Fighting on four wheels

I drive how I fight. This does not mean that I am aggressive, on the contrary, but that I look for the same physical tells in the other drivers and their vehicle on the road as I do when fighting an opponent.

There are 3 tells that I especially keep an eye out for:

1. How is their vehicle situated between the parallel lines that separate lanes on a highway?
2.  The body language of the driver, is it calm?
3. If you have been on the same stretch of road as them, should their past maneuvers give you cause for concern?

This is not an exhaustive list. There are many more that I use subconsciously whilst on the road.

I will elaborate on the above 3 points in my next blog post. This will include what exactly to look out for, how to associate these physical tells with their possible outcomes, how to do so simultaneously with multiple other cars on the road and how this will all be of use to you as a fighter. 

Ki-ap!

L

There is no such thing as a black belt

You can never stop learning in anything that you do - especially if you are a martial artist.

You can never reach a peak in the martial arts because the only limitations to furthering your ability is your mind. It is known that the more you tell yourself that you are unable to do something, the harder it becomes to execute it.

Increasing your ability to be able to effectively defend yourself and others is a primary purpose of studying the martial arts. Even if you had reached the point where you would be 100% successful in defending yourself from any 1 unarmed individual, can the same be said if you were to deal with 2 armed adversaries?

Back in the days...


The purpose of the belt/ sash was to hold up a person's trousers. The colour system is thought to have come about due to the fact that the lightly coloured cloth would become dirtier and dirtier due to not having effective washing methods. This would be an indicator of your years of experience. The darker it became, the more knowledge you were assumed to have. But, there was no such thing as a black belt until recently. A navy blue belt was used.

The colour black indicates the end of everything. Nothingness. This was thought to be incorrect by many, and still is to some extent, but it is not too uncommon to hear an individual state, "I retired from my martial art training when I achieved my black belt as I learned all that I could".

Don't go down there...

Nonsense. Whether it be in 18 months or 18 years there will always something that you will not know. There may be more effective techniques that your style does not offer or that you have not come across. Why else would the martial artists of old dedicate their lives to such study?

What are your thought? Is this news to you or are you one of the "retired"?

Ki-ap!

L

18 months old

What can an 18 month old baby do? Would you take advice from an 18 month old baby on matters in which it had not yet had ample experience? I would assume your answers to be "Not much" and "No", which would be completely reasonable. Why do people take advice and guidance from such sources?


When we start out training in a traditional martial art, which has a grading system, many of us wish to reach the top levels as quickly as possible, but at what price? To ascend to such heights is suggestive of an individual who has abilities far beyond that of a junior grade, let alone your everyday Joe six-pack. Their capabilities in both the mental and physical aspects of fighting must also be unattainable to Mr. Six-pack. Simply having and wearing a black belt does not mean this.

Feel it!

Yet, there are those out there teaching martial arts, as black belts, with little more than a years experience.  It is the time spent leading-up until the point of your black belt grading that matters. Not only the physical training element matters, but also thinking about certain techniques randomly whilst, for example, waiting for the bus or walking through a crowded room and thinking to yourself, "What would/ could I do if everyone in here attacked me this very minute?"

To truly be superior, your body should be accustomed to executing various martial art techniques without conscious thought. The moment you have to think about the intricacies of a techniques when sparring or in a real-life altercation is when you know that that technique is not yet fully at your disposal. Also, to simply know a move you learned online does not mean that you can successfully use it or pass it on; you must live it to know what about it makes it useful and effective.


You do not memorise your martial art curriculum to just pass a test, it needs to be ingrained in every square inch of you. This is only possible with TIME.


Therefore, 18 months is not enough time. Period.

How long has it taken you to achieve your current state? How instinctively do you think you could react to any situation with what you have learned?

Ki-ap!

L

You have been warned

Training tonight was great. We finished with a game of "dragon's tail" - the object of which was to grab and remove a piece of material that had been tucked into the back of everyone's belt. Tonight's game highlighted a very important issue which I wish to share. This issue highlights what is necessary for an individual to be successfully sentient. Being unaware of it can completely foil any of life's plans. "What is the issue?" I hear you say.

Keep an eye on the little guy...

Many of the adult senior grade were stripped of their tag a 12 year old junior grade. These seniors were very aware of everyone else, except this young boy. He would very casually stay out of his victim's line of view, walk up behind them and simply remove the material from their belts. Every occurance of this was met with a genuine look of shock and horror upon the senior grade's face... then a smile which said "that was completely my fault".

"I would NEVER have guessed it was HIM!"

They were correct. Their presumption of this young boy not being a threat can be mirrored in many other examples. One such example being with a person signing a contract. When signing a contract that they assume they know all about, some people tend not to read the contract throughly or pay attention to the fine print in their contract. They are then genuinely shocked and horrified when charged a higher price than originally though because the interest rate was something like 4000%.

