Technical Questions

If you have a technical question which you wish to ask about Peaceful Fight, Kung Fu in general, martial arts in general or just specific techniques / theory of fighting / healing then feel free to E-mail me. I'll answer as fully as I can and list any interesting questions with their answers below. I reserve the right to not comment on questions such as "Is system A better than System B", personal assessments such as "What do you think of Master X" or anything to do with my sex life ! However, feel free to ask anything else. Ask the question in a spirit of fairness and the pursuit of knowledge and you'll get a fair answer. My only other proviso is that any answer is my opinion not an unrefutable law of nature; I believe in any answer but that doesn't mean you have to. Make up your own mind on any answer before regurgitating it as Gospel truth.

One student, Ken MacKay pointed out that this page is a bit inaccessible for visitors as most questions have been posted by active students and so related to what happened during training . It's a very good point and, in order to try to get round this, each question now has a brief explanation of the background of the issue which is being asked. Ideally, over time, visitors will ask questions which might help to balance out the present bias. However, at this time, I'll use this method which Ken and I came up with. Hope it helps (if not, please send feedback and it'll be changed).

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Question : Mark Lashmar (Warrior Escrima) 17/07/01

Your syllabus seems extremely comprehensive and great to see weapons introduced at a very early stage, I wondered why you published the whole syllabus though and why so open about it?

Answer

Dear Mark, publishing the syllabus is a good question as I know that Escrima don't do so. For purely martial systems such as Escrima, it makes a lot of sense to not publish your syllabus as others might use it against you. Keeping it secret for this reason alone makes sense. However, for Peaceful Fight, the syllabus is only a guide for students really and doesn't nearly cover everything that comes out when I start rambling ! It's also important to note that Peaceful Fight is not just based on what I know and will continue to develop over time. As a consequence, there will be times when students know more than me in certain areas and this may be added to the knowledge base. For example, if a TCM doctor came in, he would be able to advance the club much better in the TCM art than me due to his extra experience. Similarly if an Escrimador came in during knife fighting techniques they would likely be my superior. Should I stop them passing on their knowledge (and in so doing so helping the students to develop) solely because I'm embarrassed about my lack of knowledge or because it falls outside of the "syllabus" ? I say no; better to acknowledge other people's (and your own) strengths and be glad that the TCM doctor / Escrimador is happy to make that knowledge available to all students (including me). The only exception to this is when a student is only showing their ability in order to highlight their superiority to me or to move people off the basic ethics of Peaceful Fight. These would be negative reasons for passing on their knowledge and disrespectful to what I'm trying to achieve. Anyone who comes to Peaceful Fight in a spirit of openness and honesty will be welcomed regardless of whether they are my senior or my junior (as in some areas of their lives they will surely be my senior so the terms mean very little. Peaceful Fight is a "Wider World" system with only one part being martial). A kung fu school lives within its students not within the instructors so the instructors can only show a pathway, students choose for themselves whether they wish to follow it or not. In Peaceful Fight it is my role to say what is and what is not within the system but the students may also show a pathway which I've missed or am not particularly skilled in. One of the many things I like about Escrima is that it is a "living" art and reassesses its effectiveness on a regular basis so as to be able to deal with changing martial aspects. Maybe this might be another reason for keeping the syllabus secret as it is constantly changing to reflect / deal with new threats / knowledge ? Hope this helps. Doug

Question : Steve Hodges 23/07/01

I have one question which I would like to ask regarding the natural moves we were doing. You said to let the moves develop naturally to release wherever tension was felt without thinking about martial moves, yet each movement should end with striking the opponent. In slow time we were discussing the areas of the opponents body that would be the natural
target following each movement. When doing this in fast time without thinking consciously about martial moves, how do you ensure each movement ends with an automatic martial strike (without consciously aiming/hitting) rather than develop into a series of moves that just releases body tension but does no damage to the opponent.

Background To Question : Movement in Peaceful Fight is driven by a "what happens, happens" type philosophy so moves are very seldom "wrong", but instruction identifies where there may be moves which are better / worse. However, how does a student identify a better or worse move ? Although a massive generalisation, within Peaceful Fight, a "good" move is one which is in tune with your natural body movement and a "bad" move is one which is driven by some other reason. This other reason might be the use of muscular strength, perception of what a martial artist is expected to look like or an ego driven "need to win". Within natural movement, any confrontation is overcome without thinking of specific "moves" but utilising the reactions / moves of the natural body to protect itself. As a consequence, Peaceful Fight tries to harness the intent of the unconscious brain rather than the active brain to do the work. Any move which occurs under these conditions is what I call a "natural" move as opposed to a "martial" move. Peaceful Fight believes that every person has the potential to naturally heal / harm and training tries to tap into this "naturalness". Once this occurs, students can learn to exist in this "natural" state at any time regardless of whether this is during conflict or not (Peaceful Fight places as much emphasis on being natural enough to heal / help / care about someone else as on the the worth / merit of combat, accepting both for what they are and dealing with each accordingly). This naturalness extends to striking an opponent. Once out of the constraints of "doing a move" and with the body on autopilot, defence / reattack just ends up at the target without you really knowing how. However, everything in life is a dynamic, a changing flow and so the "natural martial art" has to come from somewhere. To initiate this flow to our advantage, the first move in a Peaceful Fight confrontation deliberately induces tension (yangness) within the body. This changes us from our physically relaxed but mentally intent state ("sung state") into a natural dynamic state where this tension is then "unwound" to drive the moves (and whatever moves happen just happen). This addition of tension is achieved by a waist shake.

Answer

Good question about the apparent anomaly between natural movement and striking. It come down a bit to the combination of the bounce / sung work and the momentum issue you raised. On a physical level, when a striking weapon goes forward (or round for that matter) at a target it will eventually hit something and generally bounce off (if in sung). This releases the momentum of the arm (because it is in sung) at its maximum possible mass. Bearing in mind that I'm 12 stone, one of my arms weighs about 14 - 16 pounds. Quite a heavy weight to hit someone with when its moving at speed. However, combined with this "kinetic" energy is the energy release of the striking weapon which we discussed (ie the minimum distance striking caused by the "shake" of the hand / waist). This comes down to the nature of constant change and the conversion of yin and yang. Your arm is in sung and so yin in nature,
and its maximum potential for change is to fully yang (ie heavy / solid/ totally destructive) and this is achieved at the point of contact (by the shake). This shake is partially driven by the change in yang to yin being driven by the release of tension within your own body but also by the opponent. Why does the opponent cause this to happen you will ask ? The reason why it happens is that your opponent is generally yang (ie hard) and stops the flow of yin / sung which you have built up. This forces the change from yin to yang to occur within your movement (ie the strike), leading to an unplanned body "shake" in you and release of energy. This is why it's not necessary to hit the opponent "hard", just to hit him right. Similarly, a soft opponent can be difficult to injure (as he has no "yang ness" to hit against) but you ensure that he has become yang by doing the initial strike against the striking weapon or pulling / pushing him to make him tense. Be aware that this "natural" striking takes some time to occur so at this time its better to always think that as soon as you touch an opponent that you force the "yangness" of the strike to occur regardless of where you strike. This ensures that you get used to the change in yin to yang (and how it feels) so that eventually your body can go on "autopilot". Eventually let the body strike how it feels is the best way to do the strike (and 99% of the time it will be right. The other 1% you have 3 -4 other strikes in waiting so don't sweat about missing him!). Remember, don't ever deliberately move your striking weapon to hit a target, strike where the weapon wants to go by its natural flow and it will be much more effective. Hope this answers your question. Rather difficult to explain without actually being face-to-face but we can chat about it more next week if you like.

