Recognising your lines of force.

Its been a little while since i have posted any information on here, so sorry about that. I have been very busy training in various arts to expand my knowledge base and test my body skill.  But i have a few posts on the go so will be updating again in the next few days with some more information.

I was recently talking to a friend who was explaining a method of pushing on a wall to recognise what line was in use in a given expression of power. It is interesting that this guy wasn't from an IMA background as this sort of structure testing is something we do quite often.

But this way of establishing the line is just the first step in recognising what is required of the body and its lines when expressing directional power. Lets have a look at some ideas relating to this method.

1) Push the wall.
Here we simple take the position of a specific method, a punch or kick, shoulder bump or elbow strike, while placing the striking surface on a wall. We then push or press against the wall to feel what parts of the body are being engaged. This anatomical line is the one we form up behind the given direction when we make said movement.

This is the first line to recognize and really feel. It will highlight to us what the forming up line is behind a given movement allowing us to tailor solo and power training to developing that line for maximum expression behind the applying surface.

2) The empty lines/areas
Next we need to focus on the areas of the body not involved in forming up behind the applying surface. So for instance, in a straight punch the back leg to front hand may be the primary line of force, so we need to examine the front leg and non punching hand/side of the body.

Once we are able to feel these ‘empty areas’ of the body we need to work to engage them. Or fill them so that they are no longer empty. All the while still applying force along our primary line. We don't want them to be along for the ride but actually contributing directly to the stability of the structure or expression of force.

This is much easier said than done but the aim is to have a unified force  assisted by complimentary forces fed in from areas not required in alignment behind the specified direction.

3) Opposite directional forces
It may seem counter intuitive to have a reactionary force opposing the primary direction, but this is also a requirement if we wish to establish and maintain an equilibrium. When applying force along a direction or around an axis it is easy to ‘overcomit’ our power in said direction making us very vulnerable. The application building of a complimentary but opposite force is needed to retain our centre and balance.

This isn’t an easy concept to grasp but for instance for certain strikes the spine will be used like a bow or a spring, in a bow the tips spring due to the opposing central pressures (otherwise the whole bow would move through space) In a spring the compression is opposed by the solid base or equal pressure from the other side. Without these opposing forces there would be no potential to emit power.

Summary
Actually developing these lines and ideas once recognized is the one of the overriding principles of the internal arts. We are aiming for Maximum efficiency and mechanics in a given direction. But first, as seen above we must understand what the direction actually is inside our body, rather than outside in the resultant motion.

Attack the attack.

Off the back of my last post i thought i would share some ideas on Xing Yi’s combat strategy that are applicable to most systems of MA. The first one is to ‘Attack the Attack’.

One of the key methods we find in Xing Yi is the idea of attacking the attack as a method of defending the attack. Now this might sound a little complicated at first but we can break it down into several easily digestible chunks. 

1. Basic Premise

What does attacking the attack really mean? Well you can look at it like this. When the opponent begins their flurry or method you move in on a good line attacking them with various methods appropriate to the open gates created by their attack. This idea is seen in some good boxers and MMA fighters where as their opponent begins an attack they will really go forward and put huge attacking pressure on. Fedor and Crocop were masters of this principle.

2. Timing

Timing is an interesting concept here. We are trying to recognise the instant an attack is forming or formed and attack inside the timing structure of that attack. 

3. Focus

Here  we work to overcome the incoming intent with pinpoint focus, driving our attack through the attack of the opponent in unrelenting combination.

4. Unrelenting

We are trying to overwhelm their attack instinct. It is not enough to just throw a punch as they punch .. though this may well end the encounter if you do it well! We need to have that hunting mindset of subduing some prey.

5. Angulation

One of the most important points is that our attack is NOT stupid! We need to have a good line on their attack and go in on an angle that is not in opposition to their angle. If you just flail in ... you will get knocked out!

6. Power

The power of our attack needs to be extreme and overwhelming. The force we put through to them needs to be centred but not easy to escape or deal with. (good xing Yi’s speciality.)

Try some drills to work on this idea of attacking the attack. Start with slow movement sparing and try to recognise the formation of the attack in the opponent. Then you can up the speed, pads and power. We can also work with mitts to bring out this principle, and i will post some methods on yuotube when i have time.

Missing out on Realism.

Recently I watched an interesting video airing on Chinese television at the moment which follows a couple of young MMA and Wing Chun guys travelling around to various masters in China to experience and ultimately test various martial arts.

This episode related to the home of Xing Yi Quan and XinYi. There was some good interesting information in the program and some interesting demonstrations of application of forces etc on opponents, some nice forms and training methods and some good body work on show. But with that in mind look at this video of the exchanges.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=91ythWqde-c

When these ‘masters’ of Xing yi came to ‘spar’ with the presenters they found themselves completely unable to apply their method, principle and general combat goal. Why?? Let’s make no mistake, these are good level masters in respected Xing Yi traditions.

The answer is fairly simple really and something that many in martial traditions do not like to admit.

Their training has an absence of realism.

What do i mean by this? Well in my opinion training can be broken down into a 3 areas.

