Various Articles

When circumstance dictates, I occasionally write bits and bobs which don't fit neatly into any other area of the website. When they are for "general release" I'll put them in here. Vanity really but having them here might give you a more rounded view of my opinions / motivations etc. (and maybe spark off similar ideas within yourself).

Letter to Kidderminster Police, May 2001, During the Initial Setting up Of Peaceful Fight

This letter was sent off to our local Police station during the early weeks of the club. It followed a number of 'phone calls / letters and was hoped to ensure that any issues where martial arts and legal issues overlap were aligned with the lcoal Police policies. Thought it best to inform them of the club objectives and training methods so that they could raise any issues which they had before I started talking to the masses ! Sadly, the meeting never came off but I'm hopeful to make closer links with the Police this year. They do a difficult job and we should all be trying to support them in their work.

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Dear Sergeant Truman,

Many thanks for your recent telephone message that you left on the answerphone. Sadly, I'm out of the country for a few days so won't be able to 'phone till next week. However, I thought that I would write to give you some more details of what Peaceful Fight is about and where I need your guidance. I've enclosed a copy of the website to give you details of the system. It's never going to be a big club (I'm hoping for ~ 10 students) but I want to teach all relevant aspects of the art. The information that I require from you is to try to understand legal issues and Police recommended procedures related with everyday life.

In a nutshell, Peaceful Fight is a healing system for both students and their families / friends. It teaches that it is better to live than to fight and tries to give a "real World" reason for pursuing Kung Fu: this is the healing part of the art. Peaceful Fight believes that everyone, regardless of race, colour, creed, sex etc should be able to live their life in whatever way they choose without interference or prejudice. The only exception to this basic rule is where one person's lifestyle negatively and consciously affects someone else's. The conflicts that these negative lifestyles cause are where antisocial, criminal and nuisance behaviour are encountered. Peaceful Fight tries to teach tolerance and understanding of humanity as a whole to help build a "better World" for all. It also tries to encourage students to be that "someone" who should "do something" when things aren't right, be that legally, socially or economically. By teaching these two extremes of both acceptance and intervention whilst helping students choose the correct one for the correct situation, it allows students to deal with a wide range of martial, non-martial and day-to-day issues in an appropriate way.

It has to be recognised though that however well I teach my students, there is just as much outside of their control as there is within it. However well they lead their own lives, they will eventually encounter other people undertaking either nuisance, antisocial or criminal behaviour. In order to be able to deal with these type of scenarios whilst keeping themselves safe and legal it is important to understand Police recommendations and what you would want the general public to do to help you with your work . These recommendations are what I wish to discuss with you. I see Police intervention as the last resort within a dispute but do need to understand your recommendations for when this becomes necessary. So, the type of information I would like to take away from any meeting that we have is :-

1) What laws are being broken when people are undertaking antisocial (as opposed to criminal) behaviour (eg vandalism, rowdiness, noise pollution etc.). This would allow students to quote the correct type of law being broken if they did have to challenge anyone's behaviour.

2) Whether a "citizen's arrest" is still legal and what this means in real life situations (especially where gangs are concerned). This links to what is accepted as "reasonable force" which again is a useful thing to discuss.

3) What the age of legal responsibility is for juveniles and what is done for children who are younger than this age but who are being antisocial / criminal. Also, if children are above the age of legal responsibility, what is the legal procedure for them.

4) What the response time is for police call out. This is for those rare occasions where, for example, a gang is intimidating an old man and one of my students sees it and calls you rather than intervening. How long should they wait before being more proactive ?

5) How the "Crimestoppers" campaign works.

6) Where the line lies between nuisance, antisocial and criminal behaviour.

7) I was always taught that the route to take when dealing with nuisance or antisocial behaviour was first to talk to the perpetrators to try to get them to stop of their own free will; if they didn't stop then speak to their parents (if the perpetrators are children and if parents are known) and then as a last resort contact the Police. Does this still hold true ? What legal recourse is there to stop the person from continuing with any unsociable behaviour if the Police / legal system do get involved but they still won't change their behaviour ?

8) What happens if a malicious claim of excessive force is made against one of my students.

I'm sure other questions will come up when we talk but hopefully the above gives you some feeling for what would be useful for me to understand and what the objectives of Peaceful Fight are.

I'll 'phone when I come back from France.

Best wishes

The Link of Peaceful Fight to Lions Claw Kung Fu Run By Sijo Lee J (Worcester UK)

Rather a sad story reason for having to write this article. Lee is affiliated with the BACA (British Association for Chinese Arts) and they have a bulletin board service. I helped Lee with the early work in Lions Claw, acting a "sounding board" for his ideas and tightening up / refining some of his techniques. For reasons best known to himself, a student from the school where Lee and I used to train (Crane Fist) tried to undermine the start of Lee's club, suggesting that it was "bogus". I wrote a reply to the bulletin board which gave a view of Lee's work and its link to me. I've duplicated the bulletin board article to give you some overview of what was said (there was more subtle entries most probably by the same person but I've left them off). A letter to Grandmaster Fletcher thankfully stopped the issue getting out of hand. However, having even to write such a letter in the first place highlighted the occasionally petty nature of martial arts.

Item posted by "STRIDER"

"You may or may not be aware that a Mr Lee Jones who,I see purports to hold the title Sifu is nothing more than a talentless fraud who has completed no more than four years training under aegis of Grandmaster Fletcher of Worcestershire,under whom I myself trained for well over a decade. I hope you and your organisation take the necessary action to eliminate this type of person who is not even any good to his mother from any association for he can bring nothing but disrepute.

Item Posted by "Concerned Kung Fu Student" (Thought to be one and the same with Strider) [DUPLICATED AS WAS ON THE SITE : SPELLING ERRORS ARE NOT MINE !]

I am interested to read about the lions claw club that is based in Worcester and who's founder is lee Jones, this club interests me as i was a student with lee Jones at the HOK KOON KUNG FU club which is based in kidderminster and which is run by sifu fletcher a great grand master and the only true exponent of crane style kung fu in europe let alone the uk. sifu fletcher has taught for 35 yrs and is registered with the hong kong kung fu federation. when lee jones left the HOK KOON club he left at the green sache grade level, this being four levels below black and five levels below instructor level, his knowoledge is limited to this level of kung fu and what he's read in book and researched on the net, also his web site shows his agility to perform great high kicks however from what i can remember of his kicks anything above waist height and he had to keep picking himself of the floor. i find it a shame that a federation such as this one allows clubs like the lions claw club to start up with the intentions to teach young kids kung fu when just 15-20 miles away they could learn kungfu from a fully registered kung fu grand master with 35 years teaching experience.