Question : Steve Hodges 24/07/01

Doug, thanks for the reply, it makes a lot more sense now you have explained the theory again and has given me something to think about/practise. Just one more question, when executing a punch from the fighting stance like we were doing with the two pads; when should the waist shake/energy release/sneeze motion occur, when you actually strike the opponent or at the start of the punch. Should you consciously shake the waist or try to let it occur naturally ? Regards, Steve

Background to Question : Really covered in Steve's earlier question but the one item (sneeze motion) is the way I explain the harnessing of the whole body energy to do any strike. Try it yourself, stand in front of a pad and hit it with a hand strike like you normally would. Then, do the same strike but just before releasing it, pretend to sneeze and release the strike mid-sneeze. Whole body is working together without resistance which generally makes strike better.

Answer

Dear Steve, another good question. All movement be it with the feet or hands etc is driven by redistribution of tension within the body. As the fighting stance is static it needs a "driver" to start off the process; this driver is the waist shake. Once this move has been initiated everything else just unfolds with the release / flow of body tension as it moves towards relaxation. As a consequence, always think of the body "sneezing" and the striking weapon just being (almost coincidentally) connected to that sneeze (but especially connected to the waist). In "real time" you have no idea of what you are going to hit the opponent with (fingers, single knuckle, full fist, palm etc) but you let the body tension decide for you while it unravels. Keep hands relaxed (sung but with pang) before moving and you'll surprise yourself ! Especially important not to form the striking weapon when in the fighting stance (even if you decide on one to practise) as this will lead to loss of "natural" flow.

Thus, the shake / sneeze does go first but is inseparable from the strike (which makes it very fast and drives you forward into subsequent attacks / defences) . In "real life" the fighting stance might be static (eg for a single opponent) but more likely will be moving so this changes things slightly (which we can discuss next week if you like). However, for static work, just shake the waist and hit the target (but not through the target, else you have gone too far) without thinking and you should be suitably successful. Hope this helps !

Question : Steve Hodges 25/07/01

Dear Doug, practised the punches/waist movement last night, (sore hand today) so must have done it correct a couple of times. Found the waist shake difficult. When I adopted the fighting stance for right handed person I was shaking waist/hip first to the left, then right then as it went left again I was unleashing the punch. Is this correct or should the punch flow at the first left shake. The movement I was doing seemed to take too long before the punch happened. Regards Steve

Background to Questions : Explained in previous questions but this gives more details of waist shake etc.

Answer

Dear Steve, order of movement of the shake is

1) Shake right bit of waist back (which will inevitably and naturally lead to hip movement in the same direction)
2) Because of the tension caused in the body by this shake, the right waist / hip will want to come back forward to release the tension. Just let this happen and coordinate the strike with this forward moving shake.
3) Right hip will generally go forward beyond centre point,driving left hip very slightly backwards.
4) Let waist come to rest.

Viewed from above, the movement of the waist forms an ellipse (possibly with a slight bulge in it). The only bit you consciously do is move 1. Get that bit quick and all the rest falls into place at the same speed. If it feels awkward, ensure that the whole body is in sung. Try doing "the twist" (ie the dance) first to release tension in lower back / pelvis etc. and then try the move. Again, a bit awkward to explain when not face to face but hope this helps.

Question Steve Hodges 29/07/01

Dear Doug, another very enjoyable lesson yesterday, I can't believe how fast 2 hours can go. Now we've got the coccyx right, the question I now have is : when in the fighting stance in sung - ready to go; when a punch comes my natural reaction is to block as fast as possible with one/two hands and when trying to anticipate when the punch will come and from what direction all my concentration is focussed on this which tends to make me naturally tense. However you have said that we should shake the waist before blocking which I assume eventually becomes an automatic move once you are experienced. Therefore when learning to block what should the first move be when we see the punch starting to come, should we learn to shake the waist first before naturally bringing up the hands to block which might slow us down initially and allow the punch to get through or do both together.

Also when preparing to block but not knowing whether the punch will be from opponents left or right should you be prepared to block left or right as appropriate or should you decide to go either left or right regardless to speed up your block then block the punch on the outside or inside of opponents arm accordingly. I think the answer will be do whatever comes naturally but I thought I would ask the question to see what your thoughts are on this. Regards Steve

Background to Question : Like I said in the first question, everything in Peaceful Fight is driven by the introduction of tension into the body at the initial move. In a simplistic way, without this tension, the body shouldn't move so the waist shake has to be first. However, the shake accelerates the striking against the opponents arms so does not reduce the speed of the arms (in fact it makes them quicker). The coccyx issue is the same with all "soft" arts; its got to be tucked under to harmonise / optimise internal energy flow. Steve had understood this move as being shifting the pelvis forward. Everyone makes this mistake (myself included !) and once the correct position had been pointed out (ie tucking it underneath as if doing a lewd pelvic thrust !) he found he had renewed freedom of movement.

Answer

Dear Steve,

my apologies for the time its taken me to get round to answering this question so I've put a bit more detail in to compensate. Hope it helps !

When in fighting stance, it might seem slower to shake the waist rather than moving the hands but this is only the case if the shaken is "too much" and thought about (ie not natural). Remember the time frame we are working in. Maybe try first of all just moving your hands into the defensive position as fast as you can (think of the speed of trying to catch a fly). Then try doing the same but driven from the waist (not hips). Then try it sitting down (ie with no perceivable movement of the waist but only with "mind" intent). The speed might be similar but the feeling of the waist driven ones (even when it doesn't move) is, for want of a better word, sharper. This is the qi / intent driving the move and what makes it most effective. It'll come with time, and the improvements that you have shown over the last couple of weeks are just starting to pay off so keep plugging away at it. The waist shake connects your lower dantien (energy centre below navel) to any move and thus this subconscious intent leads to qi flow which in turn leads to the choice of the "best" movement that the body thinks should happen (be this interception, striking, evasion, reattack etc) at its fullest efficiency.