1) BodyworkThis means we are building the body specifically for the combat work it will undertake. This means functional cardiovascular fitness, power, co-ordination, strength and mental capacity. No matter what style or approach to combat you need these basic qualities.
2)Application of force principlesThis is where we work on ‘applications’ of the frame or body to test power and co-ordination against a moving opponent.
3) Testing of combat capacityHere we work on free, unpredictable combative work. This can be sparing, free pushing hands, Situation work, and multiple opponent drills, whatever is not fixed in place.

It is in that 3^rd part of training that we test our ‘Unconscious Competence’. That is our ability to do things well without thinking of doing things well. This is the stage that a lot of people miss out on and is the only way to realistically test how our training is affecting our combative capability.

This is worth thinking about if training IMA’s etc. These guys are at the source, the root and home of Xing Yi and couldn’t perform past the basic level of an amateur sport fighter ... Does your training give you an understanding of your ‘Unconscious Competence’??

NEW CLASS - Monday 7th January 2013

IMA / Combative Fundamentals Class

Starting Monday the 7th January 2013 I will be holding a new session for those interested in Combative training from the ground up.  

With the information base coming from the internal arts and real combat experience the Fundamentals training will combine innovative body work training, realistic combat drills and combat methods for all ranges and situations. 

The aim of this 1 year training is to bring about a good level of skill within a year. I will back up the weekly training sessions with a monthly 4 hour evaluation session to give more detail and see where the group is at any point.

An rough outline of the course is shown below. Please not that although the first few months will be focused primarily on health, fitness and body development the program will always include some 2 person training in all sessions and all work is combat relevant. The sessions will work top to bottom so for the first few months this can be viewed as a health and fitness class in many respects.

At the end of these first sections you can expect to be, stronger, leaner, more co-ordinated and better able to move with purpose.

Please inform anyone that is interested in training from the ground up, be them experienced martial artists looking for a new dimension to training or complete beginners looking for something new.

This going ahead is based on numbers so please let anyone you can know!

Body skill training

-          Basic Body strength

-          Basic Connection

-          Flexibility

-          Fluidity

-          Natural movement

-          Contextual movement patterns

Line training

-          Targeted tissue development

-          Linking the body

-          Continuation of body skill training

Level 1 Training

-          Fundamentals of stand up wrestling

o   Listening Skill

o   Push & pull

o   Twist & cross

o   Catch the joint

o   3 pillars of throwing and take downs

-          Fundamentals of striking

o   Mechanics of alignment

o   Mechanics of generation

o   Force transfer

o   Placement

o   In/out – open/close

-          Continuation of Body skill training

Level 2 Training

-          Range training and Listening skills

o   Free work feed drills

o   Movement flow drills

o   Kick>punch>elbow>grapple listening drills

o   Multiple opponent flow

o   Pad work

-          Knife

o   Check training

o   Move training

o   Hit training

o   Flow drills and integration of strategy

-          Self defence considerations.

o   What is it

o   What do we need to be effective

o   What DONT we need!

-          Continuation of body skill training.

1 YEAR MARK

Level 3 training

-          Advanced h2h combat training

o   Will be explained at this stage **

-          Advanced Self defence

o   Will be explained at this stage **

** This part of the training is reliant on the foundation/fundamental training that precedes it and the content is not usefully explained unless that training has been completed. No secrets, just reliance on previous fundamentals.

UKIMA training session Clip.

This is an overview of a recent UKIMA training session covering application of some Pi Quan concepts, held at Seishin Dojo MMA & BJJ centre in Gloucester UK.

Covered was:
Relevant warm ups,
Bodywork, 
Connection,
Striking
Angulation
Gripping to control retreat
Tempo and Rythm 
Movement
take downs
and free work.

Stability in mobility

Recently in Tai chi Class we have been working on mobility and footwork while retaining the principles of stability and equilibrium  This is an interesting practice that can really put Tai chi folks out of their comfort zone somewhat when we really speed it up. Let’s have a look at a few of the key principles of retaining good mechanics while being mobile and agile in our footwork.

1) The Base (not ‘root’)

The idea of the base is an interesting one. It is generally thought to be the area covered by the body position on the floor. We see in many throwing arts the idea of having this stable base in order to effectively power throws, trips and take downs. But how does a stable base relate to agile and mobile footwork?

In a nutshell what we need is awareness of the coverage of our base even when we are in motion. This is of course a flexible and ever changing system. When we make shuffle steps or switch steps the base reaction will be different but we must try to understand our coverage and how far we can extend, turn or project our force.

2) Proprioception

What we mean here is feedback from the sole of the foot as to the body positioning. Without a doubt this is a very important part of movement capacity. If you have poor proprioceptive feedback then most likely your movement skill will not have stability.

There are 9 points on the feet that we can focus on when we stand.

5 x toe points

The ball of the big toe

The adjoining ball of the other 5 toes (this is a single pad)

The ridge of the foot

The heal of the foot.

These are the points to focus on when training in order to increase out proprioception. A very good training for people who have damaged ankles or feet as it will help the nervous system to learn control.

