WHAT MAKES IT WORK

 by Phillip Starr

It occurs to me that a great many, perhaps most, martial arts practitioners (including virtually all forms of pugilism and weaponry, from boxing to fencing) focus most, if not all, of their attention and practice on developments of technique rather than focusing on what actually makes them work. Naturally, beginning students must do this, but if you watch more advanced pupils, you'll see them obsessing over various minutae of various techniques to the exclusion of almost everything else.

Now, there's certainly nothing wrong with training to polish and perfect technique. BUT...of even greater importance is the development of what makes them actually work. I remember my teacher handing me a very sharp broadsword while he picked up a wooden replica. “If we were to actually fight with these weapons, which one of us would win?”, he asked.

That was clearly a no-brainer, even for a young teenager. “You would, sifu”, I replied.

We're not really gonna do this, are we?

“Yes”, he answered. “Why is that?”

Another no-brainer. “Because you know how to use this weapons much better than I do.”

Heck, he could have beaten me with a twig or even just a single chopstick. As time went on, I came to realize that his superiority wasn't because of his”weapon”...it was because he knew how to win WITH or WITHOUT a weapon. The condition of a given weapon (whether it was a chopstick, a sharp or dull broadsword, or whatever) didn't matter. He knew how to win...how to defeat me with a sword, stick, fist, or foot.

He'd mastered what I call the “Three Jewels of Combat”...Distance, Timing, and Rhythm. I've written extensively on these subjects and they're discussed in detail in my book, MARTIAL MANEUVERS.” So I'm not going to repeat myself yet again here. You'll have to go back and read the material on your own, AND THEN PRACTICE to refine and perfect them. For the rest of your life.

Currently, there's an interesting new combative sport called “light saber fencing” and it has attracted a very large following. There are numerous videos of competitions wherein players fight with what amount to expensive plastic swords, which can be used with one or both hands. For the most part, the players are not practitioners of any particular martial art; they're civilians” as it were, while some are actual fencers, kendoists, and so on. And it looks like it.

If you watch children playing at sword-fighting, you'll quickly notice a distinct lack of any real technique, and the two combatants are focused on “fighting the opponent's sword” rather than him. Of course, it's just children playing, but most adults who engage in this new sport are doing the same thing.

In swordsmanship, many people regard the Japanese katana as the best sword ever used for combat. Others disagree and point to Chinese or European sword, touting their reasons for their belief. And most of the time, they're wrong. It isn't about the quality of the sword that makes the difference, nor is the answer to be found in the technique(s) of a given weapon. The secret lies in the mastery of the Three Jewels.

The reason Japanese swordsmanship is so effective is because of their ceaseless training with the Three Jewels. Modern kendo bears scant resemblance to the kendo that was practiced into the 1950's; there is much less emphasis on the Three Jewels, and more emphasis on technique for scoring points and winning a match. In the old days (wherein kendo allowed for numerous grappling techniques), the focus was on how one would actually engage an opponent in a life or death struggle. The Three Jewels were empjasized very heavily.

In contemporary gong-fu/wushu, emphasis is on technique and “posturing” (posing and looking very beautiful). The truth is that even the best of such competitors would enjoy very short life-spans in actual combat, even with one whose technique wasn't nearly as pretty. When two swordsmen of days long past met to do battle, they faced their enemy in a relaxed but mentally and spiritually intense condition. There was nno unnecessary movement, no charging in with swords flailing...they remained still, focused entirely on the enemy and “feeling” his mind and spirit, looking for even a slight flaw (an opening). If one's spirit lagged or focus became distracted for even a second, the fight would be over.

This same approach is to be applied to hand-to-hand fighting. Without it, technique is pointless.

WHAT IS A MASTER?

 By Phillip Starr

Nowdays, I often hear many martial arts teachers referred to as “Master” so-and-so. That includes me.