Never think about any specific move (eg left or right) when you are stood in front of an opponent. The only thing to think about is that fighting is not a social event ! If you bother to stand there and your opponent is in a confrontation / angry / non-specific (but it makes you uneasy) mood, then assume that violence isn't far behind. If it doesn't happen then that's the best outcome for both of you and the one you should always strive for (plastic surgery is soooooo expensive !). However, if something does kick off, you should at least be ready to deal with it so it's better to plan ahead for the worst. Going into a "half stance" also helps to improve your body language ensuring that the "victim" pose doesn't appear by accident and this takes you another potential step along defusing the situation without violence. So, during the "prefight", tuck the coccyx under and round the shoulders as we've discussed (not too much). Try to remain within sung / pang. Then , if the opponent moves in an attacking way, let your body / sung / unconsciousness do your reply (ie whatever happens). If you are consciously preoccupied with thinking about all the possible ways to move / defend / reattack for everything the opponent could conceivably do, you are very, very unlikely to pull the right technique out of the bag at the right speed when you need it. Only exception to this is if you have decided to attack first (eg in a gang fight when you judge things to have gone beyond talking your way out). In this situation choose the weakest attacker and try to walk straight over him / her as fast as possible and then run like crazy ! Marc (Animal) MacYoung calls this "Fluffy" Kung Fu as it should be like trying to restrain a cat when it doesn't want to be held. It causes massive amounts of damage just running up / down / through you ! Nice analogy and worth reading his books for. If your opponent forces you to take on the full Peaceful Fight state of mind (rather than the "soft" one we use during training) then its time to shut up, wait and be ready. The state of mind is totally impassive and unfocussed but at the same time focussed and with determined intent to deal with whatever happens. Difficult to put down on paper : I need to explain this more when we are face-to-face so remind me about it next lesson.

As for watching the punch, always remember that in a "one-to-one" your opponent might quite likely do something else apart from punching and also might dummy prior to the strike. Also, he might not be alone and you need to keep a degree of "wider World" consciousness. As a consequence, watching any particular limb gives him (and his friends) a chance (ie he only has to "twitch" that limb, you fall for it, and then he hits you with something else (Yes, some fighters will notice this kind of thing)). Look almost "through" the opponent concentrating on the whole whilst at the same time concentrating on nothing but making your spirit greater than his (by the breathing / mind control we discussed). At this point you should be both content within yourself and with your external interaction with the World as it is at that moment. What happens, happens and is both within and without of your control. If the fight is justified, you should be there, if not, you shouldn't. Only you will know how you feel at that moment. If you have done everything you can to avoid the fight but cannot do any more then accept this chaos and become part of it. If you feel it is right to walk away, then walk away. Never worth damaging an opponent just for the sake of it or to "prove a point" (but keep your eyes on him as you walk away !). If you truly feel it is right to fight, then fight. Don't hide your deepest thoughts from yourself or try to fool yourself as to your motives. Be as natural and in tune with yourself and the World as you can be at that moment then make your decision. Understand the change in dynamic that you are no longer within social constraint and that you are no longer obliged to be a "Mr Nice Guy". Your interaction with your opponent will have had to lead you to exclude this choice (and this exclusion has been driven by your opponent). If you deep down know that you only want to be or not to be violent to prove something to yourself then you need to understand yourself and accept yourself more rather than trying to prove something to yourself (as you'll have to keep proving it over and over again until you are a bloody pulp one night). If you've tried to give your opponent numerous routes by which to step away and for him to save face but he hasn't taken them, that's not your fault and not under your control. The only reason to choose to fight / non-fight is because you think and feel with all your being that it is the "right" thing to do. Don't try to emulate anyone else or someone else's views. From an instructors point of view, in case you were in any doubt, you certainly don't need to show that students of Peaceful Fight are "hard" at any time. The violence of Peaceful Fight is only one part of what students should be trying to achieve and I'd rather we were remembered for being "honourable" and friendly men and women who did TCM / good works for free rather than a school of "hard" men / women which people were afraid of. If you choose to run away, that's fine and I'll admire you for it. If you choose to fight that's fine and I'll admire you for that too. However, if you do fight, fight with all your unconscious being and fight for the right reasons. If you choose not to fight, be at peace with yourself for making that choice. Finally, always remember that, if you do fight, it's not a popularity contest and your opponent will certainly not be pulling any punches. Better to go down fighting to a superior fighter than to hit him lightly a couple of times "so as to not hurt him" then have him kick your head in as a thank you gift. Final thing I would say is that there is seldom a clear cut "winning" or "losing" within fighting (As there are often many "afters" to contend with, all the way from dealing with the Police to psychosis and revenge attacks). Again, we can talk more about this when we get together.

Hope this helps. All the best Doug

Question : Ken MacKay (Lions Claw Kung Fu) 05/08/01

You mention a number of times when discussing Peaceful Fight about "intervention". What do you mean by this ? Also, won't individual students have different levels at which they might want to intervene in situations dependent on their responsibilities / personalities? Finally, you mention dealing with situations when they arise rather than after the event. Why is this ?

Background to Question

Ken is a student of Sijo Lee J of Lions Claw Kung Fu. When Lee was starting out, I used to go over to be an extra pair of hands and help out. Ken joined the Lions Claw club just before I left but was interested in the differences / similarities between Kung Fu systems and so I went to his house to discuss this. We has a long and detailed chat during which some very interesting points came out. The question above is a precis of the discussions (and the banal wording of the questions is mine not Ken's !) I've tried to put answers down on paper but some of the nuances might have been lost (while I rambled on !). I'll warn you now, this is a very long answer (even for me) as me and Ken talked for a good couple of hours. However, it does give some detail about how I see the objectives of Peaceful Fight so might be worth plodding through.

Answer.

I like this question as it helps to emphasise that Peaceful Fight is not an "instructor" based system and also is not just based in the martial realm.

Let's do the easy question first, intervention. Intervention relates to when a student makes a decision regarding how they are to deal with a given situation. This involves matching the requirements of the situation against their own "value set" and determining the correct "natural for them" course of action. Intervention might be a bad choice of word as it implies that the result of the decision making process will always result in an act which "does something" to affect the dynamic of the situation. However, it is just as important to appreciate that if the student chooses to "not do something" this just as valid an act of "intervention". Both action and inaction affect the outcome of any situation and sometimes the decision to"do nothing" is the right one for the student. For example, in a physical / violent confrontation situation when someone is being beaten, its just as much "intervention" if you walk on by and then call the Police, or decide it's nothing to do with you, or try to break it up before the person on the floor dies or decide that the person on the floor has always been a bit of a dick and probably deserves the kicking. Depending on the situation, all of these decisions may be "right" with the degree of "rightness" depending on the student and how they assess the situation. What is important within Peaceful Fight is that students get to recognise at what point they personally would get involved and what their objective of getting involved would be. This leads the student to understanding their own boundaries, responsibilities and values better. This understanding makes them more content within their "own skin" and they get to feel OK about whatever decision they make (ie to get involved or not). Most martial artists have well balanced value sets and so generally make "good calls". There should be no shame, embarrassment or guilt associated with any decision to get involved or not if it is based on the right basis. The only bad way to make a decision is under the influence of negative fear, anger or generally any other negative emotion (although there are some infrequent exceptions to this general rule).

This might be a good time to mention fear and when it is good and when it is bad.

Fear is a bit of general term and maybe too widely used by me and other people. We all know that there is a big difference between anxiety, being startled or running around like a headless chicken but all are manifestations of fear. However, fear is usually seen as a negative emotion and one to get away from. This is sometimes the case but not always as there are both positive and negative effects of fear. In much of the discussion given here, the word "fear" is used to encompass all those negative effects which result in a student not being true to their own value set. This can be long term but low level (eg xenophobia) or short term and extreme (eg terror) but the effect is still the same. It changes your perception and you react inappropriately or against your more "reasoned" intuition.

