"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" 1 Peter 3:15 (KJV)
My Philosophical Contradiction with Mixed Martial Arts
People study Martial Arts for different reasons. Some just want to get in shape; some want to get involved in diverse kind of Tournaments, some use Martial Arts as a way of releasing stress, etc. I am a strong believer that Mixed Martial Arts is the approach that every serious Martial Artist should take in order to be able to defend themselves from the reality of an unmerciful attack against his/her life. Mixed Martial Arts is a “must” not only in an MMA Tournament, but also out on the streets.
We should know as much as possible about every form of combat. We should know what to do standing up, we should know what to do if we end-up on the ground, we should know about primary targets to hit, we should know what to do if faced with being grabbed in different ways and, in general, we should know what it means to fight with no rules. We must have a profound understanding that real fights do not possess the beauty presented in traditional Martial Arts. Real fights are nasty and ugly!
Growing up, my community had unwritten rules; we did not hit anybody in the face who wore glasses, we did not hit anybody on the ground and we stayed away from kicking. It was all straight-up-bare-knuckled punches. I believe that we all agree that the world has become more and more violent and these rules do not exist anymore.
I love Martial Arts; as a matter fact, I am entertaining the possibility of working on another Black Belt as I engage in the studies of another Martial Arts. However, I am also aware that there are programs that are only emphasizing strictly on self-defense. These programs are not interested in Belts, studying an art for years, learning a new kata, competition, etc. These folks just want to be able to defend themselves. It is here that I believe that the combination of arts and taking what works for us as individuals is crucial.
I heard a marine Martial Arts Instructor say that in the ring he would probably get knocked-out, but in the jungle he would take that same guy and kill him. That is the kind of the approach for many; they are not interested in beauty, but in the ability to defend themselves against a nasty, ugly and unmerciful attack against his/her life and/or the live of his/her love ones.
As responsible instructors we must retain the spiritual value of traditional martial arts as the foundation for our program. Our programs should be more than just kicking somebody else’s butt. We must have values, a moral code, the teaching of emotional discipline, etc. In my program I find that and more because my focus is Jesus Christ who is my Savior and Lord. Perhaps many of my students will not grow up to be the next MMA star, but he/she will have an opportunity to meet Christ as his/her Savior.
Traditional Martial Arts have different valuable things to offer. I find value and purpose in all of them. The idea that you can find it all in one system is rightly outdated. That is why I always say that Bruce Lee was ahead of his time because he understood that we are different as individuals and also that attacks are different. Therefore Bruce Lee promoted a style-less approach to Martial Arts; he took what worked for him and disregard what did not. This is not a philosophy against Martial Arts, but a philosophy against the arrogance of individual styles’ practitioners who claim to be the best and have no respect for other arts.
I conclude with these words: It may be curious or strange for many of you to understand this, but even as I promote the study of Mix Martial Arts, I am not a fan of MMA Competition. I believe that kind of approach of fighting should be reserved for the streets in cases where your life or the life of loved ones are in danger. The idea of seeing someone getting hit with somebody else’s knees and elbows is a step forward into the days of the violence of the gladiators. It is the response of a violent society that actually finds that kind of activity exciting. This is just my opinion; I welcome yours.
An independent thinker with a profound call to see the orthodoxy of the church and passion for Christ manifesting together. Angel was born in Brooklyn, New York in April of 1968, he was raised on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico where he earned his B.S. degree in Sociology with a minor in Education from the Inter American University in San Germán in 1991. That same year he moved to Jacksonville, Florida. After working construction jobs for a year and learning the English language, his first job working with foster-care children in the capacity of youth care worker was with Jacksonville Youth Sanctuary in September of 1992. With JYS he was promoted several times as group home supervisor, legal caseworker, and program director.
While in Jacksonville, Angel studied a couple of martial arts styles. After earning his black belt, he became the founder of Good Fight Ministries as he used martial arts as an instrument to preach the gospel. In 2004 Angel was selected Martial Arts Instructor of the Year for the State of Florida and in 2005 Angel was inducted in the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame where he also received the Christian Spirit Award. In July of 2005 Angel accepted his call to pastor a bilingual church in Winton, NC where he served for a couple of years. Five months later he lost his first wife to cancer in December of that same year. This initiated a deep valley of suffering in his life, a mountain of costly mistakes and the embracing of lifestyles of sin that are well documented through this blog.
In August of 2012 Angel moved to Fairbanks Alaska with his wife Rayette Casiano and six children who are now adults. In Alaska, Angel continued his social work-related career and his ministry of preaching, teaching and writing. Angel is the author of two books, Hope for the divorcee: Forgiving and Moving Forward and 7 Banderas de Esperanza: La Bendición de Yokdzonot.
In January 8th of 2020 Angel and his wife moved to Arizona. On June 8th 2021 Angel started his home church, not as a starting point, but as a closer way to how the church is suppose to look like according to Scripture.
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