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Shaolin Fighting Philosophy
By Mephariel - Mon, 04 Dec 2006 19:07:02 GMT
Originally Posted at: Deluxe Forums
====================
I don't know if this has been posted before, but interesting read. The article was written by Shi Yan Ming.
Foundation
Chinese martial artists have a saying: "The top is the basics; the basics are the top." To get to the top, the best place to start is at the bottom. Starting at the bottom means daily doses of punches, as well as stance and movement training to develop your speed, power and strength.
Strength is inextricably linked to flexibility. It does not have to come from lifting weights, which tends to develop your short muscles; rather, it can come from practicing basics, which tends to develop the long muscles. Flexibility allows a kick to be higher and quicker and a punch to go longer and faster. Flexibility cannot be stressed enough.
Power
The Chinese martial arts teach four levels of power: tui li (pushing power), baofa li (explosive power), qun li (inch power) and tou li (penetrating power).
Pushing power is the simplest. Children learn how to use it on the playground. To push someone away takes no skill; a true martial arts master would probably never use this power in a fight unless he was trying to avoid hurting his opponent.
Explosive power is stronger and for the most part self-explanatory.
Inch power is much more advanced. With it, you can explode your power with only one inch between your fist and the target. You need not draw your hand back before striking.
Penetrating power is the rarest because it is the hardest to develop. With your hand touching your opponent you can use your energy to penetrate his body. After the strike, the front surface of the body will look untouched, but his internal organs will be destroyed and a bruise will appear on the opposite side.
Before exploring ways to use these levels of power in your punches, it is useful to rectify a few incorrect beliefs:
Some martial artists think that the punching power is best gained through striking a heavy bag. Remember that you can show a heavy bag power, but it cannot show you a thing. Heavy bags do have their place, of course. The best method for using one is to start with a lightweight model and graduate to a heavier model as you learn how to project power through your fist.
Others believe that the harder they tense their arms during a strike, the more power they produce. Be forewarned that you can seriously injure yourself with this kind of practice because stress is a negative force. The more relaxed your mind and body are, the better. You must stay relaxed all the way through the punch, and that takes mental and physical discipline.
One of the most crucial elements of this is the pivoting of the foot: The heel comes up naturally and the weight remains on the ball. When you activate these elements in harmony, you maximize your power.
You must also focus your eyes on the target of your punch. Never turn your head away from your opponent.
Speed
Again, you must completely relax your mind, which is the master of your body. The more relaxed it is, the more speed and power you can achieve. To generate maximum speed, you must practice the basic punches - zhi quan (straight punch), bai quan (hook) and gou quan (uppercut) - thousands of times a day. After countless repetitions, your fist will become like a sword: sharp, fast and fatal.
Timing
Another Chinese martial arts maxim: If you practice punching thousands of times over a period of several years, you will have your fighting philosophy.
My own fighting philosophy holds that there is no offense and no defense. Rather, they are one and the same. The best defense is offense. Fighting is all about timing, which is all about reaction. Real fights are unlike choreographed sets in that there are no stances and no pre-arranged routines.
If you have the opportunity to punch someone in the head, do it.
If your opponent punches first, you must hope that your reaction skills are sufficient to direct any part of your body - not just your fist or foot - to defend and counterattack simultaneously.
Many fighters who would otherwise wield great skill lose their true potential for power because of timing errors. If you choose to ignore the lessons that stem from their mistakes and allow bad timing to become part of your natural rhythm, you will find it is impossible to fix without starting over.
Since every fight is different with respect to offense and defense, no one can teach you the right time to block or punch.
Blocking
Now for the shocker: I do not teach my students to block. They just practice punching because, as previously mentioned, the best defense is offense. When Shaolin students practice their punches, they start with both fists in front of their cheeks but slightly to the side. As one fist moves forward, the other remains stationary to defend the face and the chest. Then the most important concept comes into play: As the second fist strikes, the first fist must move backward simultaneously and in perfect harmony. Thus, the block and the punch are always there and not there, for they are one. That is the true meaning of timing.
