BE IN THE MOMENT.

Try to remember the FIRST time that you did something that you enjoy.  Going to the movies, your favorite birthday, seeing Mickey Mouse at Disney, whatever.  Close your eyes and go back there...

It's probably a very vivid memory.  You can remember the color of the light, the smells, the sounds, everything.

Now try to remember waking up this morning.  Chances are you draw a blank.

We tend to take a lot of the information around us for granted and fill in the blanks.

undrstnd?

Filled in the missing vowels without skipping a beat.  This can be useful for moving quickly through tasks and the tedium of the day, since we take what we learn to streamline our everyday experiences.  Because it would be difficult to deal with every experience as a new experience every time.

But on the flip side, every experience is slightly new every time.  Every morning is different.  Every time you meet a friend, they're slightly different.  If we gloss over the total experience by not using all of our senses, we handicap ourselves.

When it rains, feel the raindrops.

Now you don't need to go frolicking around in a thunderstorm to do this.  Just be mindful of your experiences.  In martial terms this would be considered "heightened awareness".  Feel your body, your breath, heartbeat, balance, air temperature, perspiration.  The weight of your limbs, the space around you, the terrain.

Now feel the opponent.  Their breath, smell, stance, vibration, proximity, intensity.  It is necessary for one to take in all this information to maximize combat efficiency. It's akin to a lawyer collecting all available evidence from as many witnesses and sources before presenting a case.  There is so much information about a situation available to our senses that we overlook. Outside of conflict, an averted eye, a pause in speech, a shift in seat, raised elbows.  All these things are non-verbal cues that build one's "case" in daily interaction.  

Once you process the physical elements of the moment, go deeper.  How do you feel? (see previous post) Are you anxious, excited? Sad? Angry? Jealous? Happy? All these states of mind guide your actions, accept them so you can (later) evaluate their effect on your performance.  So in short, if you're happy, be happy.

Once you have all this info, you can make an informed decision on course of action.

“The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement; you ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or in defeat. Let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment..”

                                                                                                              - Bruce Lee

Do not try to predict the actions of your opponent, you'll probably be wrong.  Rather, use all the information at your disposal to act and react with minimal delay.  A weight shift, sharp inhale, eyelash flutter, all these "tells" give you moment-by-moment information on your opponents intentions.  So when you can read intentions (thanks Yusuf) it will bestow upon you a seeming precognitive ability.

So in conclusion, each moment in time is a discreet unit of information.  Utilize these to their fullest.  You will find the world around you to be saturated with experiences available only to the mindful.  Hopefully all situations, both confrontational and cordial, will leave you all the richer.

-Lonewolf

DON'T THINK. FEEL.

Now EVERYONE who's reading this blog has probably seen this scene before. And though most people look to Bruce's "Be like water" quote, I find that this quote has just as much, if not more gravity than the "water" one.

Try to think back to an important moment in your life.  As you think, what probably comes up first is what you felt.  Although they have been stunted by evolution and society, we still retain some of our basic instincts.  The instinct to seek out food, shelter and companionship is something we take for granted.  Our instincts are always working, but since most of us don't (think we) need to dodge predators or keep a keen eye out for our next meal, we undervalue them.  We watch movies to raise the hair on the back of our necks. When you're in the world and that happens, you take notice. Your stomach clenches and you may dismiss it as nerves.  That's actually your body's way of telling you to MOVE YOUR HEAD.  

If you've ever trained for an activity, job, or conflict, the point of repetitive training is to create a muscle memory (doesn't only apply to muscles) that guide the instincts during the moment to react in an optimized fashion.   

Look at how many different things Kobe is doing on-the-fly, that's muscle memory.  He feels where his defender is, the time left on the clock, his distance from the basket, the angle, how high he needs to jump to shoot past the block, and finally how late to release the shot.  Actually calculating that information takes time that he doesn't have.  When you're in the moment, be it competition, audition, crisis or confrontation, let your instincts guide you.  If you have trained for this moment, then you have trained for this moment.

See?  I'm not saying anything new.  

The only way one can know the contractions/expansions of a situation is to feel them.  Watch your opponent and place yourself where you want to be.  If there is an obstacle, remove it.  It will not remove itself.  If there is a pause, experience it, don't rush to fill the space. If there is an opportunity, ALLOW YOURSELF TO SEIZE IT. Our interactions are like a dance; all the parties involved move in concert, to the rhythm of the event.  It is very difficult to dance when you have to think about the steps, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to enjoy the dance.

More required viewing...

http://www.pbs.org/unforgivableblackness/

A great look at the beginning of the boxing game in the U.S.  Also a great look at how things have changed, but a better look at how things have remained the same....

LET GO.