Reply Posted by Peaceful Fight

Being in the privileged position of knowing both Grandmaster Fletcher of Crane Fist and also Sijo Lee J of Lion's Claw (and its likely I've taught the "anonymous" letter poster as well), hopefully I can calm this dispute before its gets too silly / nasty. As for “strider” I can’t think of any student of Grandmaster Fletcher who fits this description and who would act in this way. I’ll contact him / her to see whether they can jog my memory about their involvement with Crane Fist and report back to the BACA. [NOTE : I WROTE TO STRIDER BUT GOT NO REPLY].

By way of background, Grandmaster Fletcher (of Crane Fist Kung Fu based in Kidderminster) taught me for many years and eventually raised me to the grade of Instructor, Second Black. Grandmaster was generous and kind with his students and always tried to be understanding of their failings / limitations whilst at the same time pushing them harder to succeed. Very few students even came close to Grandmaster's standard which he learned from the celebrated Master of White Crane, Quang Bong Fu but we all tried to achieve the standard he set, however difficult. Grandmaster was an inspirational man within Kung Fu and showed his way with great precision. Because of this lineage, Grandmaster knows the old ways and he remains one of the great martial artists of the modern World. He has not allowed any “dilution” of the system to occur and has a number of students who will give him excellent prospects for the continuation of the style in the 21st century. Anyone who is in the Kidderminster area should attempt to visit his clubs to see him in action.

As for Lee J, he returned to training in Crane Fist during my career as a Crane Fist instructor after having studied the system for a while as a teenager. He had travelled the World as part of his music career and had seen and studied various arts whilst on those travels. As Lee had seen and assessed so many other arts / masters during his work he recognised that Grandmaster Fletcher was "special" and so Kidderminster was the place to train after all (even though he had to travel a fair distance each week to attend). As such, I got to know Lee as a student from his position in "the ranks".

Lee was an able student but heavy and strong so not totally suited to the Crane Fist way (which is flowing and energetic). He had a tendency towards being tight in the tendons, to shorten techniques and always move some part of his body before striking (so giving the opponent too much of a chance to counter). As for falling over during kicks, I only ever saw one student do that in the club in all the years I was there and he was in the children's class. As you would expect, Grandmaster was an excellent instructor and none of the techniques he taught would result in such an absolute loss of balance (even if done “badly”). If there was a criticism of Lee's kicks within the system at that time it was not their height but that they were very "hard" and not "energetic" which is the Crane Fist way. This came from Lee's early career as a footballer and was just part of how he did things. If they landed they would hurt you badly but if you got out of the way the "hardness" made him vulnerable. He worked on them diligently but never really got over this part of what was, in the end of the day, his way.

I think Lee achieved yellow sash level (which is one above the green that the anonymous poster suggests) but this highlights one of the overriding issues with martial arts systems seem to get all prissy about. The colour of the sash means nothing in itself but the knowledge behind it is what is important. Grandmaster Fletcher is such an accomplished martial artist that even at this "low" level of achievement, the knowledge which Lee had been exposed to by Grandmaster was quite deep. Lee couldn't achieve everything that Grandmaster had taught him at that time but the knowledge was there, "cooking away" waiting to come to fruition. The anonymous poster suggests that this level of knowledge is insufficient to teach Kung Fu but this underestimates the standards which Grandmaster Fletcher requires from students. The level of knowledge that Lee had at that time would not be sufficient to teach Crane Fist but the absolute level of knowledge of Kung Fu was very deep and skilled. Both Lee and myself were happy within Crane Fist and would have been there for many more years.

However, early in 2000, my life took off on a bit of an unexpected tangent. The Chief Instructor of Crane Fist accused me of various things relating to my conduct as an Instructor that I did not believe to be true. This isn’t the place to go into this but the situation became unresolvable so I relinquished my status / grade etc within the system. Bearing in mind history is always biased towards whoever is telling the story, I don't think I had a case to answer but could see no way back into the club without "souring" the atmosphere for all. Grandmaster had worked very hard to achieve the standards which were present within the club and I chose to not ruin his work just so I could prove myself "right" in the eyes of the Chief Instructor. Leaving left me with a big lump of sadness and a sense of "so what do I do now?" but for me it was the "honourable" thing to do for the best interests of the club / Grandmaster. Later Grandmaster wrote to me to express his regret that I was to leave but thanked me for my understanding of the situation and for taking this “honourable” route rather than disrupting the club. Grandmaster and myself still write once in a while and I will keep him up to date about all the things which are going on on the BBS.

Anyway, a week after I left crane Fist, sort of out of the blue, Lee contacted me to see if he had been the source of my "downfall" (some of the Chief Instructors lesser allegations had related to training involving Lee). I assured him that he wasn't and wished him well with his training and to continue for many more years; I assumed that that would be the end of our contact. However, Lee contacted me a few weeks later to say that he had quit Crane Fist due to a "difficult atmosphere" being present and him feeling that I had been dealt with unfairly. He said that he was thinking of using his martial arts knowledge to formulate a new system. He opined that this was the path by which he could achieve his “way” and find what value (if any) his own, personal Kung Fu had. For many years, he had been researching into why martial arts (Kung Fu in particular) had taken the paths which they had since the turn of the century and wished to try to build upon a system called Lions Roar. This system may have been a forerunner of Crane Fist (although it was difficult to determine if this was true) so it made a reasonable starting point for his studies. I agreed to act as a “sounding board” for Lee’s ideas and after about 6 months of discussion and hard practise, Lee had worked out what was good and bad within his ideas / concepts. His Kung Fu made sense within his way of explanation / understanding and, from my point of view, his Kung Fu had improved massively (probably because he was no longer trying to emulate someone else (i.e. Grandmaster) who had totally different thought processes / ability). During this time of practising, he had made the leap from just “doing moves” to “doing moves with understanding and application of concepts / knowledge” ; for me, this was the first step along the path to him integrating his Kung Fu into his everyday life. However, the only way for Lee to continue the growth of his understanding of Kung Fu and to test whether the system stood up to scrutiny, was to open a school. He decided to call the system Lions Claw (as an echo of the Lions Roar basis) and to acknowledge the contribution of all of the instructors / masters (including Grandmaster Fletcher) who he believed had made his Kung Fu follow the path which it had ultimately taken (ie the formation of Lions Claw). Lee took the title of Sijo (founder of a system) to highlight that he was only a Master of himself and not yet a master of others (ie students).

