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How do the Martial
Artists of today compare to those of the early days"?
In a word, I think, "better". That's not to say we
didn't have some really rough, tough people in the fifties and sixties. We
did! There were some truly fearless and terrifying people running around
back then. Stories abound about them. Some true and some embellish beyond
belief. For some of the incidents, I was there. Others, I heard about
first hand and then heard the exaggerated versions, as time went by.
There were some great Martial Artists in the first
couple of generations but they were limited by the amount of research and
development that had taken place up till that time. In the intervening
years many many people have worked relentlessly to further develop and
improve upon what they themselves had been taught.
The Martial Arts did not miraculously descend from a
mountain top etched upon tablets. The Arts were developed by people. Very
dedicated people who who have done a tremendous job. Today there are also
very dedicated people doing equally as well. The difference is, the people
of today have the advantage of the experience of their predecessors. With
that experience, combined with modern innovative thinking and technology,
advancements are being made all the time and there's still plenty of room
for improvement.
A lot of emphasis is placed upon tradition. Tradition
certainly has its place in the Art, however when something can be proved
wrong and then improved upon I think it is our duty as Martial Artists to
make the improvement. If, after exhaustive analytical study you have found
a weak spot or a down right error in the use of a principal, it is your
obligation as a member of the Martial Arts Community to make the error and
correction known to your associates or students. If it tramples tradition,
so be it. Be prepared though, There are those who will scoff at your
thinking for no other reason than, it violates precious tradition.
Recently, while looking through some old snapshots I
came across a couple that were of particular interest when applied to this
subject. I thought you might enjoy seeing them and finding out how some of
the changes in the Art have come about.
These photos were taken at the same place on the same
evening. You can see the students are the same group in each shot. In
photo #1, that's Ed Parker standing to the right, observing me
demonstrating a technique for the class.
What's of special fascination to me about these two
photos is the fact that there is a conspicuous error taking place in each
of them. Study them and see if you can pick them out. The only hint I'll
give you is, at the time these photos were taken, somewhere around 1963 or
64, the things I'm referring to as errors in the pictures were not
considered mistakes at all, at that time.
Are you totally confused? Probably. Here's what's
happened.
In Photo number two I'm demonstrating the technique
that came to be known in the Parker Kenpo system as "Thundering hammers" .
You will recognize the Karate Connection's version of it as "Repeating
hammers" the third technique in Brown belt.
In the Ed Parker version the first blow after the left
inward block to the outside of your opponents right punch is your right
forearm across his midsection. When he bends over you deliver a hammer
fist to the kidneys then one to the back of the neck. There are a variety
of endings but that's the base technique.
There's only one problem with "Thundering hammers" as
I was taught it and was teaching it then. The human body does not bend at
the midsection, it bends at the hips. That little revelation came to me
when a student of mine with very poor control slammed me across the
midsection and actually stood me up rather than bend me over. He couldn't
finish the technique as I had taught him because I wasn't bent over as I
was suppose to be. Naturally, that set me to thinking and as I analyzed
the blow in relationship to the anatomy I realized it couldn't possibly
work. What had been taking place was, we had been taught to bend over for
our partner when he did "Thundering hammers" so naturally it worked in
practice but it would never work in reality. The body just doesn't respond
that way. That's an anatomical principle, not a concept.
So what's the solution? You're way ahead of me because
you know "Repeating hammers". Naturally, you simply change the weapon and
the target. If you want to bend a body over, you just smash an inverted
hammer fist up into his groin, and watch the action. They will bend,
unless they drop. Even then, they'll drop, bent.
Look at the photograph. Even the angle of the arm
across the body is wrong if you're trying to bend someone over. My partner
is trying to accommodate me but even he isn't doing a very good job
because I won't let him. I'm actually holding him up with my right arm.
And from here I'm suppose to deliver a downward hammer fist to the kidneys
and then one to the back of the neck, which is going to be pretty
difficult, with him standing almost upright.
I taught the technique that way for at least ten years
before I discovered the error. As soon as I realized what had to be done
in order to make it work I made the change and have been teaching it with
an inverted hammer fist to the groin ever since. Unfortunately, there are
those out there still teaching it the way I learned it. Tradition!
Now let's take a look at the second "Old Photo."
It's funny how you remember certain things from the
mostly forgotten past. I remember vividly that we took two shots of that
kick. The first one was much higher and actually brushed my partners chin.
That's why, on this photo he's got his head so far back. The fact that the
kick for the second photo is to the midsection is because of clipping him
in the chin. I didn't want to do it again so I lowered the kick and
changed the target. But that's not the error in the picture.
When I was taught to do a "Knife edge kick" I was
specifically trained to curl my toes down and bend the ankle down as well.
And that's the way I did it until I sprained my ankle so badly, I feel the
effects of it to this day. When I think about it now I can't believe I was
stupid enough to blindly accept such a ridiculous concept in the first
place. Curling the toes down and bending the ankle is equivalent to
bending the wrist down when punching. What an absolutely idiotic thing to
do, yet there I was doing it and what's even worse, I was teaching it that
way as well.
I may not be a quick study but I don't have to sprain
both ankles to learn. Once again, I analyzed what had happened and why,
then did something about it.
Now, naturally the toes are turned up and the kick is
done more with the rear half of the foot with a straight line from the
knife edge up through the ankle for the greatest strength and rigidity.
I'm still shaking my head at my own simple-minded, zealous compliance.
It's things like this that have been culled out of the
Art so as to give the student of today a clearer path to follow. Many of
the ridiculous contradictions have been eliminated which helps prevent
confusion. Today's student can get better easier and quicker then his
counterpart of years gone by.
Perhaps someday, with your help, the Art will be
perfected. But don't hold your breath. Some things will never be changed
because they're Traditional. |
