One of the most valuable things that martial arts students learn is self control, the ability to think before you act. We do this through the discipline of managing ourselves, and to be honest, learning to manage force, power, and violence. Most little boys at one time or another turn a banana into a gun, play fight and wrestle, and display other forms of “play violence.” Little girls do as well, but differently. As a father of only girls I was amazed to learn what girl world is like. It’s a scary place:). Basically, girls are violent as well, but it is much more Machiavellian.
My point is this, violence is an attempt to build power and as humans we seek power. This in and of itself is not a bad thing, but this power needs to be honed and focused towards positive ends. This is where a martial arts education in self control is so important. We address force, power, and violence directly and teach how to control these things, this quest for personal power, and how to shape the power we seek into a positive direction instead of a destructive one.
Here is a short video with this lesson as it will be taught in class.
By popular demand we are now offering a QiGong and Meditation class every Monday night at 7pm beginning on January 9th. This class will center completely around building chi with the objective of solidifying the relationship of the mind leading the chi and the chi leading body. We will use Yi Jin Jing QiGong, Primordial QiGong, and a few other forms of getting chi to flow.
QiGong can be used for three main functions: power in the martial arts, physical fitness and harmony, and the pursuit of personal development and enlightenment. This class will not touch on martial arts at all and will focus entirely on the health and meditative aspects of QiGong.
These practices have been used to create and maintain good health in China for around 4000 years. Having lived in China, the Chinese are a very intelligent and practical people. The only reason to do something that long is that it works.
Try this class once for free. You will find that this is the perfect addition to your current fitness practices, and is a great very low impact way to get started on a fitness program regardless of your current level of health.
Stop by on Monday night from 7-8pm to try one class out for free. If you have further questions call 828-713-0765 or email dctai@charter.net.
Here are some things to keep in mind to keep shopping as it should be- fun!
Shopping Safety Tips
1. Don’t shop alone.
Shopping is always more fun with friends anyway, and there is safety in numbers.
2. Carry your cell phone and have group meet up times and places.
If your larger group breaks up into smaller groups, make sure that there is a phone in every group. Set up a designated meeting time and place knowing that security will be called if a group is late.
3. Don’t wear things that somebody would want to steal.
Just wear normal casual clothes. Don’t wear expensive looking jewelry that would be theft worthy and don’t carry a pocketbook that would be easy to grab.
4. Walk with purpose, like you are on a schedule.
If you look like you have spare time, you look like you won’t be missed for a little while.
5. Pay attention to what is happening around you.
Always pay attention! Be on the lookout for potential bad guys. If you get a bad feeling about somebody, you are probably right. Get away and find security.
6. Don’t carry large amounts of cash.
You can call to report a card if it’s stolen….
7. Park by a light, lock your car, and get your keys out in the store.
Look under and around your car as you approach, then look in it before you get in. Have your keys out so you can get
into the car quickly. If things look bad, go back into the store.
8. Panhandlers and people who approach you are most likely scammers.
These people mostly want to see the contents of your wallet so their friend can mug you later. They are generally professionals, especially around here.
9. If you feel threatened, find any store staff member or security.
Any store employee can call security, and any store would be happy to escort you to your car.
10. If you are in trouble, cause a scene.
Bad guys want things to go down quietly and smoothly. So if somebody tries to hurt you, yell, scream, and generally draw
attention to yourself.
Congratulations to Zoe Kaplan and Elliot Gualano for earning their first degree Black Belts! Earning a Black Belt with us is unique. First of all, they do have to learn all of the moves, forms, techniques and what not. However, the objective of learning these moves is self defense, not winning trophies. Therefore, our Black Belt physical exam is based on one simple notion. Can this person actually defend him or her self in a real self defense scenario? Can the student improvise and not be forced to do a bunch of dogmatically memorized stuff? It takes more self discipline and self confidence to be creative than to just perform a bunch of memorized stuff.
But on top of knowing what to do, the student must also have a clear understanding of when to do these things. Obviously we don’t want to have a student who is looking for a fight all the time. Therefore we spend a great deal of time teaching a simple philosophy of use- use the smallest amount of force necessary to not get hurt, preferably none, with the objective of escape.
However, though there is the possibility of having to defend yourself against a physical attack, other attacks are much more likely- in fact I guarantee that they will take place. Therefore our self defense curriculum spends a great deal of time working on defense against negative peer pressure, bullies, good nutrition choices, personal fear and self doubt, anger management, effective ways to say no, managing the environment, and many other real life challenges that out kids face every day.
And finally, out students learn a great deal of becoming an effective person. A Black Belt Leader with us is the kind of person who is not negatively influenced by those around them, rather is a positive influence on those they come in contact with. Out students learn about honesty, integrity, a positive attitude, gratitude, discipline, respect, self confidence, and a whole lot more. These topics are taught in every class just like techniques are. Not only that, but out students are required to actually do things to apply these lessons to their lives for each belt. We call these tasks.
