I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s watching superheroes dismantle their foes with ease. As a kid I wanted to be the one who, with one finger, could topple the playground bully and save the day. Superman, Batman, Wonder women nor Spider man had any problems handling their enemies, except that rare occasion when the “arch enemy” would show up. And that just meant a part II. Now, fast forward to modern day superheros. Aside from the obvious design and tech advancements, what else has changed? The villain! Now if you’re able, go look at the Joker of old (1970’s) and the Joker of today and tell me there isn’t a profound difference. The villain of today, although eventually losing the war, actually wins some of the battles against the hero. Yet, it is because the upgraded bad-guy takes our hero to task, that they are then driven to become better versions of the person they are behind the hero. The correlation between martial arts and self-defense is very clear.

Which villain do you train for?

There are many training today that are training for the day the run in to 1970 bad guy. For them it is more about the suit than the person. If it looks cool, then yes. Like every episode from that era (70’s), the villains moves were predictable with almost zero skill at all. In mental warfare there seemed to be even less skill. So if your training is in preparation for “the dude at the bar at 2 am”, your villain is not good. If your bad guy is just trying to hit you and not trying to hurt you, he is’t that good. If your training always involves a compliant partner, you need a villain upgrade.

Truth be told, most have never even seen violence or have only seen one type or the another. Others speculate based on various second hand sources, yet others know it all too well. For many, dysfunctional homes created a breading ground for violence to be used as the definitive problem solver. This person is overwhelmed with it. Regardless of your first hand experience, you should always be searching to train as close to replicating the actual events of the self-defense encounter as possible.

If you deal with the general public, you may have come to find out that people don’t like to talk about the realities of violence. It’s easier to deal with it from a softer side. And until it happens to them, most bury their head in the sand. Well, many practicing martial artists do the same. Many are training to do to others what the others are attempting to do to them and hoping to be better at it. This is a kind of refinement, but it’s also a kind of martial art masturbation. Yet others feel as though they don’t need any athletic base what so ever. This is just as crazy. Instead, train for a guy who doesn’t care what’s on your certification and just wants to hurt you really bad; and is coming at you. This will change the way you train. Now, you give that same bad guy a few fighting skills (coupled with a who lot of attitude and street time), and you have a good bad guy to train against.

Giving yourself a villain upgrade means you are willing to learn some things about yourself and your training you may not like. It says you will be forced out of your comfort zone and you will be made better for it. It has been said, that martial arts are a vehicle for developing the human potential. Yes, however, if you are making your opponent/attacker weaker or easier so that you don’t have to learn things about yourself you may not like or have to confront your own bullshit, then stop. We all need to constantly be put in a place where speed and strength hold no sway. Where we are own worst enemy. Get a villain upgrade. Don’t however, let it be an excuse to start a fight club. Be responsible, dynamic, athletic, challenge yourself, train hard and go home to your family.

Onward!