It is clear that the general consensus among the martial
artists of the world is that martial arts like tai chi are mainly for health
and have lost any connection with real combat. Although this may be the case in
many, many instances the Internal arts were and are actually based in the idea
of ‘testing’. But this does not only mean getting in a ring and duking it out! There
is a huge amount of testing in the Internal Martial Arts that may surprise most
people with its vigour and rigours attention to detail.
Pressure testing the
Body
One of the earliest forms of testing that the Internal
Martial artist undertakes is the pressure testing of their body. This means
both its ability to maintain internal principles under load (positional and
external) and under combative pressure.
There are a vast array of ‘testing’ methods for the body in
Internal Martial Arts, From pushing hands in Taiji to simply holding postures
for long periods of time to work out alignment and muscle usage. But the basics
of testing are these:
- Find where tension builds either under load or from static holds so that you can re-align or relax the area and release the tension.
- Find out how breath and internal pressures are affected under load
- Find gaps or ‘sticking points’ during dynamic movement
- Find movement instability of problems from load or pressure.
These points, once worked out can prove invaluable for the
next type of testing that we do in the IMAs.
Pressure Testing the Principles
& Skill sets
After we have refined the body and tested it against force
we are able to begin pressure testing the principles we train in order to
become combatively viable.
This process is a gradual increase of test, adjust and retest
but can often start with ‘being thrown in at the deep end’ to give an honest
impression of how the mind is acting when conscious control is lost.
As we layer up the Testing of our combative skill set we can
begin to test refine and retest the following:
- Movement fluidity
- Listening skills
- Reaction and action capabilities
- Our ability to deal with large volumes of force
- Power generation and Power redirection.
- Ability to change
Both of these testing Phases are then fed into the next phase
of IMA pressure testing
Pressure testing the
mental Capacity
This is one of the most interesting phases of pressure
testing in that it aims to bring out the nature competency (or incompetency) of
the individual through focuses but randomised training methods.
From Free sparring to Wrestling to Free Push hands there are
many training methods that help to really put the randomised element into the
testing of the two above phases.
During this phase there are many layers and ways of maintaining
a randomised movement dynamic while still staying within the boundaries of a
specific drill. For instance, in a free push hands session you can move with
the aim of touching the chest and not, as is common, to push the other guy.
This changes the force dynamic and can result in real time movement that will
help you or your coach to find deficiencies.
It is also in this phase that people can go off out to other
arts and test their skill set and body against other arts and styles.
Return to the First
Phase
Once you have been through these phases you can then return
back to the first phase, refining your body skill specifically in line with the
deficiencies that were highlighted in the preceding phases.
As you can see, there is a good structure to testing ones
capability in the IMAs.
