A Challenging Commitment

Originally posted on Facebook on 24th May 2018:

2018 is the year I formally began Superfly Tactical and began teaching Martial Arts and self-defense in a more official capacity, as well as representing the Pekiti-Tirsia Tactical Association in Singapore - something I consider to be a huge honour and wish to go above and beyond the expectations of someone with that responsibility.

Truth be told, I really only ever wanted to be able continue my training and teaching. At the same time, money has to be made to sustain life in general, which really brings me to my bigger issue with, “running” a business - marketing.

I don’t know how to market self-defense training in a way that is both attractive and honest.

My wing chun Sifu used to say that without training you’d lose a dangerous encounter 10 out of 10 times, and with training you’d only lose 9 out of 10. But you train to survive that 1 time. Understandably, these statistics are more for illustration than an accurate representation of survivability. Meant to highlight the mindset of someone who trains in Martial Arts. We are constantly training and improving a skill set we hope to never have to use. And that’s not the sort of reward system that appeals to many.

There’re are a lot of benefits to training in Martial Arts, benefits which impact the full spectrum of physical, emotional, and mental well-being. But I don’t think PTK is the only way to achieve those benefits - hell, maybe not even martial arts training but dance training as well. Dancers are some of the physically and mentally toughest people I’ve met.

I train and believe in PTK because I believe it’s one of the most effective styles out there. Frighteningly effective for counter-offence in combat scenarios. That’s it. Should I ever be in situation, and I hope never to be, I trust that being a Pekiti-Tirsia practitioner will raise the probability that I survive.

I also refuse to engage in fear mongering. In general, the world is becoming a safer place to live in. Crime rates of all sorts are going lower, general wealth and education are on the rise. I refuse to say that the world is becoming a more hostile place for any demographic of people just to raise the perceived value of the product I’m offering.

I want people to understand the value of the training without having to be scared into it. I feel like that’s an emotionally manipulative tactic that I am terribly uncomfortable with.

I want people to understand that, yes, the world is becoming a safer place, especially for those of us lucky enough to live in countries like Singapore, and at the same time, to use an old marketing slogan of the police force, “Low crime doesn’t mean no crime” and that it’s much better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war.