THE WILL SMITH/CHRIS ROCK SMACK HAS GIVEN MARTIAL ARTISTS SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO THINK ABOUT

Editorial by Tim Becherer

“The greatest night in the history of television” is what comedian/actor Chris Rock called it moments after he was slapped by actor Will Smith during the March 27, 2022 live broadcast of the Oscar ceremony. As of the writing of this article, hundreds of thousands if not millions of opinions from laymen to professionals of all types have hit the multi-media universe. The martial arts world has had more than its fair share of these opinions ranging from whether the incident was staged to detailed break downs of what happened for the purpose of teaching self defense.

View the incident here: https://youtu.be/myjEoDypUD8

Real or Not

Many opinions with evidence have been given on various outlets on the topic of whether the incident was staged or not. While I have my personal doubts of an Andy Kaufman style rouse, there are many much more qualified than I to offer opinions on whether it was real or not. Some of the better breakdowns are in regard to body language. These are most likely the best indicators of whether this was a staged event or not. Here is a couple of videos by a body language expert who goes by Spidey:

Was This Fake? https://youtu.be/_Qo0SkwMPlY
Why Is She Laughing? https://youtu.be/_sCF0NxRvWA

And another good breakdown from body language expert Scott Rouse:
Fake? https://www.instagram.com/tv/CbswQpLPDtN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

For the purpose of this editorial, I am going to accept that this incident was real.

Self Defense

Several detailed articles dealing with self defense have been put forth on the self-defense aspects of this situation. As tempting as it would be to enter the this discussion being that as a martial artist, I do take quite a bit of time to view the world though this lens, I will not because of probability vs possibility. Stand up comics have most likely understand the likelihood of a heckler or other unruly audience member potentially rushing the stage. Comedy clubs most likely also understand this risk and have appropriate security measures. This particular scenario was not this type of scenario. There were many echoing some form of the question “where was security?” They were doing their job, keeping uninvited guests out of an invitation only event that has been going on for almost a century now. An annual, well known, nationally televised award show is not a comedy club. It is a very controlled and safe environment. Those in attendance, for the most part, are familiar with each other as well. This is not strangers approaching each other in a dark alley. The chances that the vast majority of people in America would face this situation is pretty much zero.

The Question That The Martial Arts Community Is Not Asking But Needs To Think About

There is an ethical question that martial artists, especially those who are instructors, need to ask and think about in regard to this incident. It is not whether Will Smith was right or wrong to slap Chris Rock but what if a Will Smith was your student. If you have a student who assaults someone and you are made aware of it, do you continue to teach them? Does it make a difference if it is a relatively unknown person or a person who is a predominant member of a community (let a lone a celebrity), a person who wears a uniform or is in a position of authority, or is a group student or private student?

This larger question is one that those of us who teach need to answer for ourselves. We are teaching people how to fight, how to strike others with great force, how to subdue and render others unconscious with locks and holds, and how to do permanent damage to another and perhaps take their life with our bare hands or weapons. Do we accept any obligations that come with this when it comes to making sure that we know who we are giving this knowledge and these skills to? What do we do when we learn one of our students has crossed legal, ethical, or moral lines when it comes to assault?

This question needs to be answered the individual level for each one of us. Then, we as a community of martial artists need to answer it as the community as well.