For Black Belt there is a community leadership task. This time around Zoe lead a team to clean up the overpass bridge next to an elementary school, while Elliot lead an effort to raise money for gifts for the less fortunate.
Now that they have both earned their first degree Black Belt (and both did an amazing job on every challenge I threw at them) it is time for them to get to work on their second- with a whole new set of challenges!
If you would like more information about our school please click here.
I recently received this awesome thank you note from one of our adult students.
Master Croley,
I want to thank you for helping me in more ways than one and for opening my mind. I have only attended your classes for two months now and I have benefited physically, mentally, and it has impacted my relationships at work in a positive way. Through your “Black Belt Leadership Program” I have opened my heart to others that I normally wouldn’t have. I have given with an open heart in hopes to build friendship, especially with one person I’ve had a hard time with at work. The results have been positive. Thank you!
The entire point of an education in the martial arts in to improve yourself, and that means more than just doing push ups. I am thrilled to hear about our students taking the martial arts mindset and applying it to their lives.
For more information about out school please click here.
After one of our students earns a Black Belt, there is still continuing curriculum. In fact, getting a black belt is kind of like getting your drivers license. You can drive- but now it’s time to really learn how to do it! Along with kunging and fuing, the first lesson our Black Belts learn about is Compassion.
Here is what Abir had to say about it. Please note that he chose to approach this topic from the context of comparative religion but we do not discuss religion in class. With that said, this is an excellent paper discussing the concept of compassion from different perspectives. I guess it helped him out a little bit that his mother teaches philosophy at UNCA.
Dear Master Croley,
To me compassion is the Golden Rule that is, Treat Others The Way You Want To Be
Treated. Compassion is important in the religions because each religion has the
common value of compassion. For example in Hinduism compassion stands for non-Harmfulness.
In Christianity compassion stands for loving even one’s enemies. In Buddhism
compassion stands for the ability to fully appreciate one’s own suffering and
the suffering of others. In Judaism compassion says, ‘Kindness gives to another,
Compassion knows no other.’ In Islam compassion stands for helping and
supporting everyone.
In every religion compassion requires
humility and self-control. So if you have humility, self-control, and
compassion altogether you are a good person. You learn these virtues and other
virtues in the process of becoming a black-belt.
EX AMPLES:
When I help my best-friend build
lego sets.
Helping my friends learn to swing
on the monkey bars at recess.
If somebody needs help washing the
tables at lunch I help them.
If a classmate needs help with
reading I go and help them.
If a friend has fallen down I help
them up.
Sincerely,
Abir
I really like how he looked at this topic from several different angles and then applied them to his life. Well done Abir!
For more information about our school, click here.
There are three beginning levels to martial arts, regardless of style. Level 1 is Physical Power. This means learning how to use the correct muscle groups and the skeleton, learning moves and techniques for coordination, and so on. Level 2 is mixed internal and physical, and level 3 is pure internal power. This means that the internal body power is greater than the physical body power.
There is a great deal of information on level 1 training, and even a lot of level 3, but there isn’t very much information about level 2. This is important because to get to level 3 you need to know how to build it. So here goes.
Level 2: Mixed internal and external power.
A. Physical Internal Power
1. Core Agility.
This means that you begin to work on core flexibility and agility. Learn to use the lower pelvic muscles, the diaphragm, and pretty much all of the muscles around the core area. The thing to remember is that we want to train agility and flexibility. We want you to get so good using the strong core muscles that they become as smart as your hand.
2. Attaching the Core and the Hand.
As you develop an intelligent core, we need the power and dexterity it has to be generated through your hands. This means that we have to attach your hand to your core body mass. To do this use the lats, the muscles in your back just under your arm. Now as you more your core around your arm should be attached to it.
3. Attaching the Core to the Foot.
This is the same thing as attaching the core to the hand, only now you do it with your legs. The big idea is to have your body be one complete unit that is controlled by the core muscle groups and the center of balance.
B. Change your focus.
1. Turn the Core to Chi.
It is best to think of chi as a different body than your physical one. Your core area becomes chi when you focus on how it changes by shrinking, expanding and spiraling it. Not the muscle and tissue, rather with your mind. When your core has become chi it should feel like an inflated basketball- empty, but pressurized. However, it must also be able to change size, spin, spiral, and change in any way you like. This quality in your core is referred to as your “Dan Tien.”
2. Enlarge the Dan Tien.
Do everything we just discussed with the lower abdomen, but now do all of that with your entire torso.
3. Continue this same quality to your arms.
4. Continue this same quality to your legs.
At this point you can enter Level 3. This means that you will begin to develop pure internal power. This is sometimes stated as your internal is larger than your external. Also, at level 3 you no longer consider your physical body- just the chi body. In level 2 there is chi, but it is still inside the confines of your skin,therefore the chi in level 2 is always behind the physical. Level 3 has no such limitation.
