The English language is very broad with the definitions of words. There are some words that are spelled the same and mean different things and there are some words that are spelled different but still mean the same. What makes this even more confusing is the experience of the reader and what a word means to them personally. Example, if I asked you "are you happy"? What does happy mean to you?
What does righteous mean to you? What does wrong mean? All of these things are subject to your own personal experiences.
I have another word for you that is even worse than that. What does martial arts mean to you?
Right now you may be thinking mixed martial arts, kung fu, Karate Kid or a thousand different things, but what does it mean to you? Imagine you had to fight for your life. What skills do you have to fight? That ultimately is your version of the martial arts. Now, how can you train to more effective? This is controlled by what threats you are likely to face or have already faced. This is also controlled by your own physical and mental condition.
The martial arts now has two meanings for you, the initial one that you thought of when I asked about what it means and the new version of reality that you have.
Lets look at Survival with the filter of above and lets assume that there is two versions of the definition. Version number one is probably based on shows you have seem on television or videos from the internet. But there is another reality that is your life and how survival applies to you. Lets see if we can identify this a little better.
Threat Assessment. Simply, what threats are you facing? Or, what threats might you be facing in the future based on the direction that the world is going? Now if you are some head in the sand kind of person that just believes that everything is going to be the same as it is today then perhaps you just look at the threats that face you today. The rest of us who can see the placement of the dominoes of life and the way they are leaning can use that to identify possible outcomes that might affect our survival.
Risk Assessment. What can you do to about the situation and what will it cost you? Remember that the cost isn't always money. If you live in the city and rely on public transportation and you believe that the safest thing to do is get out of the city you have to weigh your options. Do you buy a car and put yourself in financial crisis or do you buy some better shoes and get in shape. One option is really good for you and the other might set you up for failure.
The martial arts are designed around the development of the mind, the body and the spirit. In Survival Martial Arts I believe that your survival is based on your will, your skill and your gear. In those six things, where are you the weakest?
Survival is just another confusing word in the English language but it has a very specific meaning to you. So today I challenge you to evaluate the threats that you face and take stock of where you are in terms of Mind, Body, Spirit, Will, Skill and Gear.
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