Digital Warrior Martial Arts

The Continuous Attack Strategy

Tue, 3 Jun 2008 10:09:38 +0000

Check out this new articles I posted on the main site abou the continuous attack strategy in Kung Fu

Setting Targets

Wed, 28 May 2008 11:20:10 +0000

Setting targets is one of the most effective tools that you can use to improve your martial arts skill. In order to make progress you need to have a clear idea in your mind of where you are going and how you will get there.

Of course many martial arts schools will have their own targets for students to aim at, in the form of grading systems, but to really give your training a boost you should go beyond this, particularly if you do any extra practice and training outside of classes. If your training is not focussed on specific goals then there is a risk that you will end up just going through the motions. Also, it is difficult to improve everything all at once. By setting very narrow and specific targets, over fairly short time scales (weeks, or a couple of months at most) you can be sure that you are continually making incremental gains in your training,, and that you are therefore always improving.

Even the act of sitting down and thionking about appropriate targets can intself be helpful, as it forces you to analyse you strengths and weaknesses, and to think about what you need to do to improve.

It is also the case that the intention which you hold in your mind during training defines what you will get out of it. There are many different things that martial arts can offer - health, fitness, mental strength, self-defense skill, sports fighting skill, and so on. Different people want different things, and a good school will cater to them all; but it is up to you to focus your training on what you yourself want to get out of it. It is possible for two people to study the same system, under the same instructor, and to come away from it with entirely different skills, abilities and benefits, according to their particular intention during training. In Chinese martial arts this kind of intention is called Yi. If you practice a technique with the intention of performing beautiful, perfect, and precise movments for form demonstrations, then that is what you will be best at, but if you practice the same technique with the intention of learning to defend yourself in the street, or of learning to beat opponents in full contact competition, then that is what you will end up being best at. Setting targets is a good way to focus your Yi andget what you want from your training.

The Holy Warrior # 1

Sat, 24 May 2008 09:28:23 +0000

The warrior priest, from Shaolin Monk to Crusader Knight is so ubiquitous throughout history that it is virtually an archetypal figure. Today, in the era of Islamic Jihad, it is just as prominent as ever. And that leads me to ask a number of questions - where does this connection between spirituality and war come from , and why is it so common? Is it a necessary connection or a mistake? Can we identify what makes a good, or a true Holy Warrior, from that which creates an ignorant and hate filled terrorist? So to try to address these questions and more I have started this new topic.

I thought a good place to start would be to look at some of the similarites between the two roles of soldier and priest when they are separate, because I think it is most likely there that we could find the reasons why they so often come together in the single archetype of the Holy Warrior.

Although superficially the two roles of soldier and priest seem worlds apart, to my mind there are clear and striking similarities. The most obvious parallels to me are discipline and submission to a higher authority, and self-sacrifice in the pursuit of an ideal. Both the soldier and the priest are moral enforcers, who stand up against anything which threatens our sense of justice and the cherished ideals of our society. They both carry the burden of moral duty.

In many ways religion is the expression of an ideal - a vision of how a good society should be. From this perspective the role of the priest is to help move society towards this ideal world and to struggle against anything which worls against it. But in the modern world we have many values and ideals that are independent of religion. Perhaps, in a way at least, soldiers and the job they do in places like Iraq, or like Kosovo, are like the priests of a liberal, compassionate democracy. But this is straying from the point a bit; what I beleive is that by understanding these similarities we can understand what makes a Holy Warrior, and how this can be relevant both for the spiritual dimension of martial arts practice, and also for the modern world in general. This is what I will be trying to do in subsequent posts to this topic, but it is a big subjects to tackle so I would really appreciate getting your opinions and feedback in the comments section.

Parkour Inspiration

Wed, 21 May 2008 15:22:00 +0000

If you've tried using parkour as part of your conditioning program to liven up your aerobic training then this video should give you a bit of inspiration for what to try next; and if you haven't then maybe it will inspire you to start. There's some great moves in this little vid, particularly some of the wall climbing which is quite impressive.

San Shou Punching Drills

Sat, 17 May 2008 14:27:40 +0000

Improve your striking with 4 San Shou Punching Drills each one with a short video lesson and written instructions.

Shaolin Five Animal Fist

Sat, 17 May 2008 14:25:14 +0000

A complete combined form from Shaolin Five Animal Kung Fu is demonstrated in a new video lesson that have added to the Shaolin Five Animal Fist information page.

San Shou Dodge and Counter

Sat, 17 May 2008 14:22:33 +0000

A new video lesson on the esoteric martial arts main website featuring some of my favourite San Shou Dodge and Counter Techniques

MMA Fight Video

Wed, 14 May 2008 16:10:11 +0000

Another great k.o. in this NW American fight between Garret Burn and Adam Stone. The first round is quite tactical with a lot of grappling, but they come out firing in the second...

Learn MMA Techniques

Tue, 6 May 2008 16:12:06 +0000

Check out these new lenses on Squidoo for both free resources (videos, links etc.) and products for helping you to learn mixed martial arts techiniques:

http://www.squidoo.com/punching

http://www.squidoo.com/throwsandtakedowns

http://www.squidoo.com./submissionholds

http://www.squidoo.com/kicking

Kung Fu Stance Exercise

Fri, 2 May 2008 13:37:33 +0000

One of the unique characteristics of kung fu is it's emphasis on the importance of stance training. Generally this consists of holding a static stance for a certain period of time, and this is done not only to thoroughly familiarize a student with the stances, but also to increase leg strength and, to improve stability, to train balance (particularly in stances where all the weight is on one leg), and to increase flexibility (particularly for low stances).

Placing such an emphasis on stance training is staying true to a very traditional method of training, but in focusing on static stances many schools of modern kung fu or wushu neglect another aspect of stance training which is equally as important - stance changing exerises.

One of the reason there are so many stances in oriental martial arts like kung, often including some that look very impractical for real fighting, is that these stances are the building blocks from which the whole method of fighting is made up. In a real combat situation most of these stances are not for just going into and standing there, as in the ready position - they are transitional stances - meaning that they are a fixed point of reference within a continual flow of movement. Many complex and advanced kung fu techniques can be mastered much more quickly and easily if you breake them down into a series of transitions from one stance to another, and then iron out the wrinkles to make it a steady and continuous movement.

If you practice kung fu then being able to switch quickly and smoothly between stances without losing stability and balance will greatly expand your ability to apply the techniques that you learn beyond the set sequences of a particular form. If you practice a different martial art you may still learn something about efficient movement and footwork whilst getting a great work out at the same time.

Here is a video of a basic stance changing exercise, I will add more at a later date: