When I was sixteen, I started practicing Kung Fu. It became an instant obsession for me. Over the next ten years, I would train from between two to six hours a day. When I moved out to LA, I stopped training to focus on a variety of new artforms that caught my attention, but the lessons I learned while training stuck with me, assisting me on my journey through a variety of new artforms.
I wanted to share some of those lessons with my fellow Steemers. Enjoy!
Understanding Principles
All techniques spring from principle, and principles are universal. They should hold true throughout all styles of the artform. In other words, if we're talking martial arts, we should be able to see the principle in every style of martial arts from Kung fu to Savate.
Here is a principle from martial arts: The person who is more balanced has an advantage.
Balance can be lost or gained physically or mentally, and some would argue spiritually.
- A person on two feet is probably more balanced than someone on one foot.
- A martial artist might be able to physically balance himself on one foot better than his opponent can on two. He is at the advantage even on one foot.
- A boxer might be able to take a punch to the head, while maintaining balance, better than his opponent. He’s at an advantage.
- Someone who is so big he intimidates his opponent is at an advantage.
Try to imagine a martial arts style where balance does not equal an advantage. I’d be hard pressed to believe that you could. All martial arts have methods for off-balancing opponents and improving the balance of the student.
Does any of this mean that the more balanced person will definitely win the fight? No.
Does any of this mean that they don’t have a number of other advantages? No.
It simply means that someone who is more balanced has an advantage.
How does this apply to life outside of martial arts?
It’s simple. Every artform has its principles.
Here are two non-martial examples of principles:
Storytelling
Principle: Stories should have a beginning middle and end. An audience, shouldn’t be distracted by what happened before the story started and/or after it ends.
Socializing
Principle: If you want to start a conversation with a stranger. They need to be made to feel comfortable. People will reject someone who makes them feel enough discomfort.
When you’re picking up a new artform, or reviewing one you’re already practicing, search for the principle behind what you’re studying. The secret to finding the principle is to examine the techniques, which leads me to our next topic…
Understanding Techniques
All techniques are rooted in a principle.
If we look back at the balance/advantage principle, we can find a variety of techniques in every martial style that spring from it.
Here is an example of an off-balancing technique: A kick to the shin, mid-step, that causes an opponent to fall forward.
Is this the only technique for off-balancing someone? No, there are countless others.
Is this technique effective in every fight? No, because techniques are specific to a time and place. There is no best technique; there are better and worse techniques for given situations based on the outcome you’re pursuing.
Techniques are also the tools a teacher has to help students understand principles. When Mr. Miyagi taught Daniel “wax on, wax off” he was teaching a technique. By practicing it repeatedly, Daniel gained an experiential understanding of the technique, to the point where he could use it. The principle behind the technique became clear.
Intellectually, principles make sense. If you have more balance than your opponent you have an advantage - got it. However, understanding something intellectually is not the same as understanding it experientially. Experiential understanding comes from practice, because with experience comes awareness.
The awareness you gain through practice helps you understand when a technique can be applied based on the principles behind the art form.
If we were to imagine two dedicated fighters entering the ring: same weight, same height, with the same four techniques, taught by the same teacher. The only difference is one has been practicing for five years, the other for ten. We know that the student of 10 years is the one we would bet on.
Why?
Because he will see more windows of opportunity to use the four techniques, because his extra five years of experience gave him a heightened awareness of the artform.
Where a novice might see a punch as an attack, someone with more experience might see it as a way to attack, off-balance, or block, because this person has both an understanding of the principles of his artform and awareness gained through experience.
How does this apply outside of martial arts?
When you teacher gives you a technique to practice. Work on it. Don’t be the person who keeps saying, “but what if I do this?” trying to invalidate it. Know that the technique was never meant to be perfect. It’s a tool for helping you do understand something deeper about the artform.
This holds true for every artform.
- An illustrator might practice drawing a vase to understand the principles of shading.
- A writer might give themselves a word limit for a story to help them learn brevity.
- An actor might practice Meisner’s repetition technique to learn instinctual and natural responses.
A student with a firm understanding of principles and the experience to know when a technique can be used, they can begin to express themselves through the artform - leading them down the road to mastery.
