Martial Arts | Exploring the World of Sports

Level 3: Making it Obvious

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Okay, you have mastered the movements that work well with your body. Your punches and kicks are automatic and devastating when they are used properly. And you have also learned when to use them for maximal impact and reasonably fast victory. You know that the longer a fight goes, the more likely you will be hurt, and probably arrested as well. So you have the actual combat aspects of the fight pretty much nailed down, at this point. Now what happens when you actually get into a fight at level three? The correct answer is, usually you do not. The thing about it is, so very few martial arts students ever make it to this level of combative prowess that the entire notion seems laughable to some people.

After all, there are a lot of good fighters out there. And there are also a lot of drunken pub brawlers who barely have sufficiently good stance work to continue standing after they have thrown a few haymakers in your general direction. The greatest likelihood, however, is that when you have reached the level where the movements and the strategy are no longer something you have to think much about, most people will not want to fight you anymore. It is difficult to explain logically, but there is a difference in the eyes of a truly great martial artist.

As your skills grow, you will become increasingly skilled at assessing another person’s ability to fight well. However, almost anyone can tell when someone really knows how to fight. The way they move becomes easier and more relaxed, and the way they speak, while not cocky, does tend to express the fact that if they need to hurt someone that it can be done. At this stage of the game, only great fighters and absolute fools will try to take a shot at this person. A truly great fighter is the kind of person people rarely mess with.

Filed Under: Martial Arts, Sports Tagged With: Martial arts, Mixed martial arts, sport, Submission Fighting and MMA

Emptying the Cup

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Bruce Lee is one of the most renowned fighters to ever appear in the world. He stands among the nameless legends who came before him in the warrior traditions of the world- the difference being, people can watch him fight in movies all the time, whereas only stories remain of other greats. One of the best ideas he ever had (and the one that made him a modern day innovator, in spite of its relative simplicity) is the notion of “emptying the cup.” Part of this philosophy goes back to his philosophy major, and part of it comes out of his desire to be a great fighter, without any regard to dogma or tradition. To him, the “martial” part of martial arts meant “warlike.” There are not many rules, when it comes to warfare.

The most important part of emptying the cup is in dropping everything which does not matter at all. Dropping anything flashy which does not help in a fight is a great way to start- far too many martial arts emphasize essentially dancing around the room, as opposed to actually being able to defend yourself when you need to. No matter how great of a dancer you may be, sooner or later you will be hit. And when that happens, you are going to need to be prepared to deliver a blow or two in kind.

Now, if you have only trained to look good in form competitions, you could be at a serious disadvantage when it comes time to actually fight someone. It will not happen every day, but it only takes one time to administer a harsh lesson to you. This is why you need to empty the cup of everything which will not help you to achieve your goals. And since self defense is one of the best goals in the martial arts, that might be a good place to start filling your cup with things that really work.

Filed Under: Martial Arts, Sports Tagged With: Bruce Lee, Martial arts, sport

Level 1: Practice

At the first level of your training, you are going to need to practice with a level of intensity that borders on an obsession. For most young and inexperienced martial artists, this is the only stage they will ever experience, simply for the fact that most people do not have the level of discipline that it takes, in order to really go anywhere with their art form. But of course, the most exceptional martial artists do not stop there. We will cover the other two levels in future articles, but for now you need to know that practice will slowly drive you onward toward perfection. Granted, perfection is never attainable, but you would be amazed at how great you can get when you practice as if it were.

Your first step is to learn the movements which you will be practicing. Learn them very well, and check yourself frequently, both in a mirror and against the skill level of other people whose skills are more practiced than yourself. A good student will ask a better student for advice on their form for everything. A truly great student, on the other hand, will seek out students (and instructors) who have a very high skill level in each individual movement, and ask them for their assistance with each part on its own. In time, this level of attention to detail builds tremendous skill in many different areas.

As your skills progress, you will begin to see how some movements could be improved. Out of respect to your instructors, you would do well to only practice “your way” outside of their sight and away from their school. If nothing else, you might find that your “improvements” are either movements which they will teach you later on, or are simply better suited to your body in a real world context. Many martial arts schools focus more on preserving the art form than they do on the practical combat applications.

Filed Under: Fitness, Martial Arts, Sports Tagged With: A-Level, Martial arts, sport, Student

The Middle Years: Avoiding Combat

Many hundreds of thousands of young people every year start out in the martial arts. However, there is a very good reason why there are many more white belts than there are yellow belts out there. For the most part, people get into a martial arts class, learn reasonably quickly that it would take them many years of intense training to get to the level of their favorite martial arts superstar, and then promptly lose interest in favor of some other flash in the pan. While people like that may learn a thing or two about fighting, something very interesting happens to the folks who continue onward once they have earned their black belt in their martial art of choice; they get a little bit less obsessed with fighting itself.

