2008 November | Zyaga

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11Nov/080

The Limitation of Speed

A vast majority of what people awe to when watching Martial Art movies is just how fast some of these guys can move. We can all agree that speed is definitely an attribute every Martial Artist has to have, but I believe too many people put too much emphasis on speed. Speed can literally be the downfall of some Martial Artists and the reason they never progress much further.

Bruce Lee was not only exceptionally fast, he was able to read his opponents movements on a whim, with very little effort.

“What’s wrong with speed?”, you might be asking. Well, speed has limitations. No matter how many years you practice, or how many hours you’ve spent on it, there is a limitation to exactly how fast you can get your body to move. Obviously, you can produce a speed so fast that it makes others awe in amazement because it’s purely much faster than the average speed, but either way it has a limitation.

People so often focus on speed and being able to throw a punch twice as fast as their opponent. Most people think that if they are way faster than their opponent then when the opponent throws a punch they can counter with their own punch and because they are faster, then their punch will hit first and they’ll win. In fact, they’re right, if you are that much faster than your opponent, you have a good chance of winning against other Martial Artists who think the same way. The problem is, to get to that speed requires too much effort, almost to the point that it becomes pointless. “What did he just say!? It’s pointless to spend so much time to become super fast and acquire The Flying Fists of Death!?”(Yes, that was made up ) That’s exactly what I’m saying.

Rather than train to become faster than your opponent, spend that time learning how to read your opponent. If you can learn to read your opponent, you’ve already won the battle. There is no possibility of gaining a greater speed than to already know how, when, and where your opponent is going to make his next move. It’s quite simple to understand, yet very hard to get even decent at. Once you’ve been working(sparring, practicing, etc) with someone for long enough, you’ll eventually get better at predicting their movements if you practice reading them, but that’s quite easy to accomplish. The hard part is being able to read anyone, very quickly, because in a real life situation the opponent is not going to practice with you till you are able to read his movements. The skill will have to be able to be used on a whim.

No matter how fast my opponent can move, if I have the ability to read his movements, I’m already at a greater advantage. Don’t get me wrong though, if you have no speed whatsoever, then you’re going to be in big trouble even if you can read his movements. Just understand that speed has it’s limits. Speed is something that if you train hard all the time in sparring, shadow boxing, etc it will increase, even if at a slower pace than if you trained specifically for speed. Instead of spending all that time on speed though, use it to learn to read others. By the time you get to the point that you can read others decently, you’ll have already naturally gained speed from doing your other routines(again, sparring, shadow boxing, etc).

Tagged as: fast, features, martial art, speed No Comments

10Nov/082

Every Day Martial Arts

I stopped over to check out what was new at Ikigai a couple of days ago, like I normally do, when I stumbled across an article which is kind of about concealment of moves while out and about. Or maybe, rather, being “ready” and working on techniques while not at home or at a dojo of some sort. The article got me thinking, about how I already do that to a degree, but never really thought about it. I never really thought of it as something to tell someone to do as something to work on. I had always done it mostly out of boredom when walking somewhere, etc.

As I passed the ideas about inside my head, of what I normally do, I came up with some “routines” I already happen to do but also some more that I’d like to add to my daily practice. Here is a list of what I’ve already been doing, plus what I plan to do, combined into one list of 5 routines:

Maintain eye focus while observing their body movements. The general concept is to never let your eyes leave them so that you can read them, while making sure to pay attention to all of their movements.
Pay attention to their center line. I’ve recently posted an article about the center line theory and how important it can be. Try to keep tract of when their center line is open for attack, and closed for defense, which would require you to create an opening.
Pay attention to their joints. Joints are a key factor in every Martial Art. If I happen to get the chance to throw a heavy blow with the heel of my foot to the inside joint of your knee, you’ll at least have trouble walking for a while.
Pay attention to their intention. You always think that they have no clue about what you’re really doing, but what if they were thinking the same thing? Try to read others around you to simply understand them better, and figure out what’s really beneath the skin, so to speak.
Pay attention to your surroundings. This is the final task that can become a bit difficult in busy areas. While you’re focusing on all the other goals and tasks, still make sure to be aware of your surroundings. Try to learn to handle listening to not only your own conversation, but maybe 2 or 3 at once. Make sure you’re able to “sense” where others are around you.

Eventually, all of these tasks will become routine in that you’ll do it everyday without thinking too much about it. In fact, a lot of times it makes me laugh. Why? Because I think it’d be funny to see the expressions of others if they knew exactly what I was thinking and planning in my mind as they spoke to me. Hide your intentions and you’ll be another step ahead of the game.

Tagged as: attention, every day, Ikigai, martial art, routine 2 Comments

3Nov/081

The Center Line Theory

I’ve been busy for quite some time, so I haven’t had a chance to post lately, but I want to talk about what I’ve been working on while away. I want to talk about something everyone has: a center line.

Wing Chun highly focuses on the center line theory, and benefits greatly from it. The center line theory is fairly easy to understand, but can be quite troublesome to get the hang of. The idea is that there is a line that runs straight down everyone, from head to toe. That, in essence, is your center line. Everything should revolve around your center line while the opponents center line should be offset or disrupted.

For instance, your center line should always be facing the opponent, and as you move around your opponent, your center line should stay straight and aimed towards the enemy. Your punches should also extend from the center line. This can be hard to understand unless the concept is properly shown, but the reason behind it is quite simple: The shortest distance between any two points is a straight line.

The opponents center line should also be your target, in two ways.

You should be attempting to disrupt their center line but maintain the integrity of yours. By this, I mean you basically want to off balance them or get to them at an angle. If your center line is facing them, but theirs is facing in a different direction, you’ve already gained the advantage and should make use of it.
Aim for the center line with your attacks. Hitting your opponents center line will maximize the damage you do to him. Think of it this way: If you hit your opponent in the shoulder, his shoulder will simply give and his body will pivot, which will in effect lessen the damage he takes. But, if you instead hit him directly in his center line, your opponent is forced to take close to all(if not ALL) of your force directly as damage rather than being able to deflect it.

I just thought I’d share a little bit of information about the center line, which is used in many Martial Arts, but more highly focused in Martial Arts like Wing Chun. I’ve been practicing on keeping my center line and controlling or distorting my opponents center line. For the end of this article, I’ll leave you with my own personal example. A friend of mine was over at my place on the weekend and we were free light hand sparring with no pads. At one point, we had stopped and were analyzing a position in which our hands were grappled together and we both brought our knee’s up, but because of the angle of my knee to his, I had the advantage because I maintained my center line but just barely off centered his. His argument was that if it was done in a fast motion, and we both put strength behind everything, that one of two things would either happen.

Our strength would cancel each other out and we would both remain standing
Our strength would be close and so if I was able to get him to fall, we’d both fall.

Since he insisted so much that the center line wouldn’t matter and wouldn’t offset his balance enough, I decided to prove it to him. I told him to do the same exact thing we had just done, but only use strength and keep himself up or take me down with him if he had to. And sure enough, he hit the floor hard and I was left standing with full balance, simply laughing. To make sure he fully understood why what I did worked, I had him repeat the same thing on me, with the situation being the other way and what do you know, it worked on me as well.

Just mess around with the center line theory and see what works for you.

Tagged as: angle, balance, centerline, martial art, Wing Chun 1 Comment

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