MARTIAL ARTS; THE FIVE STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT STAGES FOUR AND FIVE

 by Phillip Starr

*Excerpted from “Martial Maneuvers” by the author. If you don't already have a copy, use some of your beer money to get one now!

STAGE FOUR

THE STAGE OF EMPTINESS

The fourth stage is the “Stage of Emptiness.” Your mind is free of thoughts about an opponent and simply acts like a mirror, which accurately reflects his movements and thoughts. You no longer concern yourself with the fact that there even IS an opponent. When he approaches, you join with him and become one.

When you practice by yourself, your mind is more involved in the training than your body. This isn't to say that your body doesn't move or sweat. It does but but you are unconcerned with it because you know within your heart that what it does is correct and you don't have to concern yourself with it any longer. Your mind and body have become one. At the instant that the mind orders it, the body is already there. This is the stage of “empty mind” and most martial arts practitioners don't even know that it exists. Body, mind, and energy have become one entity. Everything is effortless, and when the enemy tries to strike you, it is as if he is trying to hit his own shadow...

STAGE FIVE

BEGINNER'S MIND

The fifth stage is that of the “Beginner's Mind”, which is also called “Ordinary Mind” or “Original Mind.” Technique has been forgotten and the mind returns to its original condition, as it was before you started learning (martial arts). It sees and acts clearly and you are in perfect harmony with the universe, it's laws, and the laws of God; you adhere to them without effort and without concern for them. By doing nothing everything is achieved naturally and without conscious effort.

Knowing these five stages is actually the first stage towards mastery. You have to know where you're going if you're ever going to arrive there.

MARTIAL ARTS; THE FIVE STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT STAGES ONE, TWO, AND THREE

 by Phillip Starr

STAGE ONE

*Excerpted from “Martial Maneuvers” by the author. If you don't already have a copy, use some of your beer money to get one now!

If you tell an untrained person to defend herself and then commence to attack her, she will respond naturally and with no thought of technique or principles. Her only consideration is staying alive and either fighting back or running away. But when she begins to study a given martial art her mind becomes obstructed by many other things.

STAGE ONE

THE STAGE OF TECHNIQUE

The beginning martial arts student concerns herself with the various techniques and stances, how to hold her eyes, how to move and execute the various forms, and so on. This is the “Stage of Technique,” a training phase through which all of us must pass. Sadly, the vast majority of students never move beyond this stage. It is extremely demanding and there is a great deal of material that must be committed to memory. The training that occurs during this phase must necessarily be very rigorous because if it is otherwise, the student's techniques will never develop and they will be of little practical value when the chips are down.

The fact is that because many martial arts instructors have never progressed beyond this stage themselves, they are incapable of taking anyone else beyond it. Their minds are focused on what their bodies are doing. When they execute a punch or a kick they are mindful that is has to be done just so – and that's correct. When they engage in a match or a fighting drill they concentrate their minds on what the opponent is doing and what they will do to respond - whether they will attack or employ defensive maneuvers. When they strike (at) the opponent they allow their minds to become attached to what they are doing. They concentrate on on how to execute their techniques correctly or they focus that they are, in fact, striking the opponent. They think, “There! I've punched/kicked him!” This is focusing the mind on the opponent and on what the body is doing. It's a necessary part of (beginning) training but if you are to truly develop a high level of skill, you must move beyond it...

STAGE TWO

THE STAGE OF PRINCIPLE

Only by practicing the most fundamental techniques many, many times can this stage be reached. Just a handful of students will make it this far. They no longer have to consciously think about how to do the myriad techniques, stances, and maneuvers; these things have become a natural part of them and they understand the underlying principles. Technique has become “no-technique.” They understand the principles taught in their forms and no longer need to concern themselves with doing the techniques correctly. Their movements and techniques, after having been practiced repeatedly, are naturally correct. All the practitioner sees are the (internal) principles rather than the external forms of the principles.