Opening a school for Lee was a potential problem as Lee had had little or no teaching experience up to this point (Nov 2000). To get him started on the right path, I said I’d help him out for the first couple of months so he could learn the general “dos and don’ts” of instruction. Helping Lee gave me a link back into teaching which was my “thing” within Kung Fu, so we both would get benefit from the experience. Lee started his club in Jan 2001and I still go over to assess his skills most weeks. [NOTE : I STOPPED ATTENDING IN AUGUST 2001 BUT THIS WAS WRITTEN WAY BEFORE THAT]

Any club is formed from the relationship between students and instructor and Lee’s club is no exception. Its likely all of the readers of this BBS will have been to clubs where the instructor is breathtakingly skilled but the students are poor (and also where the instructor is poor and the students poorer still). However, In Lee’s club, when he started, something strange happened. At that time, Lee wasn’t a great instructor (as he was only starting out on this part of his development) and had a tendency to be stood in the wrong places, to fail to instruct all off the relevant parts of a technique and to be a bit quiet when giving instruction. In a nutshell, he made most (if not all) of the mistakes that every instructor does when they first start out. However, even with these “failings” his students came on in leaps and bounds, far exceeding the conservative standards that Lee had set for his first grading syllabus. They trained hard (both during the lesson and also at home) and as they improved, so did Lee’s teaching standard / technique. Doubly strange in the club was that students from other arts (Tae Kwon Do especially) quickly lost much of the character of their previous style and fully embraced the Lion’s Claw system. Lee and myself discussed this and came to the conclusion that it emphasised the value of an “old fashioned” or “family” Kung Fu method of instruction. The “intuitive” nature of an instructor “being themselves” allows them to be open and honest about all aspects of the art because the art and themselves are inseparable. This is a totally different thing to teaching someone else’s system (which carries a lot more responsibility and requires more conscious thought). The family style of teaching develops both instructor and students as one unit, not one at the front and the others following. Lee’s instruction (although of a lower standard than I was used to) easily achieved this goal, improving his students every week whilst still challenging himself about his performance. These early indictors showed that Lions Claw was the right “way” for Lee to go and boded well for the future.

As each week passes I have had less and less to criticise about Lee’s instruction so it is planned that I will soon leave the club to continue my own path. However, Lee’s effectiveness is surely the essence of any instruction i.e. that students and instructors leave training more proficient / knowledgeable / happy than when they arrived? This should be the measure of a club / system and Lions Claw / Lee J achieves this. In the eyes of some of the contributors to the BBS, Lee may have once not been of a suitable standard to teach Kung Fu. However, just as a bad child does not necessarily grow to be a bad adult, Lee has not gone from being a “average” student to being an “average” instructor of Kung Fu. Lee knows that he still has some way to go to fully perfect his instruction style and to keep pushing forward the standard of his Kung Fu. Complacency in your own ability is one of the great killers for any leader of a martial system and thankfully, Lee has not fallen (and hopefully will never fall) into this trap. Every system of Kung Fu starts somewhere and Lions Claw is no exception to that rule. Lee is not complacent about where his Kung Fu is “weak” and continues to try to improve and strengthen all aspects of Lions Claw. He is at his “start” with many years of fruitful investigations ahead of him.

Although detractors will likely say that my opinion is biased due to my close links to Lee’s club, they will have underestimated my objectivity which runs through all aspects my life. If Lion’s Claw or Lee were ineffective then I would say so to his face. Similarly, if I thought that Lions Claw was too much like Crane Fist or disrespectful to Grandmaster Fletcher then I would do everything in my power to stop it. However, for me, Lions Claw Kung Fu (and by association Sijo Lee J) continues the spirit of “true” Kung Fu which Grandmaster Fletcher has always advocated whilst not being a “clone” of Crane Fist or any other martial system. As such, the animosity that is present in some of the items posted is unfounded and only one way. I’m proud to have played a part in the development of Lee and his system and hopefully he will continue to ask my (often diametrically opposite!) opinion in the future.

As a final point of view (yes, this letter does eventually finish; brevity was never one of my fortes!), I’m sorry that the BBS system which BACA have bothered to set up is being used in such a negative way. To judge a person without having seen their ability / lack of ability is unfair and does little to raise the “honour” of martial artists any higher than the level of bigoted yobs at kicking out time. In this case, I believe that Grandmaster Fletcher is being smeared by association by the negativity of the contributor of the letter posted and Grandmaster doesn’t deserve that after so many years of good service to Kung Fu. Grandmaster Fletcher will hear from me to ensure that he knows what is going on and can deal with it however he sees fit. For anyone to begrudge another person the right to follow their path of Kung Fu (regardless of whether that path is right or wrong) highlights the small-mindedness and pettiness that permeates so many aspects of life within the 21st century. Success or failure is not important within Kung Fu but to find your own “way” is. For over 10 years my way was to defend Grandmaster Fletcher, Crane Fist Kung Fu and to pass on his teachings to students and I was content within that role (and would have continued it to the end of my training days if things had been different). However, it was only when I relinquished my status as an instructor did I find what was my true way (which I now call “Peaceful Fight”). Knowledge is the powerhouse of Kung Fu and the knowledge of where “our way” lies comes both from within ourselves and from our contacts within the wider World. To understand yourself, celebrate when another person is your superior or has found their true self / path. Try to learn from them and each time ask yourself whether you are also on the right path and are happy on your journey. Do not be jealous or envious of their success as this makes you a lesser man / woman. Strive to do positive action (regardless of what the rest of the World is doing) so you can be proud of the part you play within that World. The only “bad” path is a dishonourable path so guard against this in case you end up on it by accident. I think this may be what is happening for the authors of the whole “bogus clubs” etc. postings so think about it more fully before continuing further. By following a virtuous Kung Fu life, in years to come, others will celebrate your success, the wheel of life (which encompasses Kung Fu) will turn and your Kung Fu will continue to another generation. We are all only custodians of the knowledge we carry and without understanding and acceptance of that knowledge, ourselves and the wider World, Kung Fu will be weakened.

Health, wealth, happiness to you all.

Reply to Stephen Oliver : "Those Who Suck Life From Your School"

Stephen Oliver has a strategy for his martial arts club and he shares his ideas by E-mail. Might be "spam" as I can't remember how I got on his mailing list and seldom read the articles in full. That's not to say there isn't merit in them but a lot of the tone is on viewing martial arts as a business which isn't really my way. Part of the E-mail normally lists glowing reports from other martial artists as to how the use of Stephen's strategy helped them build their club. Purchase of Stephen's full strategy in book form is offered and if you are interested, I'll give you his site address. Overall, his strategy is that martial art instructors should earn a lot of money (he suggests ~ $50K - $100K / annum) for their services and not be ashamed about it. To achieve this, he places martial arts on the same footing as a business. The particular item which I replied to related to getting rid of negative influences within a school. Stephen suggests that these negative influences bring down the rest of the school and lead to a reduction in student numbers. Probably true but the same happens when you have too many students and not enough instructors ! As there is only me, following Stephen's strategy to achieve 100 students would be a big mistake for Peaceful Fight !

