The push up is one of the classic basic exercises of most training regemes, and for good reason. It is a very effective upper body workout, has a myriad of variations and a large number of benefits.
In our class we use press-ups as a means of building arm to body connection, how to apply force through the arms correctly and how to use certain mechanics to develop or transmit force.
The basic push up is probably well know to everyone. The main areas being worked are the chest and arm muscles. We are looking to begin to combine a few different ideas in the push-ups we train that are slightly different to the normal push up method.
1)Slow speed for joints We use very slow repetition speeds to help the joint structures naturally and safely work with the weight of the body. The General idea in IMAs is that the tendons, ligaments and Fascia store energy and the Muscles use energy. This is not to say that we dont want to use muscles, in my opinion, we definitely do! Simply that we use them in a different way. When we train slow you will feel over time that joints become ‘wrapped’ and protected, you will notice that your tendons feel much more solid when in use and much softer when not.
2)Training to Fatigue We are not training to build big muscles here. However, we do need to train to a point of fatigue where the other supporting structures can begin to be utilised to support the frame. This is a bitter training but very fruitful if you stick with it.
3)Breath It goes without saying that we need to breath ;), however when under load the mind often has a habit of disrupting the breathing cycle. Breath and oxygen are vital for the energising of the tendons and ligaments however so we need to breath in a manner that gives the body exactly what it requires. There are many methods of breathing with the push up motion and some to release fatigue and tension when things get tough. I will discuss these another time.
4)Work your way up Dont start out your training with a 10 minute push up! You need to begin very slowly with a deep focus on the mechanics of the movement. It is important that you understand fully what your trying to do and why. Then you can begin to play with the push ups and invent your own movements spontaneously.
Push ups or ‘Arch ups’? One of the things that we have been working on is the idea of forming a bridge or arch between each hand to support the upper body. This is very similar to the idea of Dang Jin or Crotch Arch in the Chinese MAs. Think of it as a sort of horse stance for the arms. This has a couple of implications for the movement.
1)The body is supported through a connection of various structures without joints between them. The power is unbroken between the hands 2)When ‘pushing’ the formation of the arch by pulling inward with the arms recruits a larger amount of structures and results in less effort to create the up force. This is clearly felt when the methods done correctly.
Here is a short video of the basic method in the arms and a few very simple variations on the push up.
Several Chinese Martial Arts work with through the back power or a connection through the back. It is indeed a very useful connection for transferring power between the side lines of the body or from one hand to the other. In Japanese arts this partially covered in the Hitoemi Principle or the ‘one line’ idea.
What does it mean and why is it used?
‘Through the back’ means transfer of power from one side of the body into the other, more specifically from one arm into the other. A very simple exercise to highlight what we mean:
Loop a belt around a pole or tree
Stand with feet parallel and shoulder width
Hold each end of the loop in each hand
Pull with one hand
The body will rotate around its axis and the opposite side to the pull will go forward
Remove the rope and try to create the same response to the one hand pulling back
This is a very clear demonstration of through the back power in action.
The uses of through the back power are many and varied but I will list a few ideas of how it is useful in a combative context
Receiving with one side while simultaneously projecting with the other. For instance, I block a strike coming in with my left arm, the force of that strike immediately travels through the back into the right arm which shoots forward to strike.
Power in the back hand This is useful to hide the source of power from your opponent. When using the back hand to send power to the front you are able to keep the ‘intent’ or weight of force out of the striking side of the body. This is used Extensively in Xing yi and the ‘changing’ strikes it can result in are extremely hard to stop.
Short Range striking Through the back power also enables very short range striking with a large volume of power. Your closest weapon, that is even in touch with the opponent does not need to load before striking as the power comes from the opposite side of the body.
Twisting throws When close in you can pull back on one shoulder sending the other forward when combined with stepping to create a powerful twisting throw.
The area of ‘the back’ that is mainly in use when working through the back.
The Primary muscle groups that the force will transfer through are the deeper back muscles relating to the scapular area of the back. These are the:
Infraspinatus
Rhomboideus Major
Teres Minor / Major
Deltoids
lower trapezius.
