Defining IMA 2! - Efficiency in Combat

As i mentioned in the previous article, my definition of the internal martial arts is as follows:

Internal Martial Arts are practices to find efficiency.

We have talked about some of the training methodologies and why we train slow as well as fast, but now lets look at how IMA’s look to find efficiency in combat.

Firstly is it fair to say there is a single natural way that humans fight. To a degree, yes! But this is simply a guide not a rule. We are all build the same, two arms, two legs, muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones. So there will always be a measure of commonality in how we utilize what we have to combat an aggressor. However, looking at what is most effective in for instance combat sports we see that there is a real and quantitive difference between Brazillian JuJitsu and for instance Muay Thai. Very effective arts but very different outlooks, methods and training methodologies, neither being the 'natural way to fight' but both still highly effective.

IMA = MMA

When i say this it could be thought that I am jumping on the modern combative bang wagon, but nothing could be further from the truth! Mixed martial arts are thought of as a fairly new concept in the west. We think that this idea of cross training or looking at other arts is a modern phenomina brought about by the advent of the UFC. Nothing could be further from the truth. Long before the UFC, long before Bruce lee even ...  the ‘internal martial artists’ of china were cross training and exploring other arts with great enthusiasm.

A few examples:

The primary example of this ‘search and explore’ mentality would be Wan Lai sheng of the Ziranmen (Natural Boxing). His primary teacher was Du Xing Wu but he then went on to learn from a myriad of different teachers and meet many many other martial artists and specialists in various systems.  His books read much like Bruce lee’s Tao of Jeet Kune Do in their approach.

Then we have masters like Li Cun Yi, Sun Lu Tang, Zhang Zao Dong, Chen Pan Ling etc ... all very famous masters of various styles who cross trained extensively and met and learnt from many other fighters of their era .. that included Western Boxers and Wrestlers!! So this is the Tradition of the Internal Martial Arts.

It is very unfortunate that in many modern martial arts schools this spirit of freedom has been lost, with practitioners not looking beyond their primary style or practice and fervently defending their ‘lineage’ as the one true way. This is often at odds with the people who started the schools they train in!!

If our goal is to strive for ultimate efficiency then we must be free to go and explore, test, experience and train in any method, art, system or practice we choose ... with one Caveat!

You must have roots to your tree first. This is a vital point. To be able to determine what something is, how it works and how it may be useful you must reach a point where your own body map and motion sensitivity are of a good/ high level.

Sometimes you see people who struggle with the simplest of movements while others pick them up straight away. This is largely down to body awareness, sensory awareness and internal awareness. Once you have this root body skill you can make useful observations that you can feed into your own practice. Without it you are in a dark room fumbling for the light switch.

Once you have it though you can explore various other systems somewhat and feed useful information back into your own search for efficiency.

Although I would say my roots are Xing Yi Quan and Aiki, because i have developed a relatively good body map, in recent years i have trained with experts in Russian Martial Arts, I Liq Chuan, Tai Chi Chuan, Ba Gua, MMA and Brazilian JuJutsu and have picked up useful insights and information from all of them. Which leads on to the next point in the search for combat efficiency.

The search and explore mindset

One aspect of IMA’s as i know them that may go against most peoples idea of ‘traditional Martial Arts’ is what i call the ‘search and explore mindset’.  This is a vital part of the training in IMAs in my opinion and is central to developing combat functionality.

Traditionally the idea is to develop some skill in your chosen root method, then go off into the world to experience, test and explore all the Martial arts, artists and methods you could.

NOTE : There is simply no teaching method, no art, no system, not training methodology that can give you the skill and understanding gained from ‘experience’.

This search and explore mindset can lead you to street fighting, ‘door work’, fighting for others or yourself in a real and dangerous environment, to competitions and combat sports and many other testing grounds ... but it can equally lead you to interesting and well thought of figures in the Martial Arts from a variety of styles that have something connected to what you already know.

You may go to one person who is a throwing expert to feed experience and understanding back into the throwing of your personal method, or to a high level tactician for understanding fight craft, or to a Knife expert to get an appreciation of knife work and defence.

This ‘search and explore’ mindset doest take away from your status as an ‘internal martial artist’ for the overall goal remains throughout. You go through periods of training your stuff based on what you know, then go out and test and experience, then come back and train your stuff again. Its a very interesting traditional way of training.

Some may say, ‘you say you do xing yi but thats from judo’. That is only true from a certain point of view. I would say back to them ... "i do my own method, sure my root method was from Xing Yi but my method is my own.

Remember no martial art exists outside of the individual. The concept of a system is a human concept. Really we are all doing our own art!

Efficiency in combat – the fundamentals

Whole body power = The biggest bang for the least fatigue

This is something that is often discussed in Many martial arts but what do we mean when we talk about this from the IMA perspective.  Well it boils down to this difference ... in this instance when punching.