Reply Posted by Peaceful Fight

Dear Stephen,

thank you for your E-mails. Can't quite remember how I got on the mailing list but it is interesting to hear your views. As you've asked for feedback, thought I'd write. However, I'm not really in the same league as many of your contributors nor do I have the same motivations / aims. However, it is nice of you to invite me to contribute to your forum.

Just as a bit of background, Peaceful Fight is a very small school (maximum of 10 students, 4 at present) and is run to give students the confidence to not be afraid to help other people. Martial and healing knowledge are given equal importance within the system as real life fighting should only make up one small part of any person's life. Training must have some reason for existing for all those times "in between" the fights. Overall, the system tries to help students to become "natural" and intuitive so that they can make the choice to help / intervene (or to not help / intervene) in situations based on their own personal boundaries. As such, it celebrates the individuality of students rather than trying to homogenise everyone who comes through the door.

Peaceful Fight is not a "business" concern and any money we ever make (if we ever do !) will be used to do local community initiatives. However, I can understand your position that a martial artist should be able to finance him or herself to a reasonable standard of living through instruction. Instruction is time consuming and a massive responsibility so there should be suitable rewards for the instructors dedication. My only concern is if the pursuit of this money is the principle objective of any instructor in undertaking instruction. It might be an old fashioned concept but this seems dishonourable to me and debases the knowledge you pass on to the next generation to the level of a commodity. If an instructor perfects their art, they are surely looking for the "one" to pass the knowledge onto rather than having it die with them ? If students appear as "cash cows" rather than individuals trying to better themselves, it is all too easy to get caught up with their financial value rather than their individuality and so the "one" is missed if and when he / she passes through your club (and if he / she is the "one" will they really want to learn your skills whilst knowing that the instructor views the other members of the student body in this purely financial way ?). There are a multitude of reasons why students pursue martial arts and a good instructor should be concerned and diligent in trying to guide a student towards their individual goals (rather than the instructor's financial goals). It is all too easy to "string along" students by an instructor teaching students issues that they do not wish to know (or similarly claiming "arcane or secret"" knowledge that will be given to a student "eventually"). For example, if a student wishes to learn solely self defence, 3 - 6 months of hard training is all that it takes for most people. Although a bit of a generality, beyond this time period, techniques often get more and more esoteric and start to train the "fighting instinct" out of students. In essence they become less effective as they get encumbered with too many techniques and the perception that the relative "niceness" of club training (eg sparring) is a reflection of "street" unpleasantness. The student starts to deviate from their objectives and this deviation should be highlighted by the instructor. The student might leave (or stay on to learn other aspects of the system) , but the instructor has achieved the student's goal and should be proud of this positive help that he / she has given to the student's life. If the loss to an instructor is viewed as a financial one, then it is unlikely that "completion" will ever be highlighted and the student will continue to follow the same route, ignorant of the fact that they are becoming less rather than more effective, as they trust the instructor to do what is in their best interests. Again, old fashioned, but we have responsibilities for our students well being and money can muddy the waters as to why we want them to train within our system.

You mention getting rid of "negative" students and I agree to an extent with this. Students reflect the wider World and some of them want to irritate other people or run other people down just for the "fun" of doing so. These people will never change so, once you've given them a bit of a chance, then it's time to wave them goodbye. Peaceful Fight has a probation period during which the student decides whether they like the club and the instructor also decides whether they like the student. At the end of this period, either side can decide that Peaceful Fight is not the system for them and leave without falling out with each other. However, again with me in an old fashioned mode, martial arts can help give these difficult students the chance / excuse to change their negative behaviour . I say excuse because many people want to "blame" something for changes in their behaviour especially when trying to get out of a negative lifestyle. For example, a group of children are planning to throw stones at someone's windows but one doesn't really want to take part. However, if he just says he doesn't want to do it, he loses face to the rest of the group and becomes a target for their ridicule. Much easier to say that his "Dad will kill him" if he does the vandalism and this is why he doesn't want to do it. This means that he doesn't have to take part but also helps him save face (and probably acts as a catalyst for others in the group to not take part as well). Martial arts give the same level of excuse as "Dad". Most martial artists are "nice" people and so can help give "difficult" students a different (and hopefully more positive) view of the World and how to deal with situations. Then, when the difficult student is outside of the club environment, and don't wish to undertake some sort of negative behaviour, they can say it's because they would be "going against the club rules" so has a ready made excuse. Much easier for many people to have this excuse than taking control of their own desire to change (especially in the early days of training) . So, maybe give difficult students a few months to change and then suggest that they are not suited to the art and explain why. Instructors should not need an excuse for why they feel that someone is suited or not, they just are and the instructor must have the strength of his / her conviction to highlight this. If the student agrees to change, give them a further chance, if not, then don't as they probably don't deserve it !

Thanks again for the invitation to contribute to your forum and I hope the above makes sense !

Health, wealth and happiness to you all.

Unpublished Article to "Inside Kung Fu"

Bit of a "vanity" article this, trying to publicise the objectives of Pecafeul Fight when it first started taking shape. Inside Kung Fu asked for articles of 600 words (yes, I did keep it down to this limit, but only just !) describing a view on Kung Fu. This was mine.

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I've Got a Secret; isn't that cool (or am I missing the point?)

Funny old world, the one inhabited by martial artists. Claim you have a secret and everyone wants to know it. As to whether the secret is true / useful / not commonly known doesn't seem to matter, but it's always best to have one. However, since the widespread interest in martial arts in the West the number of true secrets held by individual Masters has dwindled. Internal energy, death strikes, sleeper holds etc which were unheard of 50 years ago are now passé, available to the novice on any number of video tapes. So where are the secrets of the modern martial artist to come from?

Sadly, many martial arts suffer from self-inflicted misconceptions. Probably the truest misconception that is clung to throughout various Westernised systems is "Martial arts are designed solely for fighting". The "secrets" of any art are often seen as the ultimate fulfilment of this fighting objective. Whether it's killing an opponent without touching him, being able to confuse an opponent's vision to become "invisible" during combat or knowing an all conquering attack, they are all combat based. However, if martial arts were solely for fighting, then there are much quicker and easier ways of becoming invincible without dedicating your life to a pursuit of excellence. For example, why not do about a year of training and then take PCP? You'll be incredibly violent, feel no pain and should know enough techniques to overpower most opponents. Agreed, everyone would be afraid of you, you'd have no friends and the police would regularly want your company, but you'd probably never lose in combat. No need to know any secrets with this life plan, just the 'phone number of a local drug dealer. This simplistic scenario shows how the sole pursuit of aggression / violence / winning is self-defeating and so is flawed as a lifelong objective.

