The Science Of Techniques - Part III: Depending on Knowledge
When I’m discussing martial techniques and their development, refinement, and propagation I’m talking about techniques that were used to wage war. Life protection skills, not techniques used for recreation, enlightenment or competitive sport.
Like the Samurai, the European Knight, and the Sumerian--as well as warriors such as the Spartans, the Aztec, the Sioux Indians, and the Zulu Warriors--I have no time to waste, or a desire to practice fluff.
I must know I can count on my techniques, and I must know how and why they work.
It’s like learning to fire a gun at the police academy. They don’t just hand you a gun and have you fire at a target. Before you make your first shot, they teach you how a gun works, the different calibers, how to examine and take them apart, how to aim, and more. After you learn how a gun works, and the theory on how to use it, then they let you shoot it. You learn the science of firearms.
For me, knowing how and why my martial art techniques work, affords me the mindset to have faith in them, complete faith. That’s important to me because I’m relying on them to safeguard my life. If I doubt they work I won’t use them, or might hesitate at a critical moment.
Sure, when I demonstrate a technique in class I try to display a certain aesthetic quality in what I do, but not at the expense of practicality. For me that’s the “art” part of “martial arts.” However, I would rather practice something like gouging an eye, a technique I can count on in the real world, then attempt to ever do a jump spin kick.
When placed in a situation where I have to use my skills, I must know that if I strike a particular target on the body there will be a specific reaction, which can lead to another predictable follow up target. I must know that if I grab a limb and torque a joint in a certain direction, the rest of the body will move in a predictable response. I must know cause and effect. Anything less can cost me my life.
There will be no time to think and process information during the altercation. I must react instinctively. I must rely on my training, so my training has to be based on realism. It has to be based on science, and I have to truly believe that the science is valid.
The time for determining this validity is during practice, and can only be done by thoroughly investigating each and every movement, dissecting the intricacies, and repeating the techniques over and over to see if the results are the same. That’s the scientific process for any experiment.
Martial art techniques, especially those limited to unarmed fighting methods, are nothing more than a composite of numerous sciences, sciences such as physiology, physics, anatomy, psychology, etc. Understand the science, and you understand why the technique works. Why the body reacts the way it does to various stimuli.
The human body is no more than a very evolved machine. It’s designed to move in certain ways, and not in others. It has its strengths, and its weaknesses: weaknesses that if known and used properly can be exploited to their full potential.
The body is also designed with built in safeguards, which if manipulated properly can make one’s opponent move involuntarily, greatly reducing the force it takes to be effective.
Like the Samurai, the European Knight, and the Sumerian--as well as warriors such as the Spartans, the Aztec, the Sioux Indians, and the Zulu Warriors--I have no time to waste, or a desire to practice fluff.
I must know I can count on my techniques, and I must know how and why they work.
It’s like learning to fire a gun at the police academy. They don’t just hand you a gun and have you fire at a target. Before you make your first shot, they teach you how a gun works, the different calibers, how to examine and take them apart, how to aim, and more. After you learn how a gun works, and the theory on how to use it, then they let you shoot it. You learn the science of firearms.
For me, knowing how and why my martial art techniques work, affords me the mindset to have faith in them, complete faith. That’s important to me because I’m relying on them to safeguard my life. If I doubt they work I won’t use them, or might hesitate at a critical moment.
Sure, when I demonstrate a technique in class I try to display a certain aesthetic quality in what I do, but not at the expense of practicality. For me that’s the “art” part of “martial arts.” However, I would rather practice something like gouging an eye, a technique I can count on in the real world, then attempt to ever do a jump spin kick.
When placed in a situation where I have to use my skills, I must know that if I strike a particular target on the body there will be a specific reaction, which can lead to another predictable follow up target. I must know that if I grab a limb and torque a joint in a certain direction, the rest of the body will move in a predictable response. I must know cause and effect. Anything less can cost me my life.
There will be no time to think and process information during the altercation. I must react instinctively. I must rely on my training, so my training has to be based on realism. It has to be based on science, and I have to truly believe that the science is valid.
The time for determining this validity is during practice, and can only be done by thoroughly investigating each and every movement, dissecting the intricacies, and repeating the techniques over and over to see if the results are the same. That’s the scientific process for any experiment.
Martial art techniques, especially those limited to unarmed fighting methods, are nothing more than a composite of numerous sciences, sciences such as physiology, physics, anatomy, psychology, etc. Understand the science, and you understand why the technique works. Why the body reacts the way it does to various stimuli.
The human body is no more than a very evolved machine. It’s designed to move in certain ways, and not in others. It has its strengths, and its weaknesses: weaknesses that if known and used properly can be exploited to their full potential.
The body is also designed with built in safeguards, which if manipulated properly can make one’s opponent move involuntarily, greatly reducing the force it takes to be effective.
<< Home