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.

The Invention of the “Traditional” Chinese Martial Arts

Interesting article on CMA

http://chinesemartialstudies.com/2013/01/07/lives-of-the-chinese-martial-artists-4-sun-lutang-and-the-invention-of-the-traditional-chinese-martial-arts-part-i/

Thanks to Graham from RSF for the link.

Enjoy!

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’??

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.

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.

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’.

What are internal arts

Hi all,

thought i would put together a short video clip of some of the foremost Internal Martial Artists in the world as an overview for people who don't have context for how some Internal Artists train.

This is meant as a tribute to the featured adepts and in no way am i affiliated to them.


Hope you enjoy guys.

Best regards
Chris

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

The frame from the ground up Part 2

Ok now we have set up the basic position of the body we can start to go into detail about how we can begin to tie the frame together and start to build a useful and dynamic structure.

Beyond the basic position of the body we also need to begin to work on the structures that connect the body together.  Here we are not talking about building muscles individually, but building the lines of muscle/connective tissue/fascia that connect distant points of the body, for instance the hands and feet or the top of the head and the Perineum.

So onwards with part 2 on building the body frame.

Drawing up the Legs.

The legs are an interesting area of the body to begin to work with, especially as we mean here,  as it is not the most natural structural method we are used to. However i can very easily show you what we mean by drawing up the legs.

1.       Stand feet shoulder width apart Knees bend slightly and aligned with the big toe

2.       Very gently start to pull the feet together on the floor, like your gripping something between your feet.

3.       You should begin to feel the upper inside area of the leg engage as you begin to pull in.

4.       Focus on the resulting direction of power, it should feel as though your pulling up into the area of the perineum and the direction your body wants to go in is up.

This is the drawing up power that we talk about when describing ‘drawing up with the legs’. However there are several points which are of importance when we consider this power.

-          Do not allow the power to put lateral pressure on the knees. This is very important as it can lead to knee injury. The knees should be unaffected by the force travelling up from the earth along the insides of the legs.

-          Do not overdo it. This force should be felt and should be demanding to maintain, but NOT painful! I have seen a few people overdo this training and injure themselves. If your building this part of the frame correctly you will feel it the next day initially but it will not cause any damage to your body.

-          Create this force once the rest of the initial points are set. If you start to action this force when your upper body is misaligned or your not set up correctly you will most likely not start to work the wrong line of tissue.

Arms and Legs like Drills.

Visualise a screw being drilled into some hardwood. This is what i mean when i say drilling the legs and arms. It is a very useful practice to begin to work with especially as one of the core components of IMAs is the idea of Spiral force or power.

I will start with the idea of Drilling the legs as this is the most important to get right. Here we are not looking to see any external movement or rotation in the legs. The spiral power is held inside as the muscle and tissues ‘wrap’ around the frame created by the skeletal structure. Due to the way the legs are constantly under load it is important for work on this idea very softly, with deep concentration and awareness and without tension. If you feel any points of tension as you drill the legs you will need to adjust your posture or force to release the points of pain or tension you feel.  The direction of the spiral can actually change or reverse based on what direction you want to receive or project force in, but for basic training i would suggest that you focus your intent on the leg rotating as if the toes are turning inward and the heels are turning outward. Again, i stress do not allow any external expression of the spiral to show.

The arms are slightly different in that they are not anchored at both ends. This means that the joints are not under load and are more protected when spiralling. In the arms we want to produce counter rotation rather than singular spiralling. You can think of this like a double helix wrapping around both sides of the arms simultaneously.

To start with you can hold your arms out in front palms facing down, now without letting the hand rotate, use the shoulder to rotate the orientation of the elbow joint. This is a good initial basic exercise but can take a little time to become good at. One very useful idea with this is the ability to touch and without changing the touch completely change your line.

Intent driven structure setting

In terms of building useful structure, one of the most vital tools is your ability to feel the body state and use the mind to make micro adjustments to force and lines. I call this intent driven structure setting and at its most fundamental level it applies to the ability to listen to the body and its reaction to load. We need a very deep and clear attention on the body to be able to feel for the main culprits of changing or misaligning the posture.

