THE TRUTH THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH...

Do you ever get the feeling that someone is lying to you or they are not telling the truth? In life one of the things I hate people doing to me or the masses is lying!

It might start little, a private class might say they are running late (at least they’re running, it saves the warm-up) when they have just left the house knowing they are going to be very late. I don’t mind if you are late just don’t lie!

When classes don’t turn up and they tell you a story so wild even they don’t believe it why the hell should you believe it! Just to get out of paying the class fee sometimes they don’t think it really matters, but to me I could have put another private class in their place and I have to listen to bare-faced lying to get out of paying the money. I am a full time professional Martial Arts Instructor and have been since 1993; this is my “proper “job. How many people do you know that will go to work and not get paid for the hours they spent there, not many I don’t think.

Everyone lies sometime or another. For example, you don’t want to attend a party so you say you have not got a babysitter or something has happened for you not to be able to attend, not much of a problem you say until someone says it to you!

Some people have that myth about them that they are superhuman in the martial arts, they feel no pain and that you cannot harm them - then try and make you believe them.

I always try to be as honest as I can with the martial arts I teach and the people I teach it to. I feel I should tell them why I am making them do a certain thing and the pros and cons of doing it, using the term ‘Fuck up factor’ because sometime somewhere it may well fuck up!

Why should people have the responsibility of teaching and abuse the fact that people will take notice of them, telling them that they can’t strike you because their awesome power would kill you with one strike - grow up, if you are that good and powerful learn to use control with the technique you are passing on to your students.

One lad I know told his wife he could not go boxing again because he had too much power; the coach had told him to stop training LOL and I was talking to his wife when she told me this and you could see 100% that she believed him. It is hard to choose which one to feel sorry for, him because he thinks he has hulk hands or her because she not only believes him but goes and tells me as if I should be impressed.

You can tell a lot about a person by how they act towards others. I recently saw a martial artist that had a big car with his dojo name written on it parked in a disabled car parking space because it was closer to the shop he was going into. Then I saw the same man drive right up to the bumper of another car so that they would move and then speed off shouting abuse at the person as he sped past; this all coming from a person that claims to teach about respecting others and says that he teaches anti-bullying. Mate you’re a joke, why lie about all these things saying one thing and then doing another?

My wife, Kerry, is disabled and sometimes people don’t understand the importance of those spaces or don’t care that much about it. It is sad when people think the rules don’t apply to them.

I try to be as honest as I can; if I make a mess of a technique I will say I have. I have seen far too many instructors make a mess of something and said they meant to do it. Bull s***t!

I will tell you the things I know and not hold anything back; if I do not know the answer to your question I will tell you I don’t know but then try and find out for you because if you asked it must be important to you so then it is my job to find out for you, not brush it under the mats (if you have mats).

The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…

Until next time.

Play nicely with the other kids and tell the truth.

John Atkin

To find out more about The Advanced Fighting Centre visit:http://www.advancedfighting.co.uk/ or e-mail John Atkin at johnatkin24@btinternet.com