Ouroboros - The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail

[Bill Mattocks]

Many ancient cultures and mythologies had a concept identical to or very similar to that of the Ouroboros, or the snake that is continually eating its own tail.

The idea is one of regeneration, of eternity, and of the connectedness of all things. Energy can be neither created nor destroyed, it merely changes forms and moves from place to place.

How does this relate to martial arts? Consider how many empty-hand based arts that deal with flow and redirection, circles and cycles. We absorb attacks, we redirect energy, we return power, we move in circles.

Everything is a cycle, and cycles are circles.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Many ancient cultures and mythologies had a concept identical to or very similar to that of the Ouroboros, or the snake that is continually eating its own tail.

The idea is one of regeneration, of eternity, and of the connectedness of all things. Energy can be neither created nor destroyed, it merely changes forms and moves from place to place.

How does this relate to martial arts? Consider how many empty-hand based arts that deal with flow and redirection, circles and cycles. We absorb attacks, we redirect energy, we return power, we move in circles.

Everything is a cycle, and cycles are circles.

Some of my recent dabblings have included looking at movements and techniques I once considered very linear. In most (perhaps all, eventually) I find there's a cycle (so, as you said, a circle) of some sort that's part of the control. When we generate power for a straight punch, we use our hips and shoulders in a circular fashion. When I apply linear force against someone's head as they move at me in a linear fashion (a shove is an easy example), I change their motion to create a circle between their head and knees. If I apply that force to a shoulder or arm, instead, the angle of the circle changes, sometimes shifting to completely horizontal.

I tend to teach spirals instead of circles, to get students to move in the right plane, but it's all circles.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Some of my recent dabblings have included looking at movements and techniques I once considered very linear. In most (perhaps all, eventually) I find there's a cycle (so, as you said, a circle) of some sort that's part of the control. When we generate power for a straight punch, we use our hips and shoulders in a circular fashion. When I apply linear force against someone's head as they move at me in a linear fashion (a shove is an easy example), I change their motion to create a circle between their head and knees. If I apply that force to a shoulder or arm, instead, the angle of the circle changes, sometimes shifting to completely horizontal.

I tend to teach spirals instead of circles, to get students to move in the right plane, but it's all circles.

Even when it seems linear, as you said. Even breathing, blood flow, our nervous system, it is all circular. We entangle our cycles with those of our opponent; grasp the handle and their circles are your circles. I conceptualize this more easily than I can do it, but I am working on it.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Even when it seems linear, as you said. Even breathing, blood flow, our nervous system, it is all circular. We entangle our cycles with those of our opponent; grasp the handle and their circles are your circles. I conceptualize this more easily than I can do it, but I am working on it.

I don't do it as well as I once thought I did. But I'm better at it than I used to be.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

their circles are your circles.

Your opponent's

- push can be your pull.
- pull can be your push.
- circle can be your circle,
- ...

The risk of this approach is you may fall into your opponent's trap. IMO, the best counter for

- circle is the straight line.
- straight line is the circle.

The reason is simple. You want to interrupt your opponent's plan and take your control back.

 

[punisher73]

Another way to look at it is the never ending cycle of attack/counterattack and then counterattacking that.

Put in easier terms every counter has a counter.

In many arts, you learn the "attack" (wrist lock for example) before learning the "defense" to the wrist lock. If taught properly, you will learn how to attack using the wrist lock before learning how to defend against it. If you never learn to actually attack with it, then your defense will be lacking because you don't recognize the signs of the attack. Many call this process "feeding you the attack" to attack in the proper method so you can actually defend it (side note: my biggest pet peeve when people are "defending" against punches to the face that are aimed to the side or so short that you need to do nothing to be safe.)

I could be way off as well...

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Your opponent's

- push can be your pull.
- pull can be your push.
- circle can be your circle,
- ...

The risk of this approach is you may fall into your opponent's trap. IMO, the best counter for

- circle is the straight line.
- straight line is the circle.

The reason is simple. You want to interrupt your opponent's plan and take your control back.

Our approach is usually to change their circle. So, rather than their circle becoming ours, our circle becomes theirs, whether they want it or not.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

(side note: my biggest pet peeve when people are "defending" against punches to the face that are aimed to the side or so short that you need to do nothing to be safe.)

I'm with you on that. I've been known to just stop and let the punch go to wherever it was going, then ask them to try again.

 

[FireSnake]

In terms of cycles, I have a fondness for Nietzsche's concept of the eternal return, which is not the return of the same, but different. If we can put that in loosely practical terms, it can be considered the different ways by which energy is redirected as materialized in the form chosen. Or, even if the form is the same, training that improves skill permits us to disperse and redirect that energy with ever minimal loss (countering a punch with a punch without expending "wasted" energy - taking from the hip as opposed to the shoulder, for example).

It is not the way Nietzsche intended his concept to be interpreted, but it does allow for a kind of cycle that can explain change as opposed to repetition. /metaphysical ramble over

 

[Balrog]

Everything is a cycle, and cycles are circles.

And let's not forget the circle of knowledge. We start out knowing nothing. We learn from others. We grow and flourish. We then turn around and pass our knowledge on to others, just like our teachers passed it on to us.