I was having a convo with a friend/student of mine who had recently faced their fear of heights.  The activity required them to "LET GO", as many fear facing activities tend to do.  The problem with this is that our fear tends to make us tense up, and constrict our muscles as well as our minds.  Pretty much anything that you can think of requires one to relax so we can release our energies.  Think about it. (I'll wait...) 

We hold on to the familiar.  In many cases, that means fear.  We hold on to our fears because they have been with us forever, and they have kept us "safe".  Holding on usually involves rigidity, and prevents the necessary flexibility to deal with new circumstances.  Fear of failure causes inactivity.  Fear of falling prevents leaping forward.  Fear of solitude prevents venturing into the unknown.  Fear of pain prevents aggressive action.  Fear of embarrassment prevents learning new things.  Everyone does it, myself included.

LET GO.

Watch a small child.  As powerless as they are, they lack fear.  They have healthy, natural, caution, but they tend to fear very little.  They have no fears to hang on to.  Now think about the first time that you did something "crazy" when you were young; you probably didn't fear death or dismemberment, just not accomplishing the task at hand.  

When you put it into a martial context, holding on is poisonous for 2 reasons:

A) It causes hesitation; Hesitation kills speed and flexibility.  You know your speed and range, but you think about your opponent striking you first or blocking you.  Think like that and they will.  Every time.

B) It fills your mind with what you have; which takes up space and limits the new information you can process.  Think of your hard drive.  You can't learn Kung Fu if your Karate is in the way.  And vice versa.

In life, to progress, learn and grow are things that many of us hope to do until the end.  We've got to strike a balance between learning and taking what is useful versus just holding onto information for information's sake.  Once the information is integrated into our being, it becomes us.  We don't have to call it up in order to use it.  New experiences and information don't threaten the old. They enrich it.  Think of stretching.  When we stretch to our limits, we tend to tense up.  Now how counterproductive is that?

Think about the last time you went somewhere and got right up to the moment and froze. Punked out.  You could've punked out at home, but you didn't.  You could've punked out on the way there, but you didn't.  Why punk out at the last moment.  Unless there's some new information that you weren't prepared for (in which case, it's not punking out, it's called being unprepared) then why go all that way and NOT finish?

Fear is real, and it isn't (OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH.)  The reality of fear is the reality you assign to it.  When people engage in "extreme" sports and activities, they've either overcome or mitigated the fear factor.  When we let go of that fear, our vision clears, as does our path.

LET GO.

 

SEE THIS. NOW.

This is an excellent documentary on Anderson "The Spider" Silva, It joins the ranks of CHOKE (Rickson Gracie) and WHEN WE WERE KINGS (Muhammad Ali).  Check out the trailer HERE.

MOVE YOUR FEET.

I'm going to build the base of this blog first.  The foundation of anyone's position is known as their stance. The dynamic application of one's stance then, can be considered footwork.  Excellent footwork is necessary in any sport, dance, activity that requires one to constantly reposition their body or apply/receive force while remaining mobile.

In my pursuit to understand and perfect my study and application of proper footwork, I've broken the concept down into FIVE parts:

STANCE
STABILITY
MOBILITY
SPEED
SUBTLETY

1)STANCE: I refer to stance as the (more or less) static base body position.  It would be a mistake to think of stance just in terms of one's feet; the placement of the entire body in an optimal position for activity is the goal.  Everything from the shoulders, elbows, hips, knees AND feet should be aligned since they will all be moving in tandem.

2) STABILITY: The most obvious benefit of a good stance is stability.  Regardless of the terrain (don't take flat, solid ground for granted) stability is required before any action is possible. Stability is necessary for both offense and defense.  Since power comes from the hips, a good base is necessary to push against the ground.

Look at the 1st KO (it has the slo-mo replay):

Roy's footwork is such that it allows him to attack with blinding speed and retreat the instant his second punch has landed.  His stance is stable, so he can exert force forward into his punches and then immediately shift from that same base into a retreat. SICK.  This leads us into the next attribute of good footwork...

MOBILITY:

This is probably what comes to mind when most people think about the concept of footwork. Moving around. While it's true that the underlying principle behind footwork is to move the feet, I believe that this is really to achieve two ends: To maximize opportunity and to minimize risk. When facing a seasoned opponent, your opening to strike can be a fraction of a second. Proper footwork will allow one to exploit this tiny opening to the fullest.



Taekwondo players rarely let their weight settle onto their heels.  Their aim is to be able to shift their weight from their hips to their feet in an instant. 







 Defensively, being mobile is necessary to minimize the risk of coming into range to strike. Refer to the Sugar Ray Leonard .gif to the right as well as the aforementioned Roy Jones gif.  Once you are mobile on your feet, you can unlock that most valuable of assets...

SPEED: Simply put, SPEED KILLS.

