Imagine for a moment if you will, a class of students attentively studying the art of swimming. The instructor, ostensibly an expert swimmer with vast and honorable credentials, certified by the international swimming associations and such, calmly walks up to the class wearing an impeccable gray business suit and begins lecturing on swimming. The environment is totally business-like, clinical, comfortable and of course, dry. the students are clothed in similar business attire to the instructor, doing their very best to emulate him, no....worship him, and notes are being taken as they sip water or coffee.

The renowned lecturer, perhaps an actual master swimmer in the water, goes on to describe the need to float, and to move the arms and legs in unison, this way and that. He discusses in passing how to breathe and what water temperature may do to the technique.  He discusses warm water and cold water swimming methods, and he shows films of swimmers, and analyzes their techniques.

Finally, after discussion groups and several written tests, the class understands the concept of swimming.

Then they retire to their respective swim couches and practice their strokes carefully and incessantly. After a while they very good at this and can whip out a back stroke or breast stroke or even a dog paddle like the expert in class. They are given Swimmer Diplomas and sent out ready to swim, or teach others how to swim....should the need arise. In their hearts, they love the Master Swimmer like a father and they deify every word that comes from his mouth.

Eventually these would-be swimmers begin discussing the merits of pumping the arms more than the feet, or of holding the breath or the theoretical need to get the head up out of the place the water would be, if in fact they were actually swimming in water, in order to breathe. Minutia upon minutia are analyzed and discussed to perfect "the couch swim".

But the problem is that nobody ever gets into the water.  You see, the water is a fearful place. One actually gets wet. "There be dragons" seems to be the attitude. "The water is not safe", some say. Others say that the mere suggestion that one would have to test the Master Swimmer's Theory Of Swimming, by actually swimming, to be a disloyal and unfaithful act.

“Analytical swimmers do not need to get into the water”, others murmur like a mindless prayer, as they grind through their swim kata every day.

The discussions on minutia and the unanswered questions persist. Yet if one of them dared to wander into the murky wetness, all the questions that they have spent hours and hours bemusing would be answered in one instant flash of sudden understanding.

I'll let you in on a secret. It is a dark and ugly secret that has been kept hidden like a national security issue for decades.

Most master swimmers do not, in fact, know how to swim.

They can teach you the technique for making swimming motions on a safe couch, but they know nothing of the water. The couch swim doesn't work in a pool, much less in the ocean. Their students would drown.

That is a fact they would kill to keep hidden, because they have invested so much in their teaching methods and technical presentations. 

Quite an illustration isn't it? Much the same can be said for many other things in life from driving, to mating, to actually having to make a living in the “cold cruel world”. One of them is Gun Fighting.

I get students from range-based schools, and their proponents all the time. These guys and gals have been drilled into the indoctrination of how to stand perfectly, how to draw correctly, and of course, how to carefully use the sights to precisely fire a surgically placed pair into a piece of paper.

They have spent their training time perfecting their stance, or focusing more on their front sight, or reacting to the first tone of the whistle or tone. Slight changes in holsters, or triggers, or grips, or other incomprehensible irrelevancies filled their study time.

These things do not last more than the first few minutes of one of our force on force classes. In the first hour, we toss out years of training right out the proverbial window.  Is it any wonder the swimming master gun instructors would like all of this to go away? Yet, some of our heresy and blasphemies have spread through the cracks into other other’s curricula. Formerly square-range based, they hesitatingly want to put a toe into the water without getting their carefully pressed Royal Robbins tuxedo wet. You see, it is impossible to hide the truth in the age of the internet.

I have seen them come and draw and fire, then and only then taking a quick single side step so as to give passing lip service to getting off the line of fire, getting off the “X”, without altering their precise sight picture and carefully developed stable platform.

The open mouth and furrowed brow that results from their failure in force on force is almost uniform.

If only people would simply get into the water...into the Force on Force crucible, all things would be known immediately like the dripping swimmer who has just completed his first pool workout.

