by David Nishimoto
The premise of this article is to convince individuals to remove the viciousness out of the art.
Its sad that Martial Artist thinks that viciousness can yield to victory. The more dangerous the opponent the less willing a skilled fighter is to attack without thought. Yet every fighting situation can be broken down; vulnerabilities effectually exposed and capitalized on. As a foundation, I advocate a focus on simplicity to achieve capitalization on vulnerabilities perceived in the opponent.
Case in point, watch Bruce Lee fighting techniques and notice how simple the technique presents itself.
Speed and Power are better that viciousness. A vicious fighter is a less efficent and effective opponent than a fighter that is working an distancing and angles and delivery.
The qualities of timing, feeling and accessing, and directness are much better approaches to the Martial Art.
Fighters that focus on smooth, simple, and powerful movement make better opponents. Fighting itself must become empty, without thought, and direct.
Watch every fighting contest you can. Discern why one opponent won over another. Perhaps it was a technique executed with perfect timing. In other cases it may be the opponent was faster, stronger, and more direct. Ask yourself did the technique appear direct and simple? Was the technique effective and what situation was the technique effective? Learn the behavior of opponents that are not effective: examine their ability to fight from both sides; what was their range of weapons; what zones (near, medium, and far) did them fight well from; how did they enter into a fight zone, did they shoot into the opponent, did they finish with the hands, legs, or grappling; did they stun the opponent?
One realizes with self defense that there are hundreds of techniques in which to employee, in a confrontation. Zen! One technique is really all that is required. The beautiful aspect of the Martial Art is that the practitioner can select the technique of choice.
It may be said that in the beginning the first Martial Artist started with one simple movement that preserve one’s life. The technique worked and was used as a foundation to build other related and more sophisticated techniques that worked.
KEMPO has an series of movements called ‘Down punching’. >From the simple movements the practitioner is immediately taught that one movement is sufficient in self defense. The movement must incapicate the opponent. The movement must be directly strike a vulnerable organ that will yield to incapacitation.
KEMPO foundation was premised on individuals who had a strong understanding of the anatomy of the human body, they studied how the body moved; the locations of vital organs; and reflected on the function of muscle groups, organs, and energy. KEMPO is known for its ability not only to incapacitate but also to heal.
In summary, I recommend removing extra movement. Decide the most effective techniques. Use the most effective weapons: hands, finger, legs, .. ect. Combine them into simple movement, correctly work on achieving the best angle, speed and power in the deliver, and ease and relaxation in delivery the appropriate response. Reduce the foundation to four hand strikes, four blocks, and four kicks. Build by combining hand, blocks, and kicks in simple, flowing, and relaxed mannerisms. Appreciate the consequences of each motion. Work to understand to relationships of the movement itself. Come into harmony with your environment, blend with your opponent, and with ease incapacitate.