Regular readers of my posts will know I often make reference to primitive man and babies. I do so because I believe, for example, our DNA (genetic code) has changed very little over time and that babies provide a largely unconditioned behavioural expression of our primitive DNA.
As such, babies and toddlers can provide useful clues to basic patterns of behaviour that we adults have become so adept at not only suppressing but effectively deleting from our subconscious mind.
What’s all that got to do with martial arts?
Well, plenty! If you’ve got a toddler and had the patience to let them have a tantrum or maybe observed someone else’s toddler having a tantrum (probably preferable Ha! Ha!)… you’ll probably work out where I’m heading.
So let’s examine a tantrum and see what we can pick out that might direct our martial arts training. Here’s a typical toddler tantrum…
- Shouting and screaming
- Arms and legs aimed in all directions
- Power and energy out of proportion to physical size
- Complete lack of inhibitions
- Fearless
So what’s happening here? (apart from embarrassed parents!)
As I see it this is as good an expression of the ‘primitive survival gene’ at work as we are likely to get.
What I mean by that is if we were able to re-visit the ‘brain’ of our convenient primitive man and his battles for survival against wild beasts and no doubt invaders from other ‘tribes’ we are likely to find certain effective patterns of survival imprinted in it.
I believe it is the essentials of those patterns that are being expressed in a toddler’s tantrum. As we get older we become so ‘sophisticated’ that such behaviour is frowned upon. We are taught to control our emotions, neither to have tantrums nor to get violent. In short, we are expected to suppress certain actions that are quite natural in order to be deemed socially acceptable.
Of course, I’m not advocating that in normal day-to-day existence we regularly throw tantrums but there are occasions when such behaviour is not only warranted but potentially lifesaving.
Let me try to explain…
I have had a long-standing interest in martial arts. I’ve never been good at formal styles, I think in part because I’m not great at following instructions (preferring to do my own thing) and that the formal styles never felt natural… but that’s just me speaking.
So where does that leave me?
What is my self-protection strategy? Basically having tantrums! In my defence I must say that I practice a modified form of tantrum. By that I mean I incorporate the characteristics of a toddler tantrum but in a modified form… I won’t bore you with the details
Sufficient to say that I believe it is a self-protection strategy that is based on our natural instincts for survival. However, having said that it is not a strategy that comes naturally to us as adults. It has more or less been deleted from our subconscious mind by years of conditioning imposed by others and by our own personal experiences.
So as far as self-protection is concerned we are basically back at square one. That leaves us with two options – either we relearn how to have tantrums and practice regularly or we simply hope for the best.
I know which path I’m taking… how about you?
As always, your comments and questions are very welcome.
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