Learning Self-Defense with the Internal Arts

general self-defense Jul 14, 2010

You can practice techniques and forms for decades, but that doesn't mean you're ready to defend yourself if suddenly attacked.

I love to learn fighting applications. I love to look deep into a movement and unlock its potential. There are always fighting applications you don't see -- even in what might appear at first to be just a "transition" from one movement to the next.

Last night, we did some real-world drills, aimed at using two Hsing-I techniques -- peng chuan and pi chuan (crushing fist and splitting palm) against an attack.

Students strapped on their protective gear and paired off. One would throw an attack and I coached (along with black sash Chris Miller) them in an effective way to respond -- a flurry of peng chuan and pi chuan -- rapid fire -- at the stomach, ribs, solar plexus and face.

Students had to throw at least 5 strikes -- using peng and pi -- back to back -- FAST!!

Some students will hesitate after throwing one technique. I pushed them to respond faster and with five or six strikes. Moving forward, using body mechanics, using power and speed. Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!

I had to stop students from trying to get fancy. We all think we can throw other movements during a violent confrontation -- heng chuan and ridge hands -- but in order to really learn and internalize these techniques so you can respond instantly and with precision, speed and power, you MUST focus on one or two techniques at a time, and do it thousands of times, before moving on to other techniques.

In the real world, fights don't happen like they do in most martial arts classes. In the real world, someone will most often attack you because they think you can be easily had. Well, the best way to answer that is with a flurry of overpowering strikes.

Pi Chuan is especially useful to block the first punch or push. Then you use rapid-fire peng and pi -- throwing a couple of crushing fists at the stomach, making the opponent think to block downward, then you go to the face with a couple of splitting palms. Follow that with two or three more crushing fists to the stomach. Fast-fast-fast with power!

On Saturday, we videotaped the fighting applications of the 12 Hsing-I animals and I'm placing the video lessons on the online school (the photo above left shows an application from Eagle/Bear). It will be a DVD within a couple of weeks. Learning all the fighting applications is important, but some past Hsing-I masters could win any fight using only peng and pi. It's important to remember that. How did they do it? They practiced those two techniques -- over and over, thousands of times.

As Bruce Lee said, "I do not fear the man who has practiced ten thousand kicks once. I fear the man who has practiced one kick ten thousand times."

There's a reason for that.

--by Ken Gullette

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Learning Self-Defense with the Internal Arts

Try Two Weeks Free and Get Step-by-Step Training in Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua from Basic to Advanced Skills with No Mystical Mumbo-Jumbo

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