After reaching this stage, some students misunderstand what is happening in their minds and perceptions and come to believe that there is really “no technique.” However, there's a difference between “no technique” and “no-technique.”

In the case of the former, there really is no technique at all. This doesn't mean it's correct; in fact, it's grossly incorrect. One has tossed away one's training. It probably results from failure to thoroughly realize the “Stage of Technique” and practice adequately.

In the case of the latter, one has transcended external technique and come to understand the principles underlying body movement. So, the external manifestations of this understanding is correct technique, which appears as needed without conscious thought or even awareness. It goes without saying that if you have practiced incorrectly from the beginning, this stage cannot be reached. There are underlying principles regarding correct movement, per se, and you cannot possibly come to the higher level of understanding if your foundation is flawed.

STAGE THREE

THE STAGE OF NO-MIND

Passing beyond the “Stage of Principle” occurs naturally and cannot be forced. It happens when the mind is ready and you've given up aspiring to achieve it. This is why very few people ever reach it. If you try to achieve it, it will slip away and, although you may think you've got it, you actually have nothing. It's like trying to grasp the moon on the water. You may think you've captured the moon but your hand comes away wet and empty, and what you saw was just an illusion, anyway.

This stage is not so much concerned with technique as it is with how you respond to your opponent. If your previous training has been both correct and thorough your actions will not run contrary to it, so you are free to focus on the opponent rather than on yourself, as is done in the last two stages.

You mustn't allow your mind to fix itself on thoughts of winning or losing, living or dying, or even effectively defending yourself. Otherwise, your mind will be unable to move freely and spontaneously because it is fixed on something. And if you think, “I will not think of these things”, you're thinking of something and you're no better off.

Some so-called “masters” like to act and speak as though they've reached this stage but very few people ever do. It is beyond technique and beyond principle. It's the stage of “no-mind”, wherein your movements have become principles but you're no longer concerned with them. It is the stage of engaging the enemy without thought of what you will do or what you won't do. You look into his mind and act accordingly.

The mind is without form itself; it manifests itself through the body. The body is directed by the mind. If you have advanced knowledge of a general's strategy (mind), you can easily defeat his troops (his body and techniques)... but only if you keep your intentions secret until the last moment.

-More Next Time!-

EATING BITTER AND TRADITIONAL TRAINING

 by Phillip Starr

In the practice of contemporary martial arts there is a tendency for instructors and students to shy away from any training routine that involves the possibility of much discomfort or injury. This is only natural; as human beings we usually don't usually flock to engage in activities that are inherently painful or risky and we tend to take a hard look at those "weirdos" who do.

I recall watching a group of students practice one-step fighting in a particular martial arts school some years ago. The attacker would step back into the usual pre-attack position, executing a snappy low block as he did so. When the receiver was ready to perform his defensive maneuver he would utter a strong qi-he (kiai) and the attacker would execute a powerful lunging thrust. The receiver would step back, block the attack, and deliver a crisp counter-attack.

Sound familiar? Sure, it does. It's the usual one-step fighting drill. Except for one thing...

The participants were standing at least eight feet apart. When the receiver executed his blocking technique he never touched the aggressor's arm! And when he counter-punched his fist was at least four feet away from the attacker's body!

Naturally, I asked the instructor why the students didn't touch each other at all during this common training exercise. He told me that he didn't want them to bruise their arms or risk striking each other if their blows weren't adequately controlled.

Good Lord.

Well, these folks will be in great shape if they're ever attacked by a strong gust of wind.

Now, don't get me wrong. I certainly don't advocate uncontrolled violence as a training tool. I remember visiting another martial arts school whose members engaged in full-contact sparring within two weeks of enrollment! The neophytes, who had no real knowledge of martial arts technique, were thrown to the lions (the more experienced students) like so much raw meat. To say they got the stuffing pounded out of them would be a serious understatement. The instructor reasoned that if one wanted to become skilled at fighting one had to know what it is like to get hit. Students were told that they had to learn to keep going even if they'd been struck very forcefully because this is what "real combat is like."