3) Axis Control

In my opinion one of the most important aspects of mobility with stability is the control of the bodies axis, the line the runs from the crown to the perineum. Once this line is under our control, that is to say it is not unconsciously tilting, bending, leaning or swinging, we automatically obtain a level of stability within the context of our mobility. A controlled Axis can move through space in any direction or manner within the base created by the feet. It can lean, tilt, bow, wave etc but this is all under conscious control and a result of intent to do so, no simply ‘slack’ in the system.

One of the points related to Axis control is the control of the base and top of the axis. That is to say the Pelvis and Head. We need to have a good understanding of how the release or fixing of the head and pelvis affect our control of the axis and its capabilities during dynamic movement.

For instance the head can lead the movement of the entire body, much like a goose flying, the head stretches out in front of the body to pull the axis. Or the head can fix in position as the body turns, creating a spiralling stability in the body during motion. There are many varied ways that the head can be used to create stability in the axis.

4) Breathing

Another important aspect of good mobility with stability is how we breath. Breathing is a seemingly overlooked aspect of movement in many arts, but in arts like Russian Systema it is central to how they move and create dynamic, structured movement.

In order to move freely and effectively we need to be very aware of how we hold our breath and the pressures that may result. It is often these pressures that can inhibit our movement in some way especially at combat speeds. Out breath is very useful to lead smooth movement. Especially whey in comes to changing direction, height or position. It leads relaxation which is one of the keys to efficient movement change.

That said sometimes using breath for structural re-enforcement is a necessity. It is used to create physical structure much like the skin of a balloon becomes taut as air is blown in. In this instance we can use the in breath during movement to help us maintain some axis stability during certain force expressions.

Summary

There are other important points to dynamic movement with stability. Such as Root, spatial awareness etc but these are just a few points to bear in mind when you work on movement skills. 

Fighting predisposition & self defence

Anyone who has worked in the security industry for any length of time will know that there are some people out there who love to fight. They are always ready and willing to get into a combative encounter should the need or opportunities arise. These people are sometimes the ones who eventually turn to combat sports, door work or other less savoury means to satisfy their need for combat, to satisfy their predisposition to fighting.

But can this attitude be learnt or applied to self defence through training and indeed should it?! I am of the honest opinion that it cant.

To say that in order to be effective in a self defence situation you need to be switched on or ready to fight at all times is simply not an option for most people if they are not predisposed to fighting. It is not a practical solution to the problem as it takes mental effort and focus that can often burn a person out, cause tensions and illnesses.

This is where the idea of ‘switching intent’ comes in.

Switching intent is simply going from one thing to another.

But there is more to it than that of course, It is going from one thing to something extremely different in a split second, and remaining functional in both. That is to say it is not simply to react, as reaction can be out of our control.

It can be said that the act of going from Wuji posture in Xing yi to san ti is mind training to switch on to the task to come. To manifest the intent and use it to direct movement. This can be a bit abstract for those that don’t do xing yi however. It is much simpler to describe it thus.

Lets say I am walking along a street and a car mounts the Kerb towards me, in a fraction of a second my intent, focus and body state will change in reaction to the change in situation. However, if I freeze and cover up, I will get hit by the car, this is an example of untrained reaction not being useful. If I leap out of the way then the reaction is useful, I was prepared to act even though I was not thinking of acting.

This is the process of ‘switching on’ to a threat or change in circumstance.

Do we need a predisposition to fighting to go from nothing to something? No. We can learn to focus our natural response reactions so that they become useful to us in a combative situation, so that they become recognisable to us. The action, reaction and focus of intent become one. It is easier said than done however as the majority of this work resides in the mind and can be difficult to consciously recognise.

If I get into MMA or another combat sport and start to heavy spar, compete or train with great coaches, does this reflect the mental change required to go from relaxing drinking a pint with friends to fighting for your life? Simply put, no it doesn’t!

This is not to say that MMA or another combat sport wont give you the tools to finish the encounter once you have switched on... in most cases it certainly will! But will it train you to actually switch on?

So there needs to be a layer of mind training in whatever art you do that will afford the awareness and Trained natural response reaction needed to save yourself. This is accomplished in many varied ways by many difference self defence trainers. But we can say that the need boils down to this:

‘In training,  do not let the mind be comfortable with the situation you get into.’

This is a process of targeted struggle as i have mentioned in previous articles.

If I am in my gym or dojo and we are about to do some combat work, sparring or similar i already have a level of mental preparation that i have set up to deal with the reality that is about to come. This is also true of competition, even though it is a random situation in some respects, it is also mentally preparable. Even if its hard heavy sparring my mind is still prepared for this.

So the training drills need to be focused on how to remove the security of knowing what is to come. This can be achieved in many ways as i have said. But here are a few examples.

1.       Recognising the switch (opening a form)

If your chosen art or method has forms then this is a good way to begin to train to recognise the switch of intent.

-          Stand completely still eyes closed and empty the mind of any notion of form or training

-          The millisecond you open your form switch your mind very clearly onto the task at hand.

-          Repeat.

