The use of space

I dont mean space the final frontier kind of thing. I mean the kind of space you need to employ your techniques. My dad used to always tell me that if you cannot fight in phone booth you cannot fight. I dont know if life is quite that drastic, but you get the idea. For example, there are a lot of martial artists out there who are excellent kickers. Primarily they are from Tae Kwon Do, Kuk Sul Won and a lot of the Korean systems. I do not doubt the skill that those crescent kicks and stuff require. But what happens if you dont have the space to kick? As sad as it seems, the majority of these systems have totally neglected their hand techniques. So the question is, how much space is enough?

As a old school kenpo stylist primarily, I am a huge proponent of hand strikes. I also have extensive experience in a boxing ring, so I may be a bit biased. But biased or not, I do know that most altercations do not involve as much space as our dojo floors. So I like the idea of the long range hand , off-angle strikes of martial arts, as well as the linear, more conventional strikes from boxing. What I like most is the fact that almost never are your arms so encumbered that you cannot punch or elbow someone.

Dont get me wrong, as a huge fan of the roundhouse kick to the thigh, and side kick to the sternum, I dont have anything but love for kicks. That is what gave most of us our true love of martial arts, the ability to whirl through the air with well placed spinning kicks. But we need to keep it real. Have you ever kicked in jeans? Have you considered how it will affect the height of your kicks? If the answer is no, pleace go put on a pair of jeans right now. Put your wallet and cell phone and keys in your pockets. Now, feel free to let loose with all of your spinning crescent kicks, and spinning hook kicks. Feels a little different doesnt it? Maybe it may even occur to you that kicking is not the most effective thing to do in a real fight or flight situation.

I was going to get all philosophical on you guys, but I am not going to. I just finished watching the Sopranos so I dont have it in me :) Just keep in mind that I love you all, space, or the lack thereof, can help you determine the truth about self-defense.