Re-posted from Arno Ilgner's Rock Climbing Blog
http://warriorsway.com/intention/
In order to create the most powerful effort, you must have your attention fully in the present moment. What motivates you and how you set your intentions will determine what happens to your attention. We’ve discussed earlier how motivation must be grounded primarily in process goals that allow us to grow, and secondarily in end goals.
Aligning goals this way maintains motivation when you are under maximum stress. Once you’ve established effective motivation, you can begin to set effective intentions.-As we said earlier, intention is attention focused in the direction of a choice or decision. In any climbing situation, you will have both end-result intentions and process intentions. Your end-result intention involves attaining an end goal, such as achieving a redpoint or arriving at the next decision point.
End-result intentions are part of the process, but you cannot act on them. You need intentions your body can act out. Process intentions might include continuous breathing and moving through the next section, giving focused effort to each move, and not allowing your resolve to waver.In order to create the most powerful effort, you must have your attention fully in the present moment. What motivates you and how you set your intentions will determine what happens to your attention.
We’ve discussed earlier how motivation must be grounded primarily in process goals that allow us to grow, and secondarily in end goals. Aligning goals this way maintains motivation when you are under maximum stress. Once you’ve established effective motivation, you can begin to set effective intentions.
-
As we said earlier, intention is attention focused in the direction of a choice or decision. In any climbing situation, you will have both end-result intentions and process intentions. Your end-result intention involves attaining an end goal, such as achieving a redpoint or arriving at the next decision point.
End-result intentions are part of the process, but you cannot act on them. You need intentions your body can act out. Process intentions might include continuous breathing and moving through the next section, giving focused effort to each move, and not allowing your resolve to waver.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
MAKE PEACE AND MOVE ON
You cannot face life, and you cannot face the ring, if you have not both accepted yourself, and made peace with where you come from. Fighting, surpassing yourself, training at its very best; these are goals best pursued as a means of showing what is possible. If your life fighting is to become pure personal expression, not a tooth-and-nail battle over winning and losing, or with the other women-fighters you spar and box against; if your training is to be about learning and cooperation, and not a poor and violent tool for seeking external acceptance and dominance; then you need first to accept and integrate the aspects of your personality and history that cause you discomfort.
If you have not integrated your identity, you will forever be throwing a wrench into the spokes of your own life.
How does this happen?
Very simply, someone who has not made peace with either their past or themselves spends their time "bouncing off things". "Bouncing off" is any out of wack emotional reaction. Consider the difference between saying: "I absolutely, categorically hate x..." and saying: "Oh I just don't care for x, but really it doesn't bother me much"
One describes an emotional over-reaction to something, whereas the other describes a simple emotional neutrality to something one doesn't particularly like.
Which state of mind takes more energy?
Quite simply, not having made peace with your past and/or where you come from can be a big energy sink, because reacting to-, hating and denigrading things takes a lot of mental and emotional effort.
Perhaps your family or your community did not accept you as you would have liked when you were younger. Perhaps you did not accept them. From the point of view of progress, it matters very little whose fault what is. The essential point of departure is you strive today for a state of mind of neutrality. Don't bounce! Just note the presence of the thing that once bothered you and move on.
Refuse to become embroiled in a teenage, simple and gut-powered knee-jerk response. To the extent that you are able to do so, you will gain the ability to operate more freely and without the constraints that once hemmed you in!
If you have not integrated your identity, you will forever be throwing a wrench into the spokes of your own life.
How does this happen?
Very simply, someone who has not made peace with either their past or themselves spends their time "bouncing off things". "Bouncing off" is any out of wack emotional reaction. Consider the difference between saying: "I absolutely, categorically hate x..." and saying: "Oh I just don't care for x, but really it doesn't bother me much"
One describes an emotional over-reaction to something, whereas the other describes a simple emotional neutrality to something one doesn't particularly like.
Which state of mind takes more energy?
Quite simply, not having made peace with your past and/or where you come from can be a big energy sink, because reacting to-, hating and denigrading things takes a lot of mental and emotional effort.
Perhaps your family or your community did not accept you as you would have liked when you were younger. Perhaps you did not accept them. From the point of view of progress, it matters very little whose fault what is. The essential point of departure is you strive today for a state of mind of neutrality. Don't bounce! Just note the presence of the thing that once bothered you and move on.