When the body is in the right position and the muscles are relaxed, explosive speed is a matter of activating the muscles to "touch" the target with minimal preparation and readjustment. Notice How Bruce's left leg is all he needs to move forward, feint, AND deliver a head kick. His shoulders, hips, knees and even toes are lined up to deliver maximum speed (and force) with minimal movement.  Leading to the final level of proficient footwork...

SUBTLETY.

The untrained (and un-punched hehehehehe) eye may have to take a couple of moments to figure out how Bruce covers that ground so quickly.  At first it looks like he jumps into Ohara's mouth, but he merely pushes off his back foot while reaching forward with his right hand and heel SIMULTANEOUSLY. Your average person (trained or untrained) has difficulty watching the top and the bottom of a person moving so quickly.  Bruce's body is positioned so he can move quickly without moving his hips and shoulders on the lateral plane, which effectively masks movement until it is too late.  This subtle foot movement magnifies speed because it reduces the time that the opponent is allowed to react forcing their reaction time into the tiniest increment. Good luck dodging that.

 At first glance, the "Ali Shuffle" is anything but subtle.

But ahhh... It is the height of subtlety.

The "shuffle" appears showy to the audience, but as Ali uses it here, It confuses the opponent's defense, since the "Power Leg" shifts quickly a few times, he doesn't know which side the heavy shot is coming from. In addition, it breaks the tempo of the combination, which makes him peek out from behind his gloves creating an OPPORTUNITY that Ali's MOBILITY allows him to capitalize on.

GENIUS.

Often in samurai duels, the hakama (big ol' pants) were used to obscure foot movement in positioning. Since the feet were invisible, the knees and hips moved very little before the strike was made.  Since you pretty much had only one or two shots to win, making that first strike count was of utmost importance.  The Japanese culture is one of subtlety, so that philosophy extends into it's martial culture, not only in Kenjutsu, but Iaido, Judo, Ninjutsu, and various other arts as well. (Yes, including Sumo.)

In conclusion, this is my theory on the parts that make up a complete footwork examination. When one's footwork can enable them to maximize all of these qualities, then it can be considered complete.  Until someone comes along and pokes a hole in it...

Metaphorically speaking, proper footwork in life can be seen as placing one's self in a position to quickly seize an opportunity (CARPE DIEM!) while remaining in a space where risk is kept to acceptable levels or retreat from a bad situation is readily available.

HOPE THIS HELPS!

MOVE YOUR HEAD.

I had this discussion with a student recently, and subsequently with an old friend.

A recurring experience with many of us is to run into a situation repeatedly that we can't quite figure out.  The result is continual "head bumps".  Upon closer inspection, we often discover that we're really coming at the situation THE EXACT SAME WAY EVERY TIME. If you're doing something and every time you do it you bump your head, MOVE YOUR HEAD. If you're facing an opponent who constantly punches you in the face, MOVE YOUR HEAD.  If you're in a situation where you see the bullet coming, MOVE YOUR HEAD. This applies physically as well as metaphorically; although the more you apply this in the metaphorical sense, the less you will need it in practice ;)

FULL DISCLOSURE.

I got an MRI yesterday, and this is what my EGO looks like:

Yeah... Kinda gross.  I'm sharing that to let you know that I ENCOURAGE debate and INFORMED opinions here.  I want to learn from any of you guys with similar or diametrically opposed experiences and worldviews. Trolls, on the other hand, don't bother.

ABOUT ME:
I am an American male, 30something years old, with a 20+ year background in various martial disciplines including; Wing Chun Kung-Fu, Taekwondo, Boxing, Judo, Brazilian Jiujutsu, Wushu, Capoeira, and Ninjutsu.  I teach Kickboxing in Los Angeles.  I value ability and intelligence over rank. And I love a challenge.

OK, Here Goes...

Welcome.  This is The Sealed Sword.  It is a space I am creating to discuss virtually anything of importance to me in this world.  My point of view is neither unique nor profound.  What it is, however, is the result of an experience guided by the martial way.  That is to say that the martial arts in all of their various forms have been instrumental in creating the person I am today.  Everything from Machiavelli's Prince to Musashi's Book of Five Rings and the ubiquitous Tao of Jeet Kune Do (and the often overlooked Tao of Pooh) has shaped my worldview. I hope that this blog is accessible to those who have read all or none of these books.  I feel that the greatest application of the martial arts is to use them as a template to guide us through ANY conflicts/confrontations/conundrums/obstacles that we all face from day to day. I hope that my monologue quickly becomes a dialogue from which we may all learn and grow.

THAT BEING SAID...

I am an American-Born male and will be speaking from that point of view.

I am 30+ years of age.

There will be Martial Arts references (Ali, Bruce, Musashi, Machiavelli, Oyama, Ieyasu, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, etc.)

There will be anime references.

There will be Hip-Hop references.

There will be Pop Culture references.

Hopefully there will be some words you might have to look up.

ENJOY!