confronted by the bully, says “I don’t want to hurt you”, and if pressed follows it up with a warning block and counterblow. After that the bully gets to choose if and how badly he gets hurt!

[Shooter 2.5]

The kid should know how to defend himself but the escalation of the violence isn’t the answer. Where are the teachers that allow a kid to be bullied for years?

How about this. Send the kid to martial arts school, have a sitdown with the school, the kid’s parents and the local police. If it happens one more time, the bully goes to juvie, the parents of the brat get sued, the teachers get suspended.