1)      Points of tension caused by misalignment

2)      Points of tension caused by breath hold

3)      Points of pressure caused by internal collapsing

When you set up your posture, become used to turning your attention inwards focusing on the physical structure of the body. This process of Recognization is the first step. From here we need to resolve the tension with small deliberate changes, either to our breath cycle or to the physical position of our limbs, bones and muscle.

The next step in intent  driven structure setting is to actually use your intent to produce force in the structure. This involves using the mind to affect how the structure maintains its position. When we do this we are trying not to move at all externally.

One good exercise to feel what we mean by this is to set up your structure, Then focus all of your intent from the centre pushing out to the skin of every surface. Everything inside is pushing out strongly, the joints want to inflate opening the arms, the body wants to rise up, the stomach wants to expand, but you hold them all in place. Then relax and repeat. This should be a Physical process, the body should react to the minds intent, it is not visualisation of expansion which is something different all together.

Not this should not affect the breath at all and should not cause any pressure in the body or head. We are using the mind to create the expansion in the body, not Tension!

Other intent driven internal changes can be:

-          Leading to the horizon

-          Condensing to the centre of the bones

-          Coiling the tissues

-          Power to the fingertips

-          Melting into the earth

-          Becoming light

Part 3 will discuss some more points on structure setting and how to build the body for work.

Happy training.

Fascia 'fuzz' release

This is an interesting video showing the Fascial 'fuzz' that builds in between the body sliding surfaces when we are at rest or when we are injured and movement is inhibited.

I think this very nicely highlights the usefulness of integrating bodywork and movement into your daily routine.

NOTE: this video does show cadaver portions.

Every day training

Training is a funny thing for some people, they go to the Dojo or training hall a couple of times a week, work hard for an hour or two on specific body skills then as soon as they get into the car or walk home they revert back to their way of moving before the session. One of the aims of training should be that it is a constant consideration, a process that happens from the moment you wake to the time you lay down to sleep (even some work can be done while you sleep .... but that's a bit ahead of me currently!)

I would like to give you some ideas on things you can do in your everyday life that will assist your IMA training so in no particular order!

-          Shoulder relaxation at your desk
One thing that we often see in desk jobs and office work is stresses in the upper back and shoulders. A very simple method you can use to work on relaxation of the shoulders and upper back is:

o   Sit with your Keyboard close to the edge of the desk so that your wrists rest on the desk but your elbows hang down.

o   Make sure you sit with a straight spine and your chest open.

o   Work on the elbows becoming heavy like weights relaxing and opening the shoulders.

-          Standing for any period of time (in a Queue etc)                             
Ok, your not going to stand in Santi in a Queue in public as it might attract some funny glances. However you can do some very good constructive work on the inside lines of the legs while standing in a natural position

o   Stand naturally but squat very slightly down

o   Have the feeling of pulling the feet together on the floor to engage the inside lines of the legs

-          Standing and sitting
Not an easy time to be thinking about training! However this simple practice can be performed from the moment you go to get up out of bed.

o   When sitting in a chair and going to stand have the feet shoulder width, pull on the inside of the legs and extend the spine

o   Follow this leading force to stand, with as little forward lean in the torso as you can manage

-          Washing your hands
to test your speed!

o   Try to shake all the water off your hands with a single motion, (a slap or flick)

-          Walking on busy streets
One for those living in busy cities. It is a very good way to recognise intent, develop smooth movement and all round awareness            

o   Begin to walk in your intended direction

o   Soften the breath and expand the peripheral vision

o   Soften the stride and legs

o   Increase your speed so that your walking at a greater than normal pace

o   Do not allow yourself to touch another person at all, leave and move very smoothly as you walk.

o   Try to avoid the ‘double take’ where you both avoid in the same direction by recognising their intent and movement direction as it happens.

-          Climbing stairs
A good workout for your stepping and leg power.

o   Climb with as smooth a motion as you can at a higher speed than you normally would

o   Avoid up and down jumping motions

o   Aim to glide up the stairs

o   Thighs should rub together with every step and you should be squatting slightly.