Good thing they didn't teach swordsmanship.

Certainly, I believe that students need to develop strong technique and a strong spirit through rigorous training. The key word in that sentence is rigorous. I believe that real martial arts technique and spirit cannot be understood or developed except through the application of controlled violence.

Beginning students are unable to understand this concept and it has to be presented to them very gradually. But as they grow and develop their skills, they must learn to accept this fact and train accordingly. Violence is, after all, why the martial arts were originally developed. They were not cultivated to help their followers discover their "inner child", as a panacea for various ailments, or for thrilling audiences.

I recently told my students that they would learn much more from pain and discomfort than they ever would from sheltered contentment. In traditional Japanese martial arts there is a term describing this type of practice. It is nangyo (in Chinese, nanhang). It refers to hardship (nan) and a road which is traveled by many people, perhaps a crossroads. This is an accepted part of the traditional martial ways; a necessary ingredient for the development of true skill and understanding. The Chinese usually refer to this particular aspect of training as qi-ku (literally, "eat bitter").

In contrast to the aforementioned karate school wherein participants never touched each other, the former head of the Japan Karate Association, Master Masatoshi Nakayama (dec.), recalled that when he was training under Master Gichin Funakoshi during his college years his arms would be so sore and bruised from blocking his partner's attacks that he could hardly lift them. Another kendo master spoke of being struck so hard on the front of his helmet (men) that it knocked him to his knees and splintered his partner's shinai.

Students of the legendary Morihei Uyeshiba (founder of aikido) recalled how his vise-like grip would leave bruises on their wrists and Americans who trained in judo under the revered Kyuzo Mifune spoke of being thrown so hard that they were rendered unconscious. My own teacher, Master W. C. Chen, remembered seeing exhausted classmates bow, run out of the drill line, and vomit.

Some of these things would be considered a tad excessive by today's standards but it gives you an idea of what traditional training was like "back in the day." It was not done because the instructor was a sadistic brute who wanted to puff out his machismo for all the world to see (although such instructors, if that term can be applied to them, have always existed). The instructor's first and only concern was for the students, to help them develop real skill as opposed to something that only looks good but has no real internal substance.

In time, students develop a strong sense of self-confidence. They don't fear being attacked because that happens every night that they attend class. Some years ago one of my students was forced to defend himself against what I call an "Americanus Vomitus" (otherwise known as a common "puke"). When he told me about it he smiled and said, "I wasn't really afraid of the guy at all. Heck, I get punched at by professionals at least three times a week in the training hall!"

For the teachers of the traditional budo ("martial ways"; in Chinese, wu-dao) it's a delicate balance; how far to push the students and keep the violence inherent within the martial arts under control. Naturally, no competent teacher wants to see a student get hurt but some minor injuries are unavoidable and to be expected. Anyone who's spent much time in the martial arts has had his or her fair share of split lips, strawberries, bruises, and the like. Some have even broken a small bone or two. It happens; it's simply the nature of the beast and a necessary part of the developmental processes of the budo. But it is the responsibility of the instructor and senior students to do their best to ensure that the violence never escalates beyond a certain level.

As a student's skill increases the attacks he faces in the training hall must be more realistic until, at an advanced level, they are real. That is, if he fails to perform his defensive maneuver correctly he may well be knocked on his tail.

At the same time, students must (gradually) learn that a bloody lip isn't the end of the world and it's still possible to continue training even after getting smacked in the ribs. Qi-ku.

CONSISTENCY IN TRAINING

 by Phillip Starr

If you aspire to develop superior skill; if you want to produce the very best students, there's one great secret to doing it...CONSISTENCY! You may think that that's easy enough to understand. After all, “consistency” means “regularity”, right? Well, yes...but consistency in training infers much more than simply attending class on a regular basis.

