I saw this illustration from the Bubishi in a recent thread by @Dudi Nisan in this thread:
The General Tian Bubishi
It brought me to a thought I wanted to share, but didn't want to disrupt his thread. So I am highjacking his posted image and starting a new thread.
Many have argued that book learning martial arts is possible. Many have argued that it is not. I tend to be one in the latter camp. I have found that a drawing or a photograph (or even a video or a written account) of a particular technique is difficult to turn into a valid and effective technique without proper in-person instruction from an instructor and has to be refined with a resisting partner.
One may learn gross movements from a drawing or a photo, but the micro-adjustments, the timing, the balance, the breathing, the fine motor skills required to make it work are simply not transmitted well enough to be learned properly. It creates a false sense of security, one that is quickly and easily blown through on the first real test. And yes, I've tested 'I learned this on Youtube' techniques thrown against me, and yes, they fell apart in a half-second. Nice try, but no, complete garbage, don't do that unless you like being dead.
However...
When I looked at the drawing above, I realized that with the benefit of experience, I could see things that I would never have seen as a beginner.
I took note of every aspect of the two fighters. What are they doing, where are their hands, their feet, where are they looking, what posture do they have? Center of gravity? Balance? Breathing?
If we consider that the drawing is an accurate representation of what is actually happening and not an artist's interpretation, then every single aspect of the drawing is significant. Drawing on my experience (note that I said 'experience' and not 'expertise' for I am not an expert), I see little details.
For example:
1) The attacker (red color) is stepping forward. Notice his right foot in the air. That is probably not a kick, but a step. Why do I think that? Because his right hand is punching.
2) Right hand is punching or grabbing, in a palm-up configuration. I tend to think punching because the fingers are closed, but it could be grabbing because the outside grab the defender makes is difficult to do with as a defense to a punch. Grabbing a grab, so to speak, is relatively easy by comparison.
3) The defender has stepped in to the attack, but turned sideways to it.
4) Defender has lowered his stance to get his center of gravity below that of his attacker. This (interesting side-note) extends his reach as well, as it unlocks his hips.
5) Thumb position is important. The defender has used his hand configuration on his left hand to lock the opponent's wrist. Do you see it? That wrist cannot turn easily now, and will be hard to retract as it is held close to the defender's body, where he has leverage. As long as the defender's stance is strong (it is) and he does not let his left elbow come up (he has it in close), the attacker isn't going anywhere.
The right hand thumb is pressing on the lower lip and teeth of the attacker. It took me awhile to figure out what was going on here. I was able to confirm that the drawing is actually an exact representation of the technique by performing it on a willing opponent in my dojo, on the floor. I pressed, he howled. He did the same to me; yep, it hurts like fury. Takes very little pressure to produce eye-watering pain.
6) Incidentally, the opponent's right is blocked by the position of the defender's arm, and he is effectively incapacitated by the pain in his lower lip anyway. Look at his eyes. His head is tilted slightly up, he's looking over the top of the defender.
7) Speaking of eyes, look at the defender's eyes. He is not looking at the attacker, he is looking where the attacker is about to go. His head is down and level.
8) Now comes the meat and potatoes. The knee strike. The defender is performing three techniques at the exact same time. However, these are all possible because none of them take him out of his frame. He is inside his stance, he is rooted to the ground, and he has full control of everything his attacker could use on him. The defender's right knee strikes the attacker's inside left knee, hard. There is a nerve cluster there, and he's zapping it. I know (again, experience) that it does not take massive power to disable the leg by striking it there. A huge hit and you won't be walking on that for a bit. He is aided by the fact that the attacker's leg is still in the air, but only slightly; the attacker is in the process of transferring his weight to it. The defender's simultaneous hard press on the attacker's lip ensures the attacker does not see the knee strike coming. The wrist lock ensures the attacker cannot withdraw from the attack, he is committed to being were he is. He is going to get what's coming to him, like it or not.
Again, I tested this in the dojo with a willing, resisting, partner. We are both experienced enough to understand what we think is happening in the drawing, and as we tested it, we validated how it must have worked. We both believe we can incorporate this into our training. It's a valid technique.
Conclusion:
My experience (not expertise) leads me to believe that I have indeed 'learned from a book' in this sense. However, I do not for a moment believe that my interpretation must be the correct or even the only one. I may be wrong. However, even in my wrongness, the technique I think is being shown does in fact work.
A few years ago, it would just be a drawing. I'd have been unable to properly understand what it was trying to say, and equally unable to decipher how to test my theory or put it to use effectively.
I strongly believe that if the person(s) responsible for the original drawing would somehow appear before me, they'd have quite a bit to say about how wrong I am regarding all of this, and show me what it was really all about. But since they are not, this is what I have managed to piece together.
So given that yes, I can understand it (I think) and put it to use (I think), I can say it is possible to learn from a drawing. But I cannot overstate the importance of experience. Without it, I would not be able to do any of the above. For a beginner, no matter how smart or motivated they might be, I still sincerely doubt that such is possible.
