The Yin And Yang of Healing Arts And Martial Arts – A Self-Defence Perspective

Last weekend, I was privileged to be asked to do a presentation on energy and healing at a cancer fundraising initiative called, "Cup For Cancer". However, you're probably wondering what would a guy who teachings self-defence know about the healing aspects! Well, it just so happens that I really do have a fascination for the healing arts. However, it is always somehow related back to my field of preference, namely self-defence, as you will see.

In my presentation, I explained that the healing art is used to balance my martial arts side. I imagined it like the Yin and Yang symbol that represents balance through duality. As much as I am fluent in the martial arts, I too need to be balanced with the healing arts too. With this understanding, as well as my natural inclination to rather heal than hurt people, I explained that I studied a number of healing arts, including acupuncture, Applied Kinesiology and Kyusho Healing. Furthermore, by understanding how to heal a person, in reverse, I would also be able to use that knowledge to hurt a person more efficiently and more effectively!

I thought it would be beneficial to open my presentation with some traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) concepts, one of which forms the bases on which all TCM which is built on, namely that the body has the natural ability to heal itself.  For instance, acupuncture treatments uses needles directed at certain nerve points to open up or unblock "chi" blockages and thereby allowing it to once again flow through the body and restore balance back to it. Now, there are many skeptics out there that would doubt the existence of chi. I explained it as energy, or the electrical impulses that the body generates through its nervous system and sustains life. I even went and called it the "Force", in recognition of the source of energy that both the Jedi masters and Sith lords are able to tap into in the Star Wars universe! I further went on to explain how this chi or energy is directed by the mind, and more importantly, through intension (or as per TCM, by "Yi'). This was important to highlight as it explained the powerful the connection between the body and mind is. With the risk of sounding too new-age guru-like, "what he mind can conceive and believe, the body can achieve"!

This brings me to my Applied Kinesiology studies. Applied Kinesiology is used in the complementary health or natural medicine field, and is defined primarily as the use of muscle testing to identify imbalances in the body's structural, chemical, emotional or other energy. It also gives us the ability to tap into the subconscious mind and understand what sabotaging beliefs hold us back from achieving our goals.

As you can imagine, this all started to sounds freakish, cult-ish and witch-crafty to my audience! Rather than just give theory, I then proceeded to demonstrate how energy can be practically applied in both a healing and martial application. For the healing demo, I used acupuncture points (without needles, hence acupressure) to remove an audience member's headache within 60 seconds. Thereafter, I again used acupressure to help another audience member by relieving her sinus congestion.  Then, to demonstrate the powerful link between the mind and the body, I went on to test how strong another audience member’s belief was in her weight-loss goal. Simply put, what her conscious mind said was not congruent to what her body believed it could do. Using some very simple kinesiology techniques, I was then able to remove a goal-sabotaging belief and thereafter, allow her to truly believe in her goal at a subconscious level!  True, for many, that last demo may be a bit too much to accept in their conventional mind-set, however, I was able to show this through kinesiology’s muscle testing techniques which gave them physical evidence of what I was doing. The next best thing would be to actually have that audience member reach her goal weight in 6 weeks (Cathy, I am keeping my eye on you)!

On the martial side, I wanted to illustrate how energy can be enhanced when applying a wrist lock on someone. The nice thing about the martial application of energy is that it induces pain! And with pain, one is able to gauge when there is more energy or not - More energy = more pain! I went on to illustrate that energy really is just electricity and that there are ways to move from positive and negative poles, to grounding and ungrounding of this energy – all of which are basic principles of electricity! Again, with the help of an audience member, I was able to illustrate this with a simple wrist lock and induced pain via the nervous system (and not due to the tightening of the joint in the wrist lock).

The objective of my presentation was really to provide some understanding how interlinked all of these concepts of healing arts, martial arts, chi, energy, and the body and mind are. This is particularly true for the self-defence that I teach as it incorporates all of the above mentioned concepts as we goes through an understanding at a subconscious level are you be willing to defend yourself in the direst of situations. Once we can past that mental hurdle, the physical skills training will enforce those positive beliefs and enable the student to defend themselves when or if the need arises in those situations.

