Wow...My Opponent is....

When observing students working on their fighting, I often see students intimidated by level or seniority of the other student that they are going to fight with.  I was also there at one point but quickly learned that there is no reason to worry and eventually preferred to work with people who were more senior and usually better than I was for some good reasons:

• Nobody actually wants to hurt you in class because we are all there to learn and get better
• More senior students typically have better control of their techniques and are actually less likely to accidentally hurt you
• Fighting with someone better than you forces you to elevate your fighting to match with your opponent's skill level
• Senior students will often be able to see things in your fighting and be able to give you some pointers on improving your fighting
• With mutual respect and control there is also an opportunity to learn because neither fighter is afraid to get hurt, therefore allowing you to try new techniques
• We are all friends in class

I do recommend being more careful in tournament settings as adrenaline seems to contribute to lack of control.  I also believe that tournament fighters care less because they actually don't know you and will not have to see you in the next class.  I am not suggesting that people will try to hurt you but I have seen some things that you would not see in class.

Even with tournaments, I would encourage competitors to forget about the size or level of their opponent and look for ways to penetrate the opponent's defences that are within your own abilities.  

Control Your Emotions During Fighting

Each Kung Fu student will be different when they fight and each individual will react differently when they are fighting. It's natural and completely acceptable to experience a mix of emotions when practicing fighting. It is not OK to lose control of emotions when fighting.

Newer students are often scared, anxious, apprehensive and timid when they fight. This is because fighting is probably an unknown to them. Most people have not been in many fights in their lives. Overcoming this is the first mental battle you must go through to become a decent fighter. Once you are more comfortable, you will not hesitate when executing techniques and you will become much more successful in sparring.

Depending on the student, another emotion that comes into play is pride. As we practice fighting in our class, we try to remind the students that we are all there to learn. It is not necessary to win the fight and therefore don't worry about getting hit. Learn ways to avoid getting hit the same way next time. This ties in with frustration for the same reason. Don't get frustrated because you are getting hit by your opponent during sparring...you are there to learn and find ways to get better at what you are doing.

Anger unfortunately is an emotion sometimes that creeps into Martial Arts. Accidents happen when practicing fighting and on occasion someone will get hit harder than they should during a practice session. At this point it is important to step back and remember that the class is trying to learn together and the action was not on purpose. Anger combined with competitiveness can unfortunately lead to escalation in power during fighting and lead to students getting hurt.

One last hint is to avoid being intimidated by your opponent for any reason. They may be more senior than you or stronger than you or faster than you but they are still a Martial Arts student just like you. Fighting a superior opponent is definitely a great way to improve your own fighting if you focus on the lessons learned during the fight.

Control of Techniques

With the smaller classes in the colder weather, we have had a couple of chances to focus classes on control of techniques during fighting. The students that have been in the advanced classes have had a chance to start working on this and hopefully picked up some interesting learning. I hope to continue with this over the next few weeks.

The main point of these exercises are:

• If you can do something with control, you can add power later.
• It is much easier to learn in the safer environment.
• It will help you develop because you are less afraid to try new techniques when there is no danger of being knocked on your butt.
• There is less escalation of strength during the fights when students know the goal is to control.
• You will start to learn to feel the attacks that you are blocking.
• Speed of the fight increases allowing the students to learn how to read techniques.
• Less hesitation to throw combinations.

Some of the points we should keep in mind:

• Stay loose.
• Try to learn how much power is needed in your blocks to be more efficient with your energy.
• Concede strikes - if you know that a controlled strike would have hurt you, your reaction should be appropriate (do not try to jump back at your opponent right away as this is not what would actually happen).
• Control your emotions - getting excited will escalate the power of your strikes and ultimately the power of the fight.
• Have fun.