For one thing, it refers to the regular repetition of basic techniques. In my classes, students would drill the SAME basic techniques in every class for a week; we didn't drill different techniques in each class to make it more “fun.” Having fun is fine but not to the detriment of learning and developing real skill. If different techniques are drilled in each class it's next to impossible for students to really “internalize” any techniques. Their attention and effort is always changing. So we practiced the same set of techniques for a week. The techniques used for drill (which was practiced in every class) were listed and selectively chosen for various reasons. They weren't picked out just willy-nilly. And once the cycle (of techniques used for drills) was completed – which took about 6 weeks – we started all over again. And we always (and I mean ALWAYS) started off with a reverse punch and a front snap kick. I told my students that if they trained with me for the next 20 years, they'd always begin with these same two fundamental techniques.

And as students repeated the cycle over and over, I'd “tweak” the technique and body movement of the more senior students... and when I ran out of things to tweak, I'd start it all over again. AND the seniors would discover things that they'd missed the first or second or third (ad infinitum) times around. They came to understand the method behind my madness.

Consistency.

It was the same with forms. Each group (beginners, intermediates, advanced, and black belt) would practice a given form every class for a week. And I'd “tweak” those who were ready for it...

Fighting drills, which were practiced in nearly every class right after practice of basic techniques, allowed for some variation. The fighting drills were forms of one-step or freestyle one-step (see my book, “MARTIAL MANEUVERS”) that taught all of the tactics that we employ. Again, this was done cyclically. Over and over and over. And I would ensure that the way in which each tactic was employed in a given class made use of the basic techniques that we had drilled at the beginning of class.

If, for instance, we drilled a side thrust kick as one of the basics for the week, I'd try to make certain that at least 2 of the 3 tactics that we practiced would also employ a side thrust kick. The students enjoyed it and didn't notice that they were firing off dozens of side thrust kicks in class. And by the end of the week (they'd attend class three times weekly), they'd executed that kick many, many times in a variety of ways! This works much better than simply telling students to do 200 or 300 side kicks. If you do that, they get bored PDQ (that's “pretty damned quick” for you rednecks out there) and then their attention and yi (intention) wanders. In that case, they may as well not do the kick at all

Everything was set to “dovetail” very nicely. It was always CONSISTENT. For instance, if one tactic involved stepping off at a forward angle to evade the opponent's blow, what techniques could best be applied? And because we also taught grappling techniques, it was necessary that they get in lots of practice with those, too. In such a (tactical) movement, what throws or joint twists were most applicable? How could the kicks, punches, strikes, and grappling techniques be readily applied sequentially? Then the students practice those for a week. Developing this kind of training regimen wasn't easy. In fact, it took me a very long time but it worked exceedingly well.

It may not sound like it was much fun but believe me, it was! The students thoroughly enjoyed training in this way while they made good progress through progressive, consistent training. One of the biggest secrets to learning lies in how the material is taught. If the teacher presents it and practices it in a mundane manner, the students will quickly become bored. They lose their enthusiasm and their progress will suffer. On the other hand, if the instructor is enthusiastic and excited, so will the students be. This is one of the most important keys... but like everything else in training, it has to be consistent!

COILING POWER AND THE GRAPPLING ARTS

 by Phillip Starr

Some time ago, I was visiting with a martial arts instructor who taught a form of grappling. The subject of “coiling power” (aka. “chansi-jin”; see my book, “Developing Jin”) came up and he expressed some doubt that it could be applied to his particular discipline. I disagreed...the fact is that although coiling power can't be applied to all grappling techniques (just as it cannot necessarily be applied to all striking and kicking techniques), it can easily be applied through various throwing, and especially joint twisting, techniques; it would make them explosively powerful. Most neijia practitioners who are familiar with coiling power never consider it's application to grappling arts, so let's have a quick look...

Some time ago I was practicing with a senior student. I executed a quick joint-twisting technique with coiling power, but did not carry it all the way through to it's conclusion. I could feel exactly what would happen if I released the power (fa-jin) and completed the technique. The joint wouldn't just break; it would virtually explode! It was all really very simple to do. We practiced various other joint-twisting techniques and found that coiling power could be easily applied with almost all of them.

