That Classical Mess

/ hsoi

I was at a park and noticed a group off in one corner of the park. It was a martial arts class.

Of course I watched.

I’m not 100% sure what they were studying, but from the looks of the movements along with the clothing I suspect a form of ninjutsu.

They were practicing one-step sparring techniques. So teacher demonstrates technique, discusses aspects of it, then students pair off and practice the technique in a cooperative way.

Sounds familiar.

And as I watched, I saw good and bad. I saw a traditional martial art being taught, which is not a bad thing. I saw movements being taught that were unrealistic. For instance, opponent throws a right haymaker. The defense is to hard block with your lead arm (left arm in this case), then redirect their arm by moving your arm in a large counter-clockwise circle. The problem? First the meeting of force-with-force, which isn’t horrible, but then to try to change the direction of their movement to the total opposite direction using only the strength of your posterior deltoid vs. the whole of their body being behind that haymaker? I’m sorry, but I just don’t see it happening in a real situation. Furthermore, there was little footwork, and what there was tended to involve cross-stepping and putting yourself in twisted and positions of little balance.

However, I watched other techniques and saw some nice stuff. For instance, opponent comes with a right haymaker/straight-punch. You block with the lead arm in a sort of backfist-like movement meeting their forearm with your forearm, then you slide that left fist up to grab their lapel… now you’re inside and you can use the right to do all manner of things. I also saw some application of locks and pressure points for distraction to move then into sweeps and take downs.

So it was a mix.

I look upon it like a lot of traditional/classical martial arts. It’s not a bad thing. There’s much sound and good in it, and there are a lot of principles that are good to learn. However, to fight this way? I’m not sure. What I hope all students do, at least at the higher levels (once you get that black belt, at least), is to review the techniques you learn and question everything: the stances, the footwork, the kicks, the punches, the locks, the movements, the blocks, entries, exits, counters, reversals, attack, defense, everything. Find what is useful. That which doesn’t appear to be useful, see what it may be trying to teach — it may not be practical, but it may have good theoretical basis. Question everything.

The interesting thing? I had a feeling of really missing traditional martial arts study. 🙂

I heard good things about Blankenship’s internal arts practice. It seems to be just about doing and seeking enlightenment, instead of being rote. I could dig that.

7 thoughts on “That Classical Mess”

  1. Hmmm. That whole big-circle-cross-stepping technique sounds like a strong Shaolin influence.

    In my own Kenpo study, we have a few techniques that incorporate Shaolin movement – certainly, it has it’s place, but not in combination with street fighting (drunken haymakers at a bar) unless you’re filming a Jet Li movie. Sure, it looks cool, but it’s not as direct as hammer-fisting someone’s nose into the back of their skull.

  2. Studied several styles when I was younger. The problem I had with them was that they had a tendency to act as if the opponent didn’t know how to fight. Also, I disliked sparring; it didn’t reflect actual fighting. Much of the most useful stuff wasn’t allowed in sparring. And the weapons training in many of them teaches dueling, not fighting.

    • I think it’s reasonable to assume your opponent doesn’t know how to fight because most don’t. Truly the most common thing you’ll get at you is a wild haymaker. Nevertheless, I would say it’s becoming less reasonable to assume your opponent is untrained, what with the ever-growing popularity of MMA, especially in the televised world.

      But in the end, yes… this is the problem with a lot of traditional arts… it’s just not satisfactory for today’s world. Maybe it was fine in a different time, when perhaps yes things were solved with a duel. But today? Nope. I still find value in learning traditional arts, but one just has to keep perspective and seek to adapt what you learn to the modern context.

      • Or if anything, you’ll get an armchair MMA fighter who thinks he can stick you in a flying armbar because he saw Matt Hughes do it. The commercial for the UFC game Undisputed 2010 starts off with, “So You Wanna Be A Fighter?”

        How ridiculous is that? Grab a bag of Doritos, sit your big butt on the sofa and mash your XBOX 360 controller for hours a day. BAM! You’re a fighter!

        • Well you know… video games are training. I still haven’t mastered being able to shoot fireballs out of my palms or call lighting out of the sky… but when I get there you just watch out!

          Actually if you want an interesting video along these lines, Google on “Cheeseburger Josh”… and note that Josh is wearing a Tapout shirt.

Comments are closed.