Designed to Fail

"We have designed our civilization based on science and technology, and at the same time, arranged things so that almost no one understands anything at all about science and technology.  This is a clear prescription for disaster." ~Carl Sagan

The martial arts community is, in many ways, a microcosm of the larger world community, and if Carl Sagan's words hold any validity about the foundations of modern civilization, then when applied on a smaller scale to our domain, it is quite possible that a large (and growing) part of the martial arts world is also on the road towards disaster.

Why?  Well, we have constructed our systems, styles, schools, programs, and livelihoods based on indoctrinated concepts of self-defense, warriorship, martial virtues, and a long list of other ideals....and yet even among the population of master-ranked practitioners in our own spheres, very few understand, profess, or practice much (if anything) that is either practical or useful about self-defense and the aforementioned long list of ideals!  (When I say that, I include myself in this category, although I've probably always been here, and have been striving to transcend my ignorance for the duration of my career.)

The road to disaster is paved with the denial of our own ignorance.  Just like an apathetic teenager who doesn't see the need to understand physics even after their first auto accident, way too many of us in the martial arts world suffer from a mental disease that produces delusions of our own effectiveness.  Those delusions may lead us to design paths which ultimately lead to failure....sometimes for us, more often for our students, always with saddening results.

Sometimes I fall prey to this.  There are times when I intentionally try to sound like a know-it-all, especially with my students, because sometimes when a leader exudes the illusion of confidence, it provides reassurance to those under their care.  It is also true that leaders often must be willing to take the initiative and serve as a guide, even when the path ahead is unclear or uncertain.  In such cases, confidence is necessary.

Yet underneath it all, we cannot let go of the quest for knowledge, which begins in the ever-present awareness of our own ignorance.  Once we feel like we "know", a sense of complacency sets in.  We think and act differently because we believe we've found something, so we no longer have to be the seeker.  Be a Socrates.  Keep searching!

And yet, I do know something.  While that may be true, that never relieves me of my obligation to improve.