Your 3 pieces of advice to a newcomer

[johnwang]

If you dont keep your hands up, chances are very high you will get punched in the face. No matter what style you have.

This can go the other way too. "If you keep your hands up, chances are very high you will get "kicked in the belley". No matter what style you have. IMO, your guard should be up when you are in punching range, your guaid should be down when you are in kicking range.

When you use both hands to

- punch at your opponent's head, you won't have another 2 hands to guard your head.
- guard your head, you won't have another 2 hands to punch at your opponent's head.

The moment that you see your opponent's hands are up, you know it's safe for you to enter beause his hand will be too far away to catch your leg when you kick him. Even if he may raise his leg to block your kick, his defense won't give you that much trouble. If your hands are also up at that moment, it will be very easy for your arms to tangle/wrap around his arms, and take his striking ability away. When you see one of your opponent's arms is down, you will not feel safe to enter because you know he is waiting for you to kick so he can catch your leg. When you see your opponent's hands are up, you know he is afraid of you. When you see your opponent's hands is down, you know he is not afraid of you, he is setting up a trap and waiting for you to move in. When you are tired, you may use one hand to guard your upper body and the other hand to guard your lower body. The moment that your oponent kicks you or just moves in, your lower hand can grab his leading leg and your upper hand can push his upper arm, and then run him down.

Look at this clip. The guy in yellow always kept his right arm behind him. He is waiting for you to move in so he can give you a killing punch. It's like the sword fight, when your opponent's sword is in front of you, all you need to do is to touch your sword with his sword (build a bridge), temporary guide his sword to a place that's not threaten to you (tucking principle), you can then enter safely. When your opponent's sword is behind him (like the guy's right arm), since you have no way to build a bridge and you don't know when that arm will come to you, you have to take more risk when you enter, and you may want to wait.

http://johnswang.com/fight_3.WMV

[DeusTrismegistus]

Don't worry.
Relax.
Have fun.

[Taijikid]

I have only one piece of advice: Take up golf.

I second that!

[JAB]

Jonathan the day you have 1/2 the talent any of those boxers had in their right pinky, then you can lecture on not keeping hands up. Putting your hands "wherever you like" will result in you getting KTFO!

I have bozo's that come in with the exact same idea and the exact same attitude as you, and then someone with 6 months of training schools them in why they should keep their hands up. Thinking otherwise is simply foolish.

JAB

[Earth_Monkey]

I have only one piece of advice: Take up golf.

I third this. However if ya REALLY dunt wanna play golf.

1. Have some clear short and long term goals

2. train consistently avoid excessive practice and then periods of no practice

3. Be serious but have some fun as well if it aint fun to some degree to stay at long term is doubtful

[middleway]

1. Empty your cup
2. Let your practice shape you
3. Don't be in a hurry

brilliant! ... +1

Cheers
Chris

[alexg]

1. There is no magic bullet, you actually need to train.
2. Always question what you are doing.
3. Expect to be hit.

[Walter Joyce]

I have only one piece of advice: Take up golf.

I second that!

As if.

I love golf, but when people ask me if they should try golf I answer only if they don't have enough frustration in their life.

I don't think of IMA as a sport, so I feel safe in saying that golf is the most difficult sport I have ever played.

[GrahamB]

1. Don't believe anything you read on the Internet.
2. Today's epiphany is tomorrow's half truth.
3. Keep your hands up.

[Tesshu]

1. Don't believe anything you read on the Internet.

mmmmh, now, if this, as you suggest, is a lie, then it is not true, but then this is not a lie and then it is true, but if it is true it must be a lie, argh. It's 2 p.m. here and I clearly need something strong and cold to drink.

[Areios]

1., train hard and smart
2., have long term goals and have short term goals
3., keep it real (even if you are just a tree hugher) never know when you gonna need it.

[Ian]

I think all of these are secondary to training with the best teacher you can find, regardless of style.

[Pandrews1982]

in general

1. set goals - look for achievements
2. forget your goals - sometimes things happen when you're not looking for them
3. train as often as possible and with a friend if possible

For a complete newcomer in Xing Yi my usual advice is

1. Keep your weight back.
2. Keep your weight back.
3. Get off the floor and this time keep your f***ing weight back.

[neijia_boxer]

for combat oriented IMA training:
1. cardio train- circuits, intervals, plyometrics, running sprints, explosive body exercises (upper body, abs, legs), cross-fit type shit that causes healthy stress on heart and lungs.
2. find a few techniques that really work for you and train them a lot.
3. spar a lot and keep your fu%$ing hands up!! LOL

[jonathan.bluestein]

Jonathan the day you have 1/2 the talent any of those boxers had in their right pinky, then you can lecture on not keeping hands up. Putting your hands "wherever you like" will result in you getting KTFO!

I have bozo's that come in with the exact same idea and the exact same attitude as you, and then someone with 6 months of training schools them in why they should keep their hands up. Thinking otherwise is simply foolish.

JAB

To you and all the others that responded:

I didn't mean to say one shouldn't use his hands, or intentionally keep them down either. I wasn't suggesting I specifically abide by any of these either. One should flow with the situation. Keeping the hands up all the time is too fixed. I've recently read the book "Chen" by Jan Silberstroff, who's a student of Chen Xiaowang. Jan asked Chen about keeping his guard or holding a specific stance, to which Chen replied that he should just be natural, not "prepared". Jan adopted that concept. As I recall, many people here admire Chen Xiaowang and his skills, and believe he knows his stuff well.

One of the better things about boxing is that in good gyms, boxers are encouraged to develop their own unique style of fighting. How these boxers fight/fought has more to do with their personality and body structure than their talent. True fighting is formless.

You ever played dodgeball? I was the best in my school for many years. I was never taught "technique" - I moved in the manner which best suited me, and as it turned out, the way my body moved naturally was the best way.