So, where are modern secrets to be found? In the rush to become more accessible, many martial arts have lost their roots and with them their effectiveness. It's simply time to rediscover the lost parts. This relies on the basic tenets of self-belief and integrity that underpins most martial artists. Every exponent of an art (i.e. you) is unique but our brains and bodies are the same as that of previous Masters so we can think in similar ways. To find a "secret", look both inwards and outwards, truthfully seeing your own limitations and those of your style. From here, work on the concepts of your Master to make yourself and your style improve. Discuss any "discoveries" with your Master in a spirit of openness, not as critique. Remember that an art should encompass both destruction and healing and you'll have plenty to think about. Most of your thoughts will already be known but if it's new to you then you've learned something worthwhile. Keep looking long enough and you'll find how amazing humanity (i.e. you) can be.

So what's my secret? For me, the "secret" of modern martial arts is that they are designed for living not fighting. Instruction removes fear which allows students to become "better" people. They have a happier life and are not afraid to try to affect the world in a positive way. They can still defend themselves viciously on those 4 or 5 occasions in their lifetime when they need to get physical, but can live all the other days in happiness. For me, this is the raison d'être of any instructor and a "secret" truly worth sharing.

Health, wealth, happiness.

E-Mail In Response to Request Concerning Overseas E-mails for Senior Citizens Training

Stuart Mitchinson (Warrior Escrima) sent me a copy of this E-mail and asked whether I might be able to send a reply as well. His friend Chuck organises Internet training for Senior Citizens and can likes to show the "World wide" appeal of the Net. Replying was a bit touch and go (opened the E-mail on the day which it was needed) but the reply got to its destination just in time.

Original E-mail
This Saturday--the 10th--I am teaching a class on webtv to a senior citizen group. If you're not familiar with webtv it is an internet access device. (See my address) I always try to get some emails sent there from overseas since it impresses the senior citizens to see the ease of communication with someone very far away. If you have the time please send a chatty little note to the center telling how much the internet enriches your life. The address is BCCOA@webtv.net. The email can be sent anytime it will be waiting for me when I get there Sat. morning. BCCOA stands for Berwyn Cicero Council On Aging. I try to tell senior citizens to get on the internet I think it is marvellous for them. Thanks Stuart, if you don't have time or just don't want to that's all right too.Chuck Fogarty

Reply

Dear Chuck and the BCCOA,

hope that this E-mail finds you well and that it arrives in time for your class. E-Mail might move at 3000 miles per second but it still can't guarantee that I'll read it in
time !

Stuart Mitchinson got in touch with me after you wrote to him earlier in the week. Stuart asked me to drop you a line for your class. I know Stuart from his martial arts training and he has contributed a lot of ideas to my own martial / healing studies (which I call Peaceful Fight Kung Fu).

The Internet has, like everything in life, both good and bad things within it. All aspects of humanity can be found within it and so in some ways it forces us to see what "humanity" actually amounts to after so many thousand years of evolution. Some of it is not pretty but one of the Internet's greatest strengths is that it gives you access to people / information / places which you could never achieve in "real life". This gives you a chance to see a "wider" view of what this "humanity" really is. I've made contacts in India, the US, Russia, China and Canada through working on the web, and all but one of them were very nice people. This is surely a great thing to find out, that "nice" people outnumber the nasty by at least
100 : 1 ! Much better average than is portrayed in the mass media ! Having these contacts and, with a bit of imagination, you can see that the barriers and conflicts which are often stereotyped (eg colour, age, religion, race, disability, sex etc) are not what make people "good" or "bad" as within cyberspace you have no concept of these things. Take this feeling / thought out into the "real World" and you start to see people in a different way. Having the Net must be a good thing for that alone. Maybe one day the Internet will be seen as a catalyst to eventually actually achieve a "One World" status with people being judged on their actions rather than by any other standard. By logging on you can be a part of this change and be another "nice" person linking all of the rest of us together ! Set up a website and put your point of view, you might be surprised how many other surfers share your interests / views. Just by having the site, you can either share your enjoyment of life with others or find some part of your own enjoyment which might have been mislaid somewhere along the way. Get on line, enjoy yourselves and maybe change the World !

My very best wishes for all our futures. Health, wealth and happiness to you all.

Chuck asked me to write again in Jan 2002. This was the article for that time.

Dear Chuck, hope that you are well and ready for your class tomorrow. Please find below the article I promised. Wishing good luck to yourself and all of your students Doug

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The Internet : Just Another Modern Marvel ?

Now I'm getting older, things seem to change so quickly compared to when I was younger. Once upon a time I knew how everything worked (and if needs be, I could take it to pieces to fix it !) but now every couple of weeks there's a new "novelty" item in the shops which confuses me. For example, I bought my Mother a lamp for Christmas and it was the first time I had no real idea of where to start when she asked the inevitable question of how it worked (now in her seventies, she is still very inquisitive about technology). Even worse, taking the back off would just give me a printed circuit and no real indication of what the driving forces are. So, instead of stressing about my ignorance, we plugged it in and marvelled at the colours. Mum was happy and I was happy that she was happy.

Computing has sort of gone the same way as these novelty items. Once upon a time, my programming skills kept me sufficiently up to date to be able to write my own programs. Now, the language I used is obsolete. However, just like Mum's lamp, I can "plug in" the PC and marvel at the colours. Better still, behind much of the colour there is the Internet and behind this www are the people of the World. It doesn't matter that I can't fathom how these people got here, just clicking those buttons gives me access. My PC beeps to tell me I have mail, it comes from all around the globe but I've no idea of how it travels here. Clicking on a website address gives me the chance to learn about the mysteries of natural healing or how to de-flea my cat or how many tomatoes are grown in Spain in any one year, all without any understanding how the web works. I've no idea of how (or sometimes why !) people put this info onto the web or even where it "lives" but I can connect with these people / ideas in a way that I could never do walking down my street. This is the value of the Internet. If there is an expert on a specific subject out there, there's a good chance that I can find them and ask them any question that comes to me. All of us can click a mouse or type a keyboard and by doing so travel the World. Thus, it's never been easier to "meet and greet" different cultures and to allow us to understand and admire their ideas and so become more tolerant of our own (and their) prejudices. The Internet is a modern marvel but not because of how it works or the process behind the colours. Its a marvel because it gives us access to all the good and all the bad of humanity throughout the World. There's a lot of good people out there and they outnumber the bad by some massive percentage (always a nice surprise when compared with the media view !) . Also by interacting with views / ideas different to our own, we can truly find what we do and do not believe in. To understand ourselves gives us the power to understand others which should mean that we can make a better World for everyone. The Internet allows us to understand the World as much as we understand those people who live on our street. What you'll find is not all good (and not all true) but you can make your own mind up about that. Most importantly, get on line yourself and put your own point of view. All of our opinions / views / ideas / lives are precious and maybe the Internet is one way to celebrate our individuality whilst also celebrating the similarity between all the World's cultures / tribes. If nothing else, marvel at the colours.

