Tuesday, 8 September 2015

Traditional Martial Arts Is Still Relevant For Modern Day Self-Defence Training



Recently, I had the privilege of training with Dr Yang Jwing Ming*, renowned author and teacher of Chinese martial arts and Qigong and founder of Yang’s Martial Arts Association (YMAA) that has 45 schools in 18 different countries.

The seminar specifically was on the Tai Chi pushing hands, aka "Tui Shou" or "Sensing Hands". Pushing hands is an exercise that can be performed by two people who are attempting to improve their Tai Chi skills of remain balanced, focused and relaxed while in motion.

What impressed me most was both Dr Yang's incredible in depth knowledge of the subject as well as his ability to apply that knowledge into his movement. I felt quite honored when he did the one basic exercise with me, and I was totally in awe of the energy that I felt when performing the exercise with him!

Unfortunately, due to the limited nature of the seminar, I was only exposed to three of the four major "Jìng patterns" (or basic movements or martial power movements) that have become the four major crucial foundations of the Tai Chi  art -  Péng , Lǚ and Jǐ. The fourth is Àn

"Peng" is to ward off, "Lu" is to roll back, "Ji" is to Squeeze or press and "An" is to push or press down.

But the article at hand isn't to go into any further details about these and the other concepts and theories that make Tai Chi an effective means of fighting. Rather, my aim here is to highlight how many of our modern self-defence concepts and practise is actually derived from the traditional martial arts. In my opinion, all martial arts were at one stage very effective in their means of defending the practitioner from whatever threat was prevalent at the time. Furthermore,  it may not have been as stylized and ritualized as many have become today. Rather, it was scrappy, undisciplined, and excluded many of the high moral value benefits and practices that they have evolved into as society had progressed. Martial "arts" became much more than just their physical applications, and became a way of living a life with discipline and encouraged personal development and the cultivation of ones spirituality.

Self-defence on the other hand, has been something that has had to keep up with the threats that modern society has created or evolved into. Whether it be the way the criminal minds now thinks due to the perversion of violence and crime than one is now exposed to in the news and in various entertainment mediums; to the actual decline in respect and value of human life that that comes when crime and criminals are left unchecked in civil societies.

What I again am stressing, is how concepts such as "peng", "Lu", "Ji" and 'An" of Tai chi, can still benefit the modern day self-defence training. Using my simplistic explanation, "Peng" is to ward off an attack as it comes towards me; "Lu: is to roll back and neutralize an attacker if the force is too great; "Ji" is to squeeze or press an attacker when he/she gets in a position that I am able to be able to neutralize his/her attack; and lastly, "An" is to press or push down an attacker when the opportunity presents itself.

I can imagine hard-core Tai Chi practitioners grimacing at my explanation above, however, please do feel free to read Dr Yang's explanation in greater detail at these 2 links: http://ymaa.com/articles/2015/03/about-pushing-hands-part-1 & http://ymaa.com/articles/2015/03/about-pushing-hands-part-2.

Tai Chi training and Martial arts in general is a long and difficult path to follow. As one senior student at the YMAA SA** centre pointed out at the seminar, their martial arts student base at their training facility has been on the decline, and people such as myself that teach "self-defence" seem to be on the increase. The fact is that many people find martial arts and the disciplined practise thereof very difficult to maintain due to work and personal commitments. People don't seem to have enough time to partake in a long extended training sessions that span over years and years, and rather seek something that is a "quick-fix" that  will allow them to gain some skill in which they can learn and apply in a relatively short space of time. Let me also state that, although I am a supplier of "quick-fixes", it is by no means a substitute for consistent practise and training, and I make that very clear in all my products and services. However, what I do believe is, for self-defence and personal safety, just by creating a greater awareness and consciousness in society, it will motivate enough people to take action to do something to ensure the safety of themselves and their loved. This is the first step in creating a more harmonious society that will reduce and crime and in future, the need for self-defence.

In my opinion, we have gone full circle as to what those ancient masters of the traditional martial arts masters set out to do – to create a more harmonious society. The took their primal instincts to protect themselves; devise methods in which to protect themselves; applied it on the battlefield to see if it worked and ensure its effectiveness and relevance; started teaching it as a system so that more people could defend themselves too; collectively stated to action to drive crime of of their society; eventually evolved to a more harmonious society; saw the decline of their styles deadly application; and hence develop their "style" into a personal development art.

Perhaps we are at those early stages yet again, and the utopia we all so fondly seek, is not too far away.

Many thanks to again to Dr Yang Jwing Ming for reminding me of the value traditional martial arts can still bring to all of us, martial artists and safety conscious citizens alike. 

Get EDUCATED. Fell EMPOWERED. Live a FULLY-ENGAGED life.


* Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming, is a renowned author and teacher of Chinese martial arts and Qigong. Born in Taiwan, he has trained and taught Taijiquan, Qigong and Chinese martial arts for over forty-five years. He is the author of over thirty books, and was elected by Inside Kung Fu magazine as one of the 10 people who has "made the greatest impact on martial arts in the past 100 years." Dr. Yang lives in Northern California. For more information, please visit: www.ymaa.com  or www.ymaa-retreatcenter.org

** YMAA in South Africa can be found at this website: www.dragonspirit.co.za


*** Warren Ho is the founder of Defence Unlimited and is passionate about teaching effective and relevant self-defence that addresses the crime and criminals that are within our modern society. For more information, please visit www.defence-unlimited.com


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