Sometimes people are afraid of walking away from a situation (because they are afraid of looking mean, weak, dispassionate, frightened etc) and at other times they are afraid of getting involved (eg someone might take your niceness in the wrong way, you might get hurt in physical confrontation or you might not be capable of dealing with the long or short term consequences of helping). Thus some aspects of "fear" could be just as easily understood as social pressure, ghosts from your past guiding your present actions or preconceived / stereotypical ideas of what is happening within the situation clouding your judgment but it's easier for me to have one word to describe all of this. So, for me, if your value set says, "don't get involved" but you still choose to help then it will be fear that makes you help against your better judgment (or vice versa). So, for me, the negative type of fear is one which makes you react against your natural, intuitive way.

The "right kind of fear" which exists is actually a positive emotion so should be welcomed and listened to as part of our value set. The right kind of fear is that intuitive fear that often kicks in well before any confrontation occurs or is the voice in your head during the prefight saying "why are you still standing here ?". It gives you a warning that allows you to turn around and walk the other way to avoid unnecessary or unproductive confrontation. If you are being intuitive then you might not even know why it's telling you to leave but it's important to listen to it. It's more the "hairs at the back of the neck" type fear rather than the "rooted to the spot trying not to urinate" type fear. This positive fear is an early warning system to stop you from being in the wrong place at the wrong time (or staying in the wrong place once the situation changes). If you have been driven by your natural response (ie being true to yourself about why you are getting involved (or not) and what you hope to achieve) and then positive fear kicks in and suggests you leave then why don't you ? It's sort of naturally telling you that your strategy is wrong or is not going to work or the dynamic of the situation has changed. In a martial context this might be the point during the prefight when one of the opponents draws a knife. It is now time to leave and call the Police and not to go down in a whimper of glory. In a non-martial context it might be the moment your lover tells you that she would be really turned on to see you playing Russian roulette with 5 out of the 6 chambers full ! If neither situation led to you feeling the change in dynamic then positive fear should be what gets you out alive. It's common sense driven by positive fear so go with it (unless your lover is really, really worth it !).

Peaceful Fight tries to understand these various fears so that any decision can be made solely on how you feel at that moment of decision based on your "naturalness" (and so afterwards you know why the decision was right / wrong and what drove it down its particular pathway. MacYoung mentions that this understanding of the "reason" behind your actions is especially important if legal proceedings are brought so it serves this double purpose). If you are having a bad day and are lethargic, you feel different from when you are in love; this might affect your reaction to circumstances beyond your control (ie driven by an opponent / situation). However, at the point of decision, you have to make it for your own reasons and in tune with the feedback from your body / mind. Allowing this decision making process to occur eventually lets students work on an intuitive level which is much less stressful than keeping up the "front" which develops during modern life. You might not know exactly why something isn't "right" but you trust yourself sufficiently to go with your gut instinct. This is one step towards personal contentment which is one of the goals for students of Peaceful Fight.

Just so there is no confusion. From an instructors perspective, Peaceful Fight is not to make students have or mimic my value system or personal response but to help them identify their own. It is not even to try to get students to do the same system that I do. I show my path and let students follow me or lead me as they so wish. We are all different, and some students are better at parts of the arts than me. Because we are all different, it's not that surprising that we all do different things in different situations. Similarly, we all change over time and our value system changes with us. Now at 34 I don't think the same way as I did when I was 24. However, many of us will have the same objectives in situations independent of how we choose to deal with that situation. Peaceful fight has the objective of making a better World and most of us (students or not) would only intervene in situations where we thought we could achieve this objective. Not getting yourself killed by using the act of avoiding foolhardy or misplaced heroic behaviour is quite natural and serves to achieve this "better World" objective for your family / friends (ie you, as one of the "good guys" is still here to make a difference day-to-day !). Be true to yourself and it should all become clearer.

As an aside, this "make up your own mind" situation emphasises that, because there is good and bad in all things and we all have our own value set, no instructor is likely to ever be "whiter than white" so may teach some things or have some views / habits which your value set is opposed to. We all have "feet of clay" and I'm no exception (but don't even think about asking me about my bad habits!). Always see "sagely advice", "technical discussions" or "I'd do such and such in that situation" for what they are which is often personal opinions rather than unrefutable law. Make up your own mind about what you would do and don't let any instructor make your mind up for you. At the end of the day, if you decide to intervene in a situation and something goes wrong, it's you who will have to "face the music" not the instructor, regardless of if he told you that such and such technique "would always work" : it might for him but he's not there, you are.

Anyway, back to the question. Intervention is not limited to the martial realm and, as shown above, even in the physical realm does not necessarily mean going in with fists / feet blazing. For Peaceful Fight it is just as valuable (if not more so) for students to help people in non-martial ways (eg helping to carry shopping when people are struggling, being considerate to other drivers on the road or just by being a "friendly face" whenever possible etc) than being prepared to use physical force. Not being afraid to be nice / helpful to people is a mind set which Peaceful Fight tries to foster for all the times "between the 5 or 6 fights in a lifetime". Society has a tendency towards associating "nice" with being "weak" or "soft" and so being obviously "nice" can lead you to being seen as a victim. Have a look in many a school yard and you'll see this problem in action. Eventually, we are all toughened up and not surprising people continue to hide their niceness from the wider World for much of their life. Problem with this though is that then the World appears even more bleak for everyone else as everyone you meet has that "hard face" look in order to ensure that they are not the next victim. Also, if you are nice but hiding it, you are not being true to your own nature. This blunts your awareness of situations and so can lead to you being even more of a victim. Peaceful Fight tries to break through the fear and allow students to be nice / helpful if they want to be (or similarly, to not be nice if they don't wish to be) but the choice is made by them, from the inside out, not via wider society pressure from the outside, in. This "non-martial" aspect again continues to give students an understanding of their boundaries / values in "real life" situations which are much more likely to be encountered that having to fight. Hopefully over time it will also help to emphasise that "nice" doesn't equal "weak" and let students live a happier and more contented life. This spreading of niceness also has the effect of making students better known and (hopefully !) makes them have fewer enemies (as a percentage of the number of people they know).

In reiki they talk about visualisation of good things in your life and how by thinking these type of thoughts alters the World to reflect this goodness. As to whether this is based in the perception of reality or whether reality really does reflect your inner self doesn't much matter; the method works for many people. If you doubt it works, think about how you felt last time you were "truly madly deeply" in love. Things looked so much better / positive then didn't they ? Perception or reality ? Who cares, you felt good and your wider World was on the up and up. Being nice isn't all for the people that you help, you get something out of it too !