This is actually a very hard mind training method. The process of loosing thought of training before training is a difficult thing to achieve!

2.       Unplanned Pad slaps
Here we are looking to take the mind from a state of calm to a state of reaction without preparing the person for the work.

-          In groups of 4 have 3 with focus mitts on a 1 without.

-          The one without leaves the room.

-          The three with select a person to make the initial attack.

-          Invite the partner back into the room

-          Walk in a group around the room talking and making idle chit chat. This can go on for 5 minutes or however long it takes for the person to become distracted by the conversation.

-          At that moment the pad man selected to initiate the attack makes his move with a high tempo of slaps to the body and head of the partner.

-          They have to react naturally to the threat

You can layer this training up and up and it becomes a very interesting process, much like Kato attacking Inspector Cluso in the Pink panther movies!

The really important thing with this drill if for the person being attacked to recognise how they switch and for the pad men to wait for however long it takes till the partner is lost in the conversation or whats happening.

In conclusion

It is not necessary to be ‘on’ all the time. Indeed it is an impossibility for most people that are not predisposed to fighting or combat.

As Self defence trainers we have to find other ways to switch someone on when the time is right. This idea of training the ‘switch’ itself is very helpful if it can be zoned in on and trained as a component unto itself.

What we end up with is a practitioner who leads a normal life without thought of combat, but when the time is right Naturally switches their intent to the task at hand.

New Location and schedule!

I am very pleased to announce that our Monday evenings will now be taught at the Seishin Dojo in Gloucester, home to Gracie Barra Gloucester and some great MMA classes.

http://seishindojo.co.uk/dojoblog/?page_id=716

The change to the schedule also affects the Tuesday classes so check out the information below:

MONDAY:
7.30 - 8.30 - UKIMA body work and combatives
8.30 - 9.30 - Hebei Xing Yi Quan (invite only)

TUESDAY:
7.00 - 8.00: Yang Tai chi beginners class
8.00 - 9.00: Yang Tai chi Advanced Class.

If you know anyone that could be interested in IMA then now is a good time for them to get involved. 

Many thanks to my students and friends for continuing to grow and learn with me.

Thanks
Chris

Pressure Testing & Internal Martial Arts

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. 

Taking the centre Idea 2 – finding the line through

Following on from the last post on Leading the centre i thought i would through some light onto the subject of projecting the opponents centre or ‘finding the line through’. This is a great skill to have and can create very different striking sensation as well as very useful throwing and take down skills.

What is the ‘line through’.

When i say finding the line through what i mean is the line from point of contact through the structure that disrupts the balance with minimal appreciable effort. Here we are not looking for the opponent to ‘form up’ behind this pressure, but for them to be unable to create any resistance back through that line.

A simple example.

Get your partner to stand with legs shoulder width and locked. Place your fist on their breast bone and gently push. This line is unopposed and can affect their balance with ease and minimal input of force.

Obviously that is just to give an idea, and when applied against a structure with dynamic movement and changing support positions the skill becomes more difficult and refined.

Why find the line through

Finding the line through the opponent’s structure is extremely useful for striking and especially throwing or taking an opponent down. The Line through essentially represents a past of least resistance into the internal body structures (organs, bones etc). For striking this is a very useful idea for obvious reasons!

When it comes to throwing the line through will aid the direction of off balancing (see three pillars of throwing article). You will be able to effect the opponents position with minimal effort and maximum efficiency of direction (see defining martial arts article)

Some exercises

1 - The line through a stable structure

Here we get our partner to stand in the strongest stance they can and try to find the line through.

• Ask your partner to take a strong stance
• Place your hand or fist on the partner approaching him from the front
• Push straight ahead with a consistant pressure. Not enough to make him move.
• Maintaining the same pressure slowly adjust the direction and angle of your pushing force until the partner looses balance. It is VERY important that you dont ‘try’ to push them over but simply let the line find the best route.

Variation –

Your partner maintains doesn’t move their feet but tries to escape your pressure as you constantly change to find the line in a moving structure.

2- Line through a moving structure.

Here the partner is in motion using whatever footwork they like as you try to find the line through.

• Your partner starts from 4 – 6 feet away and walks towards you.
• You place your hand or fist on them and apply pressure to the line through
• The partner should be stopped, pushed back or diverted in their direction.

NOTE: it is important your partner does not try to use their arms to block yours or similar

Variation –

Your partner uses combative footwork as do you, still he is not utilising his arms and your simply applying a force to find the line through

In both of these training methods you should not be ‘muscling’ though the opponent, it should feel like you hardly push at all but the effect is significant. When this happens you have found the ‘line through’.

Coaching People

Coaching people

As a Martial Arts coach, sensei, shihan or Sifu it is common place to apply a subscribed syllabus of techniques methods or training to your school or group and teach people within the pre determined methods of the tradition. But is this enough? Does it fulfil your responsibilities as a Coach / Teacher but more importantly does it provide the solutions that the individual might require.

Of course structure is useful to a degree in teaching martial arts. With a set goal of training we can work towards a obtaining a certain skill set or method over time. However, especially in the early stages, the idea of a ‘one size fits all’ solution to the movement or structure problems of the individual falls down.

