To me, real mastery is ease and effortlessness, with precision in movement
and a realisation of one's own limitations.
(John
Painter)
Self defence
The self defence approach taught by our school aims to incapacitate the
attacker.
We are not interested in 'beating' anyone up or winning contests.
Self defence is all about escaping injury, not causing it.
If you can escape without inflicting pain, that is good. You have nothing to
prove to anyone.
Self defence is not about payback or vengeance.
Calm body and mind
A calm mind and composed emotions enable you to respond to an attack in a
fluid manner.
Instead of 'freezing up' you remain mobile and functional.
A healthy, lengthened psoas muscle and loose joints are necessary.
Ease of movement at all times is fundamental to tai chi.
Unless your body feels comfortable and natural, you cannot respond
instantaneously.
Render incapable
If you can deter an attacker without harming them, this is preferable.
It is legally and morally appropriate.
Self defence meets the needs of the situation, rendering the attacker incapable
of further assault.
This can be accomplished in a number of ways.
Ideally, your response should be effortless to perform, but have a significant
and meaningful effect.
Restraint
It is important to only do what is appropriate.
Self defence is concerned with expedience, with necessity, not brutality.
Prolonged combat is inadvisable. Always do the least amount of harm and end the
situation quickly.
If you can drop someone to the floor, wind them or scare them off, do it.
Breaking bones, concussing people or hitting 'death points' is not so smart.
Nor is applying a hold or lock.
Chin na offers a range of responses that are really quite unpleasant:
Misplacing the bones
Dividing the muscle
Sealing the breath
Cavity press
These
skills can cause an immense amount of short-term
discomfort/pain, but lead to no lasting damage.
A student learns to control how much pain they inflict. They learn to do only
what is necessary.
Our school never aims to restrain an opponent.
We focus upon expediency and spontaneity instead.
Locks and holds require effort and commitment. They also assume a solo attacker,
not a gang.
Pull no punches
Our students must never punch thin air or make touch-contact when playing
attacker or defender.
We insist upon physical contact with all strikes.
Unless you actually hit your partner in training, how can you possibly determine
how much power to use?
Being hit is not a brutal, macho endeavour.
Students are good-natured about it and only deliver enough power to indicate the
potency of the strike.
They never strike to cause injury or harm (when practicing with each other).
Over time, everyone gets used to being hit. It is simply part of the training.
Effective strikes
An ineffectual strike is always dismissed as irrelevant during practice.
A strike must compromise balance, posture and stability. Ideally, it should
crumple the body or wind the attacker.
The key to a good strike is not aggression, tension, excessive strength or brute
force.
It is softness, timing and body weight.
An effective gravity strike always creates a lasting impression.
You can deliver a kick, punch, palm, slap, elbow or shoulder in this manner.
Surprise
Our school values pragmatism and simplicity above all else, so the response to
assault is very sudden and efficient.
Invariably the attacker is surprised to find themselves on the floor, or struck.
They have no idea how we countered them.
Taking the initiative is paramount in self defence.
If the attacker abruptly experiences a 'reversal' - going from attacker to
victim - this is a difficult adjustment to cope with.
It gives them pause for thought.
Page created 20 October 1999