Ken rightly identifies that the level of responsibility a student has also has an effect on what intervention strategy a student might choose. My level of responsibility is significantly different from Ken's (he has a wife and children to support while I have neither). As a consequence, he will have more reticence in getting involved in trying to stop physical violent confrontations or helping strangers than I might (especially when his family is present). His family is very important to him and they deserve to have him around for their future. Having thought about this after we had our chat, I think that this reticence to get involved is a "natural barrier". Maybe the body / mind has this barrier as an innate defence mechanism caused by his natural circumstances (ie having a family). This defence mechanism can then drive his "natural" responses and value set to automatically include this barrier as a consideration in the overall decision making process (most likely moving much of it to higher levels). If this is true, it is part of the mystery of humanity that this barrier arises and so should be recognised and admired as part of what makes us, us. The higher the level of responsibility to other people, it's likely that a student will "naturally" set this barrier higher and so become more reticent towards risking their future / life. An interesting point and not one which I had considered in quite the way Ken put it; once again, I learned from the students ! Highlights why it can never be thought of as "wimping out" if the reason you choose to not get involved in a situation is because something else in your life is more important ; that's common sense. My only caveat in this situation is that, if negative fear is the reason why people don't get involved in a situation which is "wrong" but then they use the "barrier" to excuse their choice of action / non-action then this is really bad. Using the barrier as an excuse for the fear interferes with the natural placement / action of the barrier and over time might result in using this excuse for ignoring everything that irritates / upsets / angers us. For example, a student is walking with their family and are violently attacked. If the student's fear of being hurt was greater than their natural "need" to intervene / fight back / defend their family then the fear would be making him go against his "natural" response of defending his family. Maybe the student's inaction could be explained away somehow by mentioning the barrier, but is that really the point ? It would also probably lead to a subconscious (or possibly conscious) self loathing for the "weakness" and our "inability to function" within the society within which we live. This leads me onto why it is better to deal with situations when they arise rather than afterwards.

If during the consideration of the intervention response a student decides that they are unhappy with a situation then it should be dealt with there and then. The only exception to this is if the situation has made the student angry / enraged etc. In these states, the student mind is not able to act correctly and it's better to walk away and return later. However, let's say that the situation has not "unbalanced" the student into anger etc and they are working within the intuitive Peaceful Fight state of mind. If the student was to walk away without dealing with the situation then it may build up as internal frustration (probably affecting the liver or spleen from a TCM point of view). If this continues until there are a number of these "unreleased" frustrations, they build up and are eventually released later at an inappropriate time, target or ferocity. When this happens, the problem is still unresolved and you have now alienated someone else by releasing your frustration against them (or ended up in prison due to using inappropriate force). Not a good plan for a long and happy life.

The way I normally explain this is that we are trying to keep our life in balance, passing through it in a contented state. This is like a static pendulum, hanging at its lowest point with a line stretching forward below it to the horizon. The pendulum indicates our balanced state and the line forward is our life within this balanced state; when we are born, the length of the line is a finite length with the far end indicating our death. During intervention when a "natural" action is identified by a student, the situation moves the pendulum from the balanced centreline, shifting it slightly one way or the other. The situation then holds the pendulum away from the centre line. The line which is our life, then has to bend around the pendulum position, pulling its end back from the horizon and deviating the student from a straight path. If the situation is dealt with in this early stage, the pendulum is released, swings back, overshoots the centre line slightly and then settles quickly back to balance. Not a serious problem, the situation is dealt with and the student settles down to being "balanced" again. The "life line" is slightly shortened (ie the furthest end is closer to us) but not significantly. However, if the situation is ignored and not dealt with, the next time a situation arises, the pendulum is pushed further away from the centre. The life line has to deviate more and the end is pulled closer to us. This time there is more to be sorted out (as there is tacit "prior acceptance" as you know you didn't deal with it right last time) and when the pendulum is released, it overshoots the centre line more as it has been pushed out wider by the second event. If the degree of overshoot is viewed as an "overreaction to a situation" then you can see why sometimes, inappropriate levels of violence are released after they have been bottled up for some time. I think this happens during many road rage type incidents. Perfectly "normal" people make totally irrational decisions to allow them to get rid of all the frustration / fear that society breeds within them and the driver who cut them up just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Better to swear under your breath to "clear your system" each time you are annoyed rather than keeping it in for the next time (however, it is not a good idea to give a V-sign and hang out of the window shouting obscenities : this route may easily lead to pain !). Remember that when you deal with a situation, you are doing it to bring yourself into balance and the less "swing" your pendulum has to deal with the more likely you will be able to resolve the problem amicably / correctly / within the Law. This pulls your "life line" back less from its horizon and so maximises your life on the earth. When you consider that stress is one of the biggest killers in Western society, you can see why dealing with situations sooner rather than later minimises this and maximises life. That's why I think it is important.

Question : Steve Hodges 06/08/01

Dear Doug, really enjoyed yesterdays session, we covered quite a range of different techniques which gave plenty of things to think about/practise. The question I have is related to fighting distance. We did an exercise a few weeks ago where we tried to anticipate martial moves from an opponent by clicking our fingers at close, medium and far ranges at the first movement. The result was that the closer to the opponent we were the harder it was to see a strike coming. Now, when we are about to practise a punch block we all naturally adopt a stance some distance from opponent and you normally have to tell us to get closer as it is important to practise close in to hone our defensive skills. Therefore if we found ourselves in a real potentially violent situation we would naturally keep a fighting distance from the aggressor to enable us to see any offensive moves they may make and block accordingly. If however we were at fighting distance and we had decided to strike first for whatever reason, should we close in to the attacker first (possibly leaving ourselves open to attack) before attempting to strike or is there another move which will enable an accurate strike to be made from a distant fighting stance without the opponent being able to easily anticipate it. Regards Steve

Background to Question : Most of the training in the early days of Peaceful Fight is done at short distance. This is to try to get an element of prefight anxiety into the students and also to let them see that if they can defend for this short a range, then they should be OK from longer (just as an aside, this isn't always the case and specific training is needed to deal with this). Gives a sense of confidence to deal with this part of the fight. However, the most important thing about it though is that all actions then occur within the students sphere of balance. This is critical to an internal art and especially one using the unconscious brain. To find your own sphere of balance, try kicking beyond the length of your leg or punching beyond the length of your arm . If you do this, you go out of balance and have to move / step forward. At this point of being out of balance. your techniques become weak and your brain is distracted and only interested in getting back to balance. All other subconscious actions are switched off until the brain is "happy" again. Not much use if you are relying on the unconscious brain to defend you ! So, to determine fighting distance, students work within the sphere and either move their spheres into the range of the opponent or let the opponent move themselves into the students sphere.

Answer

Dear Steve, first thing to consider when going in against an opponent is what angle is worst for him to defend and best for you to attack. Generally, this means it is best for you to angle the attack as much from his blind side as you can manage (and he will allow). Do this whilst you do your "talky bit" and then attack without warning (ie do it in the middle of a sentence, with no pullback or indication of intent (ie no gurnying !)) . However, if you have ever tried to inch your way around an opponent to attack from part of his blind side you'll know how difficult it is ! They just keep repositioning themselves to nullify your advantage. This is especially so when your opponent is in a confrontational mood. However, any strategy depends a lot on what the situation is. In the training hall it's easy to inch around your opponents because it's a one-on-one confrontation. However, in real life, you might be restricted as to what angle you can move to because of, for example, furniture or potential assailants (ie a watching group of people you don't know) may be in the way. If you get the option, get to your best advantage angle before moving but always consider every other environmental factor at the same time. Attack against his forward limbs to force them against his body and reduce the number of options he has to attack you. Bit like running through him (but in balance !). Final thing about inching round is to ensure that whilst you are doing it, you don't put yourself in a bad position. No cross legging or bouncing please !