“Good Lord”, I remarked. “Imagine what an aikido or shuai-jiao practitioner could do with this power!” I quickly saw that coiling power could also be readily applied to quite a number of throwing techniques as well. The added impetus to the throw turned it into an absolutely devastating technique. You see, in most throwing techniques the receiver is simply thrown and falls to the ground (or hopefully, the mat). Gravity does the work for the thrower; if his foe is not familiar with correct methods of breakfalling, his sudden and traumatic bonding with the ground is usually very painful and can result in serious injury. However, I found that coiling power could actually cause the receiver to ACCELERATE as he falls. He is accelerating as he descends to the ground, making the throw much more combat effective!

If the throw involves a joint-twisting technique wherein the receiver has the choice (and he has to make up his mind VERY quickly) to allow his joint to be broken or go along with the throw, the throw becomes even more destructive. The joint explodes as the throw is executed and then again, the assailant accelerates as he (briefly) heads south to embrace “mother earth!”

The use of coiling power in the grappling arts is something that, in my opinion, requires more research. Very little, if anything, has ever been written or even spoken about this subject.

CHANGING WITH THE TIMES?

 By Phillip Starr

I once read a statement made by a popular martial arts teacher that said he hoped that his art would continue to grow and change with the times. That made me sit back and wonder if he really understood the implications of his words. And what, exactly, is meant by “changing with the times?”

As citizens of the 21^st century, we like to think of ourselves as being fairly contemporary and “forward thinking.” Certainly, as our world becomes more modernized, many industries have found it essential to “change with the times.” We need only glance at modern medicine, the car industry, and state-of-the-art computer technology to understand the need and subsequent demand for what is “new and improved.”

Of course, we all know that just because something is labeled as being “new and improved” doesn't necessarily mean that it's good for you or for the environment. Oftentimes, what seemed like a good idea at the time sows the seeds of a disastrous future. This is certainly true of the martial disciplines that we practice.

On the sporting side of these arts, we've seen many changes over the years. I remember when the first hand and foot pads were introduced and I warned everyone that using these “new and improved” devices would ultimately result in a deterioration of our arts. No one listened. The results are now painfully obvious; real technique has, for the most part, been tossed by the wayside and a tap on the head is now scored as an effective “point.” Competitors have no real notion of what “control” means and the (combative) concept of distance has been all but completely obfuscated.

On the more practical side, we've seen some fairly dramatic changes. There are those who insist on training in military-style camouflage attire, complete with combat boots. They regard the traditional training uniform as old-fashioned and unrealistic. There are many who, being unable to “read the books” (understand the forms) that are used in the art(s) in which they have trained, throw them out the window and refer to them as being little more than “dances” or forms of exercise.

“Times change”, they tell us. “So, the martial arts must change with them.” I agree that times change. The first part of such a statement is silly. OF COURSE times change! So, I would ask just what they mean when they say that “times change.” Are they inferring that people fight differently now than they did several hundred years ago? I doubt the validity of such a statement; none of us can really answer that question because we weren't plodding around this planet back then. Yes, I agree that the advent of the firearm certainly changed the situation to some degree but a number of well-qualified martial arts instructors have developed effective defensive maneuvers that can be employed against these kinds of weapons. Knives and bludgeons haven't changed much, nor have fists and feet.

I believe that the martial ways are just as valid today as they were several millennia ago. Sure, we've made some improvements in training equipment (although some of the older versions are actually superior to their more modernized cousins). We've improved teaching and training routines; back in the old days, students often learned by rote. They simply imitated the movements of their instructors without the benefits of being provided many of the small details and being permitted to ask questions. But is there a need to change the techniques and the traditional forms? I don't think so. Not at all.

They work just as well now as they ever did. They've survived the test of time; just because something is old doesn't means that it needs to be changed.