First Rule of SD: Run

[Bill Mattocks]

Click the link to read more.

http://www.utdmercury.com/life-arts/practicing-practical-protective-art-1.1168183

Practicing practical, protective art

Ninpo devotees battle misconceptions about martial arts, learn fighting is a worst-case solution


The first rule of Ninpo Club is “run like hell.”
Ninpo directs practitioners to fully understand situations, then use the least amount of force possible to stop an attacker, said Ninpo club president Will Collins, arts & technology senior.
Rooted in a thousand years of Japanese martial arts tradition, Ninpo was brought to UTD in spring 2009.
Collins, club vice president Calin Scoggins, political science senior, and their Sensei Greg Caplinger wanted to spread the art and keep it alive. Caplinger has 30 years total martial arts training, with more than half spent specializing in Ninpo.
“Essentially, we wanted to give students the opportunity to train in the art, which they might not have otherwise,” Collins said.
Practitioners fight assumptions about Japanese martial arts based on pop culture, and learn about the history of Ninpo during classes.
“The grandmaster’s first rule is ‘run like hell,’” Scoggins said. “If you end up having to use your skills in a physical confrontation, it means you’ve screwed up somewhere along the line. You should have been able to avoid fighting.”

 

[Blindside]

How much time in class is devoted to training for that first rule?

 

[Touch Of Death]

Click the link to read more.

http://www.utdmercury.com/life-arts/practicing-practical-protective-art-1.1168183

I agree; unless, you are a law enforcment officer, work in a hospital, work as a bouncer, body guard, or do any kind of security work for the general public, you should run or evade. I'm just a supervisor at a metal finishing company and I have been attacked a few times. I think its a fine #1 rule.
Sean

 

[ralphmcpherson]

I remember when I was a white belt I asked a 7th dan instructor what move he would recommend if having to defend yourself on the street , he looked at me like it was a stupid quetion and said "run , run as fast as you can". at the time I thought it was an odd response , but knowing what I know I consider it to be very good advice. He has told me since that standing there and fighting is an absolute last resort.

 

[Big Don]

My Drill Sergeant told us after our first PT Test that running away FAST was a vital skill to have. I believed him.

 

[Chris Parker]

How much time in class is devoted to training for that first rule?

As I said in another thread, there are a few actual techniques within our scrolls (particularly from the Togakure Ryu) which involve little more than running away... but it is done with particular starategic actions to heighten your chance of a safe escape. Add to that systems such as Koto Ryu who have a large number of their kata ending in leaping away from the encounter (giving the tactic of leaving as soon as is possible), then traditionally a decent amount of time is dedicated to training this.

In modern scenarios, particularly in things like knife defence, I and my group constantly look to emphasise the running away aspect. In fact we are constantly reminding students that if they think they have run far enough away, run further. And that is constanly drilled.

 

[Bruno@MT]

How much time in class is devoted to training for that first rule?

That depends on how you look at it. It's not like we train the 100m dash every session. But if you look a bit deeper, then virtually everything we train is with that mindset.

In ninpo (at least until well past shodan) there is no concept of attacking first. Everything we learn is a response to an attack or intent to attack. Every drill exercise starts with fending off an attack. This means not just blocking, but getting your entire body out of the way to one of your opponents 'dead angles'

From that point onwards you can either engage and strike back, or use your temporary advantage to get away. This is also why we have to be able to perform a roll or diveroll from any position in any direction and stand back up into a defensive position. Those are things we do practise every session.

This is also why tai sabaki gets a lot of attention: evade and get away. Tai sabaki make up a large part of several kyu levels, where you have to evade different kinds of strikes, from different positions like standing, seiza, from behind.

And then there is an entire kyu level dedicated to escapes from throws and locks, where you escape before the lock / throw is complete, and roll / dive / jump away.

So you see, the defensive / escape / evade aspect is very much on the foreground, even though a lot of time is spent on striking back.

 

[Drac]

In one of the first 1/2 episodes of Kung-Fu.One of the Sifu's answered Caines question about dealing with violence..It went " We at the Sholin Temple have a long standing practice, run away" or something similar..

 

[MJS]

I agree. Talking your way out and/or getting the hell out should be the first option, if possible. Of course, I do feel that making sure that you have solid SD techs. to fall back on, is also very important. Running, as well all know, or should all know, is not always possible.

 

[Gordon Nore]

In one of the first 1/2 episodes of Kung-Fu.One of the Sifu's answered Caines question about dealing with violence..It went " We at the Sholin Temple have a long standing practice, run away" or something similar..

I think this line is in the same scene...

[URL="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0014217/"]Master Kan

: Avoid, rather than check. Check, rather than hurt. Hurt, rather than maim. Maim, rather than kill. For all life is precious, nor can any be replaced.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068823/quotes?qt0255791

[/URL]

 

[girlbug2]

I'd take it a step further and say the first rule is awareness. With enough awareness, you can avoid having to run.

 

[Xue Sheng]

My first sensei (jujitsu) taught us this

If at all possible run if absolutely nothing else is possible fight.

 

[Touch Of Death]

In one of the first 1/2 episodes of Kung-Fu.One of the Sifu's answered Caines question about dealing with violence..It went " We at the Sholin Temple have a long standing practice, run away" or something similar..

Yeah but the guy fought in every episode. I am starting to think it was him!
Sean

 

[Drac]

I think this line is in the same scene...

Naw..Its one of the brief flashbacks..I will look it up...

 

[Chris Parker]

I'd take it a step further and say the first rule is awareness. With enough awareness, you can avoid having to run.

Yep. And that is what the intuition training mentioned in the article was about.

Essentially, the lines of defence, for want of a better term, are:

Awareness - being aware of the potential dangers and realities of a situation so as to avoid any unnecessary danger. This continues into an awareness of pre-fight indicators, how the fight-flight-freeze conditioning actually works, awareness of body language, and more.

Intuition - an attunement to your environment on all levels, and from all senses, allowing you to avoid danger (this is very closely linked wtih awareness to the point that I consider them the same thing, but intuition here can refer to a more immediate physical danger not seen, as in the article's higher level Dan tests - for the record, we use it as part of the assessment for Shodan, the Bujinkan use it for their Godan test).

Pre-emptive attacks - once it is determined that you cannot avoid a situation, evade it, or run, the best tactic is to make a pre-emptive strike in order to have the time to escape.

Physical defence - if you get to this point, you have missed most of your opportunities to avoid injury, as listed above. This is where most martial arts live, but that is because martial arts deal with a "worst case" scenario, giving you methods of surviving if everything else fails. This particular aspect is also gradiated, going from simple grab or strike defence, and moving on to groups, weapons, ground, and pretty much every other likely possibility.

 

[Kittan Bachika]

I agree with all of the above. Where does intuition fit? Is it apart of awareness?

Whatever your intuition tells you, follow it. Do not fight it.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

I won my last fight by about 500 metres. lol

 

[Chris Parker]

Hi Kittan Bachika,

Intuition is a part of awareness, and separate at the same time. While awareness will show you what is going on, intuition will tell you. I honestly don't know if that will make any sense, but there it is...

 

[Kittan Bachika]

Works for me. As long as it keeps us safe. :angel:

 

[seasoned]

When I was young and in my prime, I used too run and that was fine, now that I am old and gray, I must take a stand, a stance, and pray.