To conclude, I can’t stress enough the importance of having the balance between Yin and Yang, the positive and the negative, the healing and the martial arts. Neither is good or bad, but TOO much of either can be detrimental to your physical, mental and spiritual well-being in the long run.

Till next time.

Be EDUCATED. Feel EMPOWERED. Live a FULLY-ENGAGED life. 

P.s. If you are a Facebook user, please download my 1st eBook entitles, 120 Practical Self-Defence Tips" FOR FREE! Do so by liking the Defence Unlimited Page, and clip on the "120 Self-Defence Tips"! Click here to go there immediately! 

Other resources:

This blog post is written in honor of my teachers: 

John Kehoe: http://www.learnmindpower.com/about_john_kehoe/

Dr Frans Kromhout: http://www.franskromhout.co.za/

Dr Michael Lan: http://www.jing-an.co.za/

Evan Pantazi http://www.kyusho.com/

Gary Rooks: http://www.kyusho.com/

Jim Corn: http://www.kyusholibrary.com/JimCornBio1.html

Mark Kline: http://www.kyusholibrary.com/MarkKBio1.html

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

Training Kendo in Japan – The Kitamoto Experience

The 2014 Kitamoto Kendo Summer Camp for foreigners was held from 25 July to 1 August 2014 in Kitamoto, Japan, and was an event that I once again had the privilege to attend. It was a great reminder of why I started kendo a decade ago. In my quest for personal development, I wanted something that would cross geographical, religious, political and cultural borders. Kendo was one such martial art. 

Kenshi from 48 different countries descended upon the small town of Kitamoto, +-60 km outside of Tokyo, to participate in this week-long kendo seminar that focused more on the basics of kendo and the instruction thereof. We were also treated to an experience of Japanese culture and tradition, something that Kendo still prides itself in upholding, From the 3-times-a-day delicious meals, to just simple interactions with the Japanese sensei's and staff at the Gedatsu Renshin-kan Dojo and training centre, to the Japanese styled, open bath areas, all was a hint of the intricate Japanese culture and lifestyle. It was a rare opportunity to fully appreciate what life in Japan would be like. The training itself was not too bad. Being a past participant of the Kitamoto Camp some 6 years before, I was able to compare the training from then to what it is now. Furthermore, in speaking to my sensei's back home in SA, it would appear it has gotten a lot easier in the past 20 years. I discussed this with some of the past participants of Kitamoto too and it was in their opinion that the reason for this easing-up in training was largely due to the global rise in kendo standards. Gone are the days when the “gai-jin” (or foreigner) was an outsider and could not match the Japanese standard in kendo. Although not yet as good as them, many non-Japanese countries are catching up fast and adopting Japanese training methods to improve their Kendo. A good example would be from the 2008 World Kendo Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the USA beat the Japanese team in the semi-finals. In 2012, Novara, Italy, the Japanese team redeemed themselves and won the team event against the Koreans in the finals. However, the point is that the Americas, European and other Asian counties are starting to give the Japanese a good run for their money! The 2015 WKC in Tokyo, Japan will be an exciting event with many teams practising months, if not years before! South Africa will again be represented by the National Kendo Team, and it is my personal ambition to proudly represent my country one last time before I hang up my competition zekken (or name badge). A bit more about the Kitamoto camp - What can I say other than that this was probably the most enjoyable Kendo experience I have had in a long time. 