• Muscles firing sequentially, 1 then the next then the next,  from floor to hand(cracks in the system between muscle utilization)
• The body (muscle, connective tissue, bone, internal pressure) being utilized simultaneously without any gap or cracks.

With the right unification of the body through strengthening connective tissue, Aligning the joints, and releasing areas of built up tension we can begin to work with this idea of whole body power as it is meant in IMA. It can be used to drive whipping forces, waves, ramming forces  ... a true diversity of methods.

What will happen when this connection and whole body power begins to work? Ironically people will start to notice that you are very strong without trying and while appearing very relaxed.

This unified power is extremely useful as a general principle for all martial movement which is why it underpins everything we do in IMA (the search for efficiency). We are looking for the biggest bang for the least fatigue .

Change > dealing with the unpredictable.

“No plan survives contact with the enemy”

British military saying.

If there is one thing we can say for certain about real combat is that it is a largely unpredictable endeavour. It is impossible to plan or predict what an opponent will do or when they will do it!

So why do we see so many ‘applications’ where A stick out their arm and B performs 3 techniques to their 1? In ancient times this may have been applicable to sword work, but today we need a more innovative approach. It was this innovative approach that got the IMAists a name in old China.

The IMA’s approach this subject with a clear idea of using principles and the combat ready body rather than techniques to create combat functionality.

For instance Xing Yi’s 5 element fists, although they can be used as techniques for splitting, for drilling etc are also very useful as technical principles for dealing with the unpredictability of a combative encounter. They train the major directions that force can go out or come in and flow seamlessly. Similarly Ba gua 8 mother palms or Taiji’s 8 energies deal with principles of expression or receipt. Without the reliance on set responses you are freed to work as is appropriate to the moment rather than what you think the future moment may hold.

The idea central to IMA’s is this idea of Change in the moment. This can be brought out by structured free sparring drills and high speed training. You learn that the foundation in force vectors will stand you in good stead for dealing with the changes that naturally happen in combat and the more you train at real speeds the more your body will fall back on the lines that have been trained.

"you do not rise up to the occasion, you fall back to the lowest level of your training"

Balance

As mentioned in a previous post, One of the main aims of IMA’s is to keep the opponent in an unbalanced state by taking their centre. I define taking their centre thus:

‘Removing the opponents physical stability, their ability to control their support, balance, structure and mind to the point where they must recover before being able to act.’

I have covered some of the methods to do this in previous posts but here is an outline of why we would want to do this.

• It breaks the structure of the opponent in such a way that he cannot strike or throw you effectively.
• It creates opportunity to strike an unprepared structure. They cant brace to receive the hit.
• It allows you to throw/take down the opponent with relative ease.
• It disrupts the timing and rythm of the opponent.
• It can nullify Fighting intent (but doesn’t always).
• It causes a feeling of insecurity and loss of control.
• It triggers defensive reaction instead of offensive.
• It buys you time in an encounter to bring the situation under your control.

Remembering the defining principle of ‘efficiency’ we can say that all of these things help us to dispatch an aggressor more efficiently than if they were fully balanced and capable of applying force as they wished.

Mind

The will and willingness to fight when it is needed is a very big stumbling block for alot of people. To take that step to really inflict injury on someone else. This is however the trade of the martial artists.

There are essential a few different ways to approach the mental requirement for a combat ready state:

1. Hunting animal mindset - focused, straight to the point and lacking emotional attachment to the situation, getting the job done. (professional Mindset)

2 The fighting animal Mindset - Extreme channelled violent focus.

3. Awareness mindset - No attachment to the an idea of outcome. Working from a position of awareness in the moment.

Most of the fighters of the world you can place into one of these 3 categories or for some fighters you can place them in all three! But from the IMA Point of view we are looking mainly at fighters in the 1^st and 3^rd category. These mindsets fit better with the overall idea of efficiency and lack of tension.

It is important to mention when talking about mindset that this is something that we have to live with in every aspect of our life. It has to be utilitarian in nature, something that can be worked into the process of daily living, something that is natural. It has to help our efficiency in every day life.

With this in mind, for most people, the best mindset to have is the Awareness mindset. His allows us to live in the moment dealing with situations as and when they arise. Not waiting for that spark when the fight breaks out like it could happen any minute. For some people that is the way to be fight ready and it works very well for them.

If we live with awareness mindset then we can combine that with ‘Hunting’ mindset should a problem arise. Then we have the practice of ‘active awareness’ where we are working to finish the job while not planning past the moment.

Awareness boils down to lack of disturbance or distraction. So meditation is a key aspect of training to quiet the mind and remove the disturbance of future or past related thoughts.  For many IMAists Meditation is the key way to bring about mental efficiency.

Next Up – Efficiency every day.