Understanding the central line
One of the first ideas to understand is that when talking about transferring power between the sides of the body we have to recognise a central line that this force moves around. This is simply the central channel of the body, the spine is the obvious body part that can be thought of as a central channel or point. It is a little more complicated than that but for the purposes of beginning to feel power switching sides the spine is a good starting point.
You can feel that this central channel turned as power transfers across it , this turning is useful (when combined with work with the Kwa etc) to begin the process of ‘winding’ the tissues around the body. This winding helps to load the next strike and fuel your body movement.
In Summary
Through the back power is a primary driver for many arts method of power generation. The ability to switch sides, transfer force between the hands and send force back to the opponent is an extremely useful skill that some teachers have perfected to a very high level. I hope to film a few exercises to help you develop a feel for ‘through the back power’ in the very near future so stay in touch and it should be up fairly soon.
It has been very rare an occasion when working professionally or being involved in street altercations that i faced just one opponent in a classic ‘fisty cuffs’ dual, rather it would one or a few vs a pair or group of assailants. With this in mind I feel that an often wholly overlooked area of self defence or combative training is the work against multiple opponents. You do see alot of attension paid to this sort of work in Modern combatives systems or systems stemming from people real life experience and training, but in the traditional arts there are very few systems out there that realistically take on the reality of facing a group of determined attackers.
Once system that originally had this very idea as a primary focus is the Chinese IMA of ba gua. However, this idea of fighting several people at once has somewhat fallen out of the Ba gua basic training in favour of 1 on 1 training.
When we look at ba gua’s movement patterns and general dynamic strategy we can see very clearly that one of its great strengths was this ability to take on multiple opponents at once. From its unique stepping and flowing movement to its evasive mindset and constant turning motions the core basis of the system seems to very clearly be about fighting more than one person. Of course Ba gua is an extremely useful method of fighting a single opponent, but what i would like to discuss here are some general principles that i have found in ba gua, other IMAs and from real life encounters that are practical and useful against multiple opponents.
First some general points regarding reality. 1)You will get hit!
I can honestly say that i am very lucky in that during the many multiple opponent encounters i have been in there have only been a few cases where I required some form of hospital treatment for injuries sustained, these occasions were for broken noses and the injuries did not inhibit my ability to end the confrontation. However, As is often the case with certain types of martial arts training, it amazes me how students do not think they will get hit when training. In a 1 on 1 encounter you may well be able to check or block alot of attacks, when facing 10 fists rather than 2 however, the chances are you will get hit a good few times! Once the student accepts this reality they are able to move forward and practice without the mind being too stunned every time a strike lands. Clearly we do not want to allow people to hit us ... but reality is they will ... they may even stab us, but we need to learn to fight through.
2)Do not exhibit pinpoint focus.
One thing that ba gua trains very well is the vision. When walking the circle in basic training, the vision opens up to draw information from the entire scene. After some training you are able to perceive movement and action at the extreme periphery of your vision. This is a vital part of working against multiple attackers. You have to be able to ‘take in the scene’ as a whole rather than simple the guy throwing that first punch!
3)Accept your environment
A lot of times we train in a very comfortable environment, a clean dojo with a matted floor for example. This is, however, not the real environment where we may have to employ these skills. It is important that you are mentally prepared to navigate and more importantly USE your environment to your advantage. Training with obstacles in the way or in an unusual setting is a very good way to help your mind learn to adapt.
4)Treat the group as one
When looking to defend against MOs you need to start to view the entire group as a single opponent, this way the mind and psychi will not be overwhelmed with the information of trying to keep up with 5 individual units.
5)Limit the amount of people that can reach you
All of the principles below are based around this central idea. The ability to limit the amount of weapons heading your way at any one moment. This has very obvious advantages that i am sure i do not need to explain.
Principles of Multiple opponent Defence.
