Missing link, from form to application
Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 11:51 am
It seems to me that the most important missing link between practicing the form and applying those movements against a resisting opponent is the inclusion of head movement. When I say head movement, I mean the movement of the entire central axis via the head. I feel that the most important function of form practice is the separation of the central axis from the rest of the bodies movements, the ability to move the body freely around the central axis without tossing that axis. However, without the ability to adjust that axis to the appropriate position and angle during combat, ones central axis is easily destroyed via pushing/pulling and face punching. It seems to me that some teachers hide the fact that they move their axis to many different angles during combat and almost never stand strait. I would actually go so far to say that most of the skill in combat is in how to appropriately angle and adjust your central axis, and that a posture that is vertically totally strait is a state without intention for fighting, and can only be called wuji. Until one can intentionally and knowingly adjust the angle of the central axis to appropriately neutralize and avoid incoming force then their form remains just for show. Imagine someone entering the boxing ring without any head movement, and we see someone destined to be knocked out. In yet, the traditional martial arts circle seems to revolve defensively around this single aesthetic feature more than any other, the strait back.