Martial Edge meets Scott Flint, author of the book ‘Waking the Tiger Within.’ Scott has over thirty years experience in a wide variety of martial arts but discusses that even when one has earned a black belt in a martial art, you still have to prepare yourself for an assault on the street. Lesley Jackson discovers more...
Firstly, can you give Martial Edge a background to your martial arts training?
I started taekwondo in 1976 and I then began training in kenpo, a combination of hard and soft styles in 1977 under the watchful eye of Master Ron Lee. I have been continually training in kenpo now for over 30 years. I started iaido training in 2005 under Sensei Andrej Diamantstein. I still need to travel to Japan to test for Shodan in iaido. I started martial arts training due to a lifelong interest. Since I was a little boy I always wanted to study martial arts. By the time I was 13 I finally got the chance to start living my dream. I think my interest really got going when I was in 3rd grade and witnessed a brand new 3rd grader from China getting picked on by the local school yard bully. The little guy tried to warn the bully to stop hitting him. When the bully wouldn't stop, the little boy from China let loose his martial arts skill and within seconds had the terror of the school yard in tears. It was like magic. I've been hooked ever since.
You are a 6th Dan in karate and a competition winner in kungfu; what was it about these styles that held your interest for so long?
Karate has always been important to me as a method to really develop kihon (basics). Master Lee would always say "You're only as good as your basics." The hard style of karate as seen in shotokan has helped me to develop dynamic striking power and powerful stances. My kungfu training has helped me to learn to conserve energy by being relaxed and only tensing on the point of contact. Kungfu's circular motions concentrating on striking the eyes and throat have given me the edge I need to quickly end a street fight. Master Lee always said: "Never box with a boxer, because he'll knock you out, never kumite with a Karateka because he'll destroy you with raw external power, never fight with a kungfu man because he'll devastate you with his speed and deadly strikes. Never play the game of your opponent. Know his game and play another and you'll win." I respect and admire both systems and am happy to have had the chance to learn both.
You have been a martial arts teacher for nearly thirty years, what are some of the key things you teach your students about self-defence?
The main ideas I really push with my students to get them ready for self-defence are: Number one: Awareness. I make sure they understand that they are not exempt and that some day they really could be the proposed victim of a violent attack. Secondly I make sure they have the right mental set for combat. They have to understand right away that no one has the right to hurt them and if anyone ever tries, they need to become outraged, their blood should boil with anger and indignation. They need to know they are fighting not only for their own lives but for the lives of their family and loved ones, whose lives would be ruined if they fail in their self-defence.
Additionally, I want my students to focus on function targets rather than pain targets. I'd rather my student strike his attacker's eyes blinding him than kick the attacker in the groin perhaps further angering the attacker.
Apart from martial arts, from where else do you draw your expertise on self-defence?
A great source of my self-defence knowledge has come from Colonial Jeff Cooper from Gunsite in Pauldin Arizona. He wrote an excellent tactics book called ‘The Principles of Personal Defence.’ He introduced the famous ‘Colour Code’ back in 1980. He is the expert when it comes to mental conditioning for combat and fighting.
Have you ever had to use your skills to defend yourself? If so, what happened?
Yes, I was very happy and disappointed at the same time with the result of my real self-defence episode. We had a large and angry drunk dirt-bag stagger into our Berkeley school back in 1986. He wanted to fight everyone in the school and I just wanted him out of the school without a conflict. After getting him to calm down from his furious initial state he was able to construct an almost intelligible sentence. He said: “Whaaat wooould yooou do if a guuuy threeeew a puuuunch at yoooou?” I told him that we run a peaceful school and that I would try to just get out of the way and redirect his attack. All part of my attempt to calm down this very agitated drunk. Suddenly he threw a right punch at my face. Next thing I knew my left hand had caught his right wrist mid-flight and my right hand drove a two-fingered eye dart into the tear-duct of his right eye. I was just about to scoop the eye from his head when I put on the "air brakes" and only penetrated his eye socket by about an inch. I didn't need to remove his eye as he immediately sobered up and was in a state of shock with the pain and surprise of having his eyeball struck. We then proceeded to through the now very surprised creep out the front door and on to the sidewalk. Needless to say we never saw him around the school again.
Martial Edge talks to Chris Crudelli
In 2007, Martial Edge was privileged to meet up with the kung fu instructor, TV presenter and martial arts enthusiast Chris Crudelli. Despite being the star of successful BBC programmes like Mind, Body & Kick Ass Moves, Birmingham born Chris is not entirely comfortable with the notion of TV stardom, as Ben Johnson finds out…
I felt bad that I didn't read the guy correctly. I should have been able to tell he was about to strike. Perhaps since he was drunk it threw off my awareness of imminent danger. I also felt very happy with how my body took over and controlled his punch and attacked his eye all within a fraction of a second and all without any conscious thought. It was literally automatic, just as my sifu Master Lee had always taught me.