Hands Up, Hands Down

Today's class spent some time focused on hand positioning during your techniques. In Fut Gar we are always pulling to generate power on our strikes, so as we punch with one hand, we are pulling back with the other hand. One thing to keep in mind as you are engaged in a fight is that you need to properly position your hands. A few notes on this:

1. If you block high with one hand, the other hand should automatically drift lower to protect your ribs and if you block low with one hand, your other hand should automatically drift higher to protect your head. I have often been asked how to block faster but the reality is that you just need to get your hands to locations that make them more effective and cut down the amount of time to get to the block.
2. As you face off with your opponent, keeping one hand directly between you and your opponent forces them to go around it before they can get to you. This also minimizes your required movement to execute a block because a slight move of the hand to one side or the other allows you to deflect the attack.
3. Don't forget that you can block more than once with the same hand. If you have executed a block and that hand is the fasted block for the following attack, use it. There is no rule that you have to alternate hands :)
4. Get yourself back to a set position as soon as possible. This just gets you into the habit of getting your hands ready for an attack whenever there is no activity.

Happy training.

Power vs. Control

A recent discussion I had prompted me to write about training for increased power vs. training of control. I believe that martial arts in general trains people to strike with power, focuses on how to increase your power, focus to drive through your targets, etc. I agree that it is important to execute your techniques properly to generate power including how to set your stance, how to use your entire body, how to turn your waist, how to set your fist or foot, when to tense your muscles etc. All of these things come together to allow you to generate power in your strikes.

I believe it is more of an art to put all of these things together but stop your technique just at the point of impact each and every time. Total control of your techniques to the point of always being able to do damage but never doing damage is much more impressive. Of course you may face a time that you need to defend yourself and need to follow through but if you can control it, you can un-control it. On the surface this may seem straight forward but in sparring, nothing is standing still. You are controlling strikes where your opponent is advancing or you are advancing or the opponent changes direction, etc. All of these things add further complication to controlling the technique. With experience, it is ideal to be able to adjust in mid-strike and further shorten or adjust the point of impact of your strike. The final challenge to this is controlling all of the techniques without slowing down and leaving yourself open during the strike.

Happy sparring.

Train To Fight Against Your Personality

While teaching some fighting theories in a recent class, I realized that I often advise individuals to do things that are the opposite of their personalities. How this translates into sparring matches is quite interesting. More aggressive personalities tend to be more aggressive fighters while less aggressive personalities are less aggressive fighters. Careful personalities are careful during their fighting, detail oriented people are more detailed in their fighting, etc.

I see personalities exaggerated during sparring matches which is the reason I would advise students to train against their personalities to become a better rounded fighter. A very aggressive personality may be an overly aggressive fighter who leaves themselves vulnerable in their enthusiasm towards the attack. A cautious personality may be overly cautious during sparring and have difficulties generating any offence. By working on being the opposite of your personality, you will be able to learn to do the things that are not natural or comfortable to you.

My theory is not designed to completely suppress your personality because being comfortable will allow you to relax and have a better fight but a bit of training can really help. An example would be for the aggressive fighter to take more caution to avoid leaving themselves vulnerable to counterattack but still utilizing the aggressive instinct to quickly shift from defence to offence when it is time to attack an opening in the opponent's defences.

Attacking in Reverse

Those that were in class tonight worked on a few retreating exercises where we were striking while backing up. In my fighting, I often use this as a way to keep my distance. It is not necessary to fight in the traditional way where you advance when you strike and back up when you block. I think it is too predictable to fight this way all the time. An effective strike while retreating can completely interrupt the momentum of an attacker's series of attacks and allow you to turn the fight in the other direction. Fighting is difficult when the opponent can confidently charge into you. Put some doubt in the opponents mind by throwing a strike at any time. They will not charge as eagerly if they think they may be diving into a fist.

