Basics

[Xue Sheng]

one of the best things that my sigung and sisuk have done for me is make me be aware of my basics no matter what I'm training. Every step of every form, what's happening with my stances, am I generating power in the proper way, am I rooted properly, am I rotating fully, etc. So while we spend a good deal of time practicing basics all by itself, I have come to understand how everything that I'm doing is still basics, as long as I pay attention to it properly.

I had no choice but to train basics if I wanted to train Sanda and I am all about basics in anything Xingyiquan but I think due to injury and Xingyiquan I have let the basics of my Taiji slide. It is not that I do not know them and it is not that I have not been shown them it is not that I do not feel they are important. This is why I will be talking to my Taiji sifu this week about basics and re-focusing my training. But you also need other basics as well and I have been lax at both parts of late, some due to injury but not all.


The problem with a style like Taiji is that it is real easy to let it slide and still do the forms well since very few people even care about or know about the martial side of it. But you lose a lot when you do not train the basics. But in Yang Taiji many of your basics are in the long form, if you train it right.


Ironically, the basics in a style like Xingyiquan make the style what it is and it is those very same basics that drive many people away.

 

[Flying Crane]

I think I understand what you are saying, I'm just choosing a little different language to emphasize a meaning that you may be implying anyway.

I'll ask tho, what do you mean by "re-visit"?

Emptying my cup and re learning it as if it was the first time that I saw it. Some times bad habits creep in when you are not looking.

are you talking about getting ongoing critiques from your instructors, to fix problems along the way?

 

[Aikikitty]

I think that basics need to be constantly looked at. Some of the things that you learned at white belt, for example, you really don't understand at that time. It takes experience, and going back and reviewing the basics to get the full understanding of what you may have just been mimicking originally.

I agree completely. I find myself occasionally so focused on one part of the technique that I'll forget the application of basic footwork, etc. I'm still always having to remember to move with my hips and keep my hands from drifting out of my center and we learn that day 1.

Robyn

 

[Steve]

I think I understand what you are saying, I'm just choosing a little different language to emphasize a meaning that you may be implying anyway.

I'll ask tho, what do you mean by "re-visit"?

Emptying my cup and re learning it as if it was the first time that I saw it. Some times bad habits creep in when you are not looking.

If you are new to grappling and go to class 3 or so times per week and just show up, you won't be able to help but get better. Your body, out of survival, will learn. You literally don't have to bring anything to the table and you'll get better.

Usually, somewhere around blue belt, you have to start taking an active role in your training. You can't just learn by osmosis anymore. And, also usually, the first step is to start collecting techniques. After a while, you realize that learning more techniques isn't helping all that much and you begin focusing again on the basics.

While I'm not a very flashy grappler, more than ever, I'm going back through and re-visiting the basics. I'm trying to tighten up all of my fundamentals.

 

[WC_lun]

Ask 100 martial artist if they understand the basics of thier system and just about every one of will tell you yes. Watch them fight and just about every one of them will show you that they do not. Basics are pretty boring at first. They have to be drilled over and over and over and over and over...you get the point, until they become part of the natural way a person moves, requiring no thought. In my opinion, there are very few people who are willing to drill the basics like that. More often than not, students are more interested in learning this cool technique or that awsome thing, never realizing that until the basics become part of how they move, they'll never truly get the advanced stuff.

 

[Balrog]

I agree with this statement whole heartedly and I think you will find this problem across the board in all martial arts these days and, IMO; this is especially evident in Taijiquan today. Also after the various things I have been reading the past couple of weeks I do believe I am also very guilty of not training my basics like I should and I am going back to basics to rectify that problem starting tonight.

So, am I the only one here or are there others that need to go back to basics to get to where they want to be or use to be?

And/or how many of you feel that the lack of a focus on basics in favor of “cooler”, “more flashy” or just plain easier training is hurting martial arts today?

You can never do your basics too many times. But also don't forget that practice does not make perfect. Practice makes habit; perfect practice makes perfect.

And, oh yes - the "movie fu" stuff being taught today is severely hurting martial arts. People are going to learn that and get badly hurt if they try do defend themselves with it.

 

[jks9199]

Most of my training is on basics. Without constantly advancing and perfecting the knowledge of the basics, you really can't do advanced techniques. Under pressure, you're most likely to fall back on basics -- and if you haven't truly ground them in, nothing else that comes out will be effective.