Apart from the physical training in martial arts, what other skills must a person draw upon or learn to defend themselves successfully?
Mental preparedness is far more important than one’s physical technique. Having the right attitude towards fighting will always trump superior technique. There have been countless black belts that have been severely hurt or killed by street punks. The black belts had awesome technique but never even thought to use their skill. They were too busy coming to terms with the fact that they were really being attacked.
As well as a self-defence expert, you are a martial arts competition winner. Do you believe there is room for a person to use martial arts for both fun for example, competition sparring, and real applications for self-defence. How can one achieve this?
Great question! There is a great need for sparring training and competition experience to help a student gain real self-defence ability. Sparring helps the student learn their range, their striking combinations and if taught properly can build a student’s confidence and aggressiveness for real fighting. The problem is some students train in sparring throughout most of the martial arts experience. This can be a fatal error. When you spar you have to hold back from using effective street-fighting technique. You can't gouge the eyes, you can't break the temple, crush the throat or break the knee. If you practise sparring too much you get used to thinking of fighting as a game and you get used to holding back your full power and your most devastating technique. Under the pressure of real combat you revert to what you do all the time which is the very controlled game of sparring. If your attacker is competent he won't hesitate to break your knee or gouge your eye. So, too much sparring can be a real problem. You've got to learn sparring and get the aggression built up in your technique. Once you learn it and start to really like it, it's time to get away from it.
Competition allows you to perform under a more stressful environment than in your regular lessons. You are being watched by high ranking martial artists and much is expected of you. This pressure is excellent for training and you to do well under the extreme stress of real combat. Once again too much competition is a mistake. What makes you likely to win a medal or trophy often isn't what makes you devastating in a life or death situation. Flashy open movements with high kicks, and extra low stances might be great for amassing lots of points in competition but they all spell tragedy in a street fight. It must be emphasized that the way you practise is the way you will perform on the street. So, too much sparring or too many competitions can become a real problem for a serious martial artist. I try to have my students compete in no more than one tournament per year.
What led you to write the book ‘Waking the Tiger Within?’
My father is an accomplished author who has always been my number one supporter in my life, especially in my martial arts. He kept saying to me over a period of 6 years that I really need to write down in book form all the fighting concepts I had taught my students through the decades. In 1998 I radically reduced my teaching schedule from 60 hours per week to only 20. This finally gave me the time I needed to write ‘Waking the Tiger Within.’ The funny thing was that as I wrote the long-hand version of the book it seemed as if I had divine intervention as I didn't have to really think what to write, it was as if it was just automatic. My father said that it was so easy to write because I had taught the concepts and told the stories so many times that it was just part of me and there was no further thought needed to commit it to paper.
What are your future plans in the martial arts; are you planning to write any more books?
My next book will focus solely on how to stay alive while driving. Waking the Tiger within covers this topic with an entire chapter, but I think it really needs a whole book dedicated to teaching people how to be ready for attack while in or around their cars. When you think about it one of the most likely times you might need to defend yourself is while you are in or around your vehicle. We are all spending more and more time commuting and our roads are getting increasingly clogged with angry drivers all rushing to get to their destinations and very willing to beat you in the head if you get in the way. There are so many things that a driver needs to learn about defence on our highways. These concepts just aren't being taught in driving lessons. I think my book will fill this void and save many lives.
Thank you Scott for your valuable insight into the world of self-defense.
Interviews 
"You're only as good as your basics." The hard style of 
Great question! There is a great need for sparring training and competition experience to help a student gain real self-defence ability. Sparring helps the student learn their range, their striking combinations and if taught properly can build a student’s confidence and aggressiveness for real fighting. The problem is some students train in sparring throughout most of the martial arts experience. This can be a fatal error. When you spar you have to hold back from using effective street-fighting technique. You can't gouge the eyes, you can't break the temple, crush the throat or break the knee. If you practise sparring too much you get used to thinking of fighting as a game and you get used to holding back your full power and your most devastating technique. Under the pressure of real combat you revert to what you do all the time which is the very controlled game of sparring. If your attacker is competent he won't hesitate to break your knee or gouge your eye. So, too much sparring can be a real problem. You've got to learn sparring and get the aggression built up in your technique. Once you learn it and start to really like it, it's time to get away from it.
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