Tweaking your martial art

Folks,

I am kind of in a renaissance period of sorts with my martial arts training. As a member of my family, our Kenpo is a very unique expression of who we are as people. Now of course, there are a ton of folks who claim that they are in possession of unique knowledge and skill sets. I don't know if I would go that far, but I do think that I have come upon some interesting insights recently. It happened nigh epiphany style while I was watching YouTube. Yes I was watching YouTube, but it was not Epic Beard Man, The Star Wars Kid, or the Urban Ninja :) In the future, kids wont know what I am talking about, so I thought I would put it out there for posterity. Thank me later.

Anyhow, I was actually watching a Daido-Juku tournament. I love this stuff. For those of you who don't know. Daido-Juku is kind of like an MMA style, but they wear gis and this special kind of helmet. They wear these helmets because head-butts are as legal as a right cross. Like I said...LOVE IT!! Anyhow, they do a lot of kicks, throws, arm locks, the whole shebang. I know that their focus is practical training, but I noticed something. Their skills began to look a lot like the Shidokan (which I also love) and all of the other folks out there who claim to be seeking "realistic training."

Then it made me a little sad. As you know, one of my biggest beefs with mixed martial arts competition is that they draw mainly from 4 arts while neglecting a ton of other things from other arts. As a martial artist, I would like for people to still be able to express themselves according to their art. It made me sad to think that people felt that they must abandon skills that they have spent years learning in search of a VERY limited type of sport training.

What I resolved to do from that point is to make sure that I take the skills I learned, and make sure that almost all of the self-defense techniques are applicable for today's combat reality. I began with an idea. I was watching Roger Mayweather use the focus mitts to help his nephew develop and maintain a tremendous defensive ability. ( See post above this one) I began to think about how to incorporate all of these drills along with kicks and weapons and stuff.

I began with the Kenpo technique called Five Swords. It is a technique that is a defense for a right cross. It is a very limited technique when done in the traditional way. You can see it on Casa de Kenpo on YouTube.It still has its uses, but they are limited. I was working with another Kenpo Black Belt, and we worked on the technique in a new and dynamic way. See, the first thing that I thought was that it should not take 5 swords. It should only take about 3 swords. But the way that it is committed to muscle memory is very useful when using proper drills. Starting out with elusive footwork, let the person use the focus mitts to throw the realistic right cross. The block is NOT done in a static manner. It is like a soft inside block or parry. The back fist does not need any tweaking. Instead of a palm strike, I recommend a cross instead of a palm strike for extended reach for shorter defendants or women. Instead of an inverted punch, I would think of a hook to the face, or a roundhouse kick to the body if he backs up far enough.

That was just the beginning. It is MUCH easier than you think to make a self-defense technique applicable for sparrring. The fact is that most people that speak out against the traditional arts cite its lack of applicability in a sportive or sparring environment. The first thing that I do is say "duh". Fighting for your life and sparring for points or money are not remotely the same thing. One does not neccesarily translate well to the other. They can, if properly tweaked however. As a matter of fact, I was thinking that I will be able to tweak almost all of the classical Kenpo techniques. Circle of Destruction, Kimona Grab A&B, Thundering Hammering, they all have something to offer. Later folks, I have to get to tweaking :)