Refuse to become embroiled in a teenage, simple and gut-powered knee-jerk response. To the extent that you are able to do so, you will gain the ability to operate more freely and without the constraints that once hemmed you in!
Monday, June 7, 2010
No-Fall Yes-Fall
Apply this rock climbing thought experiment !
Reposted from Arno Ilger's Climbling Blog : http://warriorsway.com/no-fall-yes-fall/
One critical aspect of appropriate decisions is they must create a learning experience and not an injury experience. Many climbers never determine if it’s safe or not to fall on a climb. They engage all climbing situations by doing all they can to avoid falling and don’t push themselves to the point of purposely taking a fall. When they do fall it’s an accident, due to a hold breaking or getting suddenly pumped, and little or nothing is learned. To learn and improve, however, you must intentionally push beyond what your mind thinks you can do.
To do this, though, you must learn to distinguish between no-fall zones and yes-fall zones.Remember, even in “yes-fall” situations you can never make a risk totally safe or eliminate every possible negative consequence. All you can do is diminish the consequences by creating an appropriate risk, meaning one you fully understand and accept. You may be willing to risk a skinned knee from bumping the rock but not a sprained ankle from hitting a ledge. You may be willing to take a clean 15-foot air fall but not a 30-footer. Whatever the specifics, the key point is that you have a clear understanding of what you are committing to.
Yes-fall zones are not just places where it is “safe” to fall. They are places where it is appropriate for you to risk a fall. An appropriate risk pushes you a little outside your previous experience level (with falling) but not too far. You must be able to fully process the experience and learn.
No-fall zones seem self-explanatory: places where you shouldn’t fall because a fall could cause injury. But a no-fall zone might be one where a fall would scare you. Being a little scared is fine—-you can probably process that level of fear and stress. If a fall scares you too much, however, you’ll resist engaging a similar situation, stifling the learning process.-Therefore, don’t just look at the objective consequences of a fall, but weigh the consequences against your experience taking such falls. I suggest practicing falling frequently and intentionally. This will help you distinguish between no-fall and yes-fall zones. The process for doing this will be outlined in future lessons. Only with falling experience can you properly determine no-fall and yes-fall zones.
This determination is critical, because you engage these zones differently.One critical aspect of appropriate decisions is they must create a learning experience and not an injury experience. Many climbers never determine if it’s safe or not to fall on a climb. They engage all climbing situations by doing all they can to avoid falling and don’t push themselves to the point of purposely taking a fall. When they do fall it’s an accident, due to a hold breaking or getting suddenly pumped, and little or nothing is learned. To learn and improve, however, you must intentionally push beyond what your mind thinks you can do. To do this, though, you must learn to distinguish between no-fall zones and yes-fall zones.
-
Remember, even in “yes-fall” situations you can never make a risk totally safe or eliminate every possible negative consequence. All you can do is diminish the consequences by creating an appropriate risk, meaning one you fully understand and accept. You may be willing to risk a skinned knee from bumping the rock but not a sprained ankle from hitting a ledge. You may be willing to take a clean 15-foot air fall but not a 30-footer. Whatever the specifics, the key point is that you have a clear understanding of what you are committing to.
-
Yes-fall zones are not just places where it is “safe” to fall. They are places where it is appropriate for you to risk a fall. An appropriate risk pushes you a little outside your previous experience level (with falling) but not too far. You must be able to fully process the experience and learn.
-
No-fall zones seem self-explanatory: places where you shouldn’t fall because a fall could cause injury. But a no-fall zone might be one where a fall would scare you. Being a little scared is fine—-you can probably process that level of fear and stress. If a fall scares you too much, however, you’ll resist engaging a similar situation, stifling the learning process.
-
Therefore, don’t just look at the objective consequences of a fall, but weigh the consequences against your experience taking such falls. I suggest practicing falling frequently and intentionally. This will help you distinguish between no-fall and yes-fall zones. The process for doing this will be outlined in future lessons. Only with falling experience can you properly determine no-fall and yes-fall zones. This determination is critical, because you engage these zones differently.