It is easy to get hung up on all of the negative things that are happening in your life and in the world around you. It is important to remember that your focus is your reality. What you focus on the most is what will grow in your mind, and thus will guide your perspectives and your actions. What it boils down to is that if you think about negative things you help those negative things grow within you. If you focus on positive things you help those things grow within you. Whatever you are helping to grow is what you are contributing to your life and how you are influencing the people around you.
One of the very best ways to keep your mind going in a constructive fashion is to do an exercise that you probably learned as a child called “counting your blessings.” It’s simple. When you are upset about something, write down that event. Then on a different sheet of paper write down all of the things in your life that you are grateful for. You will find that the things to be grateful for list is vastly larger than the bad things list. When you begin to think in these terms you also start to notice the things that other people are doing that should go on the things to be grateful for list. The world begins to become a pretty amazing place.
I’m not suggesting that you should ignore nor hide from problems, but with a grateful mind you will be able to think in a positive, solution oriented way instead of anything else.
Here is a video lesson about Gratitude. This is the material we have been discussing in class for this testing cycle.
Here is an interview that I recently gave on children and combat sports. Basically, though I have nothing against the more common safe, regulated sport martial arts that strike or grapple (I don’t delve into sport martial arts, preferring to teach self defense applications), I am vehemently opposed to the idea of putting children into full contact fights. In this article when discussing combat sports I am referring to full contact fighting with children.
Dear Mr. Croley,
I’d like to thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to speak with me regarding your training methods and beliefs at White Oaks Martial Arts Center. Our talk together proved invaluable in helping me conduct research on the participation of children in combat sports. I find you to be quite knowledgeable and certainly to be a very eloquent speaker, and I only hope that my interview report does justice to your philosophies and that you are satisfied with your portrayal therein. I myself am not completely happy with its brevity, but as the father of two young children and a full-time student time management is of the essence and thus I hope you will understand. I am including a copy in this email and will mail you one also. I thoroughly believe in what you do and wish you the best in the future.
Regards,
Adam Pilkington
Adam Pilkington
Parrack-Rogers
English 111-007
Research Project Interview Report
Children and Combat Sports
October 24, 2011
Only The Positive: A Conversation With Master Shifu Derek Croley
While we don’t know specifically how long Asian martial arts has been around, we do know that the Chinese have been combining warfare tactics and strategies with spiritualism for many centuries. Their customs dictated for children to be taught these techniques as a way of grooming warriors for the next generation. Today children are still instructed in the same manner, albeit with the focus being on self- discipline and confidence rather than the actual fighting itself. Recently, with the rise in popularity of combat sports like Mixed Martial Arts, some parents have organized grassroots tournaments in which children strike and choke each other in competition, in stark contrast to the teachings of Asheville martial arts instructor Derek Croley.
While conducting research for my project focusing on children’s participation in combat sports, I have read medical journal articles on the harmful effects of Mixed Martial Arts injuries and news reports of the fast-growing nature of the sport. I wanted to gain the perspective of someone who is “in the trenches,” if you will, involved in the day-to-day teaching of children and knows just what works regarding the instruction of martial arts. Master Shifu Derek Croley is the founder and president of the White Oaks Martial Arts Center in Asheville, North Carolina, having dedicated his life to the instruction of ethical martial arts practices with over twenty-five years of teaching experience.
One positive aspect of martial arts training for children is the physical fitness factor, a way to get sedentary children off the couch and moving. While he has personally seen overweight kids make some significant strides regarding their physical fitness through the self-discipline he teaches, Master Croley believes only the parents can shoulder most of that burden and that his primary responsibility is to foster their self-confidence and instill a positive moral attitude.
Master Croley advocates using a structured environment to teach these skills, in this case the martial arts belt system. Students start at the bottom rung and work their way up through the different color-coded levels, or belts. “They use their self-discipline and gain confidence by accomplishing each goal in increments and then building upon that” he says.
He allows no contact striking between students to take place in his school, though they do work with bags to learn the proper technique should they have to use violence in a self-defense situation. One of the most common questions parents ask him, he says, is “If you give my child a hammer, will they see every problem as a nail?” This is why he emphasizes escapes and blocks as his “cardinal rule.” Master Croley stresses that violence should only be used at the appropriate time, with that only being in an instance of self-defense and as the last resort.
When asked about children participating in combat sports where striking is allowed, he comments that he does not advocate “Karate Kid style tournaments” and that in these “only the kids with a natural aptitude for fighting will excel, while those without will fail” and have their confidence crushed. “The biggest thing children will learn is that hitting hurts, and they probably already knew that” he says. He emphasizes that bullying and victimization will occur as a result, with injuries and fear being the main commodities traded through combat sports for children.