In some cases, the title is bestowed upon someone who, having reached a grade of black belt, has continued to practice and/or teach for a good many years. I know several people who are/were just 2^nd grade black belts (for which they underwent rigorous examinations) who continued to practice or teach for another 20-plus years and they're now referred to as “Masters” or even “Grandmasters.”

Within some styles or organizations, once one has ahieved a certain grade of senior black belt (such as 5^th dan), one is labeled as a “Master.”

But what is a “Master?” To be honest, I don't know. In Chinese, it is called Dashih (大师), which translates as “Big/Great Teacher.” owever, such a term is never (in China) applied to a martial arts practitioner. In Japan, no one is ever referred to as a “Master” by native practitioners. Even some of karate's best-known, legendary kaarte practitioners/teachers were called, simply, “Sensei” (referring to them simply as a teacher), In Asia, honorific titles such as Master, Grandmaster, Supreme Grandmaster, ad nauseum, simply don't exist. A very few are known as “O-Sensei” (Great or Big Teacher).

The various flavors of upper-level practitioners (Master, Grandmaster, Great Gransmaster, Supreme Grandmaster Poobah) all originated in thr West.

So, what is a Master? I always regarded it as someone who has achieved supreme skill in his craft, who has attained a complete understanding of it, and who has pretty much learned all there is to learn about it. So that definition definitely eliminates me as a member of that obscure title; I'm still a a student, still learning, still seeking answers and knowledge. Always have been, always will be.

UNSPEAKABLE

 by Yang Shuangxing

My most senior student, Hiro Misawa, and I often discuss certain principles of the (internal) martial arts and we frequently come to the same conclusions.Many of the principles we discuss are not generally known or practiced by the martial arts community. Why this is true is due to several things:

• Many of the past masters of traditional martial arts were not well-educated people. In fact, some of them were barely literate. They couldn't explain why a certain principle worked; they knew that it just did. So, many of their students (who would become instructors themselves) had the same problem...they couldn't explain the “why” of something and some of them never really learned the principles in the first place (because their teacher didn't explain it fully).

• Almost all learning, from school classrooms to group training in a martial art, was done by rote (learning by watching and following along, over and over). In China today, it is still the same. Obviously, this is not an effective way to learn or teach. But it has been done for so long (since the time of Confucius) that it is pretty much carved in stone.

• The masters of the past knew very little, if anything at all, about physics. Or anatomy. So they couldn't explain what muscles and tissues were involved in a given movement, or why. Students were expected to try to “get the feel” of certain movements without knowing how the (internal) tissues were involved.

  

Many of them wrote down what they understood about various principles; some were put into the form of “songs”, but they're often mistranslated and subsequently misunderstood today.

• Then...instructors of various martial disciplines moved westward – to Europe and the U.S. And the problems were compounded; these hearty souls were trying to teach arts that were peculiar to their Asian cultures in a second language...English!

Not only that, but numerous concepts that were/are readily accepted in Asian cultures have no accurate English equivalent! To compound the problem, even instructors who spoke very good English (like mine) didn't have the verbal skills to accurately communicate certain principles and the “why” and “how” of them. This was and is usually because anatomical structures and how they work isn't usually a part of most English classes...

Another problem is that most of these principles have to be directly experienced before they can really be understood. They can't be taught on paper or even via videos. They require a “hands-on” approach taught by someone who can perform them skilfully (and there aren't many who can do that). Only by doing them correctly can one fully understand them. This would seem to be impossible, but it isn't. As my friend, the renowned master Hino Akira said with a big smile, “You cannot do it right until you do it right.”

THREE-STEP FIGHT IS WHAT??? Pt. II

 by Phillip Starr

As I mentioned in the previous article on this subject, it is critical that the Attacker have the actual intention of striking the Receiver forcefully. The “why” of this is important.

All attacks begin in the mind and brain. They go something like this:

*The aggressor decides that wants to strike and hurt you.

*Before the phjysical attack ensues, he must necessarily determine just how he wants to strike you (what technique to use, even if it's just a street punch).

