Digital Zen

As a martial arts guide, I hear a multitude of questions that are both humorous and sad at the same time.

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."

As a martial artist, I look at the knee that is still up and say to myself, "Ah, their spirit is hungry for more.  I shall feed them more when they come back next time."

Payment plan for greatness

I recently had a chance to train with an old friend in Wing Chun. My knowledge of Wing Chun is limited at best. I had trained in "Wing Chun" long time ago. I was visiting a school and watched the Wing Chun dummy getting whooped on. The instructor taught me some drills, which I taught to my students.

We picked up a Wing Chun Wooden man and preceded to snap off the arms in a few weeks. We replaced them with lodge pole pine logs, thicker and stronger. A month or two later, they also snapped off. Our Wooden man mutated into a cyborg of steel and pipe. These held up very well. What I wasn't taught, was that the wooden arms are for positioning. Necessary Information, espicially when we trained in the Iron Shirt system and Iron Bone.

Now, I had heard that Wing Chun was "watered down". I can see where folk may get this impression when Wing Chun offers only six forms (two are weapons). I prefer to think of this as distilled down to its bare essence.

I had trained with another chap by the name of Si, an Arnis practioner. He only knew three hand combos and the twelve knife attacks. That is all he knew, all he trained and all he ever needed. We had three duels which I "won". When I do spar or fight, the outcome is not about "winning" but how much effort it takes to face an opponent without injuring them. Si took an incredible amount of effort to duel.

I figure if someone can push me to the limits of the my skill, they have a great deal to offer. It doesn't matter to me if there system is "watered down". My training is about challenging myself, not my greatness. I create workouts that are designed to highlight my flaws, weaknesses and bring body awareness.

I guess I have been lucky in demostrating my greatness. Anytime, I have tried has met with catastrophe. Putting that much effort into proving how great I am not, kinda lacks any sense. Effort is for gaining that next millimeter of skill. Once you realize this, you have made your first payment on greatness.

I look forward to my next Wing Chun encounter and will relish each bruise, bump and fat lip in the mirror.

C

My bet, Won!

Six weeks ago I was involved in an argument over the concept of men being genetically stronger than women. It was an interesting argument and a bet came into existence. The bet was whether or not two women could go from doing no pushups to 10 in 9 weeks.

This is a pretty tough task, almost insurmountable for someone who cannot even do one pushup. Time and support was provided to make sure there were no excuses at the end of the time limit.

These two women, we'll call them Robin and Cyndee to protect the innocent, dealt with frustration in this task. Such excitement when they did their first pushup, true pushup. But ten of them were a long way off.

After five weeks, Robin nailed ten pushups. Cyndee did it in six weeks. I won the bet.

My contention is that the environment is what makes people weak, not genetics. Do not get me wrong, men are genetically stronger, but the difference is minor. It is the way we are raised. Females are told not to be unladylike, not to be a tomboy, you'll get hurt.

It is the environment in which we are raised that determines are strengths and weaknesses. People see me now and think I have always had great strength and phenomanal speed. No. I had thin blood as a child and was told i would never be strong. I know how people feel when they face the impossible. It is only impossible if no one has been stubborn enough, spiteful enough or just faithful enough to try.

Best advice I can give is for anyone, is to sharpen your axes and charge forth. No retreat, no surrender...