Commandment 2:
Thou Shall Not Be A Mat Bully

No one likes a bully. In fact a lot of people I know who started training martial arts started due to some form of bullying. Knowing this it always perplexes me when I see the guy who has been there for 3 years smashing on the guy who is taking his first class. Sadly I have seen this happen a few times in a few different gyms and it really annoys me. I am not against trying out new techniques on lower level students. In fact I do that all the time because my margin of error can be greater. What I am against though is picking on a guy and being rough just because you can. Yes I can heel hook a new guy. Yes I can quickly hit an armbar on the new guy. What is this teaching me though? That my attacks work on unexperienced opponent’s. What happens when I move up and take on someone with my experience. Can I bully them? Probably not. In fact I treat white belts even nicer than I would a blue belt. If I truly am a blue belt I shouldn’t have to use bully tactics to win the match. My technique should lead me to victory.

If you would like to discuss any of the 5 Commandments please leave a comment below or email me at Coach_Ryan@10thplanetvannuys.com.