Finally Rational Self-Help!

Cover via AmazonSceptics are often considered to be life's party poopers. Damn them and their rationality, sense of logic and reason! Not satisfied with debunking everything from reptoid conspiracy theories to hippy herbal cures in recent times the critical eye has been cast over the self-help movement. According to Professor Richard Wiseman much of the advice being touted by the gurus of positive motivation is based on little scientific evidence. In fact, many anecdotal stories told by these gurus relating to certain experiments used to justify their methods are either only partially reported or didn't happen at all. So, you might think, if this isn't raining on the proverbial happy parade than what is. Well, according to Wiseman much of these self-help

Sins of the father, sins of Man; the price of the Immortals

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“Tess of the D’Urbervilles” is a classic Victorian tragedy about the life of an impoverished and virtuous Wessex country girl who becomes a victim of her society and the forces of fate. Her destiny will be both in the hands of the changeable morality of her fellow humans and the consistent forces of nature.

In Defence of History - Book Review

In Defence of History by Richard J Evans is an effective baseline yet intellectually detailed argument for rational historical investigation. I highly recommend to anyone who has been bamboozled by the idea that history is just one person’s opinion.

Challenging Material

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Timothy Leary’s “Evolutionary Agents” is not a book you would immediately associate with Geoff Thompson’s Real Combat Method. I doubt even Leary - with his leftfield views - imagined that his lucid and controversial work would become set reading material for a class training to get certification in self-defence instruction. Yet there we all stood in a circle being questioned by Geoff Thompson, himself, about our thoughts on the work.

In truth the course was far more than a simple “hard skills” course for training how to deal with a violent situation. Most of the students who went on the course already had instructor level certification in one respected realistic combative form or another. My take on Geoff’s decision for making such books s Leary’s compulsory homework for all who attended the course was because they prompted an internal battle. This is what might be termed “Cerebral Self-Defence” or, as Geoff once put it, “Self-defence is defence against the self”.

There is nothing quite like tackling what might be called “Challenging Material”. Such material is best when it scares you and it has clearly scared others in some way. It should scare you not only because it challenges your beliefs, but because in some way it reinforces them. Geoff presented us with various books that acted as such cerebral weight training material. He did not expect us to agree with all the books in their entirety it is impossible that anyone could, given the diversity of their individual philosophies but to draw positive inspiration from each and every one of them.

Generally speaking, we were all on easy footing with books like “The Gift of Fear” by Gavin De Becker a book treated like a bible in my own self-defence class and “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl; however, it was clear that Yogananda’s “The Autobiography of a Yogi” would herald in the more controversial and abstract information. Out of these texts, Evolutionary Agents was one I found the biggest personal challenge.

Let’s get one thing straight, “Evolutionary Agents” is not, technically speaking, heavy reading. In fact, the first thing that impressed me about the book was the way its author got things moving from the start. In fact, the simplicity of the prose is quite daring. It is written as if the author was feverishly scrawling down his thoughts as they rushed into his mind, not stopping to take a breath and then rushing to the finish line. This might not be too far from the truth given Leary’s proud stance on the controlled use of hallucinogenic drugs, LSD in particular, to improve man’s capacity for creativity. In fact, he was part of a movement of controversial authors who aggressively promoted this theory and practice. The pace of Leary’s writing style is in line with his argument regarding pace and mobility - the back of his book states that it is not the survival of the fittest, but the survival of the fastest. He likes his play on language and gives an interesting definition for the “Human race” in this instance.

Timothy Leary goes to great pains to explain the direction all natural progression moves. His all encompassing philosophy sees everything as a race through time with all of us living in different time zones the progressive thinkers are living in the future and the rest are living in the past. He then gets quite deep into metaphors so deep in fact it gets a little difficult to decide where the metaphorical finishes and where the literal begins. Likewise his arguments vary from the genuinely original and creative to what suspiciously reads like “Shock for the sake of shock” statements. I am not completely dismissive of the obvious jolt tactic. Sometimes we need to go to extremes to re-set a balance. He is very much and consciously so in line with punk in this respect. However, it didn’t take long in my first reading of “Evolutionary Agents” to really feel the bite of his elitist argument. At this stage I feared that what I was reading was typical 1960s undergraduate academia at its most masturbatory. I had become aware that I was reading challenging material. 

