Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

In my opinion, a highly-skilled martial artist should be able to apply the right amount of force when needed, but in some situations, you should be able to apply no force at all. Being able to do both requires skill.

There is currently a "tough guy" attitude in martial arts, especially online. Here is one argument they make: If you spend a lot of time point-sparring, you won't be able to apply force when you need it in a self-defense situation. Instead, you will pull your punches.

I call malarkey, and I know it's malarkey because of my personal experience. 

Skill Development and Control

Pulling punches and using light contact in sparring teaches fine motor control and precision. This enables you to "choose" between delivering light or heavy contact, depending on the situation, which is crucial in real-life self-defense to avoid unnecessary harm or legal consequences. It is also important to be able to spar without hurting your training partners.

In 51 years of sparring, I have nev...

Ever since I began studying the martial arts--34 years ago--I've run into a lot of guys who think that in order to show your skill, you need to hurt someone or prove how tough you are by taking hard shots or a lot of punishment.

You see them in classes, inflicting pain on others. You see them putting their own bodies through painful ordeals from pounding on makawara boards for hours on end to breaking blocks of ice with their foreheads. You see them bragging about how they got their nose broken, or how they got hit real hard in the head (and their bragging includes how well they can take a good punch or kick).

There is an interesting psychological thing happening here. I don't know if it's insecurity, a bad self image, or they didn't get hugged enough as kids. But these guys will always tell you that you need to endure a lot of physical pain and abuse if you're going to be a "real" martial artist.

Bull crap.

Often, the Dog Brothers are held up as icons of "pure" martial arts becaus...

I love to teach, and I like to use this blog as a teaching tool. I want visitors to walk away with information they can use in their practice. Here is a fighting tip that can work on the street, but since I don't get in many fights (I think my last real fight was 1970 in high school), I have to do tournaments.

Tournament sparring isn't real combat, but even point sparring teaches you strategies and timing that you would need on the street. I love tournament sparring. And believe me, it gets rough in there. In black belt divisions, you often have to make contact to get the point.

In the internal arts, particularly Chen tai chi, a kicker would be at a disadvantage. Trap the kick and take the kicker to the ground. But in most tournament sparring, you can't do that.

No problem.

Here's a strategy that will help you defeat martial artists who like to use kicks. I've found that a fighter who uses mainly kicks are not often well-rounded fighters. I've never understood styles that won't ...

Yeah, that's me nailing this poor guy in the face with a hook kick. I was 27 years old competing at a tournament in 1980 sponsored by my first teacher, Grandmaster Sin The. I still use the hook kick in tournaments, even at my advanced age, because as one judge laughed a couple of years ago after I nailed a guy with it -- "that's sneaky."

As anyone who has purchased my sparring DVD knows, I believe in being a well-rounded fighter, using both hands and feet. I can score with either, and I use both to misdirect my opponent.

Whether in tournaments or in a self-defense situation, you should try to put your opponent at a disadvantage by making him think you're going somewhere you aren't. In the photo above, I had only been kicking at waist level. I'd thrown several side kicks at this guy and he had blocked them. He was very good at the reverse punch and had already scored.

But he was holding his hands down and leaving his head open. It happens all the time. So, as he expected another si...

About once a year, as new students come in, I have to give the sparring lecture. As a school owner, the amount of contact to allow when students spar is always a tricky subject.

For one thing, most insurance policies for martial arts schools don't allow much contact, and you have to make your policies clear or else you can be in big trouble if someone gets hurt.

But some other variables come into play when you're a student:

1. Students can't train if they're hurt. If you spar someone and you don't care how hard you kick or hit them, you can put them out of class with one stupid move. Too many people come in and swing for the fences. Even some black belts enjoy showing beginning students who's boss. Once, I saw a black belt crack a beginner's rib the very first time this new guy sparred. The new student dropped out of class very quickly. The black belt didn't really do it maliciously--he just wasn't thinking. I know a black belt who once dropped out of another school because he was "...