Reposted from Arno Ilger's Climbling Blog : http://warriorsway.com/no-fall-yes-fall/
One critical aspect of appropriate decisions is they must create a learning experience and not an injury experience. Many climbers never determine if it’s safe or not to fall on a climb. They engage all climbing situations by doing all they can to avoid falling and don’t push themselves to the point of purposely taking a fall. When they do fall it’s an accident, due to a hold breaking or getting suddenly pumped, and little or nothing is learned. To learn and improve, however, you must intentionally push beyond what your mind thinks you can do.
To do this, though, you must learn to distinguish between no-fall zones and yes-fall zones.Remember, even in “yes-fall” situations you can never make a risk totally safe or eliminate every possible negative consequence. All you can do is diminish the consequences by creating an appropriate risk, meaning one you fully understand and accept. You may be willing to risk a skinned knee from bumping the rock but not a sprained ankle from hitting a ledge. You may be willing to take a clean 15-foot air fall but not a 30-footer. Whatever the specifics, the key point is that you have a clear understanding of what you are committing to.
Yes-fall zones are not just places where it is “safe” to fall. They are places where it is appropriate for you to risk a fall. An appropriate risk pushes you a little outside your previous experience level (with falling) but not too far. You must be able to fully process the experience and learn.
No-fall zones seem self-explanatory: places where you shouldn’t fall because a fall could cause injury. But a no-fall zone might be one where a fall would scare you. Being a little scared is fine—-you can probably process that level of fear and stress. If a fall scares you too much, however, you’ll resist engaging a similar situation, stifling the learning process.-Therefore, don’t just look at the objective consequences of a fall, but weigh the consequences against your experience taking such falls. I suggest practicing falling frequently and intentionally. This will help you distinguish between no-fall and yes-fall zones. The process for doing this will be outlined in future lessons. Only with falling experience can you properly determine no-fall and yes-fall zones.
This determination is critical, because you engage these zones differently.One critical aspect of appropriate decisions is they must create a learning experience and not an injury experience. Many climbers never determine if it’s safe or not to fall on a climb. They engage all climbing situations by doing all they can to avoid falling and don’t push themselves to the point of purposely taking a fall. When they do fall it’s an accident, due to a hold breaking or getting suddenly pumped, and little or nothing is learned. To learn and improve, however, you must intentionally push beyond what your mind thinks you can do. To do this, though, you must learn to distinguish between no-fall zones and yes-fall zones.
-
Remember, even in “yes-fall” situations you can never make a risk totally safe or eliminate every possible negative consequence. All you can do is diminish the consequences by creating an appropriate risk, meaning one you fully understand and accept. You may be willing to risk a skinned knee from bumping the rock but not a sprained ankle from hitting a ledge. You may be willing to take a clean 15-foot air fall but not a 30-footer. Whatever the specifics, the key point is that you have a clear understanding of what you are committing to.
-
Yes-fall zones are not just places where it is “safe” to fall. They are places where it is appropriate for you to risk a fall. An appropriate risk pushes you a little outside your previous experience level (with falling) but not too far. You must be able to fully process the experience and learn.
-
No-fall zones seem self-explanatory: places where you shouldn’t fall because a fall could cause injury. But a no-fall zone might be one where a fall would scare you. Being a little scared is fine—-you can probably process that level of fear and stress. If a fall scares you too much, however, you’ll resist engaging a similar situation, stifling the learning process.
-
Therefore, don’t just look at the objective consequences of a fall, but weigh the consequences against your experience taking such falls. I suggest practicing falling frequently and intentionally. This will help you distinguish between no-fall and yes-fall zones. The process for doing this will be outlined in future lessons. Only with falling experience can you properly determine no-fall and yes-fall zones. This determination is critical, because you engage these zones differently.
Friday, May 28, 2010
THE LAW OF NO CONTROL
♣ Parce qu'au fond le vrai plaisir
♣ C'est p't'être juste de pas savoir
♣ Comment qu'a va finir
♣ Ta p'tite histoire…
- Les Cowboys Fringants
The control we have over our lives is very subtle. In fact, it can be summarized as: "You have the power (and the responsability) to be the best possible version of yourself." Beyond that, we control nothing.