It is in this early stage that your MA coach should take time to specifically recognise and rehabilitate and movement or postural deficiencies so that your body is a capable container for the knowledge and methods it is about to receive.

It is not enough for everyone in the group to stand in horse stance for 20 minutes if 20% of those people cant stand in horse stance properly due to varying postural or structural problems.

In my opinion the Martial Arts Coach should cater for the following when he takes on the responsibility of teaching people his method.

• Recognise & rehabilitate movement or postural deficiencies specific to the individual
•  Provide a framework for the individual to use to advance their overall health.
• Provide a ‘Box Free’ Learning Environment and Philosophy.
• Provide practical, proven and honest Combative training methods.

As someone who came from Japanese arts with a lot of structure and a vast catalogue of techniques to the Chinese Arts with a few principles and virtually no Hierarchy and structure I can certainly see the rational and reasons for both. But which would I suggest as best?

It’s an interesting question and personally I don’t think that either really nail the coaching process as I experienced them.

1. The danger with structure is that the individual never gets the underlying simplicity behind all the complexity.
2. The danger with Freedom is that the individual never grasps the complexity behind the simplicity.

It is my opinion as a coach that we should be looking at each individual and giving them a specific exercise and skill set initially to work out any problems they may have. These methods can come from anywhere provided they are right for that individual ... they can be Tai chi, Xing Yi, Ba Gua, Modern Cardio training, even Weight training ... if thats what the individual needs.

After this point training structure can be picked up and utilised to provide specific combat skills or health training.

Does your coach give you specifically what you need? That is the question every martial arts student has to ask themselves honestly. Forget the colour belt round their waist, forget how many fights they have had or the reputation that follows them, look honestly at the present situation you are in and see if you get what you need.

Spatial Awareness

Sorry its been a while since i have posted any articles. There are some in the pipeline on:

- More on efficiency
- The role of a Martial Arts Coach
- Taking the centre continued
- Fear & stress
- Pressure testing the Internal Arts

.... so stay tuned!

In the meantime i thought i would post this video of some lovely Capoera, which i think displays some excellent spatial recognition and awareness skills.

FREE seminars on the Internal Arts

hi all, i am now offering FREE seminars to any group or school interested. Please contact me for details. Further information can be found on my site: Thanks.

Click here

Defining Internal Martial Arts = The search for efficiency.

A question often asked of someone who says they do ‘internal martial arts’ is ‘what are internal martial arts’.

This is a classic and ongoing debate on message boards and between martial artists of varying backgrounds and styles. Here are some of the main definitions that we come across:

• Internal martial arts are those arts founded inside china (Taoist) rather than derived from India via shaolin (Buddhist)
• Internal Martial arts focus on the development and use of ‘Chi’.>
• Internal Martial Arts are soft, external Martial Arts are hard.
• Internal Martial Arts are specifically, Tai Chi, Xing Yi & Ba gua as defined by Early artists from these styles.
• Internal Martial Arts use connective tissue rather than muscle.

Personally however i do not think that any of these classic and much discussed definitions really define what i have found Internal Martial Arts to be. My definition would be this:

Internal Martial Arts are practices to find efficiency.

For me IMAs go beyond tradition, they are not a system, not a set of preconceived notions that can be put in a box and labelled as this art or that. They are the individuals search for efficiency. So why still call them internal? Well the reason is simple, the struggle to find efficiency is largely introspective. You are constantly looking inside yourself to find the optimum. It becomes more the ‘you’ inside than the label others put on what you do.

This is the best definition of IMAs that i can come up with because the best Martial Artists that i have met live in this manner. Every one of them were researchers of efficiency, none of them were rigid in their notion of what something ‘should be’, none of them were married to their tradition to the expense of their freedom to explore any and all other combat or health practices they wished. But it always came back to THEIR journey ... not the ones who came before.

So, with this in mind lets look at a couple of things that I look to achieve in my IMA practice.

Efficiency of body

The way you move in combat or in any physical action is central to the ideas of the IMA’s. The aim here is to be as efficient as possible for the given task with no excess tension, no forces that oppose the goal and no wasted effort.

To do this we must be able to recognise ‘inefficiency’ in what we do. This is largely a very difficult task indeed!!

Is it enough to get someone fighting full speed and let the efficiency come out on its own? For some people yes i think it is, if they have a very good body map. But for most people,  feeling where they are inefficient in a certain movement requires that we slow the movement down from full speed training to ‘zoom in’ on it.

I have recently read some very interesting articles, books and blogs on the process of learning (see the bottom of the post for recommended reading!) In brief we can say that in order to maximise our ability to recognise inefficiency we need to slow a movement or practice right down and really get inside it. That process amounts to these two things...

1) The Weber Fechner Law
Definition:
describes the relationship between the physical magnitudes of stimuli and the perceived intensity of the stimuli. Fechner's law states that subjective sensation is proportional to the logarithm of the stimulus intensity.
In plain English what does this mean for our practice? This Law states that if we move with a high rate speed and muscular effort we decrease dramatically our ability to perceive our efficiency in that movement. The slower we go the more able we are to perceive the efficiency of the movement.

