I RECOMMEND JUDO!

 By Phillip Starr

It is my opinion, for what it's worth, that the best martial art for a young person to learn initially is judo. Or shuai-jiao (Chinese grappling) if it's available. Certainly, this must sound very strange coming from someone who is known as a kung-fu teacher but when I first stepped onto the martial path many eons ago, I began with judo. This isn't to say that one should not take up the study of karate or kung-fu and it certainly has nothing to do with one art being superior to the others, but I do suggest judo as a beginning point. I can see the young guy in the back waving his hand...either he has a severe case of intestinal distress or he has a question...

Ah, you want to know just WHY I recommend judo? Well hold on, Spanky. I'll lay it all out for you. The first consideration is that from the very beginning, judo (and other grappling arts) deal with one of the most basic human fears...falling. Face it; it's a basic fear that most humans have, even if they don't openly verbalize it. Children are very much afraid of it and older folks (like me) are terrified of it. If you think about it for a minute, you'll realize how true this is.

And one of the most important things that we do in our study of martial arts is directly face our innermost fears, starting with the most basic, simplest fears...like the fear of falling down. And we learn to deal with it. We MUST learn to grab this bull by the horns and bring it under control. We must, in fact, master it. Once that basic fear is mastered, we realize what we can do. We realize that WE create our own fears and only WE can overcome them. This has a lot more applications to life than just learning some simply breakfalls but at the moment we discover that we CAN fall down without injuring ourselves, at the moment that that fear falls from our shoulders, we are unaware of just what it really means. Later, our instructors should sit down and point it out to us...

Secondly, judo requires that you “close with the opponent” quickly and decisively. There can be no hesitation when you move in for the throw. This actually fosters the development of courage and a strong spirit. In karate, taekwondo, kung-fu, and a host of other martial disciplines, there is often no need to “close with the opponent.” You can easily maintain distance from him/her as you fire away with a barrage of kicks and punches. But that generally isn't how real self-defense works and if you're unable or unwilling to close with the enemy quickly, you're in a bad spot!

It's much the same in the military. Nowadays, troops are accustomed to sitting back at some distance and blazing away at the enemy. I remember the days when soldiers were well trained in close-quarters combat and dreaded the command, “Fix bayonets!” You knew you were about to look death in the face, up close and personal. But you'd swallow your fear, tighten your gut, and do it. And in combat, that's what it's all about...the willingness to close with the enemy, stare death in the face, spit in his eye, and do what has to be done.

Here endeth the lesson...