We are not responsible for other people's behaviors and reactions. We can't be held accountable for the vicissitudes of our health (diet, exercise and stress-reduction excluded of course). All we control is what we put into the world. Our influence does not extend to what comes back, nor to what others make of what we put into the world !
This is a blessing, at least for those of us who feel the need to walk around with the weight of the world on our shoulders. It is time to put down that burden, and focus on the only thing we really do control - our actions.
Living can be a little like driving with our eyes closed; we need to trust the steadiness of our hand, and the direction of the road. Have confidence in your ability to exist is just about any situation. Uncertainty is part of life. It's the reason we get out of bed every morning - without that, life would be pretty dull !
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
The Monkey And The Sword Fighter
Our minds have the capacity for different types of awareness. The thinking mind generates thoughts. This function of the brain can be quite distracting and overwhelming. It criticizes, holds grudges, pines for things to be other than what they are. The thinking mind conjures up images, either seductive or terrible, which cause us to be racked by fear or embarrassment, or which allow us to wallow in a false sense of security or despair. The undisciplined, thinking mind can run this way and that, chattering like a gaggle of baboons.
I do not mean to suggest that the thinking mind has no use; I imply simply that in its natural state, it is undisciplined and unfit to command our full attention. If we over-identify with our thinking mind, we risk placing a group of baboons in charge of the ship! This is not a good management decision! The Buddhists sometimes call the undisciplined thinking mind Monkey Mind.
Our thinking mind can be like a child – demanding thing, chattering, creating a scene for nothing. But as warriors we are more mature than this. Pain, frustration and discomfort mean nothing. Neither feeling demands a reaction. They simply are. We would not let a group of monkeys decide for us how to react to a crisis, so why would we allow Monkey-Mind to make our decisions? Indeed, a warrior is judged only by her actions; thoughts are merely that – air. They pass if we allow them to. It's best to not take them too seriously, or to over-identify with everything our thinking minds through up.
By contrast, the sword-fighter’s mind is clear like a ripple-less pool. Water symbolizes the warrior's mind; water is clear, calm, and reflects reality like a mirror; it obscures and taints nothing. Water moves and adapts endlessly. It flows around obstacles, supple and infinitely malleable. If we move our minds like water, we detach from outcomes, or ways of doing things. This is an incredibly powerful position.
Direct experience of reality allows us the sword-fighter’s plasticity: we do not need things to be this way or that. Reality is what it is. It is accessible to our perception, but sits behind the layer of interpretation our thinking minds would impose. Our job is simply to work with the state of affairs as is, turning a set of circumstances to our advantage.
A given situation has many different interpretations. Some interpretations are of greater advantage than others. Some ways of thinking create less stress, friction or resistance; they allow you to work your plan unhampered. Instead of being committed to one way of seeing things, why not open your awareness, seeking in a fluid way the interpretation that best fits your ends? Water finds the fastest point from A to B; why not let your mind work the same way?
We have a choice about how we focus our attention. That is, although Monkey-Mind may chatter all day long, nothing requires us to identify with this unfocused stream of thinking. We can acknowledge the thoughts and let them go.
How would you react if you had to sit in a room full of squabbling children? You would likely tune them out after a while, rather than listening to their petty stories. You can do the same with your thinking mind: you can let the thoughts be the background music. You can choose to identify instead with direct sensory experience. This gives space for an adaptive, peaceful and above all limpid relationship with reality.
“Stress happens when the mind resists what is” (Millman, 1992: 146). The warrior is able to gain power and minimize stress by eliminating resistance to what is.
The courageous or the loyal person is not one who feels no fear or no temptation. The courageous warrior; the loyal warrior feels fear and temptation, but does not act on empty thoughts. Thoughts are mere shadows on the wall of your life; empty paper tigers; once you see them as such, you gain power over them.
Monday, May 24, 2010
INTUITIVE INTELLIGENCE...
Reposted from Arno Ilgner's Rock Climbing Blog
http://warriorsway.com/intuitive-intelligence/
Whether or not you are willing to fall off a route, and whether or not you actually will fall, are perhaps the most ongoing fundamental questions in rock climbing. The more clearly you understand and address these questions, the less confusion and fear will affect you while climbing. This process requires both analytical and intuitive intelligence. Assessing the falls you’ve experienced in the past utilizes your mind’s analytical intelligence.
