Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts Blog

The Importance of Connecting Drills

philosophy training Mar 16, 2007

In class Wednesday night we did some "connecting" drills.

Remaining centered and connected to the people and the world around you is a noble pursuit--one that we naturally fall short of at times because of human nature, but that's true with any philosophical or religious pursuit, isn't it? We can really try to live our philosophy, but there's always the occasional slip-up.

The practice of kung fu, at its core, is about mastering ourselves. Let's face it--I hope I'm never in another real fight. I haven't been in a real fight since high school. I've managed to calm down potentially violent situations several times as an adult, and I've always felt good about that. The reason we practice the martial art is to gain control over our minds and bodies.

But if we fail to control ourselves in daily life, our martial arts training isn't very effective.

I've told this story before, but the first time I realized I was incorporating the philosophy and the centering skills into my life was when...

Using Video as a Martial Arts Training Tool

training Mar 05, 2007

You have to occasionally videotape yourself doing forms. When I'm practicing Tai Chi, in my mind I'm positive that I look like Chen Xiaowang. When I videotape myself and watch it, I more closely resemble Harpo Marx.

Video is an amazing tool. Imagine the treasure we would have if someone had videotaped Chen Fake or other great masters? Imagine being able to break down their movements, watch in slow motion, frame by frame, and freeze the video at certain points to examine body positioning?

We've all heard the old stories of a master demonstrating a form one time to a student, then saying, "I'll be back in one year." The student was expected to learn the form by that time. Naturally, that was probably impossible even a hundred years ago, when the attention span was a little greater.

Now, we have the ability to watch great masters on tape and DVD and study them--masters such as Chen Xiaowang, Chen Xiaoxing, and up-and-coming masters such as Chen Bing. This would be virtually impossible ...

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Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

The Importance of Connecting Drills

Using Video as a Martial Arts Training Tool

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