Moral of the story: never take anything for granted. I need say no more.

Have you a similar example that you wish to share?

Ki-ap!

L

Long Time No See...

Whilst de-cluttering the the workshop yesterday afternoon I came across some of my father's weaponry collection. Much of it was decades old. I picked-up two pairs of wooden nunchakus. I had not handled nunchakus for over a year at this point, yet it was like riding a bike. After a few minutes I was off and swinging away again. Such a great feeling!

Nun-Chucks!

I then came across his tonfas. I had never used them before. However, due to my prior experience in handling weaponry such as the escrima and bo-staff, I felt very comfortable in striking with them considering I am untrained in that particular weapon art.

Tonfas

What are you getting at, L?

To be Sentient is great, but to benefit from being Sentient means we must be adaptable.

Unexpected events are a daily occurrence.

A great way to brace yourself for many is by preparing in a particular thing which will enable you to better succeed in many other situations.

E.g. Learning to read enables us to understand almost everything we come across in that language immediately.

Get out there and prepare yourself. It only takes a little bit of time.It will be time well spent.

Ki-ap!

L

Ouch!

"What would be the best style of martial arts for me?" This is a question that I have encountered every now and again. When asked this by a friend I did not analyse their body type, age, gender, mental characteristics or past martial arts or sporting experience so as to provide them with an accurate answer.  I gave them the answer I have given to many. "Any that makes someone say "Ouch!" "

What does this mean? In theory, it means almost all martial art styles. Therefore, learn any style. Whether it is regarded in the martial art community or public domain as an useful style or not. Martial arts are intended to teach a student self-defence, which is more often or not achieved via teaching techniques that are designed to stop, injure, disable & deter your foe.

What question should be asked & answered?

A more useful question would be, "How can I get a decent instructor?" Here is the answer on how you will most likely discover this:

1. Go and watch a class before you join. Access the environment. If the students and teacher are in good spirits throughout the class, even though having to train hard = good. This is suggestive of egos not being too large. Big egos can lead to injuries and a bad/ dangerous martial arts learning experience.
2. Talk to some of the students after the lesson you have just watched. How do they feel about their progress and confidence in their self-defence abilities? If positive, may be the sign of a good class.
3. Does the instructor explain the purpose of useless-looking techniques? If not, do they answer questions on them? If the instructor does answer these questions, does the answer make logical sense? If the answers to the above questions are "No", this is suggestive of an instructor who does not know what they are teaching.

These are but a few indicators of whether an instructor knows, and can teach, effective self-defence or not. If you wish to know of any more, there are many, feel free to ask. I will happily answer.

Have you any other indicators which you stick by?

The Worst Instructor. Enjoy!

Ki-ap!

L

Take a deep breath...

We get a kick from seeing that we are better able to perform a mental or physical feat that others, whether they be friend or foe. This "kick" can affect your physical performance. This is the case when fighting. Whilst fighting, our mind is searching our adversary's face & body language, breathing patterns and techniques. If any of these indicate that our attacks have been effective, you will feel the urge to further act and more likely to win as your ability to fight well has been reinforced. Fighting is just as much a psychological as well as physical battle.

Above: Wouldn't you get a "kick" from having caused this? 

Why Psychological warfare?


It is your aim when fighting to win. By influencing your target's emotions, motives, reasoning & behavior, you can better achieve this goal. Thus, effective use of psychological warfare will likely aid in inducing confusion & be a gigantic confidence boost for you and your intentions. 
However, enabling your mind games to be successful will require you giving-off as few of these tells as possible, which would benefit your opponent, so as to keep your opponent's mental state subordinate to your own.


It is crucial to control your breathing. Not showing your opponent that their attacks were successful will diminish their confidence and fighting ability whilst yours will likely increase; similar to a "Second Wind".

What a "kick" for that athlete

THE How to Guide...


As I advised in a past blog post, your best place for perfecting this will be in the training hall. Here is how:

1. When performing your drills, aim to go all-out. Be as fast and accurate as possible. Push your limits. Whilst pushing your limits, maintain your form, control the speed of your breathing & continue looking in the direction of your technique.
2. Throughout your sparring in class, go all out. Not in harming the person you are practicing with, but whenever you see an opening, take it. This will cause you to begin to tire. Maintain your form, pace & loudness of breathing.
3. Also, whilst sparring, try and maintain your form if on the receiving-end of a technique that causes you discomfort. 

Maintain breathing and form at all times.

These methods will help. I know. I used them.

Any suggestions on other methods of improving your psychological warfare skills?

Ki-ap!

L