2) ‘Deep Practice’
What does this mean? Basically it means ...’How we learn’ and relates to the process of Myelination in the brain. This process is key to how we learn new things and retain or become better at other things. Myelin can be thought of as the insulation around a wire, The more insulation the less signal is lost. Our ability to increase the Myelin around a certain neural pathway is directly related to ‘how’ we learn.  For the martial artist this is achieved through what is called ‘deep practice’.

" Deep practice, "struggling in certain targeted ways -- operating at the edges of your ability, where you make mistakes -- makes you smarter. Or to put it a slightly different way, experiences where you're forced to slow down, make errors, and correct them...end up making you swift and graceful without you realising it."

If we apply these two ideas correctly then we can begin to maximise our body’s learning efficiency.

The internal traditions already had these two ideas down, the very slow or static training is specifically designed to both zoom in on muscular and structural inefficiency as well as create an environment for ‘targeted struggle’.

Not just fast... not just slow ... but training both!

One thing often missing in some IMA training is the very fast or full speed training. We must also practice at full speed to understand how the body needs to move, then draw that back to the slow movement practice to maximise its efficiency and get inside the movement.

Tai chi is an example of this fast/slow training being lost to the focus on slow training. Traditionally the forms and fighting combinations were performed at real speed, slow speed, mediums speed, with jumps, agile footwork, static footwork etc ... a myriad of ways. 

A great example of how this lack of speed training has effected modern tai chi is how many Tai chi people will stand bolt upright throughout their form, but when they speed up they lead with the head and incline in the direction of travel or force expression ... they do this naturally but do not feed this back into their practice. When you look at older taiji guys you see they knew about this and the lean in their forms reflected the functional requirement.

If we are training for combat then we have to understand that speed, rythm, timing and confusion are fundamental aspect ... you cant just practice slow ... but by the same token you cant just practice fast if you want to obtain the ultimate goal of IMAs ... efficiency.

The body structures.

As you slow down fast movements you will recognise excess tension in the musculature and misalignments that can explain ongoing injuries or soreness whenever your going full speed. What you also notice is that as you work these problems out in a focused way you begin to use a different type of body method.

What the IMA traditions do have in abundance is exercises striving to sort out muscular and structural problems as their primary goal, but more than that, exercise that build the lines of tissue and alignments needed at full speed.

As a real life example of the need to train these tissues, I knew someone who was training full speed doing a slapping motion with his palm and broke a tendon in his wrist. The movement was natural but the conditioning of the structures in use was not there.

This is a really important point.  It is all well and good to train at full speed to bring out combat efficiency, but without the body to back it up the risk of damage is much higher and for most ... almost inevitable.

So one of the primary goals of IMA training is to build the body that is capable. The body that can be tuned to any skill without fear of injury. The body that can produce huge forces without creating tendonitis or elbow and knee problems.

Anyone that has trained Muay Thai, Judo, MMA or any of a number of arts will attest to the ongoing niggly little problems with the shoulder, wrist, elbows, knees etc. This is largely down to lack of conditioning of the correct structures ... They might have big muscles but their connective tissue is weak. When i trained these arts i had tennis elbow often, had tendonitis in my knee and had hip flexor problems ... nothing major but these little niggles were the result of the training methodology. Most injuries occur in the connective tissue and not the muscle. So why do they happen?

1) too much force to the elastic aspect of the tissue to cope with
2) force produced along a misaligned joint
3) reactive damage from impact.

The structures we aim to train are those that connect the body together, the ones that tie and wrap the joints, the structures that link muscle groups. If these are conditioned then we can move full speed without fear of injury. This is the IMA body.

Here is some interesting information on the role of connective tissue as it relates to understanding proprioception and kinesthesia.

Finding #3:The fascial system is far more innervated than muscle, so proprioception and kinesthesia are primarily fascial, not muscular.

This is a hard concept for many fitness professionals to get their heads around, but it is a fact: there are 10 times as many sensory receptors in your fascial tissues as there are in your muscles (Stillwell 1957). The muscles have spindles that measure length change (and over time, rate of length change) in the muscles. Even these spindles can be seen as fascial receptors, but let’s be kind and give them to the muscles (Van der Wal 2009). For each spindle, there are about 10 receptors in the surrounding fascia—in the surface epimysium, the tendon and attachment fascia, the nearby ligaments and the superficial layers. These receptors include the Golgi tendon organs that measure load (by measuring the stretch in the fibers), paciniform endings to measure pressure, Ruffini endings to inform the central nervous system of shear forces in the soft tissues, and ubiquitous small interstitial nerve endings that can report on all these plus, apparently, pain (Stecco et al. 2009; Taguchi et al. 2009).


So when you say you are feeling your muscles move, this is a bit of a misnomer. You are “listening” to your fascial tissues much more than to your muscles. Here are three interesting findings that go along with this basic eye-opener: Ligaments are mostly arranged in series with the muscles, not in parallel (Van der Wal 2009). This means that when you tense a muscle, the ligaments are automatically tensed to stabilize the joint, no matter what its position.


