Here are five different attributes that I believe every martial artist should have in order to illicit good, effective performance from themselves. These are the core qualities, the building blocks of good performance, the attributes of a martial artist.
1. Good technique. A good understanding and working knowledge of technique is essential to good martial arts performance. It is the bedrock on which all other attributes are built because without good technique we are only left with raw, unfocused movement and brute force. It is important that when you first learn technique that you do so thoroughly and comprehensively, taking in every minor nuance of the movements so the technique can work for you rather than against you. Having a good working knowledge of your techniques will save you from a lot of problems and frustration further down the line because by observing strict form at all times you are giving yourself the best possible chance of success. You can have everything else, but if your technique is sloppy then it will surely let you down under pressure when you most need it.
So when learning a new technique, first break it down into stages, know exactly what is involved in the movements and in what way you have to execute those movements. Be aware of the body mechanics involved, where your feet should be positioned, when to apply force, if at all, and where on your opponent that force or technique should be applied. Start slowly until all the movements are firmly embedded in your memory before even thinking about adding any kind of speed or power. Do this correctly and you are giving yourself a solid foundation on which to build upon. And remember, technique is everything in the martial arts.
2. Speed. Speed is the thing you should work on next, not power as a lot of beginners tend to focus on initially. Without speed there is no power, something people tend to forget when they are trying their best to knock a bag of its bracket or knock down an opponent.
In order for speed to happen you must first be relaxed. Tense muscles will only slow down your movements. I often see beginners in the martial arts try to perform techniques with overly tense muscles, unaware of the fact that their actions are counter-productive to any attempt to inject speed into their movements. Effectively, they are slowing themselves down instead of up.
Speed should be allowed to build up naturally. The more familiar you become with any technique, the more relaxed you tend to become while actually doing it and thus the faster your execution of the technique eventually becomes. You can’t force speed; you can only build it up gradually. Of course there are many speed training drills you can do to help things along, such as working on focus pads without using any real power or, if you desire speedier throws, then use the old judo technique of attaching a rope to the wall and practice jumping into position as if holding someone’s arm. There are many more drills and techniques you can use to increase your speed (some of which I will mention in future articles) but in general speed takes time to build up. The more you practice your techniques the faster you will eventually become at doing them.
3. Power. It helps to have power behind your technique if you are a martial artist. If you are lacking in power then your techniques won’t be as effective as they should be. Your technique can be perfect, but it can only take you so far. A perfectly executed punch or kick is just that; it looks nice but it isn’t going to do any real damage. Put some power behind it though and you have yourself a punch or kick (or throw) that will inflict real damage on to your opponent.
As I’ve already stated, power comes from speed, and like speed it must be allowed to build up naturally. Trying to force power into a technique will only serve to slow it down and rob it of any real effectiveness. Forced power results in tensed muscles and as we know, tense muscles lead to less speed. Your muscles should only really tense at the very end of a technique, at the point of impact in the case of a strike and in the case of throws, just as you pull your opponent off-balance. The rest of the time you should remain as relaxed as possible. Do this and you will find your ability to generate power will come naturally, over time, without you having to do much to encourage it.
As in the case of speed, there are also plenty of training methods to increase your power base, weight training being one of them (we’ll get to that next) but in general, focus on speed first and your power will follow suit.
4. Strength. Whilst it is entirely possible for a martial artist to get by on a minimum amount of strength and still be effective, I firmly believe that strength can only enhance and improve your technique and performance. Technique will only get you so far, which is why it is important to build up your strength base. Many times I have been training with people -especially in grappling – and my strength has allowed me to dominate the proceedings when my technique failed me.
If you have two fighters, both of equal size and abilities except for the fact that one is stronger than the other, then it is obvious who is going to come out on top. Superior strength is what gives you the edge over other, weaker opponents, it is what reinforces your overall technique and it should therefore be sought after in all martial artists. You have the ability to build up your strength to quite incredible levels, so why not do so if it makes you better and helps you perform better? It can make all the difference in your training and matches.
Obviously, the best way to increase your strength is through weight training. The weights are still unrivalled in this respect and as such, they should be taken advantage of and used whenever possible. I am not talking about bodybuilding here, I’m talking about doing specific weight training exercises that are going to help you as a martial artist, which means sticking to the basic exercises and not worrying about the more refined ones for training muscles you hardly use.
So do yourself a favour and start strength training if you are not already doing so. You won’t regret it.
4. Focused intent. Having intent behind your techniques is imperative if you want to be a really effective martial artist. To put intent behind your techniques is to make them much more powerful than if you did them without it. Intent comes from knowing why you are doing a certain technique. It comes from knowing what effect you want your technique to have on your opponent. Most of all it means focusing absolutely on what you are doing. Too often I see people perform techniques without intent to the point were their movements just look robotic and stilted, lacking in any real zeal. This is because they are just going through the motions. When I see this I just want to run over and repeat what Bruce Lee said to his student in “Enter the Dragon”: “Once more- with feeling.”
Pouring intent into your techniques will make them many times more powerful. See for yourself. Find a bag and perform a simple front punch on it, but do so automatically, not really thinking about what you are doing or why you are doing it. How lackluster is that punch? How thoroughly ineffective is it? Would it put someone down? I doubt it.
Now this time do the same punch again but do it with real intent behind it, know why you are doing it, what effect you want that punch to have on your (in this case imaginary) opponent. Focus all your intent into it. Now how much better was that punch? A lot I’ll bet. It was faster, more powerful, more accurate and most importantly, it probably felt better too.
That’s focused intent. Use it on all your techniques all the time and see how much you improve as a martial artist.
5. Aggression. This is the last thing I want to mention. Some of you may disagree on the grounds that aggression somehow goes against any Zen sensibilities you may have, but I firmly believe that a martial artist without aggression is a lot weaker than one who has it. I am of course talking about controlled aggression here, not wild, out of control rage. The ability to turn aggression on and off as you please is a skill and one which must be learned if you are to put all the other attributes I just mentioned to good use.
If intent is like the message you want to give your opponent, then aggression is the means by which that message is put across. Upping your aggression – and again I must stress that it should be controlled – is like supercharging your technique. It ties together your technique, speed, power, strength and intent and fires them all out at once like a bolt of lightning, it makes everything cohesive and immensely powerful.
Again, two fighters, both of equal abilities but one is more aggressive than the other. Who wins? My money will always be on the more aggressive fighter. Why? Because they have that all important edge, psychologically as well as physically. A more aggressive fighter is obviously going to be more intimidating to a less aggressive fighter because the more aggressive one is going to seem more focused, confident and powerful.
Aggression is a potent force that should be used whenever possible to supercharge your technique and overall demeanour. However, it must be controlled or it can become counter-productive, resulting in a loss of focus and sloppy technique, so be careful. You should control your own aggression, not the other way around.
image by Umberto Salvagnin