After you've practiced the basic punches and developed your foundation, power, speed and timing, only one thing remains: to get in the ring and spar.
More chi! Train harder!
Forms vs. Fighting
Forms are forms, and fighting is fighting. In a real fight, there are no stances and no routines - just the single goal of knocking out the other person as quickly as possible. In the ring or on the street, your opponent will not oblige you by getting into the position or stance you learned to deal with in class.
That is not to say that forms practice is a waste of time. Forms help you develop your speed, power, harmony and reaction, for those are the attributes that will best serve you in a real fight.
In a fight, you should use whatever position is most effective. For example, you might opt to kick low instead of high. However, if you kick high in practice, you will know that your body is properly conditioned to kick at whatever height is most effective at a particular moment.
Shaolin fighting philosophy holds that there is no dichotomy in fighting. Offense and defense, striking and blocking, action and reaction - they are all one and the same. There is also no distinction between internal and external power. Without one, you cannot have the other. The six harmonies (hands with feet, shoulders with hips, elbows with knees, heart with mind, mind with chi, and chi with power) must all be coordinated for you to maximize your power.
Learn how to express your full power in the basic movements before you begin to fight. You must have a strong foundation because there are no beginning, middle and advanced stages in learning how to fight. The only way to learn how to fight is to fight. Just as practicing applications will slow you down, so will practicing blocking the same kick over and over, or having your opponent tell you what strike he will perform before he does it. It is essential to make your reactions spontaneous.
Finally and most importantly, remember that your training as a martial artist does not end when you leave the ring or the practice hall. Everything you do in life is part of training, whether you are sleeping, eating, standing still, walking down the street, sitting at your desk or climbing a mountain. Shaolin Temple Kung Fu teaches that your life is the martial arts and the martial arts are your life.
For the full articles including specific punching and kicking techniques, go here:
http://www.shaolinwolf.com/shaolinindex.htm
Read More...
------------------------------------
Defend.net Post Bot - CMA Feed
By Mephariel - Mon, 04 Dec 2006 19:07:02 GMT
Originally Posted at: Deluxe Forums
====================
I don't know if this has been posted before, but interesting read. The article was written by Shi Yan Ming.
Foundation
Chinese martial artists have a saying: "The top is the basics; the basics are the top." To get to the top, the best place to start is at the bottom. Starting at the bottom means daily doses of punches, as well as stance and movement training to develop your speed, power and strength.
Strength is inextricably linked to flexibility. It does not have to come from lifting weights, which tends to develop your short muscles; rather, it can come from practicing basics, which tends to develop the long muscles. Flexibility allows a kick to be higher and quicker and a punch to go longer and faster. Flexibility cannot be stressed enough.
Power
The Chinese martial arts teach four levels of power: tui li (pushing power), baofa li (explosive power), qun li (inch power) and tou li (penetrating power).
Pushing power is the simplest. Children learn how to use it on the playground. To push someone away takes no skill; a true martial arts master would probably never use this power in a fight unless he was trying to avoid hurting his opponent.
Explosive power is stronger and for the most part self-explanatory.
Inch power is much more advanced. With it, you can explode your power with only one inch between your fist and the target. You need not draw your hand back before striking.
Penetrating power is the rarest because it is the hardest to develop. With your hand touching your opponent you can use your energy to penetrate his body. After the strike, the front surface of the body will look untouched, but his internal organs will be destroyed and a bruise will appear on the opposite side.
Before exploring ways to use these levels of power in your punches, it is useful to rectify a few incorrect beliefs:
Some martial artists think that the punching power is best gained through striking a heavy bag. Remember that you can show a heavy bag power, but it cannot show you a thing. Heavy bags do have their place, of course. The best method for using one is to start with a lightweight model and graduate to a heavier model as you learn how to project power through your fist.
Others believe that the harder they tense their arms during a strike, the more power they produce. Be forewarned that you can seriously injure yourself with this kind of practice because stress is a negative force. The more relaxed your mind and body are, the better. You must stay relaxed all the way through the punch, and that takes mental and physical discipline.