Pushing the Limit

As you start to progress in your training you should feel good about how much you have learned since you joined and how much you have improved since you started trying to execute your first techniques. You may now feel ease when performing that previously impossible technique or no longer panic when facing off against an opponent or have no problem remembering that long form that gave you so many problems when you were learning it. This is a time to celebrate your success so far but remember that there is still a lot to learn and many corrections still to be made. Getting to this point is a great start but now is the time to really focus on moving towards perfection. Push the limits of your endurance, flexibility, strength and concentration by adding some challenge to your training. This could be something such as lowering your stances in your forms or trying to strike harder throughout your form or just making sure that you retain any corrections that the instructors are giving you instead of regressing back to old habits after the class is finished. In fighting you should always start by trying to improve your control while later challenging yourself to find different ways to attack or defend (getting away from the habits that are comfortable to you).

The instructors can assign these types of exercises to you but I think it is important to find your own areas that you would like to improve. This will allow you to steer towards the result that you are really striving for in your training.

Independent Body Control

During your training you are taught to be relaxed during a strike and tighten up at the point of impact. The same suggestion goes for blocking. What is next after you are able to do this?

Those that have begun fighting realize that it is not as easy to do during a fight as it is to do during practice of forms. First of all, students seem to tighten up during sparring because it is an uncertain situation. The real interesting trick comes from independent control of the different body parts. Can you be tight with a hand/arm that has just blocked but at the same time continue to be loose with the other hand or leg that is trying to throw your counter attack? Try to separate your different body parts during your fighting and you will gain a bit of a speed advantage over those that are not developed the same way. An interesting exercise may be to hold yourself in a push up position with one hand while using your other hand to try and block strikes thrown by a partner.

Where is Your Next Technique?

As the students continue their progression in their Kung Fu training, it is important to also progress in fighting. Those in my class know that I place a heavy emphasis on forms and believe that fighting will follow.

When you are sparring, you will start to get comfortable with techniques that work. Hopefully by training in forms and constant repetition of techniques, you will automatically start to add techniques to your fighting. If you have practiced a 4 move combination hundreds of times during your form, your body should naturally execute that same combination if you get into a situation where you throw the first technique in that combination. Look for this the next time you are fighting.

Turning It On

One of the things that can happen for those that are always practicing controlled fighting is they do not get into situations where there is a need to fight full out, strike at full power or defend against full power strikes. As we train in Kung Fu we need to understand that we need to be able to flick the switch when needed but only when needed. If a situation arises where you NEED to take action, you should completely commit to the situation. Based on the type of class I teach, I believe that my students would not be the aggressor in an altercation but there is a good chance that someone will have an altercation at some point in their lives. The ideal situation in that event is for the student to be calm and controlled until action is needed. Once the switched is turned on, it should continue until there is no longer a threat. There are many variables that go into the decision of when exactly to react and that can be discussed with your fellow students or instructor.

Pushing Yourself in Training

During your Martial Arts training you will learn many techniques, spend time perfecting them and practice proper execution of combinations. You will practice using your techniques in fighting situations, get comfortable executing at full speed in free fighting situations and figure out when specific techniques work for you. The one thing that is important to remember is that it is easy to just rely on your instructor to train you and tell you when to use the techniques. A few things to keep in mind if you want to excel:

1. Try new things. Do not stick with the same old techniques time after time in your free sparring.
2. It is OK to be uncomfortable. You are uncomfortable when you are not doing what you are used to so you should feel uncomfortable if you are pushing yourself.
3. Physically push yourself. If the training is not tiring you, there is probably more effort you can put in as far as using more power, lowering your stances, increasing your speed etc.
   
4. Class is designed as a general workout that caters to the entire class. Some things will be difficult for you so keep trying but other things will be easy for you. When things are easy, work on perfecting while adding a bit to the exercise.
5. Mentally push yourself to think of different ways to successfully execute techniques and to have a theory on how a technique is applied before asking others.
6. Think of how to do something that will separate you from other Martial Arts practitioners whether it be the spirit of your forms, the perfection of a technique in fighting, the practice of advanced techniques until they seem effortless to those that are watching, etc.
   