As I read on I discovered that there was plenty to support my fears. Despite preaching the importance of mobility towards the future, there was clear and unashamed nostalgia for the values of “The Age of Aquarius”. Leary makes it clear in his writings that the greatest advancements in creativity occurred between 1960 and 1980, not surprisingly his era, and he sees California as being a migratory Mecca for all Evolutionary Agents. Of course, California was the place to be in the 1960s as far as the psychedelic movement was concerned, however, the location has also proven to be fertile ground for some of the world’s strangest cults, pseudoscience and mystical charlatans. Does Leary fall into this category?

My answer is that I don’t know, but one thing I did find despite all this was that “Evolutionary Agents” is an inspirational read. It inspires because it provokes and motivates at the same time. Like Ayn Rand, another hugely influential writer who has also been accused of being a founder of a “cult of personality”, Leary’s main focus is on developing the individual and breaking away from the conventions of society. He has fascinating metaphors to describe the insect-like castes that humans create to keep people from progressing as individuals. Looking at all human behaviour in animalistic terms is quite valid and nothing new. The great anthropologist, Desmond Morris, wrote some very accurate findings on the way humans act in a group in his “Naked Ape” and “Manwatching” books. Leary may not follow an orthodox biological route on this one, but I completely agree that humans generally follow what he calls a “hive” mentality. Those who break away from these castes are what Leary calls “outcastes” – another play on words – and are the pioneers of the future. History certainly backs Leary up on this one. Single individuals who have gone against the norm of the day and stood hard and fast to their principles are those who have affected some of the greatest changes. They have shifted the paradigms of their time and changed our perceptions.

Changing perceptions; now this is a common theme running through the discussions conducted on the Geoff Thompson course. Around the time when I was seriously considering giving up reading Evolutionary Agents or, at least, skimming it, I arrived at his “Correspondence Theory”. This actually reinforced a belief I have had for a long time that everything is connected and that it is a crime to completely break with the past. There is so much we can learn through history and valid foundations for the future are laid there. This is a fairly sound principle and makes more sense, at least on a metaphorical level, with the rest of his theories. Angela Carter Around the time I completed the Geoff Thompson instructor course I read a short book entitled “The Sadeian Woman” by the feminist author, Angela Carter. The book is perhaps one of the bravest I read in a long time. In The Sadien Woman Carter takes on Sade’s philosophy and not only draws positive ideas amid the scenes of extreme pornography that include torture, rape and a nihilistic approach to life, but actually finds the great libertine’s limit. This is no easy task. Sade is very hard reading and I don’t mean that in a “War and Peace” or “Paradise Lost” deeply profound way. If Timothy Leary’s books are written in a fast-paced style that easily pulls you along, Sade’s are long winded affairs that just seems to catalogue as many perversions and contentious ideas as possible. Having said this, his Libertine characters do have many parallels with Timothy Leary’s Outcastes and Ayn Rand’s Objectivists. After all he is presenting a philosophy that champions hedonism, like Leary, and selfishness, like Rand. Interestingly Ayn Rand has one character describe the hero of her “The Fountainhead” novel as “The Marquis De Sade of architecture”. Angela Carter does not react with a counter-argument or the condemnation that many other feminist authors have done when they discuss Sade. Instead she discusses how his heroines, Justine and Juliette, are prototypes for the twentieth century image of women. Sade’s heroine Justine, of the book of the same name, who is punished throughout her whole thankless life for trying to be virtuous, is seen as the forerunner for the inoffensive and vulnerable blondes of the media like Marilyn Monroe. Likewise Justine’s sister, Juliette, who is rewarded for her crimes of survival and indulgence, is described as the prototype for the career women of the 1980s.

“Evolutionary Agents” was the first material in a long while that exposed my personal prejudices. I don’t like to pigeonhole myself as anything, but I guess I am, roughly speaking, agnostic and sceptical in my beliefs and philosophies. I guess this has come about from often wanting to be objective, open-minded and having more than the average person’s experience with charlatans. Therefore books like Leary’s and another book on our list, Joe Vitale’s “Zero Limits” are immediate foils for me to exercise my principles and progress my thinking. The experience is never comfortable, but once you find a connection somewhere in the work – an “energy” as some might say – it becomes quite compelling.

However, it is in his play “Philosophy in the Bedroom” that Carter actually finds that De Sade will only go so far. She demonstrates that far from having the sensuality usually associated with erotic fiction it is all rather mechanical and the orgy that is mainly described by the players comes across as a sort of aristocratic parlour game regimented and anything but free. The play culminates in a scene clearly designed to derive the most shock possible the rape and torture of a mother by her daughter. However, it is during this act that Carter sees that Sade will only go so far the great libertine actually does fear genuine chaos and pulls back. It is this one crucial moment, where many a reactionary critic would have missed in their rising disgust for the horrendous acts being committed, that Carter really goes that stage further as a literary feminist. She effectively challenges Sade - a man whose work was far more sexually explicit than anything the controversial DH Lawrence would write and far more aggressively anti-religious than the Oxford university-expelled atheist poet Percy Shelley would publish - on his own terms and wins. 

