OUR PHILOSOPHY

“Self-Defense” vs. “Fighting” vs. “Sport Martial Arts”

In the world of Martial Arts, Self-Defense and related Combat Arts, there is often an assumption that they are all the same, with the same objectives. This is really a misunderstanding by the general public, so I will describe what we believe at On Mission Martial Arts (OMMA) to be the distinctions and what our philosophy is in teaching and training our students.

Essentially, there are three historical primary purposes of Martial Arts/Self-Defense/Combat training for the regular civilian (you may add other purposes for Military or Law Enforcement).

1. WIN – This is what is commonly seen in most Martial Arts schools today. Despite the fact that they will claim that they teach “Self-Defense,” the bulk of their training time is dedicated to sport competitions – tournaments or other fighting competitions. The training objective is to WIN by getting more points than your opponent, or perhaps “tapping them out” or defeating them on the judge’s scorecard.

2. PERFECT – Most traditional Martial Arts have historically been about the perfection of the technique and, theoretically, the perfection of the individual. It is about personal growth, which generally includes the Physical, Mental and Spiritual aspects of the person.

3. SURVIVE – This final objective is to train to survive a possible violent encounter, or to help another person or people survive an attack. If a 100-pound woman were to face off in a street encounter with a 250-pound male attacker, it would be very unlikely that she would realistically be able to “WIN” that encounter. She’s not going to knock out or choke out that person, unless she is one of the world’s most elite fighters. However, for her to hurt her attacker enough to create an opportunity to escape, or to use vital area strikes that wouldn’t be allowed in a sport competition (rightfully so), help equalize the odds.

At OMMA, we focus most of our training attention to #3, with a portion of the “Art” side of our curriculum to the personal growth aspects of #2. This come with the caveat that, as believers in Jesus Christ, we strive for excellence, but realize that perfection is not realized in this life and not outside of Christ.

One of the ways we think about our training is that “Self-Defense” is SO MUCH MORE than just the physical punching and kicking and blocking and all of the other physical movements of the Martial Arts. The diagram above is what we call the “Concentric Circles of Self Defense.” You can click HERE for a document with more details on this diagram and how we utilize it at OMMA. A basic summary of the diagram is:

1. Life Habits = “Use your Routines” – click for a Life Habits Safety Checklist
2. Awareness = “Use your Eyes” – click for an article on “Developing Awareness”
3. Avoidance = “Use your Mind”
4. Diplomacy = “Use your Words”
5. Escape = “Use your Feet”
6. Physical Technique = “Use your Martial Arts Skills”
   1. This is where our physical Self Defense and Fighting skills first are employed –

Article – “The Difference Between Self Defense and Fighting”

7. Physical & Mental Conditioning = “Use your Mindset, Fitness and Toughness”

If you are looking for a well-rounded “System” that incorporates a variety of practical Martial Arts skills and places them into the “Concentric Circles of Self-Defense” you will find such a comprehensive program at OMMA. Come check us out!