The Ultimate Fighting Art
Many people believe that there is a fighting art that is the best and that they are doing it. They believe that their art contains elements that are superior to what other people practice and hence they will inevitable prevail.
What they fail to understand is that it is the combination of the person and the fighting art that is the important factor. Having said that it is possible for people to have their fighting style ruined by poor instruction , terrible training methods and an over-emphasis on competition fighting with rules that protect them from dangerous errors in technique.
It is very difficult for the novice to know what is good and what is bad so they tend to pick what is available to them based upon the level of marketing that teachers provide. Unfortunately the marketing spend is often inversely proportional to the utility of the art and the ability of the teacher. Traditionally a teacher had to prove their credentials by fighting other stylists in open competition – now they only have to earn black belts/sashes/certificates etc and do not have to actually fight at all or only within the limited arena of their own organisational structure.
The problem of only fighting within your own style is that the fighters know all the moves of their opponents, both having learnt the same techniques, tactics and strategy. In this situation the stronger, faster, fitter person will always win. Trained techniques become self-defeating. To win it is necessary to move beyond technique and change tactics and strategy.
Most martial arts taught today are a pale imitation of what they once were. It is no longer a life or death matter to become the best. Traditional small group teaching has given way to the large class, financially beneficial to the teacher but poor value for the student. Large class teaching is not conducive to proper teaching. It is necessary to dumb down the class and create syllabuses for all to follow, individuality is not taken into account. All must learn the same thing in the same way irrespective of differences in physique, flexibility, strength and intellect.
Ultimately if the art has sufficient defensive techniques to be able to defend against all the basic attacks then the superior fighter will succeed using that art, irrespective as to what it is. It is the attributes of the fighter that determine whether he can make the art successful. The art itself is neither good nor bad. Learning a particular martial art does not guarantee success but learning the most appropriate one for your physical and mental attributes is more likely to have a successful outcome.
January 31, 2010 at 10:27 pm | Musings | No comment
Repetition Repetition Repetition
There is only one way to learn something properly and that is to repeatedly do it until you get it right.
So how do you know when it is right ? Do you rely on your teacher to tell you or is there some explicit objective measure of correctness that you may use to assess whether what you are doing is correct ?
The problem with performance martial arts is that they need an external judge to inform you of the relative merit of your performance. A form is just a form, most people only know that theirs is correct because their teacher tells them. In Taijiquan there are a set of specific principles for the performance of the form that enables the practictioner to be able to judge by themselves the correctness of their form. Unfortunately most people are unable to gauge their abilities against these criteria and hence perform the form incorrectly whilst believing that they are 100% correct. Others perform the form in ways that are graceful and more aesthetically pleasing than is normal because they have no idea as to the function behind the form and think it is just some form of physical expression with no underlying meaning and hence they can do with it what they please. In one sense they are correct, it can be that if they want it to be but then it is not Taijiquan – it is just dancing.
To do the form properly requires constant practice and repetition to be able to internalise the posture, timing and intent. A lot of people find posture hard because they have a poor self-image of their own bodies and believe they are in the correct posture when everybody else can see that they are not. They miss the fine points because they focus on the wrong things – they see the arms move so move their arms when the arms remain still and the body moves. Intent can only come from understanding the applications of the form postures. Without practice of the applications the form cannot be performed properly.
Application practice is hard because there is no one right way. There is a correct method which is determined by the opponent and the art and not by a clearly defined movement pattern. The applications must be practiced in all ways, at all speeds, against all sizes of opponents. For only then can the essence of the application be understood so that it can then transcend the application.
So How do you know if you are doing the application correctly ? There is a simple empirical test – did it work ?
January 29, 2010 at 1:51 am | Training | No comment
Could you beat Mike Tyson ?
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Many people who have no understanding of martial arts or fighting have often asked me the following questions
1) How would you fight a man with a gun ? The answer to 1 is that I would not. Projectile weapons such as guns, crossbows etc fire projectiles far faster than a human can possibly move. The movies give an unrealistic representation due to the fact that no bullets are actually fired at the hero. Jacky Chan’s disarming techniques only work because the assailant is stupid enough to be within contact range , when the weapon is obviously designed to be used at a distance where it would be impossible to use such techniques. |
Martial Arts were not designed to withstand bullets and blades but to train the body and mind in the methods and tactics of armed and unarmed combat. If I knew I had to fight a person armed with a gun then I would obtain the necessary kevlar armour and better weaponry to be able to fight. If however an armed robber wanted my wallet I would give it to him, as I can always get more money if I am still alive and a wise man takes no unnecessary risks when his life is on the line.
