11.1 Ambidexterity
I would like to expand the 6.2 idea of Musashi of knowing how to use any weapon. I would like to apply this idea on the weak side of the body. It is wrong to prefer one side of the body over the other. We can never know what will happen and when we might need to use the weaker side. It is possible to improve the weaker hand skills by equal training for both sides and by performing everyday tasks such as eating and writing with the weaker hand.
Some people are born with high ambidexterity level, some are born with cross-dexterity and most are born with preferred side. In the last case, where there is no born ambidexterity, the weak side will never be as skilled as the preferred side, but it does not mean that it does not need to be trained or need to be neglected. On the contrary, it needed to be trained harder.
At East Asia there have been developed a culture of right handed, even if you were born left handed, you had to learn how to be a right handed, this is due to the use of the left hand for cleaning body wastes. Happily, we are not living in such an era where it is necessary, thus I support training both sides and even try and mirror-flip the forms to the left side (this is much harder than you can presume).
11.2 Aggression
This is my definition of aggression as I understand it and the way I mean it in this book.
Aggression is neither rage nor fury. Speed is changing of body position in space in dependence with time. Agility is changing of body state (pose and limbs) in space in dependence with time.
Aggression is a combination of speed with agility and intention. The action is in not involved with any feeling, just a mode of motion. Example:
You are in a situation where you want to close the range, if you move without intention and without the will to continue regardless your opponent's response you will be easily stopped by the opponent. However, if you will be focusing on not stopping and penetrating the defenses, you will move fast and be focused – this is aggression.
There are strikes that are defined as aggression requiring (fast and focused all body movement), such are knee strikes and elbow strikes.
Aggression is not looking for combats, but a mode of motion and focusing.
Aggression demands great focusing and effort from the body, thus it is very tiring tool. If you like, you can address it as the chargeable strike in computer games.
The source of aggression is in the ground, by nailing the legs (or any other member) into the ground and exploding.
11.3 Intention, Focus, Target and Target Image
In practice as in a combat, it is required to intent the movement. Intention in movement is an outcome of the complete understanding of the action, how it is performed and why, what are the consequences and what the possibilities are. A movement that is performed without intention teaches us nothing and causes us to learn mistakes and false confidence with a technic that does not necessary work. For example, a little guy that takes down a big and heavy fellow, if he will not completely intend his action and will not perform the take down with a reality intention, will not be able to perform this take down in a real situation, where there is no collaboration of the partner.
Same is with basic striking technics such as kicks and punches. If we strike the air with no intention, it is looks and effective the same. We must imagine ourselves a target and focus the strikes towards it. The focusing and intention allow us to improve the speed and the motoric, for example, flex or point while kicking and the speed of kicks and punches.
The principle of target imagining works also for distances for focusing and balance. What do I mean? If you imagine that the strike continues far and if you focus yourself with the eye sight to a far target, so the effect of the strike will also continue and not stop on impact, also the balance of kick will improve, because of that the far intention causes to stretch the body properly.
Intention is a key subject in martial arts. Half of all the practice is within the practitioner head and not in the body.
11.4 Intention and Presence
The ends (fingers, for example) show the direction of our intention, the intention itself transmit something to that direction.that something is our presence. When we drop our weight, we put our presence at the spot. When we are opening a structure, we are deploying our presence. When we are taking action into several directions simultaneously, we are presence at all those places at the same time.
11.5 Flowing
Flowing is in fact a smooth transition between universal technics and combining them without preplanning. The key for flowing is not to stagnate and not to be stubborn and try and force the reality into something it is not (move like water), not to act with force against force, but use movement, no stops and not getting hard. Of course we will not always wish to flow, we will also wish to strike directly, push, etc. however, in case we are stuck, it is better to flow vie position changing and bypassing movement.
11.6 Round Movement, Angular Direction and the Wind Rosette
There are several movement modes:
Wind rosette directions, in this mode the movement is in the wind rosette directions, which means forwards, backwards, right, left and 45 degrees forwards and backwards. This mode of movement characterize long range situation, when our outer circle is tangent to the opponent's outer circle.
Circling around the opponent, the Ba-Gua style is the Standard-bearer of this mode of movement, in which we are circling around the opponent, the opponent is in the center of the circle. In this movement mode we are on the outer circle of the opponent, while the opponent is in our inner circle. The movement is spiral, but is it possible to break the range and the movement in linear lines that cut the outer circle of the opponent (strings).
