One Classical Mess Meets Another

Often times, another martial arts practitioner will mention to me that they’d like to have an inter-disciplinary dojo of some sort.

I understand their idea and what they are striving for.  “Let’s bring everyone up in level by teaching each other our different styles,” they say to me.  I nod in agreement, but secretly have other thoughts go through my mind.

They imagine some picturesque ideal where everyone is learning from one another.  I’ve tried this out, getting together with Tae Kwon Do, Karate and Kung-Fu instructors.  It sounds great, but all it does for me is breaks down the stuff I’m working on.

My ‘style’ of Kung-Fu is built on some personal principles.  These principles are most likely due to me training in Wing Chun, but I’ve adopted them nonetheless.  When I’m learning to do some other movements, they will inherently go through my own process and if they don’t match up with what I’m trying to do (read: fight) then they are expunged.

The only way to get together and crosstrain in the martial arts like these utopians want is to put the gear on and see how everyone moves, not just as stylists, but as unique human beings.

But that’s not what they want.  They want to learn some ‘fluffy’ stuff from Tai Chi and Qigong.  Some ‘forms’ from Karate and Tae Kwon Do.  Some ‘trapping’ from Wing Chun.  …so they can say that they’ve upped their game.

CTK

Human Nature

“You gotta keep your punches short, you gotta keep them on target, you gotta keep them accurate and you gotta keep them tight.”  -Steve Morris

The Mystic

Freud argued that the very idea of a soul or spirit refers to the perception of one’s own mental life.

He furthermore asserted that magic, like animism, is a fundamentally psychological phenomenon.  According to his definition, “Magic reveals in the clearest and most unmistakable way an intention to impose the laws governing mental life upon real things” and “replace the laws of nature by psychological ones.”

Freud continued, “It is easy to perceive the motives which lead men to practice magic: they are human wishes. . . . The basic reason why what [a person] sets about by magical means comes to pass is, after all, simply that he wills it. To begin with, therefore, the emphasis is only upon his wish” ([1913] 1955l, 91, 83).

Excerpt from Wearing My Tutu to Analysis by Malawista, et al.

Non-Classical Vs. Classical

(Journal entry dated 18 May 2009)

I’m really beginning to understand the difference between the classical (Wing Chun) and non-classical (Gung Fu) approach to martial arts. The reference point in classical appear to be the forms. The non-classical approach however, suggests that the starting point should be an analysis and breakdown of the most fundamental components of a fight. It asks “what are the core components of a fight?” and, once established, the next step would be to construct a fighting method based around those findings.

Additionally, the classical approach necessitates an understanding of names and principles and adherence to that historic pattern of development of those names and patterns, for the sake of being consistent with the founders of the art. In Wing Chun, for example, it is an inescapable requirement that one become familiar with terms such as chi sao, tan, bong and concepts such as Lat Sao Jik Chung. In fact, battles of supremacy are often won during ‘forum-fu’ based on a persons skill at understanding the name, rather than understanding the technique!

The non-classical approach encourages a person to understand the shapes, feelings and patterns of the movement, into his or her own words so as to facilitate learning. A natural by-product of which, is the creation of each practitioners mini-system.

I now understand why I prefer the non-classical approach.