The "Language" of Martial Arts
I have long thought of my martial art as a language. If every stance, punch, kick, guard, parry, or block is a letter, then a whole striking or blocking movement is a word, a defensive technique is a phrase, and a form or kata is a whole sentence (some of which are Dickensian in length). I need to train to make every punch, kick, etc. right, just like I need to form every letter correctly when writing, then build up from there to the more complex elements.
Just as I can arrange my letters into a word, I can arrange my fundamentals into a complete attacking or defending movement, and just as there are some natural letter combinations that we see over and over again, there are some natural kinesthetic combinations that we see throughout our martial arts movements.
For example, in English the letter Q is almost always used in conjunction with the letter U. In martial arts, a straight right punch is almost always used in conjunction with a waist crunch, turning the torso so that the right shoulder is forward. That crunch affects the left shoulder, which in turn lends itself to doing some left handed motions well and to doing others poorly.
Once I've got some words worked out, I can play around with combining them. There's nothing stopping me from combining them in whatever arbitrary sets I might want, but if I choose some weird combination, it's not going to be very effective. Jumbo cantaloupes shed green is. See, I just did it, I combined random words together... and it didn't communicate very much (outside of the meta sense where it demonstrated non-communication).
In that same way, I can piece together random, unrelated martial arts movements all day... but if I want an effective "phrase", I need to pay attention to which "words" follow each other. Some words naturally lead into each other. Beginning a sentence with "I..." limits your options a bit. You probably can't use an adjective for the second word, at least not without torturing your syntax a bit. In the same way, a given strike in a given stance can either flow smoothly into the next movement... or it might require a bit of tortured movement to make it happen.
So, our movement components (the act of stepping, punching, blocking, etc.) are letters, individual movements are words, techniques are phrases, and forms are sentences. Each of those must be performed correctly in order to have effective martial arts, and training in each one provides different benefits.
But it's also important to not be too rigid in your training! That's why we have a wealth of techniques which we practice across an anthology of forms. When someone practices to deliver a speech, they don't forget the rules for how their words are combined or start speaking only in phrases from that speech. They speak naturally, as their situation demands. That's not to say that practicing that speech doesn't help them. They get very good at delivering those specific combinations of words and stirring whatever responses that speech is designed to stir. In that same way, we need to remember the fundamental rules of our arts, and though we may practice a specific set of combinations, remember that there is a near-infinite number of variations that may be appropriate in different situations.
Just as we change the way we speak based on the situation, we also need to change the way we use our martial arts. Even though we might train to throw a straight right punch in a given technique, if the situation demands an uppercut, we need to be ready to throw that uppercut. It's all too easy to focus excessively on the forms and techniques, so much so that you can forget why those movements are being done or how to change them to respond to an attacker's actions. It's a shame whenever that happens, as that artist has lost some of the essence of their art.
Just as I can arrange my letters into a word, I can arrange my fundamentals into a complete attacking or defending movement, and just as there are some natural letter combinations that we see over and over again, there are some natural kinesthetic combinations that we see throughout our martial arts movements.
For example, in English the letter Q is almost always used in conjunction with the letter U. In martial arts, a straight right punch is almost always used in conjunction with a waist crunch, turning the torso so that the right shoulder is forward. That crunch affects the left shoulder, which in turn lends itself to doing some left handed motions well and to doing others poorly.
Once I've got some words worked out, I can play around with combining them. There's nothing stopping me from combining them in whatever arbitrary sets I might want, but if I choose some weird combination, it's not going to be very effective. Jumbo cantaloupes shed green is. See, I just did it, I combined random words together... and it didn't communicate very much (outside of the meta sense where it demonstrated non-communication).
In that same way, I can piece together random, unrelated martial arts movements all day... but if I want an effective "phrase", I need to pay attention to which "words" follow each other. Some words naturally lead into each other. Beginning a sentence with "I..." limits your options a bit. You probably can't use an adjective for the second word, at least not without torturing your syntax a bit. In the same way, a given strike in a given stance can either flow smoothly into the next movement... or it might require a bit of tortured movement to make it happen.
So, our movement components (the act of stepping, punching, blocking, etc.) are letters, individual movements are words, techniques are phrases, and forms are sentences. Each of those must be performed correctly in order to have effective martial arts, and training in each one provides different benefits.
But it's also important to not be too rigid in your training! That's why we have a wealth of techniques which we practice across an anthology of forms. When someone practices to deliver a speech, they don't forget the rules for how their words are combined or start speaking only in phrases from that speech. They speak naturally, as their situation demands. That's not to say that practicing that speech doesn't help them. They get very good at delivering those specific combinations of words and stirring whatever responses that speech is designed to stir. In that same way, we need to remember the fundamental rules of our arts, and though we may practice a specific set of combinations, remember that there is a near-infinite number of variations that may be appropriate in different situations.
Just as we change the way we speak based on the situation, we also need to change the way we use our martial arts. Even though we might train to throw a straight right punch in a given technique, if the situation demands an uppercut, we need to be ready to throw that uppercut. It's all too easy to focus excessively on the forms and techniques, so much so that you can forget why those movements are being done or how to change them to respond to an attacker's actions. It's a shame whenever that happens, as that artist has lost some of the essence of their art.
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