Circle around ourselves, in this mod of movement we are the heart of the spiral. Aikido is a style that is characterized by this mode of movement. In this mode we will try to divert and deflect any movement of the opponent, in a circular way, where we are the axis of the rotational movement. This does not mean that we are static, but that the movement of the opponents is circling us. In this mode we usually are in the inner circle of the opponent, the opponent can be in our inner or outer circle (in case of a throw, for example).
11.7 Personal Suitability of Style and Drills
Each and every one of us has a different body, different abilities, different thinking, thus what is suitable for one will not necessary work for another. When teaching, it is possible to adjust the application for different students, for example it is illogical to insist that someone very tall will throw someone very short just for the application, this is illogical and teaches a wrong thinking pattern, on the contrary, the doing need to be adjusted for the student in order for him to gain the maximum out of it, maximum principles and applicability for the student.
11.8 Single \ Pair Practice
It is important to practice in these both modes.
Single practice allows focusing the practice on basics, forms, force development and personal study.
Pair practice allows trying applications and ideas that came up during the single practice. Pair practice allows practicing fights, flowing and challenge ourselves with a more experienced, fast and skilled opponent, it allows to practice against another consciousness and only this way one can practice changing in fight and uncertainty.
11.9 Predator, Hunter
There are situations when you will want to be alert. It can be caused by staying in an isolated or danger place, or general feeling of danger or a real actual or potential threat that you have spotted, such as in a military activity or walking down a hostile street (because you have to go this street and not because you love to gamble with death), or in case you are really lucky and it happens to be that you are Batman.
These situations require a certain state of mind, a state of mind of a hunter or a predator (or a man hunter, the hardest pray of all). This state of mind is characterized with enhanced awareness to the surrounding. True, it is better always to be aware of the surrounding however the state of mind of the hunter is on the edge of being neurotic and paranoiac (even if you are right and there is really someone after you), thus it is forbidden to stay in this state of mind all the time. In this state of mind, we are looking for threats, constantly scanning with the eyes, the ears and the nose. Every person that is passing near us is scanned in a blink of an eye for weaknesses and possible threats on us. We scan if they are armed, strong, weak, with piercings, long hair, etc. in the state of the hunter we perform, parallel to the people scan, a constant environment scanning for threats, possible weapons, escape points, IED (military option), safety weak points (such as oily and slippery places).
The scanning itself is a skill that is gained with years of practice and analytical thinking in combination with intuition. The scanning becomes natural and performed even before it is thought of, but only after entering the state of the hunter deliberately. Again, it is forbidden to stay in the state of the hunter all the time, this is on the edge of psychosis.
There are styles that base the spirit of fighting on fear and anger. This can cause a constant staying in the hunter state and can prevent of rational thinking in a real situation. In my point of view, we try to act without fear, out of a void of feelings and in a complete equanimity.
11.10 Unorthodox Actions
Sometime we might get a situation where we cannot advance in the fight to nowhere. It is o.k. but is it forbidden to stay there, since the outcome will be inevitable defeat.
Performing an unorthodox action is using the element of surprise in order to take an advantage. The idea is to use the pattern that most people have in mind about how a fight should be and look like. These actions are getting the opponent out of balance and even if they are not efficient by themselves, they give us the time in which the opponent is confused and we have the initiative.
Sometimes these actions can be really "wrong" and even be called stupid, but they are working due to the surprise effect that is caused by the "wrongness" and "stupidity".
Here are several examples for such actions:
· Getting low and punching the opponent in the abs from below
· Jumping and attacking with all the body
· Suddenly getting down and rolling
· Role with low 360 kick
· Rolling on the side between the opponents legs as if you are a log
· Sudden shout
These are just examples. Sometime it works, sometimes id does not. The idea is to be unpredictable.
11.11 Images in Fighting
Sometimes holding an image can change the way we move and fight. For example, an image on a monkey will cause us to be more jumpy and we can climb the opponent like a tree.
Another image I like to hold is that of me holding to knives in a backward grip. It changes the entire movement.
11.12 Using the Finger in a Spatial Movement Training
Ok, I know - bad title. I got this idea by watching Masters Su Dong Chen and Luo De Xio. They are using the pointing finger to apply a direction of movement, wherever the finger points, they move, and in the same way that the finger pointed. By using two hands it can feel as being in two places simultaneously.
My kung-fu brother Ariel Jodorkovski noticed that the directions are in the edges and ht force generation is at the core.
11.13 Self Weakening and Opponent Weakening
As I figured out from a workshop with Master Luo De Xio, there is not always a need to be superior to the opponent, not it is always possible. The alternative is to make the opponent weaker, thus making him inferior to us. This can be done by using angles, for breaking the force vector, or by softening that can neutralize hardness, etc.
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