During our course Geoff spoke of a short film he recently completed and was soon to be distributed called “Romans 12:20″. The film deals with that most loathed and feared of crimes in our society, child abuse, and using the particular verse from the New Testament it offers forgiveness as the only real way the abused can successfully claim revenge. Geoff predicts it will be met with opposition and that it is a controversial idea, but he believes in its worth. Keen readers of Geoff’s work will see that it has a strong connection with his autobiography “Watch My Back”, where he described the abuse he suffered as a child and his adult confrontation with his abuser. I feel it will challenge those who consider themselves to truly be Christians and perhaps spark debate on the nature of forgiveness is it another hidden example of true selfishness and even a type of positive revenge?

We need material that challenges us if we are to progress. As the celebrated martial arts and sometimes controversial self-defence instructor Mo Teague regularly says, “We need traction to move forward”. The challenge can come in many different ways, but I think it is important that it addresses an area we feel fundamentally weak about or we haven’t developed. I think this is not a million miles away from the Stephen R. Covey principle regarding empathetic listening. If we do not listen, read or face something that makes us feel uncomfortable we allow that thing to become an insurmountable obstacle. Also we allow unnecessary prejudices to feed our ignorance and handicap us from understanding more about our fears. My personal take on what stops certain people from looking into things that scare them is that they worry it will change them. This is the best reason to take on the fear. If your principles are so fragile that you fear for their strength before you have even faced the very thing that frightens you then maybe it is time you looked at those principles.

Further Reading: 











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The Woman Writer

I have recently been in contact with Sylvia Kent, a brilliant and enthusiastic journalist who sometimes writes on the Rosaire circus family, hence our connection. However, I was recently fascinated to read about her new book "The Woman Writer: The History of the Society Women Writers and Journalists". At the risk of sounding patronizing, I find the history of women's writing an interesting and inspirational focus of study. I was drawn to the life and works of Mary Wollstonecraft through her daughter, Mary Shelley, and honoured her in my 2009 anniversaries article. Wollstonecraft is often considered to be the prototypical feminist, although I think she was far more than that. She was a philosopher, writer and intellectual working in a field that was more than dominated by males, it was a domain made virtually impossible for women to access in Wollstonecraft's time and for almost a century after her death. We tend to forget that her daughter, the Brontes, Jane Austen, Beatrix Potter and so on were the exceptions to the rule of their time. They came from more or less privileged backgrounds and had to have exceptional talent and driving force, not to mention useful contacts, to get their heads above the parapet and their work out there. Widespread literacy is a relatively new thing anyway and it was even rarer with women up until the 20th century. Women authors in the 19th century nearly always adopted male pseudonyms. Whenever I bemoan how hard it is to get a work published or, harder still, to get paid, I am often reminded that my sex has had it relatively easy when it comes to selling the craft!

The Woman Writer

The History of The Society of Women

Writers & Journalists

Author Sylvia Kent

Published 1 December 2009 at £12.99, paperback original ISBN-10 9780752451596

An account of Britain’s oldest writing society dedicated to women’s writing through its 116-year existence

· The first in-depth history of the Society of Women Writers & Journalists.

· Published to commemorate the centenary in 2010 of former president Joyce Grenfell’s birth.

· Sylvia Kent explores the lives of some of the Society’s most famous members. Illustrated with over 100 photographs.

Over a century old and still thriving. The Society of Women Writers & Journalists has just published its history which reads like a “Who’s Who” of notable women from the twentieth Century. Although the SWWJ was created for women, the concept was the brainchild of a man – a clever, enterprising newspaperman – Mr Joseph Snell Wood. Given the small number of women in journalism at the time, almost every practising woman journalist must have applied for membership.

