Self defence challenge | ||
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Complacency
One danger with martial arts training is
that it takes place within a safe, controlled
environment.
This is good in terms of
wellbeing. It is bad in terms of combat.
Being able to defend yourself against friendly,
slow, predictable,
familiar attacks is fine.
But it will not help you against a real life assailant.
Coping
Kelly McGonigal wrote a book called The Upside of Stress in which she
explored the idea that stress was not actually bad for us.
The harm comes from how we deal with
stressful situations.
Our syllabus addresses this concern by creating
scenarios that gently challenge the tai chi student to remain
composed.
After a while, the student loses it; they can no longer
concentrate or they begin
fighting back.
This is inevitable, but it can change over time.
Street
fighting
Real life combat is not predictable.
An assailant is not your buddy, is unlikely to be using
reasonable force or exhibiting compassion and
may well be armed or have
mates.
The question is: what are you going to do about it?
If you just panic you will probably get beaten up.
A lot of folks say they are
relaxed... that they are Christian or Buddhist or Muslim
or something that says you know I'm concerned
for my fellow man. But when somebody puts their hands on these people you'll
see that that priest or that monk or that rabbi becomes just as rigid and as
violent as anybody else who would never ever describe themselves as being
God fearing. Why? Cos they're not used to the pressure.
You would like to
believe you're relaxed and when someone puts their hands on you and pushes
all of a sudden you realise just how indignant you are about that whole
thing happening.
Some people are very stretched and they have a full split or they are very
balanced on their hands and they can do a handstand but when you put your
hands on them all that ability goes out the window and they resort to
Cro-Magnon behaviour.
(Roberto Sharpe)
Fear
Fear needs to be addressed as well as competence under pressure.
You do not have to endure severe combat training in order to see how you
cope under duress.
It can be done safely and playfully. If this sounds improbable, look at
sport.
Duress
What matters are the key requirements:
Decisiveness
- action
- no dithering
- no getting ready/anticipating
- no worrying
Effectiveness
- does it work?
- are you able to follow it up?
- can you improvise, adapt and
change?
You need to know that the material works and have the
confidence to use it when the situation is unpredictable and confusing.
The skills
You have been taught how to move your
body in a connected manner, employ
stickiness, 4 ounces of
pressure, natural power,
range, footwork,
balance and centre.
We have encouraged you to expand
your awareness, become
sensitive, listen,
feel, respond and
flow.
But we cannot fight for you.
At some point you must pull
the skills together and actually do
tai chi chuan (dynamic balancing boxing).
Otherwise, you're just a health student with martial
aspirations.
Thorough and
convincing?
The self defence challenge is all about pulling it together in combat.
It is not going to happen overnight.
Be patient with yourself. Recognise that skill takes
time.
Getting to the stage where you can use the tai chi in a 'thorough and
convincing' manner is going to take a while.
But it is worth the wait...
Control
With the aid of daily home
training your whole-body strength should continue to increase as your
body becomes balanced, more
connected and fluid.
You must learn to manage this strength.
Your power needs to be controlled.
To do this you must use the least amount of force at all times. Keep it
smooth and soft.
Listen to what is happening, be aware of the sensations, interpret the
feedback.
One of my friends
studied judo for years and years. She was waiting for a chance to use it,
but for a long time nobody tried to attack her. Then one day somebody
grabbed her in a parking lot - and she slugged him with her purse!
And then she thought, "Oh! What happened to my judo?"
She must have been practicing judo as if it were an isolated thing. We
should always practice to let the immediacy of the moment come through. Then
you always have a sense of what you are doing now.
(Chungliang Al Huang)
Balanced opponent
Your opponent should be balanced when attacking you.
It is in your
interests to interfere with this balance.
A balanced person is not as vulnerable as an unbalanced one.
Take the first opportunity to draw them out of their centre -
step, uproot the
opponent without using force.
If you encounter resistance, then you are forcing and that is not tai chi.
Wait for your opponent to give you their balance.
Rhythm
Everyone has their own rhythm.
They move according to it and strike using it.
Your job is to find your own rhythm, and work with it.
If you allow the tai chi to harmonise with how your body and mind want to
move, you will be more effective and natural.
Avoid being predictable
If you fall into a predictable rhythm of moving or striking, this is not so
good.
You need to be spontaneous and fresh; responding to what is happening rather
than to a plan.
Find your own rhythm and use it.
Find your opponent's rhythm and exploit it.
Draw them into a predictable pattern but do not allow
complacency to leave
you exposed; remember that the appearance of a pattern may only be a ruse.
Timing
Timing is a composite skill that requires you to assess a number of
variables simultaneously: range (distance), speed, target,
positioning,
rhythm and balance.
In tai chi, this skill is fundamental.
Rather than rely upon speed and strength, we focus upon the refinement of
timing.
A punch or kick is only dangerous if it hits you.
Until then, it simply represents a threat - a potential danger.
If your timing is accurate, the potential
never becomes the actual, and the
strike does not land.
Wait
Timing requires you to wait.
Unless you are patient and allow the situation to unfold, you will not see
the appropriate moment for action.
Waiting takes nerve.
You must let your opponent smell their victory and then take it away at the
last possible second.
This way, they are fully committed and incapable of changing
tactic.
There is a risk.
Appropriateness
Your ability to harmonise balance, rhythm and timing is
demonstrated through
appropriateness; which is the skill of doing the right thing at the right
time.
An appropriate response fulfils the needs of the moment.
It is complete and does not need adding to.
Finishing off
In self defence, it is the ending of the threat without recourse to undue
violence.
The appropriateness can be determined by your own lack of injury and your
opponents unwillingness to continue their assault.
Many martial arts can deal with attacks skilfully and effectively, but the
process can often result in subtle damage to the defender's own body.
In tai chi, it is not desirable to damage your own body in pursuit of
victory.
Exposure
A beginner has no martial skill to speak of and
will most likely use force and tension in self defence.
A lower grade student trains a wide range of
sensitivity exercises but no actual combat.
The only real way to gain some sense of combat is to attend the requisite
workshops.
Making it real
In time, your self defence skills start looking
pretty much like your form and your
applications.
This is crucial.
Applied tai chi must look like tai chi.
Once you can defend yourself comfortably, you can move past 'self defence'
and start thinking about martial combat.
Progress
The self defence challenge at the end of each
grade is an important wake up call.
It stops the student from becoming complacent, macho
or cocky.
Faced with your own panic, tension, fighting back and ineffectual use of
tai chi... there arises humility.
Unless of course you are an egotist or unbelievably
naive.
Only by training more assiduously,
reading the books and the
website can the exponent hope to attain the
sought after skills.
In almost any subject, your
passion for the subject will save you. If you care enough for a result, you
will most certainly
attain it. If you wish to be good, you will be good.
If you wish to be learned, you will be learned. You must really wish these
things and wish them with exclusiveness and not wish one hundred other
incompatible things just as strongly.
(William James)
Empty your cup
A traditional Asian
teaching method is to let the student fail repeatedly.
Rather than correct any errors, let them flounder.
This is quite demoralising and is intended to curtail
egotism and arrogance.
Only when the student is convinced that they don't know what they are doing
will the teacher offer an alternative.
Seeing the truth
The self defence challenge is one of the rare occasions that we employ this
teaching method.
We need students to realise the extent of their ignorance and
ineptitude
before we provide the solution.
Worth reading
•
Everybody falls
•
Internecine
•
Reasonable force
•
Relative positioning
•
Take the space
•
Understanding softness
•
Unnatural naturalness
Page
created 10 February 1996
Last updated
16 June 2023
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