Wishing you every success with your studies

Letter to our Local Free Newspaper (Kidderminster Shuttle) offering the services of various local instructors to teach awareness training.

The local paper had reported a number of street robberies within the local area and I had previously written to them to see whether they would like to sponsor an awareness / self defence course for local people. Although they were not interested in running such a campaign, they offered to put a letter onto their feedback page. A number of local martial artists backed up the campaign but there was virtually no response from the public. This shows the general apathy towards this kind of training but at least we offered; can't (and wouldn't want to) force people to do this but think it would have helped make a "better World for all" if more people got this type of training.

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Dear Sir,

Over the past few weeks, you have reported a number of incidents about street robberies and bag snatches that have happened in the Kidderminster area. The blame for these type of events falls squarely on the perpetrators of these type of crimes, and are unlikely to ever be stopped. However, there are a number of things that victims can do to minimise their "victim" potential. Many of these things involve increasing their awareness of how these types of street crimes happen and develop whilst also having a strategy of what options victims have available if they are targeted. A better understanding of these two areas can often lead to the "victim" subconsciously showing an attitude that deters would-be muggers etc and so keeping themselves safe. The mugger then has to choose someone else as their next easy target. If we were all more aware, the mugger's job of getting victims would be much more difficult !

Developing awareness / self defence skills is certainly not a matter of being "harder" or nastier than everyone else. There's no unwritten rule that says that because you are taking steps to not be a victim you can't also be a "nice" person. Training is more a matter of ensuring that you do not get into situations where you might be targeted in the first place. Once this basic understanding of the situation is understood, life is less of a struggle and you can use the energy you expend worrying to do something more useful.

My interest in this subject is as a Kung Fu instructor who has lived within Kidderminster all of his life. I'm proud to have been born here and want the ton to be something to be proud of in years to come. Sadly, the town has become more "coarse" over recent years and street crime etc makes it more difficult for em to recommend "my town" to outsiders. I think that anything that we "locals" can do to maintain the town as something to be proud of is valuable in making a better World for us all (which is the objective of my particular system of Kung Fu).

A number of martial artists in the area (including myself) would be more than happy to teach local people awareness, basic self defence etc to help them stay safe and live with less fear / anxiety. Those listed below are a possible starting point but there are many others. Look in the local press for details of other clubs. Hopefully you will never have need to use these awareness / defence skills "for real", but training might just make the difference in the unlikely event that you a potential target.

If any sponsor or society would like to do a larger event (eg at their works or at a local hall) then again, feel free to contact any of the people below.

The more of us who get this training, the better the future for us all.

Wishing you heath, wealth and happiness in the coming years.

Doug Wagstaff

Warrior Eskrima
Mark Lashmar 01905 764347, 07968 117619
Dave Hand 07941 931117

Kidderminster Tae Kwon Do Club
Russell Perks 01562 636005.

Peaceful Fight Kung Fu
Doug Wagstaff 01562 829911

Interview Conducted by Stuart "Mitch" Mitchinson for "Fighting Chance" Magazine August / September 2002

"Many people who read this magazine train hard in the most combative and self protective styles and systems. They work as Police and Prison Officers,Doormen,Security Officers along with people who simply wish to learn how to protect themselves or just love hard training.These people,including myself, learn the 'nasty stuff' to survive in modern society.

There is also a far more gentle and deep side to martial arts. A side which deals with healing rather than hurting,compassion rather than aggression and composure rather than anger.I am lucky now to be able to interview a great personal friend of mine and one of the truly nice men in martial arts,Doug Wagstaff of Peaceful Fight Kung Fu.

Q,Doug, thanks for taking time out to answer these questions. The first must be,how did you get involved in martial arts?

Thanks Mitch for asking me to contribute to the magazine; it's the first time I've ever been asked and it's a great pleasure to get this opportunity. Like a lot of kids growing up in the seventies, the TV series "Kung Fu" was always a favourite of mine and I suppose this was the first time the martial arts came to my attention. Looking back on it now, it seems a bit lame in places but, to this kid, it was all so real; all full of mystery, honour and purpose. However, at the time I never thought to try to emulate what was happening on screen, but I think it made a lasting impression. My formal training started many years later when I was 21, first in Tae Kwon Do with Ian Ferguson and then later in Hok Koon (Crane Fist) Kung Fu with John Fletcher. More recently, I've been greatly influenced by Erle Montaigue's work in Tai Chi / Bagua and Marc MacYoung / Geoff Thompson's views on street combat. Anthony Rushton's views on spirit in the arts have also contributed to my development. Add to this quite a lot of reading, and it all adds up to where I'm at at the moment.

Q.How does PF fit into modern/aggressive MA thinking?

We all know that, for most students, 90% of "real life" effectiveness in fighting is down to the mentality of a martial artist and much less down to the number of techniques he / she knows. Many martial art schools give little or no guidance on anything apart from the perfection of physical technique and so this mindstate is sort of hoped to happen "as if by magic" during training. One of the good things about many of the "reality training" schemes is that they do help develop a "real world" mindstate for the fighting arts. Although for most people physical fighting should only make up a very small proportion of their life, it is a vital skill to have available. Nearly everything within PF works on developing and understanding different mindstates / feelings and so it has some overlap with these reality training courses. We have a different ultimate objective to the reality systems for studying these mindstates (i.e. in our case, healing, medicine and day-to-day life) but on the martial side, we follow similar paths.

Q. Do you not think traditional arts develop this mind state during sparring / competition ?

No. One reason why I don't like too great a focus on prolonged sparring or competitions in martial arts is that it actively erodes the martial mindstate. During sparring, the body thinks it is "fighting" as arms and legs are moving in a "martial" way, whilst the brain is going "no we're not". As a consequence, the mind becomes confused and flaccid, so fails to work at its full potential. Eventually the brain confuses the brain state used in sparring and winning trophies with the fighting one. As a general rule, the mindstate is weakened as "sportsmanship" and rules come in.

Q. What do you think about "No rules" competitions then ? Presumably they have a real fighting mindstate in them ?

Recent developments of taking away the rules and encouraging someone to injure someone else so they can entertain the crowds and win a plastic cup also miss the point. There are massive differences between hurting someone because you have to (ie in real life) and because you choose to do so (ie in competition). For example, your opponent loses an eye during the sparring or becomes a paraplegic due to your actions. Is it really worth it to either of you ? Fight like the devil to defend anything that has value such as family, your own spirit, your friends and those you love but leave the trophies for someone else.

