# The foundations



## Bill Mattocks (Nov 29, 2015)

As a beginner, consider these things...

1) Breathing. Do not hold your breath when performing exercises. For most traditional martial arts (TMA), it's in through the nose, out through the mouth. There will be more to learn later, but this first.

2) Balance. Practice keeping your balance as you perform your exercises. Try to keep your knees bent slightly, stay centered. It will become natural in time.

3) Form. Speed and power are developed from good form, correct breathing, and good balance.

4) Relax. The body tenses at the moment of impact.  Otherwise, relax and move naturally. Stiffness is not a characteristic of most TMA.


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## JowGaWolf (Nov 29, 2015)

Having knees bent slightly should be an over all fitness safety recommendation.  The slight bend in the knees helps to prevent serious damage and helps to prevent the knee joint from rotating.  If you start noticing that you are having knee problems then make sure you're not standing straight and twisting on the knee.  Also understand how to correctly pivot on your foot.  Pivots on the ball or heel of the foot are fine. Trying to pivot flat foot is not and will damage the knee.  The risk of flat foot pivots is common when doing low foot sweeps.  Be mindful of your knees it doesn't take much to tear something there.  A small tear in the knee could mean weeks and months of missed practiced.


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## Touch Of Death (Nov 29, 2015)

I would say learn to bend your knees, not slightly, but a lot. You just can't do some maneuvers, from a straight legged position.


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## Bill Mattocks (Nov 29, 2015)

Touch Of Death said:


> I would say learn to bend your knees, not slightly, but a lot. You just can't do some maneuvers, from a straight legged position.



Our style has a higher more upright stance, but yes, learning to bend the knees is important.


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## Touch Of Death (Nov 29, 2015)

Bill Mattocks said:


> Our style has a higher more upright stance, but yes, learning to bend the knees is important.


If you have you knees bent and you fall forward, or back, with a catch step, it is a cover. If you do that with your knees just slightly bent, it is just walking. The hips do different things. In fact, just as in weight lifting, your upper carriage becomes stronger, and tendons (or what have you) allow you to lift your arms higher, where as it feels un-natural with you legs straight.


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## Bill Mattocks (Nov 29, 2015)

Touch Of Death said:


> If you have you knees bent and you fall forward, or back, with a catch step, it is a cover. If you do that with your knees just slightly bent, it is just walking. The hips do different things. In fact, just as in weight lifting, your upper carriage becomes stronger, and tendons (or what have you) allow you to lift your arms higher, where as it feels un-natural with you legs straight.



Just saying our style has a higher stance. Not making any claims about it.


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## Buka (Nov 30, 2015)

I always stress a few things to the students...

You don't have to protect every part of your body, just the parts you want to keep.

Keep your dang hands up, kid.


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## oftheherd1 (Dec 4, 2015)

Bill Mattocks said:


> As a beginner, consider these things...
> 
> 1) Breathing. Do not hold your breath when performing exercises. For most traditional martial arts (TMA), it's in through the nose, out through the mouth. There will be more to learn later, but this first.
> 
> ...



Good points Bill.  I would add the kia to breathing, striking and being hit.  I was taught that when I studied TKD and Hapkido.  Interestingly I was taught that during breathing exercises one should be cautious of breathing in through the nose, as if you weren't well able, it could cause one to faint.  It never did me.


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## Touch Of Death (Dec 4, 2015)

oftheherd1 said:


> Good points Bill.  I would add the kia to breathing, striking and being hit.  I was taught that when I studied TKD and Hapkido.  Interestingly I was taught that during breathing exercises one should be cautious of breathing in through the nose, as if you weren't well able, it could cause one to faint.  It never did me.


Some woman told me, as a child, that you should jog with the nose in, mouth out method; Fast forward ten years later, I was running the two mile test, in the ARMY, and they had sent spies out to make sure we weren't cheating. So, while they saw everyone else huffing and puffing along, they spot me cruising around like nothing was happening. They thought I was amazing. LOL I think what happened there, was that that breathing method forces you to relax, and the huffing and puffing is what kills ya.