You can quantitatively determine what type of routes you’ve fallen on, the distance of those falls, the angle of the rock, what obstacles were there, and how often you’ve fallen. You also know the type and grade of routes you’ve climbed without falling. This information results from your mind’s analytical intelligence applied in preparation. In contrast, weighing that information against the particular route you now face with the level of strength you now have is totally intuitive.-Intuitive intelligence isn’t a thinking process but rather a feeling process. No amount of justifying with your thinking mind to commit or retreat will help you determine whether or not you’re taking an appropriate risk. You can only rely on an intuitive feeling for determining appropriateness.
Analytical thinking alone will never tell you for sure if the decision to commit is appropriate. Millions of complex aspects must come together within your body and mind for each particular effort, that are too complex to analyze and think about to make a decision. You must take in all those aspects, meld them, weigh them, and then make a decision. This can only be done effectively by utilizing your mind’s intuitive intelligence.Whether or not you are willing to fall off a route, and whether or not you actually will fall, are perhaps the most ongoing fundamental questions in rock climbing.
The more clearly you understand and address these questions, the less confusion and fear will affect you while climbing. This process requires both analytical and intuitive intelligence. Assessing the falls you’ve experienced in the past utilizes your mind’s analytical intelligence. You can quantitatively determine what type of routes you’ve fallen on, the distance of those falls, the angle of the rock, what obstacles were there, and how often you’ve fallen. You also know the type and grade of routes you’ve climbed without falling. This information results from your mind’s analytical intelligence applied in preparation. In contrast, weighing that information against the particular route you now face with the level of strength you now have is totally intuitive.
-
Intuitive intelligence isn’t a thinking process but rather a feeling process. No amount of justifying with your thinking mind to commit or retreat will help you determine whether or not you’re taking an appropriate risk. You can only rely on an intuitive feeling for determining appropriateness.
-
Analytical thinking alone will never tell you for sure if the decision to commit is appropriate. Millions of complex aspects must come together within your body and mind for each particular effort, that are too complex to analyze and think about to make a decision. You must take in all those aspects, meld them, weigh them, and then make a decision. This can only be done effectively by utilizing your mind’s intuitive intelligence.
http://warriorsway.com/intuitive-intelligence/
Whether or not you are willing to fall off a route, and whether or not you actually will fall, are perhaps the most ongoing fundamental questions in rock climbing. The more clearly you understand and address these questions, the less confusion and fear will affect you while climbing. This process requires both analytical and intuitive intelligence. Assessing the falls you’ve experienced in the past utilizes your mind’s analytical intelligence.
You can quantitatively determine what type of routes you’ve fallen on, the distance of those falls, the angle of the rock, what obstacles were there, and how often you’ve fallen. You also know the type and grade of routes you’ve climbed without falling. This information results from your mind’s analytical intelligence applied in preparation. In contrast, weighing that information against the particular route you now face with the level of strength you now have is totally intuitive.-Intuitive intelligence isn’t a thinking process but rather a feeling process. No amount of justifying with your thinking mind to commit or retreat will help you determine whether or not you’re taking an appropriate risk. You can only rely on an intuitive feeling for determining appropriateness.
Analytical thinking alone will never tell you for sure if the decision to commit is appropriate. Millions of complex aspects must come together within your body and mind for each particular effort, that are too complex to analyze and think about to make a decision. You must take in all those aspects, meld them, weigh them, and then make a decision. This can only be done effectively by utilizing your mind’s intuitive intelligence.Whether or not you are willing to fall off a route, and whether or not you actually will fall, are perhaps the most ongoing fundamental questions in rock climbing.
The more clearly you understand and address these questions, the less confusion and fear will affect you while climbing. This process requires both analytical and intuitive intelligence. Assessing the falls you’ve experienced in the past utilizes your mind’s analytical intelligence. You can quantitatively determine what type of routes you’ve fallen on, the distance of those falls, the angle of the rock, what obstacles were there, and how often you’ve fallen. You also know the type and grade of routes you’ve climbed without falling. This information results from your mind’s analytical intelligence applied in preparation. In contrast, weighing that information against the particular route you now face with the level of strength you now have is totally intuitive.
