<i>Questions to Geoff</i> (Part 2 of 2)

Questions to Geoff (Part 2 of 2)

Reprinted with the permission of the owner, Geoff Thompson

Continued...

8) What is your opinion on instructors teaching 'self-defence' techniques, who have not had any actual real fighting experience themselves? Is it possible to teach something that you have not experienced yourself?

Geoff Thompson. I have no real opinion good or bad. I think that if they have no experience of a real fight then they should train with some one who has, that will make their teaching more beneficial.

9) What qualifies you to teach the fighting techniques you promote?

Geoff Thompson. I have made them work in thousands of real situations. In the city where I developed my techniques nine people were killed in one year in violent attacks, three of my friends were murdered in violent attacks during my stint on the door so I know what works and what might get you killed. My teachings are very basic but uniquely honest and entirely empirical.

10) With regards to the financial side of learning the arts: will the more you pay make you better or more able? Do you think that ability can be bought?

Geoff Thompson. Money doesn't come into it, though to be good you do pay in other ways, there is a tremendous sacrifice to be made by those that want to make the grade. For me personally I would pay any amount to get the teacher I need. Sometimes good teachers will give you it for nothing, other times you have to pay large amounts. But if they have what I want money is not - and should not - be an object. Empirical skills are worth any amount of money. Having said that paying large sums of money is not a guarantee to quality neither will money buy you ability. That cannot be brought. Only thousands of hours in training halls and dojos can give you that. Teachers can give you nothing, only guidance. No one can pull your cart for you, you can't get the ribbon without running the race. You need to train more than any one else, harder than any one else and you need to train when others think it unreasonable to train. When you get to the top of one class you should automatically and immediately place your self at the bottom of another. Always a white belt if you want to grow. If you are the top boy in the class you loose you ability to grow.

11) As most parents worry about their children being bullied (in the school playground, for instance), as well as their safety and welfare in the everyday life, do you feel that they should encourage them to take up the study of a Martial Art, in order to equip them with the necessary skills to cope with life's hidden dangers?

Geoff Thompson. Martial arts are one way of building confidence in kids and confidence is what is likely to get them out of a bullying situation. More than anything we need to teach our kids to communicate and not to see violence as a problem solving tool. Violence is lower echelon communication, a bad choose for our kids (and for us). I'd encourage the children to develop their confidence with some kind of physical activity because confident kids do not usually get picked on. We have to teach our kids to stand up for them selves, but not to see violence as the answer because in the long term it certainly isn't. My own lad is 11, I have him in a judo class and he learns a bit of boxing from me. These arts give him tremendous confidence. I balance this by talking to him about the ugliness of violence.

12) What would you say are the main benefits that the study of the arts can provide, for both children and adults?

Geoff Thompson. For kids it teaches many physical attributes which are beneficial in life, but mostly it gives them a sense and a taste off discipline and respect. If they are in the right system it also teaches them physical self-defence. For adults it is similar, but for the more perceptive and enquiring it can open the doorway to a great spirituality and peace.

13) How does the general portrayal of the Martial Arts through various media representations (i.e. films) affect both the general public and people who want to start practising the arts?

Geoff Thompson. It nearly always gives a false representation of the arts. I don't really like what the media does with it, when I look at it I do not see the martial arts that I practice and love. They either portray them as over violent - in a very non-pragmatic way - or in a sickly-sweet-mystic way that is also unrealistic. When you watch these programmes you normally see the directors cut, which is not a pretty sight. Hopefully we might be able to change this in the future.

14) Many people have noted how most Martial Arts have a tendency to go for more aesthetic techniques - for what 'looks good' and can impress the onlooker - as opposed to what may look 'scruffy' but practical end effective. What is your opinion on that?

Geoff Thompson. As a species I suppose we are naturally drawn to the aesthetic, we like the Bruce Lee/Jacky Chan type martial arts, we like to see the sweatless, fearless portrayals of martial excellence and somehow, in our minds eye, we see our selves making it so out side the chip-shop against several armed assailants. In reality it is misleading, even dangerous because if offers only a false sense of perspective and security. If you want reality look for the scruffy stuff and leave the pretty work to the actors and Walter Mitty types.

15) Perhaps you would agree with me if I said that the Martial Arts field (just like many other fields) seems to be a male dominated one, particularly for what concerns female instructors. Why do you think it is that there are so few female Martial Arts instructors out there, compared to their male counterparts?

Geoff Thompson. Yes I would agree. I suppose it goes back to our Neanderthalic past when man was the hunter-gatherer, the protector. Men like to protect women, women like to be protected, that might sound terribly sexist but it is a biological truth. I am not saying that it is right or even that, at some time in the future this will not change, only that - from where I am looking - it is true. Women are not really built, mentally or physically, for combat, they are carers by nature. Some women are fighters (in a physical sense - but they are rare. I have only ever seen a handful of women who can really do, and even then they'd be very unlikely to make it happen against a man of the same skill level. Deep in the psyche - even though we are living in an equal-opportunities type society - men seem to feel the need to protect the family unit, hence they are often attracted to fighting arts, especially if they - for what ever reason - feel that they are not capable of doing so. There is also a greater ego problem with men than women, a lot of men need to feel as though they can look after them selves is a fight, they grow up with it, women have less of a tendency to be controlled by the ego and are not bothered about fighting at all. Off course this is not always the case, I know one or two good women martial artists, very tough girls, but generally I find that women are less drawn to the fighting arts because, basically, they don't care about whether or not they can have a fight.

Thank you very much for answering Geoff - You have no idea how much I appreciate it!

Best Regards

Paolo

***Geoff Thompson can be reached at Geoff@GeoffThompson.com***