Sparring Videos From Last Tournament

Here are some videos that one of the CCKSF group posted on Youtube from the last tournament. Those in my class will notice a few familiar people in here.

Praise from the Pres

For those of you that were not in class when I spoke about it, we got some great praise from the President of the CCKSF recently. He had video taped all of the fighting in the most recent tournament and after watching it was very impressed with one of our competitors (J.P.) In fact, he said he has been waiting for 10 years to see this type of progression in the fighting division. For years there has been the hope that fighting would progress away from standard exchange of punches and street fighting to a more refined style of fighting. To finally see effective use of counterattacks and resistance of the urge to just throw fast punches even when the opponents are doing it was very enjoyable for him to watch. We have discussed this in class over the years and we definitely see that fighting properly is not the ideal in these fighting situations but I have a strong belief that the ones that stick to it will eventually be the better Martial Artists.

We seem to have the attention of the President and have him thinking of ways to get the rest of the competitors going in the same direction. Way to go JP and the rest of the competitors that have tried to fight the way we teach in class.

Peripheral Vision

In today's class I spoke about peripheral vision as something we build over time as martial artists. Although it is possible to learn martial arts without building peripheral vision, the best martial artists are those that have a wider vision. Not only does this allow you to see attacks that come from the side such as hook punches and roundhouse kicks, it also helps you with seeing what is around you in your environment outside of class. You will be able to see and react quicker to things that you catch out of the "corner of your eye" without even thinking that it is part of your training. This is a skill that you can take out of class whether you are in a potential self defence situation or just seeing a soccer ball accidentally kicked at your head in the park. Inside class, this skill will help you in practicing of fighting multiple attackers as you get into more advanced fighting training.

The Best Time to Block

As students start to practice fighting techniques and possibly free sparring, they will be in situations where they will need to block strikes. As students become more comfortable, it becomes easier and easier to see strikes coming from the opponent. This is where I see errors starting to occur with many students in all Martial Arts. I often see blocks executed way before the strike will connect.

The best time to block a strike is not early in the strike but as late as possible in the strike. By waiting until the last moment to execute the block you will have the best opportunity for counter strike. If you block early in the strike, the opponent has an opportunity to pull back to a defensive position or react to the block and throw another technique. By waiting until later in the strike, you lead the opponent to believe that the strike is successful and will cause them to continue the follow through which in turn will open them up to counter attack. Waiting until the last moment will allow you to put an opponent off balance if you can execute a pull with your block.

Although waiting takes some courage, the benefits are undeniable. I encourage students to try this during the controlled sparring of a class and find their comfort level on how long to wait.

The Origin of the Dreaded Chow Butt Attack

Many of the students of my class have seen it in action and the lucky ones have experienced it live. Of course I am speaking of my butt attack. The attack of throwing my behind into my opponent's solar plexus. How does something like this happen? As silly as the technique is, it comes from sound martial arts fighting theory. The following are the things that lead to the development of this technique:

• Feel the fight and flow with it. To maximize the speed of your techniques you need to stop thinking and just execute. Too much thinking adds brain processing to the technique before executing and every slight hesitation can cost you a fight. Fut Gar Kung Fu as taught to me by Grandmaster Chen clearly defines what to do in specific situations to eliminate the necessity of deciding which technique to use.
  
• Don't resist pressure. This theory is the reason I originally spun around to attack with my backside. Having a technique blocked gave me momentum to spin in the opposite direction.
  
• Always look for opportunities to attack. Just because you are in a disadvantaged position does not mean that you should stop looking for an opportunity to attack. Very successful attacks often are executed at the time when the opponent least expects it.
  
• All body parts can and should be used as a weapon. Although the butt attack is taking it to the extreme, I have always been taught that you can use anything as a weapon.
  
• It worked. When a technique works it is natural (and encouraged) to continue to use it until it no longer works.
  