-
Intuitive intelligence isn’t a thinking process but rather a feeling process. No amount of justifying with your thinking mind to commit or retreat will help you determine whether or not you’re taking an appropriate risk. You can only rely on an intuitive feeling for determining appropriateness.
-
Analytical thinking alone will never tell you for sure if the decision to commit is appropriate. Millions of complex aspects must come together within your body and mind for each particular effort, that are too complex to analyze and think about to make a decision. You must take in all those aspects, meld them, weigh them, and then make a decision. This can only be done effectively by utilizing your mind’s intuitive intelligence.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
MMA and the End of the World ?
UFC isn't necessarily the end of the world
By ALBERT NERENBERG, Freelance April 9, 2010
They say one sign society is going to hell in a handbag is the blood-spattered rise of mixed martial arts. Modern gladiator heroes pound each other to oblivion in what looks like no-holds-barred bare-fisted combat in a cage. People who watch an Ultimate Fighting Championship match like tomorrow's pay-per-view UFC 112 are often seen as apprentice cavemen or worse. Is it the end of civilization?
If so, it may be our fault.
On May 8, the UFC rolls into Montreal, a city that has been instrumental in the meteoric rise of mixed martial arts. Montreal set the record for the fastest UFC sellouts, and trains many top contenders.
Ontario bans the UFC, but Quebec has been key in foisting mixed martial arts - as well as Supertramp and the Backstreet Boys - on the world. We may now want to ask ourselves if it was a good idea. U.S. Senator John McCain doesn't think so. In 2006, he characterized mixed martial arts as "human cockfighting" in a bid to ban it. Milwaukee journalist Dave Begel famously opposed MMA when he came across it on TV.
"The other night, I was channel surfing and inadvertently saw the END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT!" he wrote in OnMilwaukee.com. "This thing is proving to be very popular among men between the ages of 18 and 49. That doesn't give me much confidence in our future. ... Outlaw this abomination."
Some characterize mixed martial arts as the darker side of the zeitgeist. As the world perches on climate chaos and western economies seem to be steadily chucking people out of the middle class, it follows that survival-of-the-fittest spectacles arise.
Nonsense, says Joe Flanders, research director and psychologist at the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Clinic at Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Health Complex: "Whatever the latest trend, there is always some critic who will announce we're declining."
Flanders, who studies play, says we're actually looking at the rise of a new sport with flaws and virtues like the others. In fact, most common theories about whether MMA is good or bad are hogwash.
Take the one proposed by many defenders: that MMA is an outlet for human aggression, a giant anger management system.
"The idea is that if we go and watch the UFC, we'll release some of our violent drives," Flanders said.
That's apparently bunk.
"The theory of release or venting has not been borne out empirically," he noted.
Despite its savage, bloody image, however, it's not clear that MMA is more dangerous than other contact sports.
"I got all my serious injuries playing basketball," said Terrie Schauer, a Montreal-based real estate agent who competes in female kickboxing and writes a blog about women in MMA, called Way of the Warrior Queen.
"I'm a normal girl. I like shoes. I'm not a violent person."
Serious injuries in MMA are far rarer than in hockey - which hasn't been banned, last time I checked.
The question of whether MMA promotes violence is a tough one. It celebrates human combat, but promotes martial arts, which often have pacifist, humanist philosophies.
Montreal's own Georges St. Pierre, UFC welterweight champion, claims he hasn't been in a street fight since childhood bullying inspired him to learn karate. This is typical of top MMA fighters who take the art in martial arts seriously. St. Pierre says his fight strategy is most heavily patterned after - of all things - chess.
The UFC uses instinctive fascination with violence to draw crowds, but the same can be said of the media.
According to Flanders, mixed martial arts is really a high-level form of rough and tumble play, the basic combat game most kids grow up with. Scientific evidence suggests this kind of thing makes kids smarter and actually teaches moral values, as physical combat must follow carefully prescribed codes, rules and limits.
"In some ways, it's actually about regulating aggressive behaviour," Flanders said.