If the inching option isn't available (and you have to do face to face), then if you start it, there are two main ways of moving in. One is the fast approach and the other is the slow approach. On the fast approach you look at the opponent as a series of staging points which you are to strike at. If his hand is forward, that's the first strike, if he's got his guards up, the first strike might be against his elbow, if his leg is closest then that's the strike etc. After this first strike (even if you miss) you "bounce" the strikes forward in a flurry allowing the subconscious mind to react to wherever the opponent tries to move. You must remain in balance though else he might move out of the way and you will fall. The fast approach is interesting because as soon as you "twitch" to move, the opponent will probably kick off too. This is why you have to continue the attack if you go this route. 90% of fights are stopped on the first decent strike so it might as well be yours ! I used to suggest striking at the front hand to break it and then back off but this is often insufficient to stop the confrontation so you have to continue on. If you've chosen to attack you must have made the judgment call that he's going to fight regardless of what you try to get out of it. At this point try to remember that your spirit is greater than his and you have just cause in kicking off the fight. Sometimes worth trying an obvious "body twitch" dummy during the "talky bit" to move him into an "adrenalin" state if you think it will help (as this will start him on the decline into adrenalin dump syndrome and might mean you don't have to fight after all. Also can help to get tension out of your body and the qi flowing). You can judge a lot of how he's feeling from his response to the twitch. If he backs away, maybe he's not so keen after all. If he didn't notice it maybe he's slow (but if so will likely be more difficult to injure), if he ignored it he's calm and has fought before and is ready for the contest. Keep talking and then again, attack when least expected.

The slow approach is more subtle and again needs you to read you opponent and will only work with an inexperienced fighter (or an experienced one who isn't concentrating). Essentially it relies on your opponent not seeing a slow approach as being a threat. This a bit like the opposite of someone running at you with a baseball bat. For some reason the mind doesn't always click into defensive mode even though he's obviously going to pummel you ! Often the response is to curl up which, let's face it, just gives him a better and easier target. Its the same with the slow approach. Most people associate "attack" with a fast move from a punching length, and if you twitch / strike fast, they react fast. However, you can slowly move (almost glide) towards an opponent without them necessarily seeing this as a threat. This can get you within range to neutralise their striking weapons and again launch a flurry of attacks. Keep the profile of your body the same as you move (ie move directly towards the opponent and don't sway side to side) else he'll see you coming.

Whichever version you decide on, always go forward in the right mood. If you are only thinking of attack, you can be hit by or run onto a sucker punch. If you are only thinking of defence, your energy / balance and intent will be "backwards" so any strikes will be less effective. Think or both / neither of these at the same time and it should work. Finally, as I keep emphasising, there is no "nice guy" in fighting. Be underhand, devious, mean or nasty if this is what it takes. A friend of mine (Andy "Digger" Cooke) once told me a story about a confrontation he saw in a pub. A "young buck" was hassling a older guy who was sat at the bar. The old guy didn't want any trouble and just kept shrugging off the younger man's insults etc. The young guy thought the older man was afraid and thought to emphasise his superiority by whipping off his shirt to show his muscular body. However, what he didn't bank on was the old guy hitting him in the testicles when his T-shirt was half way over his head ! If it gets to the time to fight, it's not Queensbury rules and I think this emphasises it !

Question : Mark Lashmar (Warrior Escrima) 26/08/01

One quick question; Bruce Lee's "one inch punch" I guess is the same principle as you've shown me today? All to do with explosion from the relaxed (sung) state? Mark

Background : Discussed the relaxed sung state and sneeze principle (as previously discussed) with Mark when he was kind enough to visit the club. Mark is coming up to level 6 (junior instructor) in Warrior Escrima club and so was able to explain many of the overlaps between Peaceful Fight and Escrima. Very interesting for me and I was glad that there were so many similarities as I really rate Escrima as a fighting system. Good to see that Peaceful Fight teaches some very similar, very effective techniques (under different names obviously! Shows that the human body can only move in so many different ways !). Striking in Peaceful Fight relies on releasing the "sneeze" energy at the very limit of any strike and is taught initially from 1" from the striking pad. This connects the striking weapon to the lower dantian / waist and so builds on the "intent" of the "no-brain" mind state. This helps students see that they do not need large pullback to cause damage and helps them to understand / feel the yin / yang changes within the flow of the body when in the correct mind state. We also dealt briefly with energy fields around the body, how to detect them and how to feel / channel the internal energies of the body.

Answer

Dear Mark, really glad you enjoyed the session and possibly found some things to add to your martial arts repertoire. If you practise the energy work a few times at home, it will rapidly come quite naturally to you (as it is a natural phenomenon so we can all do it). There is always an air of "mystery" about energy (Qi) flow and there are some amazing things which can potentially be achieved. However, the more you practise and recognise the changes in your body at this level, the easier it gets (and the more you can harness its effects. Let the energy flow determine the boundaries of what you think you can achieve and then give your ideas a try). In the scheme of things, I don't practise enough. I've met many practitioners who can blow me away at this level (both in healing and martial) because they practise more. However, the most important thing is recognising that it is there. Like I said, everyone has it (from a Chinese perspective) and Peaceful Fight just points it out to students !

If there was anything from the lesson which you want to pass on to other students / colleagues, please feel free to do so. All of the "knowledge" is out there in literature and the website gives some sources if you want to pursue any particular aspect. On the pressure point work, I would recommend the Dim Mak books (or videos) by Erle Montaigue as being the most comprehensive for martial work, detailing both position, effect and combined effects. The website suggests buying them from Kunzhi.com but I've found them more cheaply on Amazon so maybe go there first.

The 1" punch is an interesting question. The sung state can do it but I don't think this was Bruce Lee's way. One item of Peaceful Fight which we didn't discuss was the generation of an internal (or for that matter, external) energy "wave" and I think the JKD punch has more to do with this rather than just being in sung. By combining the "hard" energy flow that we briefly discussed with this type of energy wave generation leads to loads of energy being produced (especially if you practise !). With practise, the wave might possibly be driven by the yin / yang tension change but I think requires very exacting body positioning /control to get it to work at speed. However, it does fit in with the "spirit" issues which we discussed so should be able to be driven from whatever position (even if not grounded). Tai Chi achieves this exacting body positioning to allow the wave to develop which is why they hurt you so much when they hit you ! I'm still working on getting it to work within Peaceful Fight (without having to practise for 25 years to get competent) but it might take me that long to get it to work during movement ! I'll let you know when I achieve it. Coming back to the question, JKD talk a lot about utilising the strong lower body to utilise the power / weight of the earth behind all strikes and so, for them, this is where the wave can start. This is the same as in Tai Chi who emphasise the lower body being "locked" to the earth and channelling the earth energy through the body to release into the opponent. Seriously good way to strike but difficult to do in the unconscious state (as you have to drive the wave). This however obviously isn't such a problem during demonstration when there is time to set it up and it is essentially static. Next time we get together remind me about this and I'll go through it in more detail if you like. Hope this basic explanation gives you enough detail for the moment (but if not, get in touch and I'll go on (and on, and on.....) about it some more. Doug NOTE : If any exponents of JKD are out there and know the full answer to this question, I'd be interested in hearing it. If I'm totally wrong then maybe we could swap concepts !