-          Walking under a door
This is a good way to develop a certain thing or build a certain strength

o   Select a door in your home (one that you use regularly)

o   Every time you walk under that door in any direction you perform the selected motion or exercise. It may be a pull up, it may be a Beng Quan.

         Opening a door
This is useful for kick training.

o   Whenever you walk through a door place your toes on the bottom of the door without a sound, open the door by the handle but actually push with your foot.

o   Close the door with you foot too.

o   NOTE ... this shouldn’t be kicking doors in!! It is controlling your power output with your legs and manipulating the hip to control and use the legs with precision.

There are many other basic things you can do throughout the day to continue your training but these are a few examples I use on a daily basis. Be creative and find that any action you make can be ‘Training’!

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.

Working in the Recovery Moment

Timing and rythm are two very big factors in effect Martial application. There is quite an interesting aspect to these two points of combat I would like to discuss in this post and that is the focus of work within your opponents mental and physical recovery phase.

What is the Recovery phase?

The recovery phase refers to the points within an encounter where the body and mind are ‘re-centring’ themselves after expression of force, power or intent or after a period of defensive action.

Physically this could mean:

• Moving back or re centring from a failed body movement.
• When retreating back from a strike (either with the striking weapon returning or with the whole body)
• Removing a point of density or tension when in the clinch or grappling (usually to change into another movement or technique)

Mentally this could mean

• After defending a flurry from your opponent where you ‘reset’ and settle down to re attack
• After your failed attack where the mind establishes the next course of action
• After anything unexpected happens that causes the mind to freeze (there are many ways to insight this reaction in an attacking opponent that i will go into at a later time)

Recovery phase is linked quite clearly with visual comfort or acuity. (this is clear from drill 1 below.

Why work within this part of fight rythm and timing?

There are several advantages to working within this aspect of the fight process, most notable that the opponent will not be in a defensive or offensive phase when recovering their mind or centre. You are able to take advantage of their physical and mental lack of expression and take their centre or mind as you begin to apply your work.

This is a very big topic and applying your force or attack at the perfect time is related to awareness of the moment and not necessarily ‘reactions’ as these are too slow. This moment only lasts for a miniscule period of time so you have to already ‘be there’ or it will be too late. However training this idea will eventually bring you to the point where your naturally exploiting this moment of recovery.

Some Drills:

1) Turning from a wall. (visual acuity training, and moment of relaxation when the site is familiar with the scene) Recognising the point of mental physical relaxation.

a. Stand with your facevery close to  a wall, eyes open

b. Your partner stands at varying distances from you each repetition

c. Partners says ‘GO!’ 

d. You turn to face the partner ready to receive a tap to the top of the head

e. Your partner waits for the moment they perceive you relax and tap the head at that point (this moment of ‘settling’ or relaxing should be fairly apparent to begin with)

f. Repeat. 

Note : it important that this drill has the partner at varying distances and has a random tempo/timing to their touch.

2) Slapping palms. (recognising relaxation after a flurry)

a. Hold both palms out close to your head

b. Partner slaps the palms any way they like with a flurry of slaps and backhands.

c. As soon as they stop and go back to guard you try to catch the point where they are re-setting, neither in attack or defence mode, by taping the head.

Note: when done correctly they should be unable to check your tap, even at a lower speed. 

3) Striking pads.

a. Have your partner put some focus mits on.

b. They slap your sides and side of head with focus mits while you cover, check and defend.

c. Then suddenly stop and hold the pads up to be hit. 

d. Not the time it takes to go from defence to offense. This is the recovery phase where you are re-centring and regrouping.

The next stage on from this training is to work inside their rythm. You may be going exactly the same speed as them but quarter of a beat inside their beat. I will talk about this next time. 

Ukemi - intermediate level rolling

This video follows on from my last one which highlighted ground rolling for spine health.


Now the aim is to increase softness and ground awareness and also start to move between standing and ground into rolls.

Push ups for connection & joints

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.

Through the Back

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:

1. Loop a belt around a pole or tree
2. Stand with feet parallel and shoulder width
3. Hold each end of the loop in each hand
4. Pull with one hand
5. The body will rotate around its axis and the opposite side to the pull will go forward
6. 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.