Since its creation on 1 May 1894, the Society has attracted the company of many of the world’s most famous women writers, journalists, poets, playwrights and associated creative people involved in the wider world of literature, film, music, theatre and entertainment. Author, Sylvia Kent, delved deeply into the Society’s archives and has produced fascinating cameos of its famous members: great names of Victorian media and later are included, such as Lady Sarah Wilson who reported from Mafeking on the Boer War, Alice Meynell, who almost became the first female Poet Laureate; American playwright, Pearl Craigie our first president; Agnes Elsie Thorpe, big game hunter; Marie Stopes who campaigned for birth control; Radclyffe Hall whose book on lesbianism was banned in the UK in the 1920s though it was exceedingly popular in the USA; Constance Smedley, founder of International Lyceum Clubs, Clemence Dane actor and playwright. Latterly, the Society welcomed Elizabeth Longford, well known biographer; Nina Bawden, famous for “Carrie’s War”; Jacqueline Wilson recent Children’s Laureate, and our current Life President, Baroness Williams of Crosby.

Information on the early days of many magazines and societies makes fascinating reading. Included are: The Gentlewoman, The Lady, The Stage, Good Housekeeping amongst the periodicals and the BBC, International Lyceum Clubs, the London Press Club, the New Cavendish Club, PEN, the RNA, the Society of Authors, Swanwick Summer School, the Women’s Press Club and the Stationers’ Livery Company all had connections.

Sylvia Kent is a columnist working for Newsquest and a freelance writer. She is Archivist/Press Officer for the SWWJ, vice-president of Brentwood Writers’ Circle and a Patron of the Essex Book Festival 2009/10. This is Sylvia’s seventh book, published whilst supporting other writers, particularly in the field of local history. She is a Trustee at the Cater Museum, Billericay.

Available from all good bookshops, Amazon and The History Press.

Direct sales – telephone 01235 465577 or www.thehistorypress.co.uk

For information about talks or interviews, please contact

Kerry Green at The History Press on 01453 732 512 or via www.sylviakent.blogspot.com

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Martial Arts Scepticism: A Manifesto

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"The fool wonders, the wise man asks." - Benjamin Disraeli

Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism and other religious and philosophical ideas have been melded with the practice of martial arts in modern times. However, I would like to suggest that we apply another so-called philosophy. It has some very ancient and respectable roots in the philosophers of ancient Greece and its process is the very definition of objective philosophy. What I am describing is something I believe underlies the thinking of some of the greatest shakers in martial arts history. It is the process of questioning and testing. The philosophy is unique in the respect that it owes no allegiance to any culture and it doesn’t subscribe to the beliefs of a single or group of individuals. In fact, this particular philosophy prompts debate within its advocates and especially within the individual. The philosophy I am describing is scepticism and this article makes the case for its inclusion in the teaching of martial arts.

Modern scepticism is generally recognised as a science-based movement that has come to popular attention through its opposition to virtually anything or anyone that has not provided sufficient proof or evidence to support its or their claims. However, it is important to note that it is not just scientists and those with a penchant for science that support scepticism. At the other end of the academic world serious historians have also been attracted to scepticism. At the heart of scepticism is an approach known as critical thinking. This means looking at a subject objectively with a view to testing unproven claims. It is easy for those of us who see the value in imagination and positivity to mistake scepticism for cynicism. Cynicism just means thinking the worst of everything. The cynic has already made his mind up about something and does not seek evidence. In this respect the cynic is just as blinkered as the gullible person. Scepticism is about questioning, seeking answers and making progress. The sceptic never deals in absolutes. Even so-called facts are accepted as temporary conclusions that are up for reasoned review. To make analogy in self-defence coaching terms, cynicism is as far removed from scepticism as paranoia is from awareness.

Scepticism took the western world out of the dark ages and just as new waves of mysticism wash new fads up onto our hi-tech shores, a steady yet accelerating movement in critical thinking is there to examine, test and debunk where necessary. The world of martial arts presents us with a tangled mixture of claims and ideas that are ripe for sceptical investigation. Leaders and founders of martial arts often become venerated to the point where they are not questioned no matter how far they stray from their original purpose. Concepts and principles then develop into dogma and rituals. Within these subcultures terminology is developed, which further serves to separate the martial artists from the rest of society, along with strict hierarchies and methods used to tie students to their clubs. In extreme examples we have seen full blown martial arts cults develop whereas many others take on more subtle resemblances. Some clubs are simply run by the naïve and the deluded whereas others are run by conmen and charlatans. Martial arts histories become distorted, folk tales, myths and complete fiction become accepted as facts.

In his book for Marshall Cavendish, “The Way to the Martial Arts”, the respected martial arts journalist Peter Lewis describes the evolution of martial arts in a positive light: “Slowly and gradually, mostly through trial and error, fighting became more of an exact science rather than a pure animal instinct”. If only this were true of today. The modern world of martial arts has often allied itself with pseudoscience, pseudohistory, superstition, paranoia, New Age beliefs, religious dogma, fakir tricks, outright fraud and outright lies that have all been passed onto naïve students as facts.