Our idea that the ligaments do not function until the joint is at its full extension or torsion is now outmoded; for example, ligaments function all through a preacher curl, not just at the ends of the movement. Nerve endings arrange themselves according to the forces that commonly apply in that location in that individual, not according to a genetic plan, and definitely not according to the anatomical division we call a muscle. There is no representation of a “deltoid” inside your movement brain. That’s just a concept over in your cortex, not in your biological organization. Apparently, sensors in and near the skin are more active in detecting and regulating movement than the joint ligament receptors (Yahia, Pigeon & DesRosiers 1993).

Understanding the body training

To the outside observer standing arms outstretched will not relate to combat. But then neither would watching someone in a Gym doing a deadlift or someone on a hill doing sprints. However they are all combat applicable to some degree.

Context is important. If you want to work on connective tissue there are certain ways that can help you to achieve this. The internal arts use slow movement for targeted muscular release, dynamic positional holds, specific twist methods and stretches from finger to toes ...  Modern sports science uses methods like the ‘static partial bench press’ etc. The outcome of such training is that when you return to combat specific training the body is more connected and capable.

Of course all these plus points make sense from a health perspective as well. When we are correctly aligned our torso is open, the internal organs are not compressed or confined and our joints are able to function with all round support and re-enforcement.

Next up ....Efficiency in Combat, cross training, the search and experience mentality.... Stay Tuned!

Recommended reading:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Talent-Code-Greatness-born/dp/0099519852
also ref Myelination props go to Chris McKinley for sharing this information and getting me interested.
http://www.bettermovement.org/2010/why-practice-slow-movement/#comment-20539
http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/fascial-fitness

Taking the centre (part 1)

Taking the centre of the opponent is a concept common to many martial arts. Some styles may call it taking the balance, some may call it contorting the structure and these are certainly aspects of ‘taking the centre’ as we mean it in the internal arts. But there can be more to this concept than these ideas. In these posts i will try to outline some of the many ideas associated with ‘Taking the centre’.

Firstly some definitions:

Centre.
This is open to interpretation depending on the theory of your style. But for now let define the centre thus:

‘A state where the Mind is in control of the body support, balance and structure creating a physical  stability’

Taking

Here we mean to bring something under our control, or take it away from the opponent.

Taking the Centre

So we can define taking the centre as:

‘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.’

Why take the centre?

Before i get into how we take the centre of the opponent, i think it is useful to ask the question of why do we aim to take the centre of the opponent.  In my opinion it boils down to these reasons:

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

So here we have an outline of the aims and benefits of taking the opponents centre as i see them. In the next post i will discuss in detail the first method of taking the centre.

Stay Tuned!

Slow training for increased awareness

Awareness is one of the key points of IMA training, be that situational awareness, awareness of our body state or awareness of the moment in combative encounter. How can we really train to enhance our awareness in a free fighting / sparring setting?

Here is an interesting idea for increasing combative competency  through increased awareness.

Higher Speed >lower awareness of force and lines

Lower Speed < higher awareness of force and lines.

This principle of slowing the real fight down to increase our awareness of the nuances’ of the movement encounter may seem somewhat strange to some of the MMA or Sport fighting guys out there but lets examine what slowing the encounter down during training helps us with.

1. Increased ability of the mind to calculate angular change and movement
2.  More opportunity to become ‘in tune’ with the attacker
3.  Longer opportunity to pattern the attacker or break/change rythms.
4.  Awareness of the moment becomes more prolonged

The overriding difficulty with slow mo training is our ability to control ourselves. It is very easy to get excited and change speed. When you see a gap you shoot a fist through it 4 times as fast as the partner was moving!

It is ok, even good, to be quicker than your partner but you will never be 4 or 5 times as quick at real speeds so we need to keep our excitement in check.

Training at slow speeds should be a mutual ‘game’ of stratergy and awareness of the moment. If we work slowly with this idea of ‘play’ then the problem of ‘winning’ can disappear.

Try some slow sparring and see how you get on, after 20 – 30 minutes speed up to full speed and see whats changed. Your overall awareness and movement skill should have increased dramatically.

Leaking power

One interesting topic when we look at how movement and body mechanics work to provide optimum force is the idea of force leaking from individual joints during movement. These movements often contradict the overall goal of a movement and are normally confined to a single joint. They can be thought of as cracks or breaks in the power of a motion. Although small in volume the leaking of power from, for instance the elbow, can result in much lower overall efficiency of the limb at transmitting force in a certain direction.

For instance we say that Pi Quan in xing yi has the ‘heavy elbow’ in order to keep the direction of force down and maintain the optimum amount of power expressible in the required direction. However this Pi Quan movement gives us a good opportunity to examine what is meant by power leaking from a joint.

In the example below we see a diagram of Pi quan with heavy elbow, and pi quan with extending elbow.

In Figure 1, we see the back arm drawing back and around and the entire high arm structure maintaining its angles and expressing cleanly downward with no power leaking in the upward direction.