*He must also decide where he plans to hit you...in the groin? In the jaw? Where? Is he going to grab you first? Exactly where will he grab you?

*Once all of these things have been determined, the brain must fire the signals to the various nerves and to the muscles that will be involved in the attack. It is here that the enemy is weakest.

*Once the signals reach the muscles, the physical attack ensues.

Now, we know that the brain sends out electrical signals/impules (hence, the EEG), Kind of like a radio. And any device that sends signals can also be converted so that it can detect signals from another device.

When your partner attacks with strong yi, you unconsciously learn to detect it – the signals that are sent to his nerved and muscles to initiate the physical attack. If he doesn't have the INTENTION of striking you forcefully, you won't pick up anything at all because there is no real attack.

In the final stage of training in Three-Step, you face your partner and when you “feel” the signals (we say “when his mind moves”), you must ATTACK HIM FIRST, unhesitatingly. You must have no regard for your personal safety and survival because if you do, a part of your yi and energy (qi) is held back, slowing your response. That can have disastrous consequences. You must attack at the instant you feel his mind move- but control your counter-attack so that it doesn't actually strike him.

Again, training for this is thoroughly outlined in my book, MARTIAL MANEUVERS.

Once you get the hang of Three-Step and have practiced it for some time, you begin by learning how to “break the opponent's timing” by hitting in a half-beat (between his attacks). This is the Broken Rhythm, which must be learned and mastered first.

Then you can move to learning to strike the opponent at the exact time his strike would have hit you (Mutual Rhythm). This necessarily requires that you either block and strike at the same time, or evade the attack and strike the opponent at the same time that he strikes at you.

When the Mutual Rhythm is mastered, you may begin training to learn the Preceding Rhythm, striking the opponent as he prepares to deliver his first attack - when his “mind moves” and he is just initiating the attack. In actual combat, the enemy is helpless at this point because in order to defend himself, he must:

*Negate the previsouly sent signals that are in use for delivering his attack, which is about to fail...

*Perceive you incoming blow and estimate its ETA (when it will strike him)...

*Determine where your counter-attack is directed.

*Determine what defensive techniques or maneuvers can be used against it.

*Then his brain must send out the required signals to the nerves and muscles involved...

And all of this takes much too long. He's in an “attack mode/” To change that over and go into a “defense mode” takes too long and he is struck! There's nothing he can do. He's helpless.

To master this will require patience, LOTS of practice, and TIME. You're not going to fully “get it” in a week or a month. Don't worry about how long it'll take. Just practice. A lot.

THREE-STEP FIGHT IS WHAT???

 by Phillip Starr

Three-step fight. I remember it all too well. When I was a fledgling karateka more than 60 years ago, my classmates and I engaged in this training routine very frequently. The Attacker steps forward and executes a pre-determined attack...he does this 3 times, in a nice, even rhythmical beat. The Receiver retreats a step and blocks the attack three times...and then he immediately fires out a pre-determined counter-attack. Very simple.

We were told that this routine would teach us how to apply the various blocking and striking techniques. And our instructor was determined to have us master this exercise, even though it was terribly, horribly boring. And we hated it. As the years passed, many new instructors tossed this seemingly pointless routine right out the window, fearing that their students would become so bored that they'd quit.

Many years later, I discovered that three-step fight actually develops a sense of correct DISTANCE! To those who thought it was pointless, it was actually quite difficult to do...by the third step, the Attacker would inevitably be stepping on the Receiver's toes! They hadn't practiced it enough to learn how to adjust their distance when receiving the attack – something that the older veterans had UNCONSCIOUSLY developed through hours and hours of repetition.

CORRECT distance isn't something you measure in feet and inches – it has to be FELT. And although this was never explained to us, we'd learned it by repeating this routine over and over. Visiting black belt instructors of various styles had great difficulty with this because they'd never practiced much (or at all). But there was more to it...

The years marched on and I was blessed with being able to train with Hidetaka Nishiyama sensei, who was truly one of the greatest karateka of all time. Even though I was practicing gong-fu by that time, I learned much from him.