Question : Steve Hodges 28/08/01

Dear Doug, during Sundays session when I was defending and re-attacking, at some stage I was introducing strength holds to try to force the opponent down. After this was pointed out to me I started to introduce a waist shake instead of the strength move which then resulted in the opponent going down onto the floor fairly rapidly. At this point I tended to follow them down with further strikes which sometimes forced me off balance and left openings. My question is: once you have reached the point where you have put the opponent down on the floor but they are not finished and you may or may not have released all your own tension, should you try to remain standing and use your feet etc to finish or should you try to stay close as they go down and continue with natural strikes to finish which may mean you are on the floor also. I am only talking about single opponents and not multiple attackers or with others present and I know you must not back off then re-attack when they are on the floor. Regards Steve

Background to Question : One area where students were finding the system difficult to apply was during attempts to transition from the unconscious state into a takedown technique. This was because as soon as they tried to do the takedown, they either used strength or came out of sung by forgetting to use the hands to get feedback from the opponent (essentially they became "dead" to the opponent and shrank back into their own self). In order to overcome this, we went through using the natural "soft" state to drive the takedown. This drives the takedown by letting the "soft" hands feel the weakness in the opponent before driving "yangness" through the weakness. Generally makes the opponent go down like a sack of potatoes when applied (including me !) I'll try to get a small video clip of this to put on the site to show what I mean. Difficult to do at speed but that's why, from a martial perspective, we train to get this hand sensitivity within the healing arts (although much more useful to have this gentleness in the healing realm !).

Answer

Dear Steve, thanks for the question. For once it's an easy one ! Within the system, going out of balance is always a "no-no" so if this is why you ended up on the floor then its bad. Having to go down with an opponent because you can't retain balance is giving him a chance to put his elbows / knees up and have you land on them as you fall. Even if he doesn't do this, you are then in a grappling position and losing an eye or ear is always a possibility. I would always say that it is better to be stood up whilst your opponent is on the floor than grappling with him. However, if your redistribution of tension dictates that you should go to the floor then that's possibly OK (within the constraints that you mention ie only one opponent, no chance of any other intervention). This might be where you drop a knee to strike against him / break an ankle etc or maybe he is face down. Any movement down though must be within balance if you go for it (this generally means that you don't lean). However, its likely that there will be other options of redistributing your tension (eg kicking or stamping) rather than having to go to ground. I'd choose these other options first given the chance. If you do end up falling because of a lack of balance then utilise the fall to your best advantage and get as much benefit out of it as you can. This might mean adding a body weapon (eg shoulder) to your already falling body and hitting him with it as you land. However, look out for his knees / elbows coming up to greet you and let your body avoid these first before putting your own strike in.

Video Zip File

The video file shows Steve Hill going through the "soft hand" takedown theory. During the clip you see him move into position but his hands are tense (~ 7 seconds in). The action is then stopped while he relaxes and then he applies the takedown (with me hitting the floor even quicker than I expected !). The last second is him making sure I'm OK !

Question : (Poster Asked to Be) Anonymous 04/10/01

I came across the Peaceful Fight website whilst surfing the net. Please could you recommend any good 'Chin Na' teachers. I am based in London but could travel within UK.

Answer

Nice to hear from you and I hope you found the site interesting. Formal Chin Na training is quite rare, more often making up one part of any traditional Chinese Kung Fu system. As such, I can't think of anyone who specialises sufficiently to teach it as a "pure art". In some ways, Aikido teach it in a more structured way to mst Kung Fu systems so this might be one way of getting started within the art before specialising. Knowledge is what matters, not the name you call it ! Regardless of system, we can only bend so far (or not !) in certain directions !

As to finding an instructor, it might be worth putting a posting on the BACA (British Association of Chinese Arts) bulletin board or visiting the British Council for Chinese Martial Arts website to ask for advise. If you do a search on something like altavista or jeeves for "Chinese Martial Arts" these sites come up quite rapidly. Sorry I can't be of more help but feel free to get back to me if I can be of any more assistance on this or any other matter. Hope that you are able to find what you are looking for and that your training brings you many years of happiness. Best wishes for your future

Question : (Poster Asked to be) Anonymous 05/10/01

Hi Doug. I think you are right in saying Formal Chin Na training is quite rare. I am looking at other possibilities. Please could you give me your opinion on JKD and Wing Chun and Southern Praying Mantis Styles.

Answer

good to hear from you again and I'm glad you are looking at as many arts as possible before settling into any specific one. It's always important to start off on a path which is right for you and you can only judge this by going round to do the "meet and greet" with all the local instructors / styles.

Always difficult to comment on any specific style as to what is "good" or "bad". My general rule is that a good exponent can always make their own system / style work if they are dedicated enough within their training. That's even true of exponents of "sports" martial arts which often get bad press from more martial systems. However, it does come down to timescale though. Tai Chi is a truly fantastic martial art but most methods of teaching take years to perfect the system. Not much use if you want self defence for the neighbourhood you are moving into next week ! Tae Kwon Do is a sport but you could probably punch "hard" in about 3 months. However, many schools teach very few "non-sport" techniques so fail to address self defence issues. Which one would fit in best with your own plans / objectives ?

Only things that limit most exponents of the arts is either they don't train in a diligent fashion or that they sometimes leave their uniqueness and own ideas at the door or they get locked into a mindset of what a "martial artist" is supposed to be. Not all of us are jumping off roofs in Ninja suits whilst wielding nunchaku ! Just because an instructor is more interested in Taoism doesn't mean he can't hurt you bad if you go against his personal Tao ! That said though, as the martial arts are a very diverse and wide area of knowledge, never assume that the instructor knows everything there is to know about the whole range of martial arts (but at the same time assume that he / she does know everything about their chosen art). You have valid opinions / ideas so throw them into the pot if you get the chance. Look at the arts critically and ask a lot of "why does this work" or "how would this system work against this type of attack" and "does this feel right for me and if not, why not" type questions. This is part of diligent training (the other part is getting up and regularly practising what you have learned !). A good instructor will be glad that you highlighted any weaknesses or that you were sufficiently interested to ask the questions in order to get more knowledge. This helps the instructor understand his / her art better and often starts them off on paths which they had not thought about. In short, you are doing them a favour! Martial arts have to live within you and come out rather than living in the instructor and being "forced" into your mindset during teaching ; this is for a student to take control of rather than expecting to learn the arts "by rote" or via just thinking about them without a bit of sweat and tears. This is what a students gets out of asking questions as the knowledge is then digested and assimilated and will them form part of a whole which is your personal understanding of what your personal martial art is.

