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Martial artist?
A fully-trained martial artist is kind of like an
athlete - whether amateur or professional. They have
committed a lot of time to their art and they train frequently and
earnestly.
Most people aren't anywhere near that committed. Nor do they want to be. Often,
an individual wants to get fit,
socialise, have fun and be capable of
defending themselves.
You don't want to be fighting biceps against biceps, the best techniques are the ones that the opponent gives you.
(Geoff Thompson)
Incapacitation?
In order to successfully incapacitate someone you need to have a
firm grasp of your chosen art.
It must be at your fingertips: you can punch,
kick, grapple etc without any
hesitation or doubt.
Reaching this level of skill is possible for all
exponents, but not everyone makes it that far.
In lieu of incapacitation...
Whilst incapacitation is a worthwhile target for all
tai chi exponents, it isn't strictly
necessary if your aim is just to be able to
defend yourself from harm.
Rather than put your attacker out of action, you might simply deter them
from attacking you.
A
guarantee?
Lets say that you have a car. The car has an alarm and you also
have a steering lock. Does this
mean that nobody can steal your car? Of course not.
The same principle applies to being a home owner. Window locks, door locks,
and an alarm may all dissuade a burglar, but it doesn't mean that you
are thief-proof.
There's nothing you can do that offers a guarantee of safety.
Deter
The best defence against a thief is to make life
hard for them. In fact, the more hassle they encounter, the less
likely they are to steal from you.
A well-protected house with no valuables on show is not an ideal crime of
opportunity. A burglar doesn't want to be mauled by a dog or greeted by the
police when exiting the crime scene.
Deterrents work by making the endeavor more trouble than it is worth.
Every encounter is unique, and the appropriate response should emerge naturally. Today’s techniques will be different tomorrow. Do not get caught up with the form and appearance of a challenge.
(Ueshiba)
Why bother?
If we now apply the idea of deterrent to self defence, we find
that an individual can learn how to deter an assailant far more easily
and quickly than they can learn how to
incapacitate one.
The learning curve is much shorter.
Yes, deterring an attacker won't necessarily mean that you are safe, but it
will make the attacker reluctant to engage you in combat.
Animal kingdom
Despite living in a civilised society, your local post office
depot will no doubt have a poster telling you just how many people were
bitten by household pets this year. The statistics are disturbing.
The friendly, sociable dog that everyone loves reverts back to atavistic
behaviour when faced with the mailman.
A large dog is a formidable foe - it has horizontally-oriented body mass,
the ability to outrun a human, large claws, and a huge mouth. The dog
doesn't know anything about compassion, consideration or decency.
So, how does a postal worker avoid being bit? By deterring the
animal, and hoping that it loses interest. In Malaysia this is accomplished
by crouching down as if to pick up
a stone.
Defensive
Martial arts are offensive.
Self defence is defensive.
Traditionally, the aim of a martial art was to cause injury, to maim and/or kill. The aim of
self defence is
to avoid being harmed.
Tai chi self defence is about seeing what we can
actually pull off in unrehearsed combat. To facilitate this, the training
must be 'natural' seeming and draw upon our developing physical strengths.
For an inexperienced student, technical skill is lacking, so self defence
needs to be functional and practical, not elegant.
Exuberant play
In tai chi training we explore many 'games' which
train people to get used to the idea of keeping a
cool head when faced with wildly uncertain situations.
Instead of freaking out, students have fun. They become 'slippery', agile,
adaptive and strong. They are not easy to move around or manipulate, and
they become resistant to locks/holds.
Many studies have proven that 'exuberant play' is the most effective
learning medium.
With the stigma of violence, pain and
injury removed, students are free to
relax and explore at their leisure.
The paradoxical physics associated with tai chi emphasises the
importance of relaxing and letting-go.
Play encourages this.
More trouble than it's worth
The goal in tai chi self defence is to be a
nuisance. To be annoying. To cause inconvenience and hassle. To create
chaos. Unpredictability is vital.
Our students acquire the necessary skills without trying too hard. They feel
to come naturally.
When you inflict pain on part of his body each time an opponent makes an
aggressive move, his body will weaken by degrees until he is ready to
collapse
and it is easy to beat him.
(Miyamoto
Musashi)
deterrent grappling self defence courses study syllabus
Page created
18 April 2005
Last updated
4 September
2009
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