The second question makes the assumption that you will fight in the style of the opponent. Would I be able to beat Mike Tyson at boxing – the answer is obviously no. He was the undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion for a very good reason – in his prime he was unbeatable. It was possible not to lose against him if you adopted a defensive strategy and had a reach advantage, and that is a victory of sorts . However being shorter, lighter, less powerful, and not a world class boxer I would stand no chance if I adhered to the rules of boxing. However I am not a boxer I am an exponent of Taijiquan in which we avoid the opponents strengths and attack his weakness. Thus I would not try to box him I would be continually attacking his legs with low kicks to the nerve centres of the thighs, knees and ankles. Boxers do not train to deal with this sort of attack and so would be susceptible.
Some would say that this would be cheating but in a fight all is fair as he can do the same to me. The real question is would this tactic work against Mike Tyson ? It is possible that he is so tough that he could withstand these attacks and come blasting through with his deadly combinations. This can only be proven with a real contest. The wise man picks his fights wisely. Given the choice I would not fight Mike Tyson but If I had to then I would give it my best shot. In the end the better man and better tactics will win on the day.
Skill alone is not enough to win a fight. Strength and resilience can often overcome skill. Martial spirit or the will to win also often overcomes skill. Martial Spirit coupled with strength and resilience is a formidable opponent but when coupled with skill becomes a worthy adversary – and so the outcome is uncertain.
January 24, 2010 at 1:10 am | Musings | No comment
Learning Taijiquan
Learning Taijiquan is very difficult because the essence of the action cannot be seen. All techniques have an external appearance and this is what is visible to the the third party observer however any technique may be performed in different ways which will be apparent to the victim of the technique but will look identical to the external third party observer.
Taijiquan is in this sense an internal martial art, because the how a technique is applied is more important than the actual technique itself. It is often said that there are no techniques in Taijiquan, there is just a method. However to learn the method one must learn techniques, and then how to use these techniques to minimise the use of force and maximise the effect of the action by the harmonious interaction with the opponent.
In another sense there is one technique, which encompasses the method. One learns form to be able to move to formlessness. One learns techniques to be able to move beyond technique. However even though the technique is not apparent the form remains , yet it has been transformed into something unrecognisable to the external observer. The form and techniques have been internalised to an extent that the what is seen is not what it is.
To truly understand it is necessary to be able to feel. To understand by touch. To be able to detect and observe motion by sight and feel. To be able to gauge the amount of force and the force vector itself.
How can one learn this? There is only one way – by trial and error. This entails making many mistakes and getting hit a lot. Without this investment in pain there can be no success. No pain no gain. Invest in Loss as the classics say.
January 16, 2010 at 12:09 am | Musings | No comment
Teaching Taijiquan
Teaching Taijiquan is very difficult because very few people have the dedication and patience required to master its subtleties. It is not possible to train harder to become softer and more sensitive. Learning to relax in the manner required of a true Taijiquan practitioner requires understanding as to what it means to be relaxed. Only someone who has mastered that particular skill can tell you or show you if you have attained this level of understanding.
Other martial arts are much easier to learn you can train harder by yourself to become , stronger, faster , more flexible , more resilient, increase stamina , striking and kicking ability although the same problem stands that it is impossible to learn how to fight without actually fighting.
To be able to fight it is first necessary to have a basic prowess in attack and defence. The majority of people do not possess these basic fighting skills and require instruction. Many think they do not need to learn these things and just want to learn “the good stuff”. However without a firm grounding in the fundamentals “the good stuff” just will not work.
So I teach the fundamentals, how to punch, how to kick , how to move , how to avoid, how to close in, how to defend and how to attack.
I teach the Taijiquan hand form to teach posture, coordination, balance and the basic application movement templates that will be used in the self-defence applications and eventually in free fighting.
January 10, 2010 at 11:27 pm | Musings | No comment