Analysis
August 31, 2008
Wow, who would have thought that keeping up a blog would be so difficult. So my last posting was roughly seven months ago. During that time I've been kept busy with various activities. I studied for and passed the "Engineer In Training" exam. My wife and I took on the overwhelming task of remodeling our bathroom by our selves. Finally, I managed to work in a canoe trip to the Boundary Waters. All in all it's been an exciting year.
So I was recently asked by my good friend Kevin what I've gotten out of my Essence of Evolution (EOE) training with Stuart. That's a tricky question. The reason it's tricky is that what we're learning is so fundamental it's tough to pin down any particular gem and say "yes, I've learned that." Unlike other training I've been exposed to, EOE focuses on ideas such as proper body structure and efficient movement. With other schools there were clear techniques being taught usually associated with a specific curriculum. White belts memorize form "x" and "y" and demonstrate basic skills like good balance and what have you. But that doesn't so much exist in EOE. Sure there are forms but they are really just a tool for understanding mentally and physically more fundamental skills. EOE teaches that forms are used for analysis not application.
The first thing I told Kevin was that I am learning to analyze. Don't get me wrong there are plenty of other things I've been learning and incorporating into my practice but I feel like this is the most important. This is something that I've seen other martial artist miss in their training and I'll have to admit I was one of them for many years. For many practitioners the way you learn and incorporate skills into your repetrior is to study your teacher's movement, or in some cases the movement of someone on video, and copy it as best you can. The movement is drilled through form or some sort of partner practice until your instructor feels you have developed some level of mastery and you are introduced to something harder. This sort of practice developes a compartmentalized view of martial arts. "I know techniques A, B, and C." There is a certain level of analysis that is involved in this process but only to the extent of trying to discern how your movement is differnt from your teacher's. The problem is that you won't become a better martial artist by mimicry but by learning how your body works and how the fundamental concepts of an art can be expressed by you. Developing this understanding takes effort on your part by analyzing technique at a deeper level.
Analyzing a technique or concept on a deeper level means understanding it for yourself. This will be different for everybody. That's why you can't rely on someone telling you the meaning. It's not about wrote memorization. Instead, it's about picking a part an idea until all of the components make sense for you.
So, I've been working toward understanding what the techniques I've been shown really mean to me. It's difficult but critical to my training. Thanks for the question Kevin and thanks for the insight EOE.
One Thought At a Time
January 11, 2008
As this is the first entry in my blog I should say from the get go that my thinking is greatly influenced by my Buddhist practice. So as a result I'll be referring to concepts from that practice from time to time.
The Tibetan Buddhists, and I would imagine Buddhists in general, have a very fundamental model of the human mind with which they use to understand the roots of suffering. One of the particulars of that model is that a person is only able to hold one thought in their mind at any given instant in time. So if, for example, you are upset with a person you wouldn't be able to also have the thought of forgiveness at that same time. Conversely, if you can generate the thought of true forgiveness then you can't be angry with them anymore.
This concept manifests itself in a martial arts context as well. When your opponent is initiating an attack that is the only thought in their head. They are not able to simultaneously have the thought of attacking you and defending against a counter attack, assuming that the Tibetan model is valid. So how exactly might this be useful in a combative sense? If somehow you were able to convince your opponent that the attack they were initiating was working when in fact it was not then you could launch a counter attack and gain a tactical advantage. Before they realized what was going on you would be able to attack them without any effort.
The other day I was playing with my friend David's dog who's name is Mojo. Mojo is an Australian Shepperd and anyone who knows this breed can tell you how focused they can be in accomplishing a goal. This trait and the fact that they are extremely high energy helps them be one of the best herding dogs you can find. So I was doing what Mojo loves to do when I come visit which was playing tug of war with one of his toys. Mojo was winning or at least he thought he was. To his great surprise my wife came up behind him and grabbed his tail. Mojo had no chance of defending himself.
Okay, so you might be saying to yourself, "that was just a dog and it's no great trick to keep them occupied." In a sense this is true. The trick to taking advantage of this mental state is not providing your opponent's mind any input that the situation has changed and that they are in danger of attack.
I recently was training with David and Stuart and observed this phenomena first hand. We were working on a "push-hands" drill at the time. Per Stuart's directions one of us was supposed to defend and the other was to attack. Without really knowing what I was doing at the time I managed to launch an attack on David without him being able to respond and smacked him clean up-side the head as easily as if he was just standing there. In reviewing the situation later I realized that I had two things going for me. The first was that David was focused on the contact between he and I through our wrists. The second was that I was able to move around him without transferring my intention through our contact. In David's mind everything was status quo as he was focused on his movement and the contact between our wrists. None of this changed as I moved in to strike.
From what little I understand about internal martial arts I believe that this tactic is employed indirectly though the use of developing proper body structure, movement, and sensitivity. I'll keep thinking about this concept and perhaps elaborate on it in later postings. For now I think it's enough to say that it is very important to understand the intent of your opponent and that through training one may be able to use this to one's advantage.
Welcome to Microdojo.com
December 24, 2007
Welcome to Microdojo.com. I'll be using this blog to post ideas and revelations about my martial arts training. Thank you for visiting!
