SAGACITY.

Ok so as you may have seen on Uncle Steve's page he has some martial arts advice. So as you have read the funnies on my page I had better get the true balance of things and give you some serious advice for martial arts advancement.

So as everyone has seen on the T.V, movies, etc, the martial arts hero in spiritual and cosmic harmony using his skills to kill all evil do-ers. The hero is often seen leaping around through the air, seems to know exactly what is happening around him and has the occasional piece of luck, such as: an evil do-er fires an arrow and is incompetant enough to miss him by the smallest margin.

So how much of this flying around and hitting people with seemingly superhuman power is true to life? The answer is simple: VERY LITTLE! The point of being in physical and spiritual harmony is really the only true to life point. When you start to really understand the movements of a martial art you will start to learn to feel your motions, the flow of your body and its balance. From here it is important to learn focus and breathing for it is primarily through these two that you will begin to reach the aforementioned physical and spiritual harmony (I hasten to point out that this is not the only way to follow by any means and is just the way in which I found myself progressing). The point of the hero knowing what is around him is to some extent true. Of course it is rarely possible to know, or reason, what the person is doing behined you when you are fighting three other people at the same time. This example is clearly film fiction. However for those people who have attained sufficient level and knowledge it is possible to feel the actions of another through their emotions. Anger is the most common of emotions in a fight and is one of the most intense, therefore it is one of the easiest to "feel" in another. If you want to reach such a level of focus and knowledge as to this technique I can only advise you to go to a dojo and start learninig the basics which will give you your foundation. The last point however has no foundation in real life. Bad guys frequently win! They are not incompetant and given half a chance they will finish you off without the slightest remorse. NEVER underestimate your opponent! I cannot stress this enough.

Advice when training: Building up your muscle is to some extent important. However lage muscles are good for strength, but are no good if you cannot touch your opponent (the more muscle you have the slower your movements are). This is not to say that you should be thin and wiry. I know several people who are very slim and extremely fast. Despite this they have no power and I have frequently been able to stand there and receive blows without even flinching. You must find the medium where your muscles are the strongest possible for their size without putting on vast amounts of muscle like body-builders while training for speed at the same time (I personally use the old method of using wrist and ankle weights).

MY RULES OF COMBAT. 1). Avoid the fight. It takes more guts to walk away from a fight than to walk into one. 2). If 1 is not possible confuse the opponent. Knock him off balance, disorientate him and make it so that they are uncomfortable with the situation. 3).If 2 does not get rid of them, "drop them" as fast and as possible and then leave quickly and quietly. Never do any permanent damage to the opponent unless you are forced to.

ADIVCE FOR A FIGHT. 1). Don't get hit. 2). Leave no visible marks on your opponent. 3). Make sure that all witnesses (if any are present) are all on your side. 4). Always leave the opponent alive. A dead one can't know that he has lost. 5). Always have an alibi just in case the police start asking questions.

To Uncle Steve's Advice page.