Master Croley is a man dedicated to helping his students become “positive influences to the people around them”, and to “overcome personal fears and self-doubt.” To accomplish this, he stresses “perseverance with a positive attitude.” When asked point-blank how kids striking each other through sport might fit into his plans, “combat sports for children,” he responds, “is a horrible idea.”
I'm not sure biting the bad guy would be my first choice- but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
Let’s talk about what is appropriate for self defense against physical force. This admittedly is not the most pleasant of topics, but it is important to have a game plan just in case. There really is one statement that sums it all up-
Use the smallest amount of force necessary to get away- preferably none.
The objective of self defense is to escape the bad situation alive and in good health. Our objective is not to win, it is to survive. There is no scoreboard in self defense and there is no movie camera. The techniques you learn should reflect this objective.
Remember, if you started the aggression with words or actions you are no longer defending yourself, you are the bad guy. Don’t be the bad guy by saying or doing things that are mean to others.
Here are some general guidelines to follow.
Level 1: Non – physical Self Defense.
The vast majority of the time that you need to defend yourself it will not be against somebody trying to hit you, it will be against somebody saying mean things or somebody trying to get you to do something unethical. No matter how mad you get, it is never okay to physically attack somebody. Instead, here are some things that you might consider.
Level 2: Cover, evade, and escape.
What if somebody tries to hit you or attack you physically somehow (without a weapon)? First, duck dodge, block, or otherwise don’t get hit. We’ll call this cover. Next, evade the attacker by getting out of the line of attack. This may mean that you have to redirect your attacker with a push, pull, or other nonviolent move to get them out of the way. And then leave as quickly as possible, or escape. It is best if these three steps are as close to one move as you can make them.
Level 3: Hitting back to create an escape route.
What if you do level 2 to avoid somebody attacking you but there is no clear escape route? In this case hit back with the objective of creating an escape route. The idea of this kind of attack is to distract your attacker. You may stomp on the persons foot, punch them in the nose, or use some other technique designed to distract but not do very much damage. All with the objective of creating an escape route using the smallest amount of force necessary.
Level 4: Using physical self defense.
What if somebody is physically attacking you without a lethal weapon and without lethal intent and you cannot talk your way out, cannot escape, and feel like you are in real danger of getting physically hurt by an attacker? In this case, you can physically defend yourself with punches, kicks, or other techniques without using a lethal weapon nor lethal force. My advice is that in this case you hit them as hard as you can with the objective of ending the fight or escaping as quickly as possible.
Remember that your objective is always escape- so if the situation changes and it is possible to safely escape do it. If you have to fight with your attacker, do your very best to take them out of the fight as quickly as possible. Remember, there is no scoreboard and no movie camera. The longer the fight lasts the more opportunity your attacker has of really injuring you.
Level 5: High stakes force.
When is it okay to seriously injure or kill somebody? Well, obviously never. However, it unfortunately may be necessary if you are afraid that your attacker intends to kill or seriously injure you. For example, if your attacker has a knife or a gun or even a lethal instrument like a baseball bat. If your attacker plans to kill you then you can and should do whatever it takes to not die. Remember, there is no such thing as a fair fight, there is only survival and escape. Make it end as quickly as possible.
With all of these guidelines there is a consideration called “disparity of force.” This basically means that one person could be stronger or more powerful than the other. This means that the situation changes based upon the relative size of the people in question, how many people are involved, or any other factor that could make one party stronger than the other. When there is a disparity of force you’ll just have to decide quickly on the spot what the best way to defend yourself is.
As always, the rule of thumb is to use the smallest amount of force necessary to get away- preferably none. If there is any way at all to avoid a bad situation, take it. Also remember that this is a series of guidelines to create a discussion and should not be considered legal advice.
For more information about our school, click here.
One of the most valuable things that martial arts students learn is self control, the ability to think before you act. We do this through the discipline of managing ourselves, and to be honest, learning to manage force, power, and violence. Most little boys at one time or another turn a banana into a gun, play fight and wrestle, and display other forms of “play violence.” Little girls do as well, but differently. As a father of only girls I was amazed to learn what girl world is like. It’s a scary place:). Basically, girls are violent as well, but it is much more Machiavellian.
I recently received this awesome thank you note from one of our adult students.
After one of our students earns a Black Belt, there is still continuing curriculum. In fact, getting a black belt is kind of like getting your drivers license. You can drive- but now it’s time to really learn how to do it! Along with kunging and fuing, the first lesson our Black Belts learn about is Compassion.
There are three beginning levels to martial arts, regardless of style. Level 1 is Physical Power. This means learning how to use the correct muscle groups and the skeleton, learning moves and techniques for coordination, and so on. Level 2 is mixed internal and physical, and level 3 is pure internal power. This means that the internal body power is greater than the physical body power.
