The Complete Martial Artist

Introduction

Any martial art can offer you an effective set of fighting skills and principles. However, no style offers everything you need to know. As you progress, you are expected to seek some aspects of the martial arts on your own. Once you begin, you will find a great deal of knowledge can come from borrowing techniques and skills from other arts.

Borrowing from other arts not only increases your knowledge and command of fighting skills, it broadens your horizons. Many martial artists tend to view the arts in terms of their own style, but this may not be the best method, because even fundamental approaches like forming a fist may differ from style to style. The practice of borrowing can expose you to a variety of conventions, principles and techniques used in other arts, which will in turn provide you with a deeper command and understanding of your chosen art.

This article examines some conventions used in different styles and discusses their benefits for the serious martial artist interested in becoming a well-rounded fighter.

Breakfalls

Breakfalls are emphasized in a number of throwing-oriented styles, including judo, jujitsu, aikido and hapkido. These techniques protect your vital points during a fall, thus preventing injuries that might normally occur when your body hits a hard surface. In these styles, breakfalls are learned before any throwing techniques are taught; this allows students to practice more safely.

Regardless of your chosen style, breakfalls play an important role in martial arts training. You never know when you may take a fall, and learning how to hit the ground without receiving injuries can prevent a great deal of pain and agony. This holds true in the dojang (training hall) and especially in a hostile confrontation on the street. With proper practice, breakfalls will become second-nature, assisting you in times of bad weather or occasional clumsiness.

Sticking-Hands Exercises

Practitioners of the Chinese art of wing chun hung fu often practice chi sao, or "sticking-hands" exercises. These are designed to teach students to sense another person's movements through tactile communication. Using the sense of touch as an early warning system can improve your speed and fluidity in blocking and counterattacking.

Chi sao can also help you deal with attacks in mid to close range - the range in which students usually devote insufficient training time. Because most martial artists tend to focus more on kicking when they practice free sparring, they often prefer to remain farther away from their opponent. Chi sao training forces them to move in close for attack and defense.

Ground Fighting

One of the major benefits judo training offers martial artists is ground fighting. This can help correct a problem that is common with many striking-oriented styles: they teach you how to fight only from a standing position.

Being able to fight proficiently while on your feet does you little good if you get knocked down, however. Since it has been suggested that some 95 percent of all fights end on the ground, practicing ground fighting can help you adapt accordingly if you fall into this predicament.

Kicking Variations

Kicking is practiced in many styles, but the one most noted for its variations is the Korean art of Taekwondo. Although some Tae Kwon Do kicks may appear flashy, they actually possess a great deal of sophistication.

Variations of kicking techniques --including high kicks, spinning kicks, jumping kicks and dropping kicks-- can be practiced to improve that kick's basic counterpart. For example, high kicks can improve your lower kicks; if you can kick with balance and power at the level of your own head, every kick you throw at a target below that will have increased effectiveness.

Attributes gained from practicing other kicking variations include balance, speed, power and precision. Spinning kicks teach you to kick from a revolving foundation, jumping kicks allow you to kick in the absence of a foundation, and dropping kicks help you continue to kick even from a broken foundation.

Weaponry

Weapons have always played an important role in combative training, and much of it is as valid today as it was in the past. In fact, practicing with weapons can actually improve your unarmed skills. In addition, you can gain historical insights when you learn about the weapons of your martial arts forefathers.

In weapons training, there are two schools of thought. One teaches that the weapon is an extension of the hand; therefore, to control the weapon, you must first be able to control yourself. The other holds that the hand follows the weapon, and thus, you can learn by patterning your own movements after those of the weapon. Both viewpoints are correct and although they promote opposite progressions in the learning process, both stress the development of control over external forces.

Different weapons offer different benefits for the practitioner. For example, a flail and staff operate under different mechanics; however, either may be used to teach a multitude of lessons regarding unarmed fighting skills. You should also note that learning the mechanics of a weapon can make it easier for you to defend against that weapon should the need arise.

Categorical Borrowing

One of the most fundamental methods of borrowing martial arts skills involves entire categories of techniques. For example, someone who studies a striking-oriented style may benefit by learning throwing and straddling methods.

Likewise, someone practicing a hard style may benefit from learning techniques from a softer style, and vice versa. The possibilities are virtually limitless.

Approaches to Borrowing

There is a wealth of knowledge out there, but finding and assimilating the bits of information is not always easy. Success depends upon how willing you are to seek out other styles and techniques.

A good place to begin is with books, magazines or videotapes. The market offers many to choose from, and they can teach you something about the methods of training practiced in other styles. However, you should always remember that these media are meant to supplement a class rather than substitute for it. Nevertheless, books, magazines and videotapes can certainly provide you with a feel for the basics of an art.

Another approach is to attend seminars or bring guest instructors to your school. You can gain a lot from the insights of others, and attending a seminar oriented toward the clinician's specialty can provide the foundations necessary for borrowing. The same may be said of hosting a guest instructor in your school. A problem with these approaches, though, is that they are only temporary; to truly master any aspect of the martial arts, you must practice continually. But seminars can at least expose you to a world other than your own.

In addition, you can acquire knowledge from others within the same style, but outside your own school. One karate school, for example, may focus on self-defense while another may focus on the development of health and fitness. Members of either school can benefit by learning from the other.

Thus, borrowing need not be only from the "outside world"; there will always be areas within your own perimeters to explore.

Conclusion

As a martial artist, you must always strive for self-improvement. Seeking additional knowledge from other styles is one way of reaching a reward.

Remember that there are many beneficial drills, conventions and practices which exist outside your chosen style, and discovering them can lead to improvement within your style. No style is superior to any other. If there were a superior style, everyone would study it and the current diversity of arts would fade away. As it stands, every style has its own inherent strengths and weaknesses, and borrowing from other styles is an excellent way to fill in those gaps.

Incorporating items from outside your specific area of practice helps transform you into a more well-rounded martial artist, but focusing too much on these areas can do more harm than good. These are alternative training methods and must be approached as such. Otherwise, a general and superficial quality of knowledge will result, and this can adversely affect your performance in your own style just as easily as it will affect your practice of the other styles. But if you concentrate on your own style --while occasionally borrowing from other styles-- you will gain deeper insights into the practices and purposes of martial arts.