The Steps to Efficient and Effective Self Defence:
- Develop the Best Body Mechanics
- Take Those Body Mechanics to Application
- Develop the Mental Aspects Required to do Them Under Duress
This blog will focus on the first part of the first step.
- Develop the Best Body Mechanics
Arthur C. Clarke’s third law is: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
I do not believe there is any magic in martial arts but sufficiently advanced body mechanics can appear magical.
I have spent, and still spend, a massive amount of time working on and developing my body mechanics. I am constantly looking to learn the next layer of effectiveness.
When I look at body mechanics I also look at how to teach what I have learned and sometimes it is easy and sometimes not so much.
The three major hindrances to learning body mechanics are:
i.Lack of Body Awareness.
ii.Attempting to do what you think you are seeing.
iii.Unwillingness to let go of prior training.
1. Lack of Body Awareness
Learning body mechanics requires that you be able to move your body as desired. Therefore if I say sink your front knee down over the big toe and you raise your left arm… then you may have some difficulties learning body mechanics.
While the example above is an exaggeration sometimes not by as much as you would think. We have all moved our bodies for a very long time and we have built in certain habits and, for lack of a better word, instinctive movements. Because we move so often without thinking about how we are actually moving many have become disconnected with how their body feels when it is doing something. If we cannot feel when our bodies are doing something then we cannot feel when they are not doing and it can then be a challenge to make them do something foreign to what has become habit.
Let me make it clear that good body mechanics are not “unnatural” movements they are simply not currently natural to many. I will us an example at the end to tie all of these together.
ii.Attempting to do what you think you are seeing.
We have all lived lives with experiences and sometimes training so when we look at something we look through all the filters we have built up over time. Because of that we often do not see what we are looking at but rather what we think or expect to see.
I remember looking at a clip of Uechi Kanei Sensei doing a Kata to see how he stepped in a certain move. I had looked a this clip dozens and dozens of times and while we were looking at it my friend, Rick Bottomley, noticed that he had a different arm action than we were doing. Now we had looked at this clip in detail numerous times but had never seen that. In fact if asked I would have insisted I had seen him do it just as we had been taught.
Seeing things as they are requires that beginner mind often talked about but rarely used. You have to be open to seeing something you do not expect or you will see just what you expect and then you will try and mimic that. Your cup has to be empty.
iii.Unwillingness to let go of prior training.
There are two issues with prior training. One is once you become proficient at them then it is very hard to let go and do something different. The reason is simple. When we learn something new it takes time to become good at it so our egos kick in and we revert to something (not as good) that has worked for us in the past. It takes a willing mind to let go and move on to the better body mechanics.
When we learn there is a process we go through the Japanese call Shu Ha Ri. Shu is to mimic and never ask questions. Ha is to question everything you are doing. Ri is the last step to be able to create.
Often people never get beyond the shu stage so they do not question what they have been taught and sometimes that isn’t always the most effective body mechanics. To learn you do have to just do until you gain proficiency but then to truly understand you need to set aside all beliefs that your system is the best and question everything.
Why do we do that? Evaluate the answer and use your head. And (personal pet peeve here) if they answer because such and such Master says so – they have no idea why and if they have no idea why there is no chance they even know what to teach – run as fast as you can to someplace else.
The fact is if a person does not know why they are doing something – how can they know they are doing it right?
Without questioning dogma kicks in and the way things are done become a belief system. Only when subject to questioning can anything remain honest and true.
Here is the example I promised.
I read a book recently that said walking in normal life is falling a short distance where walking in this particular kata is pulling yourself forward with the front foot. Their system of stepping was presented as much more superior to normal walking.
Now here they had a reason for how they stepped. The purpose of their step is so you do not fall sideways as you step. They shift the knee forward and then PULL that back foot to avoid that fault.
But is this method of stepping actually an efficient and effective way of stepping OR rather the most efficient and effective way because I am sure they can make it work.
Before I go on let me say that I was taught this way too or rather that is what I thought I was taught.
Think about what has been said. When we walk naturally we fall a short distance.
What makes us fall = Gravity.
So naturally walking we make use of that very free and powerful force of gravity to fall forward and propel us into the step.
When we step as trained in that system to ignore that free force and “drag” ourselves forward.
So if I want to step to intercept an attack does it sound efficient to drag my rear foot forward or does it sound efficient to use gravity to begin to fall forward and push off my back foot?
To correct the flaw of falling sideways we alter the natural step slightly to “empty” the front foot allowing gravity to win and begin the momentum of the step then shift your knee to prevent that sideways fall AND you can now drive off the back foot for added power rather than drag it along.
So here is the problem. Even seeing the increase in efficiency can you let go of previous training?
This is very hard for people and it takes an ability to “let go.” If you cannot let go then you cannot adapt and use new body mechanics.
As a side note Musashi said to walk in fighting as you walk in every day life – hmm….
So learning body mechanics takes a great deal of mental openness on the part of the student. You need to be open to learning body awareness. You need to empty your cup and try and see what is really taking place and not what you have even unconsciously predetermined will take place. And you need to be able to let go of previous training.
Once you can do that then the actual work of learning the body mechanics can succeed.
Next Blog: more on Body Mechanics.