In a handful of chaotic and often intense seconds, the force on force student knows more about gunfighting than the untested range instructor who has been shooting groups all his life.  And in that sudden fearful realization of what combat is really all about, and in how easy it is to still get killed in spite of all your marksmanship skills, your view on things and your focus in training will change.  Things will never be the same again.

Stop being the theoretical dry couch swimmer and jump into the freaking pool. Heck, just think of all the time and money that will be saved once you have the "secret" knowledge that so many are trying to keep from you. Put down your range bag, grab an Airsoft pistol and a training partner and step into the light.

This is such a great piece that Gabe Suarez wrote. It is a subject close to my heart as well from the perspective of reality based self defence training & edged weapons combatives. There are many instructors out there who push themselves as being 'self defence specialists', but who have no (or minimal) actual experience of applying their training in real life, or of how violent crime actually occurs & the patterns of behaviour that surround it. The analogy I like to use is that of learning to fly. If you wanted to learn to fly aircraft would you want to learn from an instructor who had thousands of hours piloting aircraft? Who had hands on experience dealing with difficult conditions & emergencies in real life? Or..... would you be happy to be taught by some guy who had a thousand hours on Microsoft Flight Sim?

Very often self defence is taught by people who's knowledge of it is ENTIRELY theoretical. Not only have they no actual in depth experience of applying their training, but their instructor had no actual experience either (& very often their instructors instructor too). The problem with this is that no matter how good or practical the system being taught is, the instructor teaching it doesn't understand 'how' violence really happens, & doesn't understand all the little 'tricks of the trade' that violent criminals use. They don't truely understand the effects of adrenaline, or the 'fog of war' that exists during those fearful seconds of violence. The instructor is actually doing something very dangerous, as the student will be using the skills they have been taught in the most unforgiving of environments, where the price of failure can be terrible.

Its time for some self honesty. If you claim to teach self defence do you actually have the life experience to do so effectively? Doing 6 months on the door, or having a punch up outside a pub once doesn't count! If you haven't got the experience, have you been taught by someone who does? Not everyone teaching self defence has to do 19 years on the doors, or work around violent criminals- but for what you are teaching to be effective you need to have been taught by someone who has got a deep level of experience; & they have to have imprinted their experience in you effectively. If you can't tick the last two boxes, that doesn't mean you can't teach martial arts- it just means that you shouldn't describe yourself as a 'self defence specialist', 'close combat instructor' etc etc.

Where weapons based reality training is concerned things become even more murky! The reason I fly 5000 miles a couple of times a year to stay with Jim Keating & train 1 on 1 with him is because he's a teacher who has had to use the weapons skills he teaches, & has had to use them numerous times. I spent many years working in an environment where I had to deal with armed attacks on a regular basis, & I also worked in an environment which involved using weapons on regular occasions. This experience made me understand much more acutely how important is is to seek instruction from someone who truely understands the vicious & bloody world of armed combat. This is not to denegrate the many fantastic instructors of Filipino or other weapons arts who have not had to apply their training, I'm just trying to point out the gulf between theory & experience.

So, if you're a prospective student looking for an instructor of reality based martial arts you want to do a bit of homework first. Find out if the instructor you're considering has any real in depth experience applying what they teach. If they don't then make sure that the person who taught them genuinely did. This little bit of extra research could save your life someday. Remember, the instructor might be a really nice guy, he might have very impressive technique, he might be super fit- it doesn't mean he understands violence. If you're an instructor, be honest with yourself. If you want to specialise in self defence but you know that your knowledge is all theory don't be too proud to find a teacher who can look at your material & verify it for you, & pass on their experience's to you; so you do TRUELY understand how to teach people to avoid becoming prey to societies predators. The martial arts are full of instructors who don't reach their actual full potential because they are too proud or insecure to admit to themselves that they need further instruction themselves. Don't let your own pride potentially hurt or maim the people who trust you to teach them how to protect themselves. Can you be honest with yourself though?

An Article by my friend & teacher, James A Keating.

The Conceptual V's the Technical: Which are You?