• Have fun when you practice. OK, this is my own theory but those in my class have seen that we have always run the class this way.
  

The Right Time to Exchange Punches

While watching students fight as part of their training, instructors often break up the fighting to explain that it is incorrect to rush in and exchange punches with your opponent as this shows a lack of technique and seems to not serve a purpose. Generally, Kung Fu training teaches you to block and counter, grab and counter or avoid and counter. This is definitely ideal if you are able to fully disarm a strike while executing a strike of your own. Of course this is generally not the case for most students. I believe there is a correct time to exchange punches as long as you take into account a few things:

1. What are you exchanging? Are you taking a light jab to the cheek while executing strong hook punch to the temple? I would be happy to take this exchange which would likely end the fight. This is an easy decision to make if you are able to make it at full speed.
   
2. What will be the result of your strike as far as body positioning? By this I mean that throwing your strike turns the opponents strike into a glancing blow therefore reducing its effectiveness even if your strike is not a knockout punch.
   
3. When are you making the exchange? This is the point that is normally forgotten. Each combination by an opponent has a main (knockout?) strike. If they throw a jab followed by an uppercut, the uppercut is the punch intended to do the main damage. This can be followed by other techniques. Assuming you can make your first strike the knockout strike, I would suggest that your hard strike be executed right after the opponent's knockout strike. If someone is throwing a 4 strike combination with the first strike being a hard strike, each following strike is a bit weaker than the previous. Take your best strike in exchange for one of the opponent's weaker strikes. This timing will not only give you the upper hand in the exchange but also surprise your opponent as they are expecting you to continue blocking. This assumes you do not believe that you will have the opportunity to execute a clean technique on this particular opponent because as previously stated, it is ideal to execute a clean strike.

These theories take some practice but with experience, you will be able to feel for the right timing during the fight.

The Nervous Kick

I have been training people on their sparring techniques for over 20 years and have been able to get the students of our school to be focused on fighting in a manner that is representative of our style of Kung Fu, Fut Gar Kung Fu. As schools teach free fighting I have often noticed that there is a trend in beginners to kick. Nervous kicks that keep their opponent at a comfortable distance. This is something that is not always the correct way for students to fight as most styles to not focus completely on kicking. I would urge newer martial artists to monitor their fighting to see if they are falling into this habit. Although it feels better to have your opponent at a longer distance, this is not ideal for your future progression. You need to fight in the style that you are learning which probably means you will not throw kicks for your entire fight. Kicking has a purpose as I mentioned in a previous post but sparring in class is the controlled situation that allows you to do the things that are uncomfortable for you. Take advantage of the opportunity to work on perfecting your technique in these conditions.

Open Martial Arts Tournaments - Should We Care?

When I was competing, Kung Fu tournaments were not easily found in the area. If you wanted to compete the only option was to find an open tournament. These were normally tournaments run by Karate practitioners and if we were lucky, we would have a separate division for non-karate styles which was normally called a soft style division...which didn't really make sense because Tai Kwon Do was thrown in there. The competitors were normally judged by Karate judges who normally gave the best scores to the people that looked most like what they were used to seeing.

What are my thoughts on open tournaments? I believe that these tournaments can provide some value if you go in with the correct attitude. Understand that the judges do not know the techniques that you are executing and will not necessarily see the value of your forms. Understand that fighting will be limited by the rules of the tournament and often will eliminate (for good reason) the more effective and dangerous techniques of your style. My recommendation for tournaments is generally to not care if you win or lose. The purpose of the tournament is to give you experience performing in a stressful situation (in front of a crowd) to train your mind and to continue to perform in these types of situations. Fighting in open tournaments is also a good experience because it allows you to see how it feels to fight people with different styles and techniques from your own school.

In the end, real life combat situations are full of uncertainty and stress. Gaining exposure to these feelings through competing decreases the chances that you will freeze when confronted in a real situation.