Mixed martial arts may be threatening because it puts a frightening part of human nature on display. But step back and you may see the broader game and the positives that arise from sport - fitness, camaraderie, passion, discipline, meaning and entertainment.
While there is no doubt the UFC plays to our fighting instincts, it may not be the end of the world. It's the fact that we haven't figured out a way to similarly celebrate or compete over our powerful positive instincts that is the real shame.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/necessarily+world/2780391/story.html#ixzz0oimwa6sg
By ALBERT NERENBERG, Freelance April 9, 2010
They say one sign society is going to hell in a handbag is the blood-spattered rise of mixed martial arts. Modern gladiator heroes pound each other to oblivion in what looks like no-holds-barred bare-fisted combat in a cage. People who watch an Ultimate Fighting Championship match like tomorrow's pay-per-view UFC 112 are often seen as apprentice cavemen or worse. Is it the end of civilization?
If so, it may be our fault.
On May 8, the UFC rolls into Montreal, a city that has been instrumental in the meteoric rise of mixed martial arts. Montreal set the record for the fastest UFC sellouts, and trains many top contenders.
Ontario bans the UFC, but Quebec has been key in foisting mixed martial arts - as well as Supertramp and the Backstreet Boys - on the world. We may now want to ask ourselves if it was a good idea. U.S. Senator John McCain doesn't think so. In 2006, he characterized mixed martial arts as "human cockfighting" in a bid to ban it. Milwaukee journalist Dave Begel famously opposed MMA when he came across it on TV.
"The other night, I was channel surfing and inadvertently saw the END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT!" he wrote in OnMilwaukee.com. "This thing is proving to be very popular among men between the ages of 18 and 49. That doesn't give me much confidence in our future. ... Outlaw this abomination."
Some characterize mixed martial arts as the darker side of the zeitgeist. As the world perches on climate chaos and western economies seem to be steadily chucking people out of the middle class, it follows that survival-of-the-fittest spectacles arise.
Nonsense, says Joe Flanders, research director and psychologist at the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Clinic at Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Health Complex: "Whatever the latest trend, there is always some critic who will announce we're declining."
Flanders, who studies play, says we're actually looking at the rise of a new sport with flaws and virtues like the others. In fact, most common theories about whether MMA is good or bad are hogwash.
Take the one proposed by many defenders: that MMA is an outlet for human aggression, a giant anger management system.
"The idea is that if we go and watch the UFC, we'll release some of our violent drives," Flanders said.
That's apparently bunk.
"The theory of release or venting has not been borne out empirically," he noted.
Despite its savage, bloody image, however, it's not clear that MMA is more dangerous than other contact sports.
"I got all my serious injuries playing basketball," said Terrie Schauer, a Montreal-based real estate agent who competes in female kickboxing and writes a blog about women in MMA, called Way of the Warrior Queen.
"I'm a normal girl. I like shoes. I'm not a violent person."
Serious injuries in MMA are far rarer than in hockey - which hasn't been banned, last time I checked.
The question of whether MMA promotes violence is a tough one. It celebrates human combat, but promotes martial arts, which often have pacifist, humanist philosophies.
Montreal's own Georges St. Pierre, UFC welterweight champion, claims he hasn't been in a street fight since childhood bullying inspired him to learn karate. This is typical of top MMA fighters who take the art in martial arts seriously. St. Pierre says his fight strategy is most heavily patterned after - of all things - chess.
The UFC uses instinctive fascination with violence to draw crowds, but the same can be said of the media.
According to Flanders, mixed martial arts is really a high-level form of rough and tumble play, the basic combat game most kids grow up with. Scientific evidence suggests this kind of thing makes kids smarter and actually teaches moral values, as physical combat must follow carefully prescribed codes, rules and limits.
"In some ways, it's actually about regulating aggressive behaviour," Flanders said.
Mixed martial arts may be threatening because it puts a frightening part of human nature on display. But step back and you may see the broader game and the positives that arise from sport - fitness, camaraderie, passion, discipline, meaning and entertainment.
While there is no doubt the UFC plays to our fighting instincts, it may not be the end of the world. It's the fact that we haven't figured out a way to similarly celebrate or compete over our powerful positive instincts that is the real shame.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/necessarily+world/2780391/story.html#ixzz0oimwa6sg
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