Now, there are three basic “rhythms”:

*Broken Rhythm (in Japanese, go no sen): Striking the opponent after his attck. But it's not as simple as it sounds...you must execute your counter-attack BEFORE he can generate a second attack! You must learn to hit in a half or even a quarter, beat. I sometime make use of a metronome to teach students how to do this...strike between beats.

*Mutual Rhythm: Striking the opponent at the same instant that his attack (which you had evaded or parried) would have hit you.

*Preceding Rhythm: Learning to feel the opponent's yi (intention) and baet him to the draw; ashe just initiates his attack, you drtive forward and strike him first. This is, even today, regarded as a mystical skill that only a few masters possess, and it requires decades to develop it. Poppycock...

Nishiyama sensei showed me how Three-step is used as an exercise to teach students how to develop skill in all three types of rhythm! I discuss this in my book, MARTIAL MANEUVERS.

Soo this most-hated training routine is intended to teach distance, timing, and rhythm!!! One of the most critical (if not THE most critical element) in the routine is the proper use of YI (intention). The Attacker MUST actually have the intention of striking the Receiver and knocking him down! He needn't actually do so (he can control his attack), but he absolutely must have the intention of doing so.

The Receiver can, and will, learn to “pick up” the Attacker's intention. Thus, the attacks to which he responds are real, not lobbed in, sloppy techniques. More on this in the next article on the subject...

PRACTICING KATA, PRACTICING WITH KATA

 by Phillip Starr

When you perform a given form, are you practicing it or practicing WITH it? There's a bit of a difference and you should determined which way it will be before you set about the routine. The form should look pretty much the same, regardless of which way you are using it...but it's not necessarily the same animal at all.

To practice WITH kata is to practice with what you have learned from the form. This can include various applications, weight shifting, footwork, adjustments in posture, how and when to release power, and so on. While some movements in the form seem to be identical, they are not necessarily so. Although they may appear to be the same, they have differences; slight weight shifts, slight differences in the timing of power release, small differences in the timing of technique (that is, at what point, during a particular movement, do you execute the technique relative to a step, weight shift, etc.)...

And then there's rhythm. Each kata has its own rhythms (they often change throughout the form). Without correct rhythm(s), you're just doing a complecated form of jumping jacks, The rhythm, when done correctly, will change the way(s) in which you spply various movements in the kata; your kata will come to life and it posseses a soul of sorts.

Most people just slug their way through kata in a nice, even, 4-beat rhythm. Although we must learn kata at first through a 4-beat rhythm, such kata have no life, no soul. Bear in the mind that a 4-beat rhythm is largely a Western creation; Eastern music varies and uses a 2,4, or even an 8-beat rhythm. One need only listen to traditional Japanese music to understand this.

Practicing WITH kata is a different sort of animal than practicing kata. To practice WITH kata is to practice what you have learned from the form; various applications (which can be practiced in self-defense situations), weight shifting, footwork, adjustments in posture, how and when to release power, and so on.

This is how to work on and with your forms and how you can continue to learn for a lifetime.

BUT DO YOU REALLY KNOW IT?

 By Yang Shuangxing

Back in my competition days, I recall practitioners of one particular karate organization would never say anything like “Yes, I know that form”... so I asked a close friend of mine who hailed from that organization just why, when asked if they “knew” a particular form, they'd reply, “Yes, I work that form.” Rather than saying that they “knew” it. They'd say they “worked” it.

My friend explained it to me...”If someone says they “know” a certain form, they're inferring that they know all of it's applications (including those that are hidden and/or implied), its variations, rhythms...its whole soul. Only a great Master might know all of these things about one or maybe two forms...but an ordinary black brlt could not possibly achieve such levels of knowledge in only a few years (even 20 years would not be sufficient).”

That explanation made sense to me. So...instead of saying that they “knew” a certain form, they'd say that they “worked” it (meaning that they practiced it).