Q Why would PF as a healing system need such an aggressive mindstate ?

The fighting mindstate is more than just aggressive, more a matter of aggression coupled to an uncaring or dispassionate state. It is the direct opposite of this aggressive / killing / impassive mindstate is that gives a student an avenue into the healing and spiritual dimensions of the arts (via the yin / yang duality). By understanding and controlling the martial mindstate end of the "human experience", students can more easily be guided to appreciate the other (healing) end. By adopting this mindstate, the energies used in the healing state are awakened.
The more important aspect of this part of the training is to give the understanding that the yin /yang duality exists in all things. By teaching students to understand how yin and yang work within the arts, students can then apply them to other, non-martial situations. As such, the aggressive mindstate used in the martial training is just a means to an end. Yes, it gets students ready to fight if needs be, but, for me, it's better to train to do something that is useful for all of the times in between the fights than just for the fights themselves. Mindstate training also links the student to their true nature that in turn links them to the Dao (the Way).

Q Could you explain what you mean by Dao ?

Dao is certainly one of the more nebulous concepts of martial arts (and Chinese thought generally). In its simplest form, it's what should be, what is and what has been, all at the same time with every possible variation of past, present and future available at any point in time.

Q. That's it's simplest form ?

Told you it was nebulous ! However, I think it's likely that most of your readership will have already have experienced part of the nature of the Dao due to their professions. Let's say a confrontation breaks out and you are called out to sort it. At the start when you arrive, a fight might seem inevitable but as you talk it out, there's a tangible moment when they know it's no longer going to happen. Somehow, you just know. From a Chinese art perspective, the reason why this change is felt is that, at that moment, you are linked directly with the chaos that is made of yin and yang that in combination forms the Dao. You have felt the change from the aggressive, yang state to the more passive, yin state at some intuitive level. You have seen / felt the future (i.e. no fight is going to occur) before it happens because of the link to the Dao.

Q. So the Dao is all about predicting the future ?

Sorry, no, as the Dao encompasses past, present and future. The important part of the example is that by understanding the concept and feeling of Dao, it gives a student an understanding of, and also trust in their intuition. PF tries to take this further proposing that if you can feel the Dao in a martial situation, why not in non-martial situations? By trusting their intuition, a student can take this skill out of the training hall into their "real life" in between the fights. They can then find their place within the Dao and (hopefully) be happy and contented within it. Training should always come down to a student finding within themselves what they believe and what they do not believe in. Any instruction within martial arts should be centred on the development of a student and not about conformity to a rigid set of ideals. We're all different. The important bit is that they find their own way, wherever that might be and form their own conclusions about what Kung fu / life is all about to them. If I've got anything valid to say then students can choose to walk the same path or not; that's up to them. My Kung Fu is solely my way of understanding and explaining the world. Eventually, students might come to the conclusion that everything I teach is rubbish but at least they will know what they don't believe in !

Q. Presumably this is very difficult to teach ?

Yes, especially when I point out that students are expected to think for themselves ! As an instructor, my role is not to tell students what to do or think but for us to work together to reach a common goal. Main reason that I stand at the front is because I pay for the insurance ! However, I'm not the greatest at anything I do and so it's just as likely that a student will walk in and teach me something as vice versa. For example, if a practising acupuncturist came in, he'd piss all over my pressure point knowledge. I could get all prissy and ask him to leave (to protect my ego) but I'd be missing an opportunity to develop my own skills. I know more about pressure points than some people, but am certainly still learning this side of the art.. Better to ask him / her to contribute and instruct this part of the art instead of me. If they were happy to "trade" this pressure point knowledge against one of my own strengths then we both get something out of it. Peaceful Fight is in continuous development (which again reflects the ever changing nature of yin / yang !) and is part of the enjoyment of following this path.

Q. So What is the biggest difficulty in teaching this way ?

The main barrier seems to be that people find it difficult to embrace a system that isn't prescriptive nor says that something is "right" or "wrong". Most students prefer a "cause and effect" type of teaching approach, i.e. your opponent does this, so you should do this. As soon as you point out that alternative responses are only ever better or worse rather than being absolutely right or wrong, it seems to take students a few weeks to get an understanding of this. The absolute pisser for them is when I nod in a sagely fashion and suggest they "Embrace the Chaos" rather than telling them the answer. No wonder I have so few students !

Q. So why don't you just tell them what to do ?

It all comes back to one of those "as if by magic" assumptions within the arts. The general assumption is that if I tell a student a move and they then practise it a thousand times, it will become so ingrained that it will become like a reflex action if they are attacked. This is true if the student practises in a diligent fashion using the correct mindstate and correct technique speed and understanding all though the 1000 repetitions. Just like forcing stuffing into a pillow. I tell them what to do and they duplicate it because the technique works for me. Call it out in the training hall and, bang, it'll be there and look perfect. Eventually I'll teach them every possible variant and they will be invincible.

However, when a real fight comes, the student has to pull the right technique out of the bag at the right time to beat his opponent. Should be able to do this, they've done every technique 1000 times. However, now it's under very different conditions i.e. under the very stressful conditions of combat. This is where problems can start. There are various ways of interpreting this problem but this is the one I normally use. As soon as the opponent throws his attack, a signal goes back to the student's brain saying "what shall I do now" ? The reply should be "do your technique" but, if the 1000 repetitions have failed to imprint the technique onto the brain in this stressful state of combat, then, when things get nasty, the brain gets jittery. It says to itself, "This isn't one of my own techniques but one that has come in from outside, do I really trust it ?". This causes a moment of doubt, and during that moment the brain chooses to revert back to its base instincts (rather than just doing nothing). Without imprinting, this means that all technique / training goes out of the window and the student has to rely on other factors (eg strength) to get him / her through. Add to this that most arts "imprint" many ineffective techniques on the brain at the same time as the effective ones and no wonder martial artists often lose in real situations. All of the years of training to have techniques "forced in" have been wasted. Would have been better to have done one technique for 6 months and then done something more useful with their life !

Kung Fu must come from the inside of a student rather than being forced in. That's why I don't just tell people what to do. What is a good technique for me might be totally inappropriate for my students. If a technique is not "right" for a student, then it will never "stick" inside them and so not be available to them in a stressful situation. They'll always be trying to think about what they have been taught rather than just doing what they come up for themselves at 100% intent. PF is taught on the basis that everything we need is already imprinted in our heads somewhere, we've just got to find how things are arranged. This is why PF is not a "technique" based art but more based on experiencing feelings / ideas. The training is mental based, not physical. Get the connections in your brain right and you'll live all bits of your life (including fighting) however you are supposed to ie within the Dao.

Q.So how do they / you know when its right ?