Moving
If there is one thing that i would like to drill home when talking about combat against multiple opponents it is that constant movement is one of the key requirements. You really do not want to be stood in one place for too long ... you may well end up with 2 kicks and three punches all arriving together!
Movement is one of the fundamental requirements of good MO (multiple opponent) defence tactics. If you can move smoothly, efficiently and change direction on a dime, you will have the tools to fool and slide past the opponents.
Specific training methods are present in Ba gua for drilling this idea of constant motion and effective movement. They include:
-Kou Bu Bai bu steps
-Circle walking with Sliding mud and goose steps
-Deer Running and leaping training
-Palm changes
-Changing centres
-Turning skills
One important point is that movement is not simply about footwork, but is equally about the ability to ‘change’. Ba gua is often described as the art of change and this idea of changing direction or motion, line of force or position of centre when the opponents least expect it can help to result in the following methods.
Stacking.
Contrary to some ‘multiple opponent demonstrations’ you see from MAists, this is not about 5 people attacking one after another!
When we talk about stacking in MO situations we are specifically referring to positioning yourself in the first movements to a position where the opponents stack up and will have to fight through their friends to reach you.
The primary idea of stacking is in the strategic first motion of the encounter and in the pack mentality that the opponents will be exhibiting. At the moment of attack you will usually find that all opponents will head straight in your direction, this is the ideal situation to use a stacking tactic.
One of the main initial ways you can achieve this is to ‘stretch out’ the line by moving rapidly out of range while angling your line. This will result in the initial attacker and next closest angling in towards you in order to reach you, blocking the path for the others.
Shielding
Shielding is often used in conjunction with the strategy of stacking and has the same ultimate goal, to limit the amount of opponents able to take you on at any one time. When you use a shield you protect yourself from attack in that direction. In this instance we are talking about using one of the opponents as a shield.
One of the best methods of this is to get to the opponents back gate and follow or control their motion from that potistion. It is often not the person you may be engaging with that you will get to the back of, but the next person who is stacked and trying to move forward. With correct change and footwork you can move past the immediate threat (maybe with a quick slap) then get behind one of the other attackers while they jocky for position at you.
Barriers
This is linked to Shielding but also very much refers to using the environment around you to make it hard for opponents to reach you or to help to stack them. The barrier may be a doorway or a table, or of course it could be an opponent you have put on the ground! Anything that you can get in between you and the opponents that they then have to climb over is a barrier.
Using barriers if very useful in the real world environment where you have bus stops, benches, tables, chairs, walls, doorways, bins etc, all of which you can get behind or move in front of you.
Final thoughts.
As you can see i have not discussed the methods you will use to actually strike or throw or take down your assailants here as i feel those tools are to be trained with a good instructor. What i have discussed are the underlying tactics and principles you will need to employ when a multiple opponent situation presents itself. Although now one of the most common forms of real world requirement the actual physical part of any encounter is just one of many facets of self defence that need to be taken into account, from situational awareness to control of the pre fight build up and the resultant adrenaline dumps.
Here are some videos that show the basic MO work i have been discussing
NOTE: i have no affiliation with these teachers and am not holding these videos up as perfect examples of total method, but as videos that highlight specifics that i have been discussing.
Master Su Dong Chen (movement, stacking and shielding)
Scott Sonnon of ROSS (start of the video shows use of barriers as opponents have to step over each other)
Alex Kostic Systema Expert (This video shows multiple opponent free fighting and highlights the use of turning and movement to decrease the ability of both attackers to strike simultaneously.)
I want to share some of my ideas on Cardio training for combat, specifically relevant to those training in Internal arts, as I think this is a wholly neglected aspect of body work by IMA practitioners.
Firstly i would like to say that the idea of Cardio training in the Internal arts is certainly nothing new! There are numerous examples of famous Internal Martial Artists consistently training cardio vascular fitness alongside their other basic training ... a few primary examples:
Ueshiba Morehei of aikido running to training areas during his younger years.
Wang Lai Sheng of Ziranmen Running in the hills every morning, even into old age.
Sun Lu Tang – running up a nearby hill with his students and often beating them up and back, even into old age.