Overall, it all comes down to knowing what you want from the arts (eg martial, street defence (which isn't the same as martial), sports, healing, spirituality etc). Once you've decided what is best for you, you are then slightly constricted by what styles / schools are available around your area. Although it is possible to have dedicated training which takes you 100s of miles from home for lessons, it's probably better to not have to travel more than ~ 10 miles each way in the early stages of your training. Bearing in mind you might be training 2 or 3 days / week (or more) at your training hall for as many years as you wish, a lot of travelling and can be a big disincentive to continuing within the arts if it is too far. You burn out a lot of energy on the road which could be time more profitably used practising in the dojo / dojang / ling mo chuan or home. Better to master the basics (eg balance, structure, body mechanics, body weapons, body targets, energy systems etc ) first at your local school and then think about travelling further afield to meet other masters. These masters can then "tweak" your basic techniques such that each tweak makes a considerable difference to your performance (so it is worth travelling the extra distance for). Without basics, you travel a long way and use a lot of a Master's time without him / her teaching you at a Master's standard. So, another thing to consider about choosing an art is what kind of basics are best for you. Is a solid, strong system systems (such as Karate or Tae Kwon Do) good for you or are you more speed / flow orientated (eg as in Kung Fu, Eskrima). We are all built differently and it's better to go with an art which enhances your natural flow (be that heavy and strong or slight but fast etc) rather than trying to shoehorn yourself into an inappropriate style. This is why some arts fail to get good exponents because they try to homogenise every type of person into one mould. The ones who are in the mould look great, the rest get sort of left behind (and often eventually discarded as being "bad" students). That said though, all good systems should be able to take an individual and work the student's own characteristics into the system (rather than trying to change the individual into something that the system can recognise as "their type of student"). The first version is "inside, out" martial arts, living within the student's spirit, the second is "outside, in" living in the students brain. The first comes out in an emergency, the second hides away.

Another major consideration in choosing an art (assuming you want a fighting art rather than healing) is how does the art deal with the all too real issue of missing a target. Some arts suggest they always hit which may be true but a hit isn't the same as stopping the opponent : how do they deal with any blows which glance or bounce off ? Also, real life fights are all too easy to start but a bugger to stop. How does your chosen system suggest finishing it off (and if they suggest breaking his neck or choking the opponent whilst they are helpless, then that advice is likely to get 10 - 20 years in prison for your efforts unless you are on the battlefield. If it happens in the heat of the conflict you might be able to argue self defence but if you do it as a deliberate strategy once your opponent is helpless, it's murder (again, unless you are at war)). Fighting speed is another important consideration. Eskrima works at ~ 6 - 7 strikes / second either with or without sticks and have no concept of not-winning once it gets going. If you have a half hearted attempt at fighting back they will just walk straight over you without thinking twice. Could your chosen system deal with this level of intensity if you were unlucky enough to have to fight an Eskrimador ? I learned a classical Kung Fu system for 10 years and the top exponents could have dealt with nearly all Chinese and Japanese systems (except possibly martial Tai Chi). However, Eskrima comes from the Phillipines where martial culture is very much part of their recent heritage. Knives are routinely carried so fighting really is "do or die". When I first saw Eskrima, I had to rethink my fighting strategies to deal with this type of opponent as my Kung Fu would have left me very vulnerable. This is why it is important to see and understand as much as possible (in whatever field you wish to specialise). If you get the chance to see an Eskrima class, go along. As a rapidly assimilated, true fighting art, it is one of the best that I've ever seen. In a true martial or street system, nothing should ever be outside of the art (however inconvenient to explain / counter) and nothing is outside the remit of Eskrima and their training gets "the warrior spirit" within its exponents whilst maintaining good humour (not much point being a "hard man" if you can't have a laugh and live a happy life !). If you envisage a real life situation (eg four attackers and you've fallen to the floor) and the system (or your own thoughts) can't give you a strategy for dealing with it (even if you have to take a shot), one day it might happen for real and all your years of training might be for nothing. Some arts choose to ignore some possibilities as being "too difficult" or classing them as "unlikely" : make sure your chosen art doesn't, as this sometimes means they haven't thought about the situation or can't deal with them. Some situations are hopeless or extremely difficult to deal with and you may have little or no chance of survival but, if there is no other option, better to go down fighting than not. Ignoring these situations (or for that matter ignoring all the issues related to the prefight or post fight) leaves a gap in your understanding of how you would deal with the nature of violence / confrontation. Martial arts are about understanding yourself and the wider World, only one part of which is violence / confrontation: instructors are their just to show you a path, but you ultimately have your own path which reflects what makes you, you.

From the choices which your E-mail suggests that you have available, and if Chin Na really interests you, I'd suggest that JKD or Wing Chun would be a good place to start. When fighting at shorter ranges, Chin Na has to be considered and mastered and both JKD and Wing Chun work very well within these ranges. I'm not all that knowledgeable about Southern Praying Mantis but I think it works primarily in the middle to long range. All the Praying Mantis that I've seen have had a good solid but fast moving structure which is well suited to the darting movements of the style. Possibly it has some balance implications during changes between different ranges but I'd have to see more to be sure. However, I'd suggest you go and see them all. Talk to the instructors and get a "feel" for whether you would be happy training with a specific instructor. If for some reason you don't feel welcome then how are you going to be able to ask questions and push forward your understanding ? If they get all prissy and start bad mouthing other systems, is this really the attitude you want to have in years to come (for example if one of your friends was practising one of the other systems which was being shot down) ? Would you have the strength of character to try to change their views / attitudes or would you keep quiet (and sacrifice your allegiance to your friend to be able to "run with the pack") ? Not a choice I would want to be forced to make ). Look at the junior students and the graduation in standard up to the senior ranks. In your opinion, how long does it take for students to get "good" at the style ? How long have students been training to achieve this : does it fit in with your plans / objectives ? Is this the type of student that you want to look like ? Is the instructor brilliant but the students mediocre ? Is this the fault of the instructor or the students ? Does the system deal with all aspects of the art which interest you (eg martial, street and healing) or just some of them ? How do the instructors feel about you training elsewhere if you wanted to learn other different things ? What will be the implications of the training methods on your long term future ? Will you get more damage during training than you ever will in the 5 or 6 fights you are likely to have to deal with in your lifetime ? Is this what you want or is the balance between the training being too soft / hard wrong for you ? Will techniques cause you to have longer term illness or disability? (Traditional martial arts were taught to warriors who fought every time they were required (and this was quite often). Overall, their probability of living beyond 40 years old weren't all that good, being likely to die either in combat or during training. As a consequence, they could punish their bodies more because there was no "long term" strategy. Some of their training practises are still valid but others less so. Judge them for yourself. Are you happy to walk that road ? A martial art has to live and flourish within the World in which you live. If your life is such that you will never need to be a warrior then the merits of training to be one have to be weighed up on a benefits of knowledge against potential damage basis). Finally, always make sure any club has insurance and ask to look at the policy to ensure than common (eg dislocated fingers) or serious injuries (eg losing an eye) cover you sufficiently.

Hope this helps in some way to help you find the correct path for you. Feel free to write again if I've talked around the problem rather than answering your question (a common trait of mine !) and you need more ideas / help etc. Best wishes to you and your family.