In my 1^st decade of kendo, I have been to a number of seminars and competitions around the world - Budapest & Debrechen (Hungary), Prague (Czech republic), London (UK), Helsinki (Finland), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Novora (Italy), Kitamoto (Japan). Most people say that I am really lucky to have been to so many different places, but honestly, most of the time, the time is so short and I mainly spend the time in the confines of the training area (dojo). This is why Kitamoto camp was so enjoyable - As much time I spent in training; I spend just as much time enjoying the Japanese culture and experiences. Furthermore, having 61 other participants from around the world doing the same camp, also made it more culturally diverse! My fellow roommates from Room 304 (Hoo-Ahh) hailed from Italy, Mexico, Uruguay, Columbia, Spain and (a fellow African) Mozambique. As much as we were different, we were all still the same in our passion for Kendo! Our room camaraderie superseded any past experience. I also had the “privilege” of being the group leader or manager (which I reluctantly accepted). However, with that said, the team spirit of Room 304, and the  brotherhood and camaraderie was so strong that at times, as a leader, I had very little to do other than to inform the members of the daily chores! I biggest and proudest task was perhaps coordinating the fighting line-ups in the inter-room shiai /competition (which we won)! A testament that with the correct mix of eager people, the right attitude, and a common objective, anything is possible! We did everything together from the daily chores, sitting together at every meal, and even the after-hours social activities! However, we also gave each other sufficient space to meet other people and do “other things” (……."what happens in 304, stays in 304"). I also had the privilege of meeting many other kenshi from other parts of the world: USA, Finland, Singapore, Indonesia, France, Sweden, Serbia, Brazil, Venezuela, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia,  Hong Kong, Macau, China, Taiwan, Poland, Germany, UK, Turkey, Iran, Hawaii. More on the kendo itself: I mentioned that it was easier that my first experience at Kitamoto 6 years before, however, it was by no means an easy camp. Training formally started promptly at 6:30am each morning; however, for some eager-beavers who wanted to get some extra sparring (Keiko) in before the start of the day, there was an hour of keiko from 5:30am to 6:30 am each day. I managed one of these 5:30am sessions only. Anyway, the morning session from 6:30am lasted till 7:30am. Training resumed again from 9:30am after breakfast till 1pm. The mid-day session resumed again after lunch from 2:30 to 5:30pm. Each day ended off with more keiko either with each other, or with the sensei's.  On most evenings, there were also evening session. These sessions were from 8-9:30pm and included things like bogu-repair lectures and sessions. In total, it resulted in about 8 hrs of training each day -  a long day by any standard. The first 3 days I suffered badly from the jet-lag, heat and humidity. I did not sleep at all for the first night arriving due to the hard tatami mats on the floor, the freezing cold air conditioning in the room and the bright light of that stupid exit sign on the door (that did not switch off, even though there was an off-cord on it)! For the next 2 days I had about 4hrs sleep in total. Also, at temperatures of 30-35 degrees Celsius and +- 80% humidity each day, it was really difficult to breathe and adjust to the Japanese climate, especially since coming from the dry Highveld air of South Africa. Anyway, I eventually climatized and was able to put 100% into my training. Most of the training focused on the basics (or kihon) of kendo; and the proper forms and use both a bokken (wooden sword) and shinai (bamboo sword). I had learnt a fair amount of new information from the kihon kata using bokken that I hope to share with my fellow kendoka back home in South Africa. (A lot of shiai-orientated wazzas (techniques) can be derived from these kihon kata, as it is these shiai wazza's that we lack in international competitions). There was also a day of kata practise that we used real swords (unsharpened, but still pretty dangerous). This reminded me of a quote a work colleague once said to me: "nothing focuses the mind like the sound of a guillotine". There might not have been a guillotine anywhere near by, but my mind was indeed focused! We also had a daily session of shimpan (referee) training that entailed both understanding the rules and actually watching and refereeing matches for each other. The one day we were very privileged to have been the shimpans for the young school children of Gedatsu Renshin-kan Dojo. All I can say is that these little fighting machines could probably whip anyone of us foreigners a$$e$ with the speed and attitude of their kendo! 