It's right when it feels right ! We've all thrown a "peach" of a technique at some time when everything has been perfect and that's when it's right. This feeling of "rightness" is the technique being directly aligned with the Dao.

Q. So PF teaches pursuit of the feeling rather than the physicality of technique ?

Yes, that's exactly right. It comes back again to the cause and effect angle of yin / yang. The accepted wisdom in the arts is that training consists of performing a technique 1000 times to perfect the physical technique so that each repetition is identical every time you throw it. This physical perfection should then let the technique be a "peach" everytime you throw it; the physical perfection eventually leads to the feeling of rightness. However, this method takes a lot of time out of your life which conceivably you could use for other things (eg building friendships, falling in love, helping other people etc). You sacrifice these things so that you can achieve physical perfection.

PF looks at it the other way. The idea is to pursue the feeling of "rightness" within all things regardless of whether they are martial or not. By pursuing the feeling, whatever the technique is you choose to use it will be "perfect" regardless of whether you have done it before or not. Physical training has the limitation that few of us can experience every possible variant in technique in all situations. Mental training that leads to the recognition of the feeling of rightness, aligns us with the Dao and can be applied at all times.

Q. This all sounds a bit soft and fluffy rather than a MA !

Some of it is. In a perfect world, none of us would ever need to fight and we could do something more important instead. The "right way" in life is only very rarely the extreme "fuck off or you die" type response but when this response is needed it feels exactly the same as any other "right" way. However, the right way is not always what people expect. As an example, let's look at the Dao in the healing / medicine realm. The one thing that you always have to have when dealing with patients is a desire to help them; if this feeling isn't there, you are wasting your time. Generally, when I meet patients this feeling is there (or more exactly there is an absence of any feeling that makes me not want to). However, occasionally, there's a feeling that I don't want to help to sort out their problems even if I have sorted out similar problems in the past. This feeling is a bit like meeting someone for the first time and instantly taking a dislike to them. My response is to not treat these patients. To outsiders, it appears callous ("You're a doctor, you are supposed to care") but internally, I'd rather be true to my nature and walk away rather than going through the motions. I'm not a doctor, I'm a martial artist and the "right way" for me is to do nothing. For me, to fake concern just to look good to external influences would devalue the feeling when I feel it for real. There's no shame / guilt involved as I'm doing what it is right to do within my personal Dao. The external World can think what it likes. There's always someone who will point at you and dislike what you are (too tall, too short, wrong trainers etc) so it's up to me to find my life, not for anyone else to tell me where it is. I'm here in my head all the time so have to be happy with what I do, will do or have done; the "finger pointers" are just passing through my life so are of lesser importance.

Q Can you explain more about why the Dao is important from a Spiritual perspective ?

Well, we all live within the Dao, if we recognise it or not. We affect it and it affects us. If you can get to recognise the Dao then you can sort of mentally push against it a little to let it guide you into doing the right thing. If you push against it in one direction and the Dao feels worse then you can choose another way that feels better when you pursue it. This takes a lot of pressure off decision making as you just go for what you think is the right thing to do. We all know when we are going to do something right or wrong as we feel it internally. Main problem for most people is that they don't know what either feeling is telling them and so have to guess or use logic. By training the correct mind state within the arts, a student finds these links internally and so can be more intuitive / natural and understand themselves more fully. In this way, the Dao tries to guide us into taking the right paths. Where martial arts have a spiritual dimension, I think this is the objective. The skill of all of life is to choose the right thing to do at the right time (ie aligned with the Dao). Fighting is one of the extremes of the Dao as the body has zero time to consider anything during the melee. Everything has to work on an intuitive, subconscious basis. In other words, if you can get attuned to the Dao in this rapidly changing, threatening situation, you can do it anywhere ! This is part of the value of pursuing the martial arts. Choosing the right thing to do then comes as a consequence of training rather than just by coincidence or luck. Training should also lead you to understand your own personal way to live and your pathway to death within the Dao.

Q. Pathway to Death ?

Yes, the arts must give you an understanding and acceptance of death and what this means to you just as much as how to live. Many arts seem to associate the ultimate accolade of their art as being more deadly or more nasty than anyone else and you see this in many advertising campaigns. They hand out the concept of death like it's nothing.
However, if dishing out death is the only objective of the art, why not just keep a steady supply of PCP handy to make you feel invincible and as mean as a bear with stick up its arse ? Most likely you'ld reduce the life quality or expectancy of above 99% of people you meet, never lose in fights and in the morning not even have to be hassled by any nagging conscience of whatever you'd done. Admittedly, you'ld have no friends and eventually die lonely and bitter in some self inflicted street battle, but hey, what a great fighter for everyone to admire.

More seriously, training should help students understand what they would die for and how, when death comes for them, how they choose to go and what they want to leave behind as memories of themselves. This is why death and life and the Dao are inexplicably linked. The Dao is leading us towards death whilst passing through life, on a quest for a rightful / peaceful death.. The past / present / future link of the Dao helps us understand our position in the World so that, when death comes, if it is the right way for the Dao, we can embrace it as a friend rather than viewing life as being different from death. What we do in all aspects of our life / death affects all of the Dao. We are simultaneously the most important person in the World (ie to ourselves) and the least important (ie to the Wider World) and we affect both, just by being here or by leaving here. Live life to fulfil your place within the Dao and die at peace that you have achieved this. Putting it another way, death could come at any time so live your life in such a way to reflect this and fulfil your potential.

Q Doug, we've spoken on numerous occasions and I've got the impression that you haven't got a nasty or aggressive bone in your body. How would you justify applying the martial side of PF for real ?

Mitch, I know you're one of the good guys too but part of your job (as policeman) means you have to fight sometimes. Doesn't make you a "bad" man as I'm sure you'ld never consciously choose to take this route but sometimes your opponents give you no other option. If they are running the show and choose to push things this way, the Dao expects you to give a response. Within PF, I teach students to not to feel bad / ashamed etc of doing whatever comes out of the chaos. Do everything in your life with a good heart and good intent following the Dao and you can always stand up straight with your head held high. Chaos means is that absolutely any response can come out at any time and it is only the nature of the Dao and the changing dynamic that determines what happens. If an opponent comes at me, it might be the right time for me to break down crying, for me to run away, to talk my way out, to hit and run or stand there and try to rip his head off. All of these are all as valid as each other in given circumstances. Ideally the opponent walks away as I prefer a quiet life !

Q Is there anything else you would like to add ?

Well, PF is a big subject and you know me well enough to stop me talking once you can get a word in edgeways !
Obviously, I'd like to thank you again for thinking of me and for giving me this opportunity to put some of the club ideas across to your readers. If anyone would like more details or expansion on the ideas they can look on the club website (www.peacefulfight.org.uk) or E-mail me direct (dogman794@aol.com).

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