Who Was Murphy, And What Does Murphy's Law Have To Do With The Martial Arts?

By Al Case

Murphy's Law commonly holds that 'Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.' Actually, there are other deviations of this principle, all concise and to the point. The real question, of course, is was there a real person behind this sage advice, and what does his postulate have to do with the Martial Arts.

Murphy's Law supposedly came into existence with seafarers. Iron men found that during the course of wooden ship sailing, everything breaks. Thus, they practiced fixing everything so they could be prepared for when it did break.

In 1866, in a work titled 'A supplement to the paradoxes,' mathematician Augustus De Morgan made scientific reference of Murphy's Law. He said, "...illustrates a truth of the theory, well confirmed by practice, whatever can happen will happen if we make trials enough." His statement caused him to be considered (erroneously) Murphy.

The next reference to this principle of determined chaos comes from stage magician Nevil Maskelyne. Mr. Maskelyne held that, "It is an experience common to all men to find that, on any special occasion...everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Whether we must attribute this to...the total depravity of inanimate things...the fact remains."

Still, we have not found the real culprit, the real Mr. Murphy behind this scientific assessment of life. We are getting close, however, when we examine a mountaineering manual by the esteemed Jack Sack. Mr. Sack, in an epigraph to the manual in question, stated that the law was an ancient mountaineering adage.

The preceding instances having been noted, the real Mr. Murphy was actually Captain Ed Murphy, who worked at Wright Field Aircraft Lab. At odds with the wiring efforts of a certain technician, Capt. Murphy made the statement, "If there is any way to do it wrong, he will." This is the real and true Mr. Murphy, and his statement aligns with historical instances of the dire prophecy that has become his namesake.

Now, the importance of this to the martial arts actually stems from military recognition of the law. Simply, war is hell, war is chaos, and if the soldier does enough drilling, he will do something, maybe even something having to do with his military drilling, if he drills enough. The generals know that ammo runs out, people shoot the wrong way, and that everything that can go wrong will go wrong, and that discipline is the only possible way to confront the dreadful chaos of war.

Which brings us to one of the real reasons behind martial arts training. Simply, when that guy comes at you with a knife, or throws a tire at you in a dark alley, Murphy's Law has begun, and you need a way out of the madness. That Karate Kata, that Kung Fu pattern, that endless drilling in martial arts kumite...that is going to give you a path out of the chaos, and will save your life.

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