The list goes on and on so i think we can safely say that Cardio training is not detrimental to the development of internal skill or other IMA training methods. Why develop your cardio strength? The reason is really very simple ... The fitter you are the more ‘battle ready’ you will be. For example, if you work in the security industry as a bouncer and have to have 3 or 4 serious encounters a night, you need to be able to sustain your physical, and just as importantly mental, capacity throughout your period of work.
The saying, ‘healthy body healthy mind’ relates very clearly to a good level of fitness. When the body finds everyday tasks like walking a small distance or shifting things around easy and without effort your mind will be under less general stress.
In relation to combat more specifically, cardiovascular health allows us to be functional for longer, but just as importantly can in some people, help to limit the effect of adrenaline dumps and shock based fatigue.
Functional Fitness Functional fitness is a term coined by many health professionals to describe a fitness programme that is useful to the goal of the individual. For us as IMAists we need to aim to follow a programme of fitness that will not only build a good base level of cardiovascular capacity but also one that will not build up excessive tension in our frame, muscles or mind.
With this primary idea in mind here are some general training principles to ad heir too.
1)Build up slowly! Take it from someone who knows how it feels to suffer from ‘overtraining’, you need to start any cardio fitness program slowly and progressively. There is no point in getting out in the hills and running 10K right out of the gate. All you will do is damage your joints, overstress your immune system and seriously ruin your ability to improve your cardio vascular fitness. So take it slow, especially to start with. 2)Listen to your body ... but not too much! You have to listen to what the body is telling you in any physical training, but its important not to be ruled by those nagging voices telling you to stop 200mtrs from your goal. Always push past this and treat it as mental or mind training, much like meditation. What you should be aware of is how your structure and frame are handling the work, if you have any build ups of excess tension or pain, then slow down, or stop and release that area. 3)Cool down and warm up properly To warm up a gentle run is all you need, but, to make it relevant to your internal training, work on your breath co-ordination and tension control as you warm yourself up. Likewise after the exercise, cool down with deep attention of your breathing, body tension and frame state. 4)Dont just stop! Just as it is important not to undertake heavy training without building up to it, it is also very important not to just stop training without properly slowing down. By this i mean , if you are running 10k 3 times a week and want to take a break, you will need to spend the next couple of weeks reducing your distances to allow your body to acclimatise to the difference. If you simply stop there will be a lot of excess energy buzzing around your body and it will lead to illness and immune system problems.
There are plenty of running, swimming, circuit blogs out there with very detailed methods and training for how to build cardio fitness so I will not go into detail about the hows or provide training plans in this post but you can see some videos i like below.
Here are some more basic things to bear in mind with your cardio training that may help to relate to your IMA training.
Catch the leading force Especially when running , you can work on catching the leading force. This means that you project your intent to the horizon and follow that line. Like your being pulled to the distance rather than running too it. This is a very interesting training with great depth and can really help to produce sharp focus and forward intent.
Be aware of time dilation It is very easy to recognise time dilation when doing cardio training, you will sometimes wonder where the 45 minutes went, other times you will feel like that last minute lasted an hour. Become used to recognising how the mind focuses in on specifics or opens out freely. This awareness of time dilation is extremely useful in combat arts ... It allows your work to become much smoother and perfectly timed.
Recognising tension This is not just related to body tension, but also directly relates to breathing and mind work. Tension is often created by mental stress, which is exactly what Cardio training can create if the work is hard. Learn to release mental stress through breath work and conscious relaxation, even under heavy training.
Here are some good videos of what i would call functional cardio training from various experts in the field.
If you are training IMAs dont shy away from cardiovascular training, when done correctly it fires up the immune system and give fuel to the engine that drives your IMA body!
This master of Judo, the great mifune, demonstrates such perfect timing, precision and connection it is a must view for any serious martial artist from any discipline.
Some points to note.
1) the combination of, off balancing, removing support and contorting the structure.
2) the timing of the application being when optimum for maximum result with minimal effort