When you start out with something (especially something that makes you look tough) such as learning how to fight, your first desire is to prove (both to others and to yourself) how good you are at it. And since a lot of young people are only a few words away from brawling with anybody anyway, it is often very easy to find a fight when you are actively searching for one. But as time goes on, you begin to lose interest in fighting. After all, when you have won some fights and know what you can do, it stops being a big deal.

Another interesting thing which also tends to happen at this point is that other people tend not to want to fight you as much as they did during the early part of your training. When someone knows that you can hurt them, they are far less likely to want to fight out of sheer ego. Now, there will always be major reasons why people fight, regardless of their skill level. But only a person who has a lot to win or nothing to lose will walk into a fight that’s nearly unwinnable.

Filed Under: Martial Arts, Sports Tagged With: Martial arts, sport, United States

The Truth About Kung Fu

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Everybody knows that kung fu is a martial art which originated in China. However, a lot of people do not know that there are different interpretive translations of the term “kung fu.” It has ranged from “with great effort we achieve great results” all the way to “the practice of a determined individual.” While the technical accuracy of such translations is somewhat suspect, the overall truth of those statements is unerring in the extreme. Dedicated kung fu practitioners are a very determined lot who are not at all afraid to do a lot of hard work, in the pursuit of whatever goals they most desire to achieve. Generally, over time the real practitioners of kung fu are the types of people who get what they set out to get.

But what about kung fu makes it any different than any other martial art? Truthfully, not much, aside from the obvious origin story and aesthetic differences. When it comes right down to it, kung fu is not especially different from any other type of martial art. Considering that it has as part of its practice both hard and soft styles (designed for the use of raw power and speedy guile, respectively), kung fu has as many variations as there are colors in the rainbow. And much like the rainbow, there are many parts that remain unseen to most people.

The truth about kung fu becomes even more clear when you compare it against all of the other possible things which a person can do in this world. It almost does not matter whether what you practice is building businesses, repairing satellite dish services, or driving a truck to deliver things, every possible activity that a person truly commits to doing extremely well is kung fu. While many people are not of the stoic “I want to be the best I can be” variety, the lesson of kung fu is that everything there is, is kung fu.

Filed Under: Martial Arts, Sports Tagged With: China, Chinese martial arts, Martial arts, Sports

The Pinnacle of Training: Befriending Your Opponent

Most people who first walk in to a martial arts school will walk out for the last time after they have learned a few tricks for being a better fighter. They will then use these tricks for the purpose of beating up other people who are slightly worse than they are at fighting, and generally just to demonstrate that they have more social status than “the next guy.” However, there are definitely higher levels than that, such as when people understand that you can do them harm and tend more towards leaving you alone. Some people say that a great sword fighter rarely draws his blade for combat. But like most things in life, there is an even higher level to which you can aspire.

This is the state of actually becoming friends with your opponents. For many people, the martial arts are a defensive strategy which may only be used against their enemies. A boy gets beaten up, so he wants to learn how to defend himself. By the time he is a teenager, the smart bullies have found him to be a very difficult target, and have left him alone for easier pickings. But as he grows a bit older (often when he has felt a touch of gray about his brow), the level appears when he and the people he fights can resolve their conflicts without the use of violence.

Some people say that the ultimate expression of force is not needing to use it in the first place. For people who are secure in their ability to cause (and withstand) the punishment that the martial arts teach a person to deliver, there is rarely a need for violence. Especially in situations where two fighters both know of one another’s skills, the only possible outcome of a fight is a great deal of pain for both of them. Why would any rational person subject themselves to that, when talking is much easier?

Filed Under: Martial Arts, Sports Tagged With: Bruce Lee, Martial arts, Sports

American Kenpo

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American Kenpo (aka Kenpo Karate) has been around since the late 1940s. It is a martial arts technique that employs quick, moves delivered very rapidly. It consists of more than 700 separate and distinct self-defense techniques, blocks and 72 kicks. The intention is to overwhelm the opponent.
Edmund K. Parker

William Chow taught Edmund Parker the art of Kenpo. Edmund Parker made refinements to the methods, theories and concepts of Kenpo and is now considered the creator of American Kenpo.

He passed away in 1990 and left no successor.

American Kenpo, as Parker developed it, became a blend and crossover of other martial arts philosophies:

• Chinese Arts such as Hung Gar and Choy Li Fut influenced what became American Kenpo.
• In a book published in 1960, Parker’s Kenpo incorporated the use of smooth linear and circular movements heavily influenced by the Japanese practice of martial arts.
• In American Kenpo, Parker began eliminating all Asian language elements and some of the Asian traditions. Instead, he used American English. His techniques transitioned from Chinese and Japanese to his own favored forms and methods.

Famous American Kenpo Practitioners

In addition to Elvis Presley, probably Ed Parker’s most famous student, Edmund Parker trained such well known personalities as Robert Wagner, George Hamilton, Warren Beatty, Robert Culp and Blake Edwards.