Pseudoscience comes up a lot in martial arts and in different ways. Some pseudoscience is fairly straightforward. This is when claims are made by martial artists that fly in the face of the accepted laws of science. Often the use of the chi (qi) or ki energy falls into this category. The exact definition and western translation of this type of energy is still a matter of cultural and linguistic debate. The cultural part is a separate issue, it is when there are claims being made that it has a direct and measurable effect on physical objects that the sceptic needs to firmly step into the discussion and ask questions and demand empirical evidence.

However, there is another type of pseudoscience in the martial arts world that is less easy to confront. Science is sometimes used as a marketing tool. There are plenty of clubs being taught by coaches who have qualifications in sports science, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that their approach to martial arts is logical and reasoned. Likewise context means everything when a technique is being explained in scientific terms. For example, you can explain the effectiveness of virtually any technique that makes direct contact with the human body, but its efficiency is another matter. It is an old logical dictum to recognise that just because something is not impossible it doesn’t mean it isn’t improbable. Furthermore, scientific terminology and jargon, something we have seen increase in martial arts ever since the culture married the business motivational movement, does replace scientific evidence or methodology.

Pseudohistory in martial arts has helped to give us the numerous prejudices, red herrings and cult-like features that plague the commercial practice of martial arts the world over. Personally I love myths, legends and fables. In the correct context they are inspirational forms of entertainment that can educate and motivate. There is nothing quite like watching a film of or reading a story about a fictional hero overcoming adversity when you are feeling down or ill. An allegorical tale, as opposed to a factual account of real life events, can often be a very useful tool for prompting people to think deeply about certain subjects and issues rather than responding a superficial way. The essence of good stories helps colour our language with metaphors and analogies, but we need mature reasoning to separate the literal from the figurative. Most of all, however, we need simple honesty and a desire to question what seems highly improbable. Pseudohistory is responsible for the over importance placed on martial arts lineages and the propagation of incredible unverifiable claims made about martial arts founders. Even the purposes of martial arts have been distorted through the fictionalization or misinterpretation of history.

Another derivative from pseudohistory is a category loosely termed as “Conspiracy Theory”. This type of thinking outside the martial arts world has seen some preposterous alternative ideas being presented by dramatic and tragic events in history. Because it is a fact that the practice of martial arts in many countries and cultures were overtly suppressed and therefore covertly practiced, some martial arts teachers today like to claim that certain “deadly moves” are banned and hidden. This can vary from secret techniques being locked away inside the art to the belief that all pressure points are banned from Mixed Martial Arts competition.

However, it is not just misguided and the manipulative mystics of the martial arts world that are the focus of scepticism. The so-called “Reality” world of martial arts, an area one would consider was the natural home of martial arts sceptics, are also responsible for making outrageous claims and, furthermore, fuelling misinformation. Many people involved in the “Reality-Based Self-Defence” world have fallen into the same trap as the “Traditionalists” and now exhibit similar features. Superstition is replaced by paranoia, mystical or flowery fighting techniques are replaced by a type of “ultra-reality” combative pornography, where sadism seems to eclipse efficiency.

I propose that martial artists should be sceptics and should encourage scepticism. We may not necessarily be scientists, but we should apply a reasoned and logical approach to their training and teaching. The highest regard we can pay to any great person in marital arts history is not to worship them as infallible sources of wisdom, but to carry on the spirit of innovation that made them great in the first place. They stood out from other martial artists because they challenged the order of the day. We must always be sceptical of coaches who discourage criticism or do not promote truly individual research. The job of the coach is to provide students with experiences where they can draw their own conclusions. By all means the coach should use his own experiences as a valid reference point, but one thing that should be acknowledged is that martial arts is very much an individualized activity and therefore the methods applied by the coach in a certain experience aren’t necessarily the best methods for an individual student to apply.

At this stage it is worth pointing out that I do not advocate a “Criticism for criticism’s sake” attitude. There are certain robust areas we can meet a consensus on, certain martial arts or self-defence facts or laws if you like. They are constantly up for review, of course, but proving them should not be too difficult to do through case studies and in practical activity and providing the correct context is applied.

Despite the “Party pooper” reputation it receives, I argue that Scepticism is a positive approach to martial arts training. No one is above criticism and by adopting a “Find the flaw” attitude when you train you will quickly learn not to rest on your training laurels. It also means that you and your students are being as honest about your training as possible. This is what good progress is all about and this is what has been behind the continued intelligent development of the martial arts.

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com