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Playing it by ear...
Nov. 9th, 2016 04:59 amTaiji went very well last night (even if the clock on the wall had not been put back an hour).
Among other things, sifu asked if there were any applications of this martial art that we had perhaps neglected over our time with him.
Permit a digression...
Almost a decade ago, I became interested enough in taiji to sign up for one of those five-week summer "courses" that libraries like to sponsor, and while the instructor did teach us the first few movements of (probably) the modern "Beijing 24" form, she also had a tendency, if memory serves, to go on and on about what I think of as "mystical" aspects of taiji (for example, how the "single whip" represented the cycle of the four seasons).
There was no mention of taiji as a means of self-defense, and when I brought up the subject during an early lesson, the answer—again, if memory serves, was along the lines of "yes, modern taiji has some martial roots, but all that's changed now."
Just over four years ago, I began to study with sifu, whose approach to taiji has consistently been from the perspective of its use as an art for self-defense ("defense" being the operative word). My principal takeaway from four years of study, is that physically defending yourself from an attacker is hard, from the perspective that you really have to make your response to an attack be of second nature. Which means—practice, practice, practice.
This was not something, by the way, that was addressed in Marine boot camp, where the total amount of "contact" time spent learning physical close combat amounted to a handful of hours, leading me to believe that the principal purpose of such time during boot camp was to induce a sense of confidence that was, perhaps, a bit excessive, considering the stakes, but understandable, since the ultimate purpose of boot camp is to transform a civilian into a Marine (and not a warrior highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, which can come later).
Take the analogy of learning to drive a car. The first few times behind the wheel, the new driver is thinking about every little detail of what he or she is doing—trying to stay in lane, learning to use directional signals, and so on. (Can you imagine being to told to get from point A to point B through a variety of challenging traffic conditions during this initial period?)
To run with this analogy, boot camp was a little like being shown the car and the locations of the steering wheel and the pedals, letting you start the car and put it in gear, and then driving it some short distance along a straight line before being sent on your way.
Where was I? Oh, yes...
So my question last night, about things not discussed in class: What if it's not me who is being attacked, but, say, a member of my family?
My naïve ideas of how sifu might respond—you are dealing, after all, with an opponent who is not paying close attention to you, so I'm figuring "go in swinging"—were shredded in seconds, as he proceeded to demonstrate that the same principles apply as they do in "ordinary" defense. "Going in swinging" is, in fact, a very poor approach, as it offers the attacker opportunities to turn attention to you, with advantage perhaps.
What principles? "Contact" comes first to mind. Sifu has demonstrated many times that if you are physically touching an opponent (and if you are sufficiently trained to "listen" with your body), you can literally deal with said opponent with your eyes closed.
We then spent the balance of the class paired up and trying to make our partners move their feet. It was an interesting exercise, and I did not fare too poorly.
Time to go back to bed. I got home around 9 pm last night and went almost straight to bed. I got up at 3 am, and figured I'd get up and do something (an LJ post is something, nie?) and then try to get some additional shuteye.
Cheers...
Among other things, sifu asked if there were any applications of this martial art that we had perhaps neglected over our time with him.
Permit a digression...
Almost a decade ago, I became interested enough in taiji to sign up for one of those five-week summer "courses" that libraries like to sponsor, and while the instructor did teach us the first few movements of (probably) the modern "Beijing 24" form, she also had a tendency, if memory serves, to go on and on about what I think of as "mystical" aspects of taiji (for example, how the "single whip" represented the cycle of the four seasons).
There was no mention of taiji as a means of self-defense, and when I brought up the subject during an early lesson, the answer—again, if memory serves, was along the lines of "yes, modern taiji has some martial roots, but all that's changed now."
Just over four years ago, I began to study with sifu, whose approach to taiji has consistently been from the perspective of its use as an art for self-defense ("defense" being the operative word). My principal takeaway from four years of study, is that physically defending yourself from an attacker is hard, from the perspective that you really have to make your response to an attack be of second nature. Which means—practice, practice, practice.
This was not something, by the way, that was addressed in Marine boot camp, where the total amount of "contact" time spent learning physical close combat amounted to a handful of hours, leading me to believe that the principal purpose of such time during boot camp was to induce a sense of confidence that was, perhaps, a bit excessive, considering the stakes, but understandable, since the ultimate purpose of boot camp is to transform a civilian into a Marine (and not a warrior highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, which can come later).
Take the analogy of learning to drive a car. The first few times behind the wheel, the new driver is thinking about every little detail of what he or she is doing—trying to stay in lane, learning to use directional signals, and so on. (Can you imagine being to told to get from point A to point B through a variety of challenging traffic conditions during this initial period?)
To run with this analogy, boot camp was a little like being shown the car and the locations of the steering wheel and the pedals, letting you start the car and put it in gear, and then driving it some short distance along a straight line before being sent on your way.
Where was I? Oh, yes...
So my question last night, about things not discussed in class: What if it's not me who is being attacked, but, say, a member of my family?
My naïve ideas of how sifu might respond—you are dealing, after all, with an opponent who is not paying close attention to you, so I'm figuring "go in swinging"—were shredded in seconds, as he proceeded to demonstrate that the same principles apply as they do in "ordinary" defense. "Going in swinging" is, in fact, a very poor approach, as it offers the attacker opportunities to turn attention to you, with advantage perhaps.
What principles? "Contact" comes first to mind. Sifu has demonstrated many times that if you are physically touching an opponent (and if you are sufficiently trained to "listen" with your body), you can literally deal with said opponent with your eyes closed.
We then spent the balance of the class paired up and trying to make our partners move their feet. It was an interesting exercise, and I did not fare too poorly.
Time to go back to bed. I got home around 9 pm last night and went almost straight to bed. I got up at 3 am, and figured I'd get up and do something (an LJ post is something, nie?) and then try to get some additional shuteye.
Cheers...