Our shimpan training was also put to good use at the inter-room shiai / competition, where each room was to compete with each other in a team competition. Our room (304) was initially pitted against room 201, one of the girls room. Now, we had gotten quote close to the girls on this camp, and it pained us to send them packing in the first round, but it had to be done. Our next fight was against the "Asian" room, room 305 (so named because most of the participants were from the Asian countries of Singapore, Malaysia, Macao, Chinese Taipei and China). We had a good match against them and took an early lead. My fight at the end was with a kenshi from Singapore, with whom I beat with a hikkimen and kote strike. The comment I got afterwards from one of the ladies was "wow, you can fight too!"-  I thought that was an interesting comment! Lastly, we were in the finals against the Room 302. We were lucky enough to get an early lead, a bit of a hiccup in the middle, and the eventual win at the end! The hiccup was my match against Mr Lee from New Zealand. I lost in 2 quick points (kote, men), even after being warned about them by my other more experienced team members (on a personal note, I am happy to say I lost to the only successful 6th dan candidate that passed the grading examination at the end of the camp). All in all, room 304, as loud and as boisterous as we were, were able to win a bag full of victory drinks (green tea) in good spirit! It was great fun and so many lessons can be taken from this experience that I can use for our South African kendo players back home. The only regret I have was that we didn't get to referee any other matches since we won all ours. 

Keiko (sparring) was also a much anticipated event after a hard days training as it allowed us to put into practise all that we had learnt from the sensei's. From applying the kihon wazza from the kata, to performing the proper yukododatsu (scoring point), it was time to apply all that we learnt. Admittedly, the 1st 3 days of jet-lag and non-climitisation left me rather lethargic and sluggish, but I gradually recovered my gusto by day 4. However, than was when injuries started to kick in, most painful was the skin on the soles of my feet. Being hot and humid, training bare-footed eventually left my feet riddles with blisters and split skin. I had to bind my feet most of the time with bandage and tape to secure my feet. One time I even tried to use a kendo sock, but since the floor was so slippery, I decided not to use it anymore (as I resembled a hamster on a wheel - I was moving my legs, but I wasn't going anywhere as I would just slide in the same position)! On the last few days, with painful split feet, I just said, "just get over it", took all the bandages off and just gave the hardest keiko I could against the sensei's. 

That is what kendo is about - pushing at your boundaries and when you feel you have had enough, to just keep on pushing harder. Kendo is about personal development and is by no means something that gives you a hard a fast rule as to how you go about developing yourself - It merely gives you the guidelines and parameters, The rest is up to you. Hard keiko taught me that - I had to face many of my own demons, which included my personal insecurities, laziness, unclear ambitions and fears of inadequacies. What I did learn was invaluable though for my own personal development - always try my hardest; give it my all; pain is just temporary; age is just an illusion; just keep on going; being a leader is a choice, but when I decide to do so, I must step up and take responsibility. 

In one of our sessions with the camp's head sensei, Sato sensei, he mentioned 5 characteristics of a great leader that he came across in some Italian literature: 1) Intelligence, 2) Power to persuade, 3) Healthy Body and Mind, 4) Self-Motivation 5)Self-Control. Apparently Julius Caesar was the only leader in history with all these qualities. 

Lastly, a special mention of our excursion Tokyo, and specifically to the Nippon Budokan (National Martial Arts Centre) to watch the national elementary school kaitai (competition). With 16 shiai-jo's in a hexagon-shaped building, I could not but be in awe of this massive arena and where the 16th World Kendo Championships will be held in 2015. For 2 days, over 4000 elementary school kids took part in this event. It was later explained to me by Chiba Sensei (one of the AJKF directors) is that children aged 7 to 10 years old did basic kirrikaiesh and judged based on their form and technique. The 11 and 12 year old did shiai. Unfortunately we were not able to stay to the end, but it was impressive to watch how the organization of over 2500 competitors for the day was conducted! Truly inspirational! 

All in all, the Kitamoto camp was a unique and wonderful experience. I would encourage any aspiring kendo players to attend the event at least once in their lifetime. However, as it is explicitly stated, this is a foreign leader’s camp, and the intension is that these leaders will take the teachings back with them and instruct the kendo community in their country in this age-old martial art's techniques and philosophy. I made that a very conscious decision when signing up for this camp this time round, and although I was steadfast in ensuring I was there for kendo exclusively, I met some wonderful people and shared with them some amazing experiences that have touched me deeply. For that, I am truly grateful and will cherish those memories for the rest of my life. Hoo-ahhh!   

