Obsidian Fury
Orange Belt
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2018
- Messages
- 86
- Reaction score
- 18
The tittle was
I've an idea that I'll like to bounce around we should do more.
This is for every style, system, school, etc. I believe that it could be of benefit to everyone. I'll like to talk about the lack of aesthetics in all MA which are very noticeable during sparring or competitions. Whatever the MA you practice you invest your precious time and effort in all the aspects of your MA one of them is executing a pristine technique and pristine is a good thing as it makes execution more efficient however performing a perfect roundhouse against a resisting opponent is not something you often see because it is hard, someone is resisting after all. Most sparring sessions I see or competitions whether online or in the web look like either sloppy kick boxing, kinder garden wrestling, and even cage fighting many times seems just a tad bit better, as for weapons it looks like two guys trying to touch each other with a stick.
Now here comes the sad part those practitioners worked really hard to perform correctly and when doing forms or some sort of flow training you can tell that these guys know their stuff but most of them rely on a very limited selection of techniques when they have many more at their disposal. I understand that being effective is a good thing thus relying on smaller arsenal and compensating technique with force is a smart choice but I believe we can do better. Every MA is beautiful thus the word art in it and I believe we should capitalize on that.
My idea is to use choreography as a connection between learning the techniques and combat, by choreography I don't mean Kata or forms even though they are a personal favorite and I believe that every practitioner must do forms as they are the essence of the MA, what I mean is a choreographed combat like in theater, theater not films there is a big difference in theater you have one chance to make it right in films you have many, by designing a situation of controlled combat with enough room for improvisation should something go wrong where both opponents are resisting to some degree I believe that MA can shine more in combat, combat scenes in theater are very dynamic so practitioners can't be passive about them as there is pressure on them.
At the beginning the choreographies would be more rigid but as time passes they can become more flexible, in theater no two scenes are ever the same there are always changes and actors go off-script but the core remains the same thus exposing ourselves to several scenarios where we can capitalize more may be able to help us translate more skill into combat.
Another benefit to choreographies is that they have a pace and a rhythm and he who controls the pace of the fight has the upper hand sometimes not exchanging blows and looking for an opening can be more profitable than forcing one's way in it also gives you time to think not only what to now but also what to do in the next three moves. I don't say go slower I say go smarter ask yourself: What is the situation? What will he do? What can I do? What is the best course of action? The way he is set up is likely to use x technique so I should counter with y technique, etc. These thoughts flash through our minds we keep the speed, the strength, we increase the technical part.
Bruce lee once said that "one must not be too logical as one becomes too robotic nor one should become too instinctive as one become too animalistic the balance of both features is vital for the Martial Artist", I'm paraphrasing please bear with me. In the Taoist religion we see something alike called the Yin & Yang two opposites that must be in harmony today.
I believe we see and use a lot of Yang too much instinct we rely on strength, speed, and power to much but I believe we have all been taught that we also have to be slow, flexible, weak, I can say that my Master keeps instilling on using the gentler side that we all have. In ground-fighting to get out of any sort of lock you must relax and wiggle a bit like a worm or shrimp and slip through your opponent's grip, forcing your way out of it will only help your opponent sometimes it works but I wouldn't recommend it. In striking when you block a blow you deviate the strike with a gentler motion if you parry with equal force it will really hurt, not my first choice.
Now we also sin of doing a bit too much Yin as well Martial Arts historically have been used to fight be it for life, sport, etc. the warriors of old fought on a regular basis, exercised on a regular basis, even went to war on a regular basis. I'm not saying go enroll this instant I'm saying that many MA with great potential like Aikido, Wing Chun, Tai Chi, Capoeira, etc. Comfortably sit on their laurels and neglect the martial aspect of the martial art I mean no disrespect I love all MA I really do I believe that each is as amazing as any other and I have practice Aikido and Tai Chi I can tell you can use them to fight but to do that you have to fight because that is beautiful too.
It seems as if the Yang/instinctive took over the Martial and the Yin/robotic took over the Art and each MA picked a side however once they were one and the same. I've been in Martial Talk for under a year and the dispute between which MA is better is never ending. I say everything is good if you do it correctly.
Now back on track I believe we loose ourselves to brute strength because it's a primal reaction but martial arts are design to increase our fighting power before MA we fought like apes now we can generate more force with less effort. We also delude ourselves in technique and forms only because logically it makes sense however that logic is not sound. I believe that choreographed combat can make martial artists improve immensely in their performance not only the aesthetics but the quality of the fight will improve immensely with more analytic fighters.
In the end I guess I ranted a lot, though week, the reason behind my idea of choreographed fights is that we deserve it it is not for show or an audience, we martial artists train very hard in a very controversial medium with little to no apparent reward it is a niche, we owe to ourselves to do more and be better so that when we step on that ring we can show our opponent the respect they deserve for their hard work by doing more and expanding each others personal realities a bit further, or we are in a dire situation that requires the use of force we show just how many years were invested into that one technique and that unlike many people say martial arts are legit. For that we must do more, really exceed ourselves, I would love to see a breathtaking amicable match between a cage fighter and a tai chi practitioner because it can happen that famous video did no favors to anyone, I would love to see a karate tournament or MMA match in which the visual appeal is so great that you could confuse it for a movie scene all that can happen. We have to stop fighting amongst each other and start doing more so that we all grow, improve, and respect each other I'll start now suggesting choreographed combat and will contribute more in the future
I've an idea that I'll like to bounce around we should do more.
