A legitimate question from students is "What exercises can I do to increase my punching power?"
Punch is the answer. Punch the air faster, punch targets and shields. Punch the heavy bag and even punch cinder block walls. When I was younger, I outgrew the standard heavy bag and tried out one of the water bags. 135 pounds of resistance for punching. I eventually ruptured the inner bladder.
As I cleaned up the 20 gallons of water, I designed a heavy back in my head. I created a heavy bag layered with foam and sand that weighed 275 pounds. It was beautiful and scary at the same time. I also wrapped my forearms in heavy chains to practice my punching power.
It is really about taking the time and making the effort to be good at something. There are no shortcuts, mystical Qigong, or video games to help walk the path.
Another question, "Do you teach mixed martial arts?" This question is like asking "What kind of water do you drink?" Is not all water H2O? Is the H2O different from a mountain spring versus the H2O from a reverse osmosis system? I realize people are referring to MMA, but to answer yes is to betray their definition of MMA.
I do not believe folk know that the ancestor of MMA is Pancratium. Check it out.
MMA is a combination of punching, kicking, sweeping, throws, joint locks and submission holds. Yeah, I do teach all this. But this is a narrow slice of what the martial arts are. Think of this, you go to the Smithsonian (world's greatest collection of museums) and you look at one dinosaur bone. It is the thigh bone of a Brontosaur. Cool huh?
And then you leave to tell everyone what you saw. Um...what about the other 4.5 billion years of earth's history?
Despite my disagreement with MMA's narrow focus, I have high regard for their training. Hour for hour, MMA fighters are tougher, stronger, and faster than most martial art systems. But what is the training lifespan of these martial artists? How long before they are on painkillers so they can continue training?
It is much easier to be tougher, stronger and faster than to train your Dragon's fist to be able to strike pressure points to end a fight quickly.
And now on to video games, or rather the new interactive Wii's and playstations. Can you really learn yoga and martial arts from these? I really like the idea, but where is the feedback from someone of skill. How do learn about proper blocking or moving chi?
I realize this is a lot less intimidating than walking into a school to learn martial arts. No one wants to fail, or be singled-out. And heaven forbid, you have to fight a 3 or 4 stripe with decades of training. How can you win? It is not about winning, it is about cultivation.
A true proponent of martial arts creates a safe environment where students can grow. A level of character, a level of skill is necessary to engender trust. Once trust is established, the student can begin their ascension in martial arts.
It is my duty to make sure the training is challenging, enlightening, respectful and most of all, sweaty. I use modulating workouts at the end to wring the last bit of energy from them. When students feel they want more, they are invited to black belt workouts. Same with black belts, when they want more, they train with me. They all leave shaken, wide-eyed and appreciating the safety of their tough workouts.
To those not in the know, they will see my students down on one knee at the end of clas and say, "Wow! They dropped to one knee from that crazed workout."