How Are You Building Your Self-Defence Skills?

Self-defence training is a life-skill that is vital for any person to learn and practise continuously. Some might say that in this day and age of civilisation and technology, there is no longer a need for it. However, the reality is that we need it now more than ever. Never in the history of mankind have we been faced with the human threats that we have now. From terrorist organizations threatening global warfare;  to organised crimes such as shopping malls shootouts and cash-in-transit heists; to increases in home invasions, murders, rapes and other hideous and violent crimes. Combine this with the global recession that still looms in the air, forcing more and more once-decent people to descend to a more barbaric survival means of stealing and plundering, it only fuels this vicious circle of crime and fear.

Many people have also become frustrated of crime and have resorted to throwing their hands up in the air and remark that that their tax money is supposed to be paying those law enforcement official to protect them from criminal elements; or they have gone to the other extreme of becoming apathetic towards crime by just pretending that it does not matter anymore because there is nothing that can be done anyway and are just prepared to become victims.

The truth is, most victims of crime are victims because they let themselves to be. They have not prepared adequately or rely on others to protect them.  As a life-skill, self-defence educates the individual on how to minimise the possibility of an attack, as well as empower themselves with relevant and effective physical skills. Although the physical skills are important, they are but a mere drop in the ocean of mental skills and preparedness one must undergo - It is fundamentally about developing the correct self-defence attitude.

I read an enlightened quote recently that said, "Many victims are victims not because they lack the capacity to fight, but because they have never had any exposure to the violence, and training to deal with that violence". How true is that statement! In my many years of traditional martial arts training, nothing could have prepared me more than the combative training I have undergone. Some of the highlights include: being hit in the face, groins, legs, chest and arms, just to see what the most effective combinations would be to elicit an incapacitation; being shot at with paintballs, airsoft pellets, and blank bullets filled with play-dough, to feel the fear of when someone is shooting at me; having being stabbed at with FULL-FORCE with rubber knives, leaving behind bruised ribs, to see if I really could catch a knife that was moving at that speed and being wielded with that intent to stab me to death;  having had attack-dogs set on me, dealing with them, and still having to accessing my weapon to deal with another human opponent;  bare-knuckle sparring with bigger and stronger opponents who just want to knock-out the little Asian guy; grappling with someone twice my size to emulate what it would be like to ground-fight with someone who knew what they were doing and would be willing to choke me to death or break a few bones; to trying to free myself from my opponent’s grip, while being held under-water in the sea to see if I could still fight in this oxygen-deprived, fear-inducing environment.

I admit -  I do put myself through some rather extreme training methods.  And yes, some people might call me a sadist (as I do actually enjoy the training)! However, I will be the first one to admit that each time I do combative training, I am scared $h!tless! Not because of the training methods, but because of the pain that I might (and inevitably do) incur. It is this fear of pain that makes me train harder so that I can minimise the pain. This fear gives me the edge above many of my opponents, because I am willing to do WHATEVER it takes to not feel that pain. I manage that fear of pain by training as hard as I possibly can to ensure that I don't get hurt. This is my self-defence training.

To take it to a higher and broader level, there is also a greater pain than my own pain, which is the pain I will feel if anything bad were to ever happen to my loved ones. THAT alone makes me train even harder so that I, should I have the opportunity to, will be able to prevent those bad elements from reaching them. However, I do still insist that they also undergo some self-defence training. After all, there is only so much I can do.

At the end of the day, it’s all about the choices I make. As I have said to many of my students, there is no right or wrong choices when it comes to self-defence decisions. The only proviso is that you need to live with the consequences of those choices.

So let me ask you again, how are you building this essential life-skill?

Get EDUCATED and EMPOWERED. Live a positive and fully ENGAGED life. 

* Just random news clippings while paging through a newspaper yesterday.