Blog
Why Should You Shout
This is not about buying drinks for friends in a pub. This is the yell made by martial artists during training called KIAI. There are many purposes for this, but to begin with, it is when one focuses all the energy to one particular strike (or any other movement) with explosive power. Another, is to control the breathing at the moment of impact. A third reason is to distract or even intimidate your opponent. But it doesn’t end here if we start talking about the spiritual side.
A point which is often overlooked is the psychological affect it has on you, the person doing the KIAI. In ancient battle times lines of soldiers running at each other with crude weapons, when some were too scared to fight, would yell at the top of their lungs as they charge the enemy. This shout of courage can bring out the animal instinct within to address the "fight/flight/or freeze" syndrome.
KIAI is a valuable tool for the Instructor. When I ask students to KIAI I am asking them to fully focus their mind and energy on a particular strike. If I get a poor response from anyone it is very likely the student is not focused during the entire training session. This is wonderful feedback for the Instructor. I assess students by their reactions to the KIAI command ie who is focused on their training, or not, and then I can do something about it. Also, the KIAI assists the student to stay on track or fully reengages their attention if off target.
A weak KIAI can reveal a lack of confidence or spirit in a student which could give the Instructor the heads up on such person . The Instructor should use the KIAI command seldom so it will not lose the effect it has on the student. Furthermore, too much KIAI, during a sparring match will also lose the effect it may have on an opponent.
GA
Licence to Kill
A Black Belt is has been often thought of as a licence in the martial arts. Some of us older guys might remember the rumour you had to have your fingerprints taken when you got Black Belt because you would be considered lethal (the title of this blog is supposed to be a pun, hopefully, not offensive). If a Black Belt is a licence in the martial arts then there is almost a direct correlation to that of a drivers licence. People training for these ‘licences’ are students required to log the minimum amount of hours, gain the experience to be able to handle situations and demonstrate both mental and physical ability.
When a person starts learning to drive they are stacked with many rules and regulations. The same goes, in the martial arts, the moment you walk in the dojo (gym) with rules and etiquette. Then you are bombarded with a whole list of instructions which come standard with martial arts training, and some of these do not too much sense, but with time and patience, you eventually get to see the picture. Each lesson is like adding a jig saw piece to the puzzle which eventually takes shape. When enough hours are logged up, and the student can finally make out the picture, that’s the time to go for their licence.
If Martial Arts Instructors can picture their students as Learners, then the students see their Instructors as Driving Instructors. In the martial arts there are no motor vehicles but, ‘when there is enough drive in the student, the wheels are in motion’. I would like to be the one to issue your licence one day!
GA
Get Real
Like most young people, my teenage daughter has a saying ‘get real’ (typical teenage response which means nothing). However, that could mean a lot in the Martial Arts which have come a long way from the mystical perceptions of the 70s & 80s where they had people believe they can beat their opponent with one strike. This may be true depending on how well the person is trained, where the strike is placed and who they come up against. But that is usually not the case.
There has been a long struggle of ‘belief versus knowledge’. Belief is when you accept something to be true or real, or have faith in. Knowledge, on the other hand, is to be sure of something; have true information about. Many Martial Arts Instructors are very good at giving students the right information but sometimes an Instructor needs to investigate further. If I want to know about BJJ I go straight to a BJJ expert, if I need information about reality based self defence I go straight to the experts etc. This is how I keep my students well informed.
Getting back to ‘get real’ (bless my daughter), there are probably well over 1,000 ways you can defend yourself but there is only one way to do it. I remember, at the age of 12 years, whilst walking in formation to the park for lunch, I was being picked on by several much stronger lads. I absolutely ‘lost it’ and beat them all senseless (that is with no martial arts skills at that age). I only knew one way, which in this case, worked! This illustrates a paradox; a trained fighter has a huge artillery of weapons to choose from which could result in too much time being wasted in choosing the right technique in a real fight. Whereas, the novice has no idea and nothing to choose from which can be an advantage for them where time is valuable.
There should only be very few simple and effective techniques to draw from in a real situation which means practicing them over and over again. It comes down to putting aside your beliefs and using your knowledge.
GA