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## punisher73 (Dec 14, 2015)

Touch Of Death said:


> If you have you knees bent and you fall forward, or back, with a catch step, it is a cover. If you do that with your knees just slightly bent, it is just walking. The hips do different things. In fact, just as in weight lifting, your upper carriage becomes stronger, and tendons (or what have you) allow you to lift your arms higher, where as it feels un-natural with you legs straight.



All styles have methods and ways of "correct application".  Naha based styles of karate( Isshin-ryu, Goju-ryu and Uechi-ryu), use a shorter more "natural" type stance for most movement, and rely on deeper stances for specific applications/situations. What may be correct in one style is not in another, but both will have their own method of dealing with the situation that works within it's own strategies.


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## Touch Of Death (Dec 14, 2015)

punisher73 said:


> All styles have methods and ways of "correct application".  Naha based styles of karate( Isshin-ryu, Goju-ryu and Uechi-ryu), use a shorter more "natural" type stance for most movement, and rely on deeper stances for specific applications/situations. What may be correct in one style is not in another, but both will have their own method of dealing with the situation that works within it's own strategies.


Depth of stance is how far your legs are apart, in some States, I was just talking about the height of stance.


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## punisher73 (Dec 14, 2015)

Touch Of Death said:


> Depth of stance is how far your legs are apart, in some States, I was just talking about the height of stance.



Ok, thanks for the clarification. I have spoken with many that equate "lowering your stance" to "widening your stance" as well.


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## GiYu - Todd (Dec 15, 2015)

Touch Of Death said:


> I would say learn to bend your knees, not slightly, but a lot. You just can't do some maneuvers, from a straight legged position.


 
Our stance is a low style too.  We often have students exagerate how low they go in training.  One reason is it helps build leg and core strength.  The other is when the adrenaline of a real fight hits, you'll tend to raise up.  By training lower, you'll raise to the correct height.  If you train higher, you risk raising up to locked legs.  Since I started my current studies at an advanced age, the low stance was always tough for me due to sore knees (so I was always getting correcte).  After several years, the knees are still sore, but they are much stronger. 



Buka said:


> You don't have to protect every part of your body, just the parts you want to keep.
> 
> Keep your dang hands up, kid.


 
I may just borrow this comment for our kid's class tonight.  It's frustrating trying to get kids to kick without pulling their arms down to their sides.


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## Xue Sheng (Dec 15, 2015)

Bill Mattocks said:


> As a beginner, consider these things...
> 
> 1) Breathing. Do not hold your breath when performing exercises. For most traditional martial arts (TMA), it's in through the nose, out through the mouth. There will be more to learn later, but this first.
> 
> ...




Per my Shifu, when my Shigong (teacher's teacher) was asked about breathing, his answer was always "Yes you should"


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## Bill Mattocks (Dec 15, 2015)

Xue Sheng said:


> Per my Shifu, when my Shigong (teacher's teacher) was asked about breathing, his answer was always "Yes you should"



I have found that it is not unusual for beginning students to hold their breath while performing exercises, and later, kata.  One can tell when they are red-faced and huffing and puffing after running a kata.  So reminding students to breathe is good in that sense.

But I also have been taught (and agree) that getting one's breathing under control is important for more than just taking in oxygen.  It is a way of helping to keep calm, to balance oneself, to ground oneself, although I am fairly certain that many won't relate to those concepts; I just don't have better words for it.

Breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth, using the diaphragm to provide the motive force instead of the chest, also prepares the _tanden _or _hara _to assist with developing power or receiving power in a safe way in the case of an incoming attack.  Simplest example; dropping one's wind prior to impact can allow one to take a much more powerful punch than otherwise, although of course the goal is to not get hit in the first place.

So yes, keep breathing, breathing is good compared to not breathing (short or long term, eh?) but it's more than just that, IMHO.


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## oftheherd1 (Dec 16, 2015)

IIRCC, in the TKD I studied, breathing was taught more to get breathing under control after strong physical exertion.  But we were also taught about gi and ways to implement it, not specifically tied to breathing.

In the Hapkido I studied, it was more as you describe.  Breathing exercises concentrating on what we call the tanjon.  It ideally should lead to more natural breathing under stress, and use of gi without consciously thinking about it.


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