If you have good timing, if you have a strong enough punch, you don't have
to do fifty movements - you condense all the possibilities into one action.
Make one cut, hurt him, Boom... it's over, down he goes. Enough already with
all the screaming and excessive movements. Just do the job, get it over
with, and go on to the next thing.
(Bruce Frantzis)
Realistic?
If you want to see if your tai chi works it is necessary to experience
some sort of
combat.
Being actually beaten up is not so sensible.
It is better to simulate an assault without too much risk of being injured.
Being roughed-up, struck, caught unawares - these are good. Being actually
damaged is not smart at all.
We offer our students
freeform self defence.
Solo attackers,
multiple assailants attack without warning.
They may be
armed or unarmed.
The exercise is rough, spontaneous and gets the adrenaline going.
Freeform
Freeform is not kickboxing.
We are not training a
sport. Your aim is not to trade blows. You must
complete your defence
smoothly and efficiently.
The attacker is not trying to score points or win a trophy. Their aim is to
strike you or grapple you to the ground.
The exercise does not end until a conclusion is reached.
This may mean that you have gone to pieces, are being held or you may have
incapacitated the attacker.
The latter outcome is your aim.
Although you will not be hurt, you may well be struck.
There is no predictable pattern to freeform. The attacker may do whatever they
like providing it is earnest and committed.
Stylised
Step-by-step
techniques, stylised responses and fancy
postures will fail you during freeform.
Your attacker will not play your game.
Their aim is to break your rhythm, intimidate you and put you down.
This is not a macho,
aggressive exercise. No one gets angry or badly
hurt. But it does test your nerve.
Anything goes in freeform, so you cannot afford to be cocky or complacent.
Spend too long with one person and his mate may jump on you from behind or slip
a knife between your ribs.
Your attackers will not cooperate with you or assist you in any way at all.
Their single function and purpose is to defeat you.
Image
You cannot hide behind your
image
when training freeform.
What you think does not matter. All that matters is what you can do. How you can
cope.
If you are afraid of being hit, of being hurt, then this will hamper you.
You will be placed in a
compromising situation and required to free
yourself effectively.
This kind of challenge will cause you to re-evaluate your training and your
attitude.
Fear
Fear is the biggest demon to face during self
defence work.
People are reluctant to face up to their own fear, their own
vulnerability, their anxiety.
We are all human. We all feel pain. We all can be injured. We will all die some
day.
Despite freeform self defence being relatively safe, students
panic,
struggle and fail repeatedly.
Our syllabus is designed to help you work through your difficulties, and your
fears and doubts.
We train you to cope.
Real life
What will happen in
real life? Who can say? Probably nothing, maybe
something.
Our aim is to increase the intensity of freeform throughout the syllabus until
you reach a stage where the attacker(s) are coming in at full speed with full
power and the defender is nonplussed.
This is the best preparation for real life combat we can offer.
Page created 28 April 2007