The General Tian Bubishi
It brought me to a thought I wanted to share, but didn't want to disrupt his thread. So I am highjacking his posted image and starting a new thread.
Many have argued that book learning martial arts is possible. Many have argued that it is not. I tend to be one in the latter camp. I have found that a drawing or a photograph (or even a video or a written account) of a particular technique is difficult to turn into a valid and effective technique without proper in-person instruction from an instructor and has to be refined with a resisting partner.
One may learn gross movements from a drawing or a photo, but the micro-adjustments, the timing, the balance, the breathing, the fine motor skills required to make it work are simply not transmitted well enough to be learned properly. It creates a false sense of security, one that is quickly and easily blown through on the first real test. And yes, I've tested 'I learned this on Youtube' techniques thrown against me, and yes, they fell apart in a half-second. Nice try, but no, complete garbage, don't do that unless you like being dead.
However...
When I looked at the drawing above, I realized that with the benefit of experience, I could see things that I would never have seen as a beginner.
I took note of every aspect of the two fighters. What are they doing, where are their hands, their feet, where are they looking, what posture do they have? Center of gravity? Balance? Breathing?
If we consider that the drawing is an accurate representation of what is actually happening and not an artist's interpretation, then every single aspect of the drawing is significant. Drawing on my experience (note that I said 'experience' and not 'expertise' for I am not an expert), I see little details.
For example:
1) The attacker (red color) is stepping forward. Notice his right foot in the air. That is probably not a kick, but a step. Why do I think that? Because his right hand is punching.
2) Right hand is punching or grabbing, in a palm-up configuration. I tend to think punching because the fingers are closed, but it could be grabbing because the outside grab the defender makes is difficult to do with as a defense to a punch. Grabbing a grab, so to speak, is relatively easy by comparison.
3) The defender has stepped in to the attack, but turned sideways to it.
4) Defender has lowered his stance to get his center of gravity below that of his attacker. This (interesting side-note) extends his reach as well, as it unlocks his hips.
5) Thumb position is important. The defender has used his hand configuration on his left hand to lock the opponent's wrist. Do you see it? That wrist cannot turn easily now, and will be hard to retract as it is held close to the defender's body, where he has leverage. As long as the defender's stance is strong (it is) and he does not let his left elbow come up (he has it in close), the attacker isn't going anywhere.
The right hand thumb is pressing on the lower lip and teeth of the attacker. It took me awhile to figure out what was going on here. I was able to confirm that the drawing is actually an exact representation of the technique by performing it on a willing opponent in my dojo, on the floor. I pressed, he howled. He did the same to me; yep, it hurts like fury. Takes very little pressure to produce eye-watering pain.
6) Incidentally, the opponent's right is blocked by the position of the defender's arm, and he is effectively incapacitated by the pain in his lower lip anyway. Look at his eyes. His head is tilted slightly up, he's looking over the top of the defender.
7) Speaking of eyes, look at the defender's eyes. He is not looking at the attacker, he is looking where the attacker is about to go. His head is down and level.
8) Now comes the meat and potatoes. The knee strike. The defender is performing three techniques at the exact same time. However, these are all possible because none of them take him out of his frame. He is inside his stance, he is rooted to the ground, and he has full control of everything his attacker could use on him. The defender's right knee strikes the attacker's inside left knee, hard. There is a nerve cluster there, and he's zapping it. I know (again, experience) that it does not take massive power to disable the leg by striking it there. A huge hit and you won't be walking on that for a bit. He is aided by the fact that the attacker's leg is still in the air, but only slightly; the attacker is in the process of transferring his weight to it. The defender's simultaneous hard press on the attacker's lip ensures the attacker does not see the knee strike coming. The wrist lock ensures the attacker cannot withdraw from the attack, he is committed to being were he is. He is going to get what's coming to him, like it or not.
Again, I tested this in the dojo with a willing, resisting, partner. We are both experienced enough to understand what we think is happening in the drawing, and as we tested it, we validated how it must have worked. We both believe we can incorporate this into our training. It's a valid technique.
Conclusion:
My experience (not expertise) leads me to believe that I have indeed 'learned from a book' in this sense. However, I do not for a moment believe that my interpretation must be the correct or even the only one. I may be wrong. However, even in my wrongness, the technique I think is being shown does in fact work.
A few years ago, it would just be a drawing. I'd have been unable to properly understand what it was trying to say, and equally unable to decipher how to test my theory or put it to use effectively.
I strongly believe that if the person(s) responsible for the original drawing would somehow appear before me, they'd have quite a bit to say about how wrong I am regarding all of this, and show me what it was really all about. But since they are not, this is what I have managed to piece together.
So given that yes, I can understand it (I think) and put it to use (I think), I can say it is possible to learn from a drawing. But I cannot overstate the importance of experience. Without it, I would not be able to do any of the above. For a beginner, no matter how smart or motivated they might be, I still sincerely doubt that such is possible.