This is for every style, system, school, etc. I believe that it could be of benefit to everyone. I'll like to talk about the lack of aesthetics in all MA which are very noticeable during sparring or competitions. Whatever the MA you practice you invest your precious time and effort in all the aspects of your MA one of them is executing a pristine technique and pristine is a good thing as it makes execution more efficient however performing a perfect roundhouse against a resisting opponent is not something you often see because it is hard, someone is resisting after all. Most sparring sessions I see or competitions whether online or in the web look like either sloppy kick boxing, kinder garden wrestling, and even cage fighting many times seems just a tad bit better, as for weapons it looks like two guys trying to touch each other with a stick.
Now here comes the sad part those practitioners worked really hard to perform correctly and when doing forms or some sort of flow training you can tell that these guys know their stuff but most of them rely on a very limited selection of techniques when they have many more at their disposal. I understand that being effective is a good thing thus relying on smaller arsenal and compensating technique with force is a smart choice but I believe we can do better. Every MA is beautiful thus the word art in it and I believe we should capitalize on that.
My idea is to use choreography as a connection between learning the techniques and combat, by choreography I don't mean Kata or forms even though they are a personal favorite and I believe that every practitioner must do forms as they are the essence of the MA, what I mean is a choreographed combat like in theater, theater not films there is a big difference in theater you have one chance to make it right in films you have many, by designing a situation of controlled combat with enough room for improvisation should something go wrong where both opponents are resisting to some degree I believe that MA can shine more in combat, combat scenes in theater are very dynamic so practitioners can't be passive about them as there is pressure on them.
At the beginning the choreographies would be more rigid but as time passes they can become more flexible, in theater no two scenes are ever the same there are always changes and actors go off-script but the core remains the same thus exposing ourselves to several scenarios where we can capitalize more may be able to help us translate more skill into combat.
Another benefit to choreographies is that they have a pace and a rhythm and he who controls the pace of the fight has the upper hand sometimes not exchanging blows and looking for an opening can be more profitable than forcing one's way in it also gives you time to think not only what to now but also what to do in the next three moves. I don't say go slower I say go smarter ask yourself: What is the situation? What will he do? What can I do? What is the best course of action? The way he is set up is likely to use x technique so I should counter with y technique, etc. These thoughts flash through our minds we keep the speed, the strength, we increase the technical part.
Bruce lee once said that "one must not be too logical as one becomes too robotic nor one should become too instinctive as one become too animalistic the balance of both features is vital for the Martial Artist", I'm paraphrasing please bear with me. In the Taoist religion we see something alike called the Yin & Yang two opposites that must be in harmony today.
I believe we see and use a lot of Yang too much instinct we rely on strength, speed, and power to much but I believe we have all been taught that we also have to be slow, flexible, weak, I can say that my Master keeps instilling on using the gentler side that we all have. In ground-fighting to get out of any sort of lock you must relax and wiggle a bit like a worm or shrimp and slip through your opponent's grip, forcing your way out of it will only help your opponent sometimes it works but I wouldn't recommend it. In striking when you block a blow you deviate the strike with a gentler motion if you parry with equal force it will really hurt, not my first choice.
Now we also sin of doing a bit too much Yin as well Martial Arts historically have been used to fight be it for life, sport, etc. the warriors of old fought on a regular basis, exercised on a regular basis, even went to war on a regular basis. I'm not saying go enroll this instant I'm saying that many MA with great potential like Aikido, Wing Chun, Tai Chi, Capoeira, etc. Comfortably sit on their laurels and neglect the martial aspect of the martial art I mean no disrespect I love all MA I really do I believe that each is as amazing as any other and I have practice Aikido and Tai Chi I can tell you can use them to fight but to do that you have to fight because that is beautiful too.
It seems as if the Yang/instinctive took over the Martial and the Yin/robotic took over the Art and each MA picked a side however once they were one and the same. I've been in Martial Talk for under a year and the dispute between which MA is better is never ending. I say everything is good if you do it correctly.
Now back on track I believe we loose ourselves to brute strength because it's a primal reaction but martial arts are design to increase our fighting power before MA we fought like apes now we can generate more force with less effort. We also delude ourselves in technique and forms only because logically it makes sense however that logic is not sound. I believe that choreographed combat can make martial artists improve immensely in their performance not only the aesthetics but the quality of the fight will improve immensely with more analytic fighters.
In the end I guess I ranted a lot, though week, the reason behind my idea of choreographed fights is that we deserve it it is not for show or an audience, we martial artists train very hard in a very controversial medium with little to no apparent reward it is a niche, we owe to ourselves to do more and be better so that when we step on that ring we can show our opponent the respect they deserve for their hard work by doing more and expanding each others personal realities a bit further, or we are in a dire situation that requires the use of force we show just how many years were invested into that one technique and that unlike many people say martial arts are legit. For that we must do more, really exceed ourselves, I would love to see a breathtaking amicable match between a cage fighter and a tai chi practitioner because it can happen that famous video did no favors to anyone, I would love to see a karate tournament or MMA match in which the visual appeal is so great that you could confuse it for a movie scene all that can happen. We have to stop fighting amongst each other and start doing more so that we all grow, improve, and respect each other I'll start now suggesting choreographed combat and will contribute more in the future
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