However in figure 2  we see a flatter expression of Pi Quan where the elbow is being used to extend the power forward. In this example the result is a leaking of power in the upward direction from the elbow. This ‘up’ force expression in the elbow will reduce the total ‘down’ force in the Pi Quan movement. This is an example of force leaking from a single joint within the totality of the movement.

It is possible to extend the elbow while minimising the amount of force lose within this movement. You have to be aware of when the tendons are still in use and when they are too extended to be utilised. It is important that the nature of the frame is recognised and the force isn’t allowed to extend too far outside of the structure.

This is not to say that the there shouldn’t sometimes be opposite directional forces in movement, indeed there normally SHOULD be opposite forces happening. What this highlights is essentially a crack or break in the efficiency of the body mechanics.

Such leaking force occurrences are normally limited to a single joint or single point of the body. Our aim is to minimise these occurrences of force leaking out of our frame and maximise the body mechanics at work.

Check your frame in your art and see if you can feel where power is leaking from certain areas of the body.

Happy training.

Chris

Utilizing the Spine

The ability to manipulate the spine as a way of developing power, enhancing health and increasing mobility is a point central to many martial arts. We can even say that without spine mobility the effect of striking, throwing and movement will be greatly diminished.

Whether it is Brazillian JuJutsu or TaijiQuan the ability to manipulate and move the back effectively is one of the things that separates the excellent masters from the rest. However training methods specifically designed to work on the back and spine can sometimes be somewhat lacking in many arts.

Here are a few training ideas that you can try to help increase overall back and spine mobility.

Rolling.

If you follow my blog it is no secret that I rate floor rolling to be a superb overall health and development exercise. However there are specific benefits to this work that directly relate to spine health and mobility.

1)    Rolling for massage.

When rolling on the floor in specific ways you actually massage the muscles around the back and spine, dissipating tension and smoothing out any points of stiffness or sticking. After a very short period you can feel the benefits of this work.

2)    Rolling for mobility

Also when rolling around on the floor your are extending and opening the spine in multiple directions. This means that the connective points of the spine are becoming more and more relaxed but increasing in load capabilities. Gravity is the big friend here and working slowly will increase the effectiveness or this work greatly.

Rolling is a great way to start any work with the spine or back. Once you have warmed up the back and spine through rolling it will be much easier to find points of tension or sticking when working on the next exercises.

Axis twisting

Here we consider the spine a central axis of the body with two ‘sticks’ coming out of it forming a line through the shoulder joints and through the hip sockets. Imagine  the points that these two sticks cross the central line.

1)    Stand arms outstretched and feet shoulder with apart.

2)    Fixing the pelvis and lower stick in place, Turn the upper stick so that it is at right angles to the lower stick when looked at from above.

3)    Once you have twisted into this position, mentally relax any tension created by leading it out of the body through breath.

4)    Come back to the start point and repeat on the other side.

This exercise has several benefits.

- It increases the ‘wrapping’ of the body around a central axis

- It stretches the side lines of the body

- It helps you to recognise the central point and where the shoulder hip alignment it

- It develops twist force

Spine Wave.

This is a little trickier to achieve at first. The aim here is to initially create a big wave up the spine from the point of the coxyx to the base of the neck. As the practice progresses we make this wave smaller and smaller until it is very short in nature. This is where a vibration or short emission of force from the spine become possible.

First exercise, wave and return.

1)    stand feet shoulder width, feet centred on the ground,  hips relaxed, spine extended to the crown and body soft with the shoulders sunk.

2)    Starting at the very base of the spine, Roll each vertebrae forward and then let it naturally retreat. Like a wave rolling onto a beach.

a.     This should be a large movement without any forward action on the body

b.     Maintain the base and position of the pelvis

c.     Do not start the wave in the legs and involve the pelvis in the wave by moving it forward and back in space.

Second exercise, Wave and project

In this instance rather than letting the vertebrae of the spine retreat back naturally you hold them in place so the wave has a forward aspect and momentum

1)    let the body be lead forward from the point the wave breaks.

2)    Done not hold back or try to stop the forward power of the spine wave, but simply ride it and take a few steps.

Spine Hanging

This is a very good closing exercise to relax the spine and let any excess points of tension dissipate.

1)    Feet shoulder width apart, knees and hips soft

2)    Raise the palms out to the sides and up over the head, connecting at the back of the hands  and leading down the centre line of the body

3)    As the hands lead down you will feel a point where the body wants to bend, allow this top happen naturally making sure that the head and neck are also being fully release

4)    Lead all the way down until the torso is hanging from the hips. As if you are being held up by someone at the point of the hips but the rest of you is fully relaxed.

5)    Make the head a weight pulling downward with gravity opening each vertebrae as you hang there.

6)    Hold as long as is comfortable making sure that you breath naturally and are mentally relaxing the back with every out breath.

7)    Very slowly, one vertebrae at a time, stack them on top of each other starting at the base of the spine. The head should be the last thing to come up.

I hope these exercises are useful for you in your daily lives and your martial arts. I will post a video in this Blog post very soon to help with these exercises. 

Happy training.