Parker also wrote several books including “The Zen of Kenpo” and the “Encyclopedia of Kenpo”. He acted as a martial arts advisor on many movies and television programs and published a rule booklet for karate competitions.

Today, there are Ed Parker schools and affiliates all throughout the United States and internationally in Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Africa and may other countries.

The Belt System

Diferent martial arts use different designations. The American Kenpo uses a belt system consisting of:

• White, Yellow, Orange, Purple, Blue, Green
• First, Second and Third Brown
• First through Tenth Black

Filed Under: Fitness, Martial Arts Tagged With: American Kenpo, Kenpo Karate, Martial arts

Level 2: Strategy

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Having a strategy in life is something that every child should know about (and also be working on) before they leave primary school. The more prepared your plan is, the better you are likely to do with anything in life. However, in the context of the martial arts, strategy is a little bit less long term, and more about using the fluidity of your movements to gain the advantage in a fight. After all, once the movements are easy enough to do without thinking about them, the real possibilities open up to you. Consider the nature of combat itself- it is unpredictable, fast paced, and can often be very dangerous to those who are willing to take a few hits.

When you still have to think about how to do the movements, you are not at level two- you need to stay at the first level of your training, until you have mastered the movements themselves. In time, you will become a lot better. But you might be wondering about what level two means, if not the mastery of the moves themselves. Remember our brief coverage of strategy, and then consider how that applies to the martial arts in general, and then to a fight itself in particular. In a fight, you want to have as much of a plan to win as you can.

After all, winning is about more than just having the right methods of attack. Rather like a woodworker who has the very best tools, even the best punches and kicks will not win you any fights unless you know not only how to use them, but also when they can best be employed. For the people who win fights as a general rule, being able to plan out (and recognize at a moment’s notice) when a particular type of attack will work versus when it will not is a vital skill. Any other kind of win is generally just luck.

Filed Under: Fitness, Martial Arts Tagged With: Krav Maga, Martial arts, Physical fitness, Taekwondo

The Early Years: Training to Fight

When a lot of fresh faced youngsters first step in to a martial arts school, they are generally there for only a couple of different reasons. For some of them, their parents think that they need discipline. For most of the kids who first walk in, however, they are out to learn how to fight well. Maybe they want to be able to push people around (those kids rarely last very long in a formal setting), and maybe they just want to be able to push back when someone else comes up trying to bully them. But whatever the student’s initial reason for coming to the school, learning how to fight is the general result. After all, the movements that most martial arts teach involve punching, kicking, grappling and generally causing physical offense to another person.

Early on in your training, you learn a lot of different ways to do damage to another human being. And this is where most people generally stop learning all that much about the martial arts. For most people, there is no other element besides “how can I most effectively beat up somebody else?” Of course, more serious students learn other things besides that, such as self discipline and generally good health practices. But of course, most people learn little more than a few drills designed to attack people before they finally give up and figure that they have learned enough.

However, those who stick with their training will often find that the benefits of learning how to fight can move far beyond simply being able to defend ones self from external threats. For instance, there are great health benefits which may be gained from the practice of vigorous physical exercise, and the martial artists who train diligently often become both very strong and very healthy as a result of this training. Of course, as you progress onward and get somewhat older, the desire to fight will begin to fade.

Filed Under: Fitness, Martial Arts, Sports Tagged With: Martial arts, sport, Taekwondo

Just Three Moves

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A lot of people have come to the very peculiar conclusion that the martial arts are all about how many different moves you know. Many times, belt rankings are based, not on any kind of experience per se, but on how many moves you have mastered to your instructor’s satisfaction. The problem with mastering all kinds of moves is that nobody can possibly master them all. Just think about that, when you see a martial artist in a movie. How many moves do they typically do, as a general rule? While they may be pretty good at everything, you will no doubt notice that they are really good at only a few “signature” moves, which they will do more often than any others.

This is not to say that these martial artists are not overall very skilled. None of their moves (especially in front of a camera) will seem awkward or amateurish, of course. But it is a little bit like asking a diabetes internist to practice podiatry- the general intelligence and skill set are both certainly there, but the specialization is lacking. Being highly specialized in one discipline is great, because it allows you to refine those movements into the most fluidly executable tools that they could possibly ever be. This is far better than generalization, for the most part, where every tool is “just okay.”

If you ever challenged a champion martial artist to only use three moves in a match, there is a pretty good chance that he could still win in nine out of ten instances. The skills are there for his most important moves, and more importantly, the strategy is there. Great fighters are more than just the owners of strong movements. They are strategists, and think their way around an opponent’s strengths, as a means of finding (and making the best use out of) his weaknesses. As a fighter becomes better, his muscles become far less important to victory.

Filed Under: Martial Arts, Sports Tagged With: Martial arts, Self-defense, Sports