One of the most crucial elements of this is the pivoting of the foot: The heel comes up naturally and the weight remains on the ball. When you activate these elements in harmony, you maximize your power.
You must also focus your eyes on the target of your punch. Never turn your head away from your opponent.
Speed
Again, you must completely relax your mind, which is the master of your body. The more relaxed it is, the more speed and power you can achieve. To generate maximum speed, you must practice the basic punches - zhi quan (straight punch), bai quan (hook) and gou quan (uppercut) - thousands of times a day. After countless repetitions, your fist will become like a sword: sharp, fast and fatal.
Timing
Another Chinese martial arts maxim: If you practice punching thousands of times over a period of several years, you will have your fighting philosophy.
My own fighting philosophy holds that there is no offense and no defense. Rather, they are one and the same. The best defense is offense. Fighting is all about timing, which is all about reaction. Real fights are unlike choreographed sets in that there are no stances and no pre-arranged routines.
If you have the opportunity to punch someone in the head, do it.
If your opponent punches first, you must hope that your reaction skills are sufficient to direct any part of your body - not just your fist or foot - to defend and counterattack simultaneously.
Many fighters who would otherwise wield great skill lose their true potential for power because of timing errors. If you choose to ignore the lessons that stem from their mistakes and allow bad timing to become part of your natural rhythm, you will find it is impossible to fix without starting over.
Since every fight is different with respect to offense and defense, no one can teach you the right time to block or punch.
Blocking
Now for the shocker: I do not teach my students to block. They just practice punching because, as previously mentioned, the best defense is offense. When Shaolin students practice their punches, they start with both fists in front of their cheeks but slightly to the side. As one fist moves forward, the other remains stationary to defend the face and the chest. Then the most important concept comes into play: As the second fist strikes, the first fist must move backward simultaneously and in perfect harmony. Thus, the block and the punch are always there and not there, for they are one. That is the true meaning of timing.
After you've practiced the basic punches and developed your foundation, power, speed and timing, only one thing remains: to get in the ring and spar.
More chi! Train harder!
Forms vs. Fighting
Forms are forms, and fighting is fighting. In a real fight, there are no stances and no routines - just the single goal of knocking out the other person as quickly as possible. In the ring or on the street, your opponent will not oblige you by getting into the position or stance you learned to deal with in class.
That is not to say that forms practice is a waste of time. Forms help you develop your speed, power, harmony and reaction, for those are the attributes that will best serve you in a real fight.
In a fight, you should use whatever position is most effective. For example, you might opt to kick low instead of high. However, if you kick high in practice, you will know that your body is properly conditioned to kick at whatever height is most effective at a particular moment.
Shaolin fighting philosophy holds that there is no dichotomy in fighting. Offense and defense, striking and blocking, action and reaction - they are all one and the same. There is also no distinction between internal and external power. Without one, you cannot have the other. The six harmonies (hands with feet, shoulders with hips, elbows with knees, heart with mind, mind with chi, and chi with power) must all be coordinated for you to maximize your power.
Learn how to express your full power in the basic movements before you begin to fight. You must have a strong foundation because there are no beginning, middle and advanced stages in learning how to fight. The only way to learn how to fight is to fight. Just as practicing applications will slow you down, so will practicing blocking the same kick over and over, or having your opponent tell you what strike he will perform before he does it. It is essential to make your reactions spontaneous.
Finally and most importantly, remember that your training as a martial artist does not end when you leave the ring or the practice hall. Everything you do in life is part of training, whether you are sleeping, eating, standing still, walking down the street, sitting at your desk or climbing a mountain. Shaolin Temple Kung Fu teaches that your life is the martial arts and the martial arts are your life.
For the full articles including specific punching and kicking techniques, go here:
http://www.shaolinwolf.com/shaolinindex.htm
Read More...
------------------------------------
Defend.net Post Bot - CMA Feed
