Everything is reactive and nothing is guaranteed to work. There, I said it.
Just to clarify - You are always reacting, even if you 'go first'. What I mean is, you might do a preemptive strike because you sensed something coming, but you still reacted to the behavior of your opponent.
Martial arts teaches us all kinds of techniques - If they do this, you do that, whether it's something specific to do with stepping off line and executing some series of moves, or more vague like 'if they close' step in, keep hitting until you overcome them'.
But would you still do it if you knew it might not work?
How about if it only had a 50/50 chance of working?
Having only one single option in hand with no room for adjusting to changing circumstances means you are always going to be behind the timing. Convince yourself that your first entry is going to work no matter what means that your mind will be stuck in 'ACT' phase of the OODA loop with no time to OBSERVE or ORIENT to a change in circumstance.
Remember, even if you think you are acting preemptively, sometimes your opponent is just waiting for you to come into range so they can connect and control your movement. Nothing is guaranteed.
Most martial systems understand this and have a part of their training specifically dealing with change, usually from contact - Push Hands, Chi Sao, San Shou, or what Sonny called Second Flow.
In Yizong Bagua, this is where Line 3 comes in - That moment where contact is made but your initial idea needs to be altered.
The initial entry may be a good one, so you cannot act like it is definitely going to fail, but you still need some more 'ideas' some options, that you can potentially use if it does.
In Bagua we talk about 'half' - I do half, my opponent does half. We also talk 'testing', 'saying hello', about 'keeping a good situation'. In Eskrima we talk about 'not running out of angle'.
What we are doing is forcing a reaction from our opponent that we can use to our own benefit.
This means there has to be both a precision of relative position between you and the opponent so you have the structure and power to do the next thing you want at any moment, but also a fluidity to smoothly segue into that next thing, whatever it may be. All whilst preventing yourself from taking damage.
This requires good alignment (in yourself and between you and your opponent), an understanding of the strong and weak angles of the body, and the sensitivity to know where one option to continue is better than another.
Last but not least, an understanding of the concept of 'half', where 'half' is.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Friday, February 20, 2015
Waiting
One of the best things about sharing ideas, is that people ask questions or comment, thus giving an opportunity for a reply, and the possibility of moving the conversation forward.
Today's interaction made me realize how important 'waiting' is. It seems obvious that faking and baiting only work if the other person falls for the ploy AND you wait for them to fall for it.
It does not work if you don't wait to see what effect it has had. Don't wait, and it's the equivalent of throwing one half-assed strike, opening that line, and then striking again right into their defense.
Now that would be stupid.
But how to 'wait' without getting behind the timing? Everyone knows that waiting gives the opponent the advantage ....
Well, technically you are only waiting if you have not predicted what will happen next and thus are not ready to take advantage of what does happen. A truly successful faker and baiter actually does not care if you fall for the lie. They are obviously ready for the success of their stratagem, but they are also ready to turn the original half-assed strike into a full-assed one AND to return to a defensive line or to evade if needs be.
4 things, all from one moment in time and from one relative position.
To have all these options in the bag, you need balance, fast movement off line, defensive skills, an ability not to panic, and last but not least, the ability to wait only long enough to notice when the opponent has gone past the point of no return on their reaction ... which means you need to understand the centerline, recycle possibilities from each position, and neutral points ...
Who knew that waiting was such an active pursuit? Or indeed that there was so much to practice in it.
Today's interaction made me realize how important 'waiting' is. It seems obvious that faking and baiting only work if the other person falls for the ploy AND you wait for them to fall for it.
It does not work if you don't wait to see what effect it has had. Don't wait, and it's the equivalent of throwing one half-assed strike, opening that line, and then striking again right into their defense.
Now that would be stupid.
But how to 'wait' without getting behind the timing? Everyone knows that waiting gives the opponent the advantage ....
Well, technically you are only waiting if you have not predicted what will happen next and thus are not ready to take advantage of what does happen. A truly successful faker and baiter actually does not care if you fall for the lie. They are obviously ready for the success of their stratagem, but they are also ready to turn the original half-assed strike into a full-assed one AND to return to a defensive line or to evade if needs be.
4 things, all from one moment in time and from one relative position.
To have all these options in the bag, you need balance, fast movement off line, defensive skills, an ability not to panic, and last but not least, the ability to wait only long enough to notice when the opponent has gone past the point of no return on their reaction ... which means you need to understand the centerline, recycle possibilities from each position, and neutral points ...
Who knew that waiting was such an active pursuit? Or indeed that there was so much to practice in it.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Guy Throws a #1 Re-Up
I wrote a post back in June 2011.
I keep mentioning it of late, or reciting something similar in content, so here it is for those that missed it.
It explains a few things about why I'm annoyed by preset techniques and patterns, how I think about what I learned from Sonny, and why the most interesting, yet most ignored, part of the fight (in my opinion) happens before what Sonny called 'just technical'.
So, the guy throws a #1 ....
... Why did he throw it?
Because he thought he had a shot.
...Which means my left upper quadrant was open somewhere and in range I guess
Yeah
... Where was my defense? I mean the guy is only going to throw if the target is open, so it means my defense line is open.
Maybe you missed a shot and over committed?
.... So ... I take a shot at him because there is a target I think I can reach that is in range but I miss. I guess he evades?
Yeah, he evades.
.... That means he either must have the angle on me or he fades out of range?
I suppose.
... And my weapon must be off the center line and probably tip low as well then to leave my upper left undefended enough to make him try for it?
OK.
... And he must be to the left of my center, because the only target for a #1 on the other side would be my weapon arm which is not in range.
So he comes in and you block.
... How did that happen ...? If he already had the angle on me and my weapon was so far off the center line, there's no way I'd make it.
Your weapon was not that far off the center.
... Well that means that I was not really open, so why did he throw the strike?
He's not that smart
... So this is a defense against a stupid person ...?
OK, He faded back so had to step in which gave you time to cover
... So he's stepping in throwing a #1 and I have enough time to recover and block the strike. Why didn't I just step in and hit him, or evade, instead of wasting my weapon on a block?
You block. That's what happens next.
So if I can block a strike that was aimed at my head, it means we are both well in range .... Is he following up? I mean he's close, and he still has his left hand free.
No, you check his weapon hand with your live hand, pass it and cut behind it.
.... Well if I was him, I'd drop to jam the strike, pivot and spiral in, either way we both have hold of each other and we're both carrying swords, what happens now .....?
.....................................................
I keep mentioning it of late, or reciting something similar in content, so here it is for those that missed it.
It explains a few things about why I'm annoyed by preset techniques and patterns, how I think about what I learned from Sonny, and why the most interesting, yet most ignored, part of the fight (in my opinion) happens before what Sonny called 'just technical'.
So, the guy throws a #1 ....
... Why did he throw it?
Because he thought he had a shot.
...Which means my left upper quadrant was open somewhere and in range I guess
Yeah
... Where was my defense? I mean the guy is only going to throw if the target is open, so it means my defense line is open.
Maybe you missed a shot and over committed?
.... So ... I take a shot at him because there is a target I think I can reach that is in range but I miss. I guess he evades?
Yeah, he evades.
.... That means he either must have the angle on me or he fades out of range?
I suppose.
... And my weapon must be off the center line and probably tip low as well then to leave my upper left undefended enough to make him try for it?
OK.
... And he must be to the left of my center, because the only target for a #1 on the other side would be my weapon arm which is not in range.
So he comes in and you block.
... How did that happen ...? If he already had the angle on me and my weapon was so far off the center line, there's no way I'd make it.
Your weapon was not that far off the center.
... Well that means that I was not really open, so why did he throw the strike?
He's not that smart
... So this is a defense against a stupid person ...?
OK, He faded back so had to step in which gave you time to cover
... So he's stepping in throwing a #1 and I have enough time to recover and block the strike. Why didn't I just step in and hit him, or evade, instead of wasting my weapon on a block?
You block. That's what happens next.
So if I can block a strike that was aimed at my head, it means we are both well in range .... Is he following up? I mean he's close, and he still has his left hand free.
No, you check his weapon hand with your live hand, pass it and cut behind it.
.... Well if I was him, I'd drop to jam the strike, pivot and spiral in, either way we both have hold of each other and we're both carrying swords, what happens now .....?
.....................................................
Monday, February 2, 2015
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