A Storybook Technique
A Storybook Technique
A Storybook Technique
A practitioner is only as good as the techniques he is able to apply.As a martial artist practices forms and sets, his body becomes familiar with the movements needed to perform various applications. A martial application refers to applying a given technique from the movements within a set or routine. Each movement can incorporate one or more techniques such as striking, kicking, joint locks, throws or take-downs. These techniques form the basis for the combat methods and principles of a particular martial art. For a given technique to be effective in combat it must be complete.
A complete technique is put together like a good story, with a definitive beginning, middle and end.A technique may be simple or complex, consisting of a few movements or several intricate ones, but to be effective it needs to create a story. Every story has a goal; conveying some message or entertaining the audience, every technique also has a specific goal. The goal of every technique is the same; to put an opponent into a state of no longer being able to engage you in combat. The opponent may be fearful, injured, unconscious or trappedin such a way that engagement is not possible. For our technique story to have a happy ending, we must successfullyconcludethe technique, reaching our goal without sustaining injury or incapacitation ourselves.While a technique may reach its goal during any phase of the story, it must contain all three aspects to be considered complete.
The beginning of a technique starts in a variety of ways.It may be defensive or offensive, mild or aggressive, it may follow from an attack or off of a counter attack. Either you or your opponent begin the engagement, with the intent to execute a technique. You may avoid, block or counter an opponent's attack, throw a strike, kick, advance or other action to start executing the technique. Just as the beginning of a story sets up the reference point and gives context to the story, the beginning of a technique sets up the context for the rest of the technique. In the beginning of your technique you create the appropriate distance by closing the distance, maintaining the distance or creating space. The distance between you and your opponent as well as the wayyou engage the opponent provides the reference point from which you move into the middle of your technique story.
The middle of a technique is where deception often comes in to play. During this portion of the technique story the transition and carry through movements are executed. It may seem like the end of a technique, containing strikes or locks that distract an opponent from the true intent of a technique. The middle of a technique is where it often fails. The setup of the story may not be correct providing a solid foundation, the middle movements may be too complex for your skill level, mistakes are made, or the opponent easily guesses where your story is going and negates your action. Using deceptive movements to hide the technique andlots of practice will ensure that your technique reaches a successful conclusion.
The conclusion of your story is very short and definitive. Once your technique has been successfully applied and your opponent can no longer engage you in combat you have reached the end of your technique story. Do not drag the end of the story on for too long. Make sure to wrap up loose ends very quickly so that you do not leave an opportunity for your opponent to re-engage and start a technique story of their own.
Anyone can tell a story, but a good story has a strong climax and this is true of a good technique as well. The climax of a technique is the moment whenthe intent ofthe techniqueis executedand becomesapparentto an opponent. Like a good thriller, the beginning and middle of the technique should use deception so that the climax is a surprise. You do not want the reader or the opponent to guess what the surprise twist is until the moment you are ready to reveal it. The climax is the instant that you reach the goal of your technique, landing the intentional blow or the setting of the lock that forces the opponent to disengage. Once the climax of a technique becomes evident it should be too late for an opponent to counter or escape. Your actions must be quick and decisive, hesitation will provide too much time for an opponent to ruin your well crafted technique story.
A technique may be self-contained or span multiple movements. A lock that has an entry, maintains contact and renders the opponent unable to continue the engagement is a self-contained technique. A strike that causes an opponent's body to react in a certain manner to set up a follow-up strike that puts the opponent off-balance for the final strike would be a technique that spans multiple movements. The goal and intent of a technique determine whether it is a complete technique or movement. As an example we can examine a single punch. If you punch the jaw of an opponent, aiming for a knock-out point, you are executing a very simple story technique. You have moved into the proper distance for the strike to be effective setting up the strike, you have executed the movement of the punch so that your fist will reach its target. Provided that it is not avoided, blocked or otherwise rendered ineffective, you will reach the climax upon impact and quickly proceed to the end where the opponent is knocked-out. If you punch without specific intent, and aim for the shoulder you are not executing a technique. You still have the setup and distancing, you still execute the movement and if you make contact you may injure your opponent, but if the end result does not result in ending the engagement it was not a complete technique. This does not mean that the movement is not useful and should be discarded, it may be an appropriate movement for the beginning or middle movement of a complete technique.
During practice you often work on a complete technique from beginning to end within a contrived, ideal scenario that does not interrupt the technique story. In combat, however your technique may fail for a variety of reasons forcing you to abandon one story to tell another. This does not mean that those techniques are not complete, just that they have been disrupted. When this occurs, a practitioner may be able to begin a new technique from within the disrupted technique or at least recover into a position from which to begin a brand new technique story.
Understanding the division of a technique into the pieces of a technique story has several advantages. One advantage is that it becomes clearer how several beginnings may set the appropriate context for the same middle or how several middle sections may allow for the execution of a given climax. This allows the practitioner mix and match the beginning and middle techniques to reach a specific end goal. This becomes useful when learning to follow the flow of a combat exchange and adapt to a given situation or the interruption of a your technique by your opponent. Another advantage of understanding the distinct sections of a technique story is that it allows a practitioner to break down a new technique into easily understood sections making it easier to learn a given technique.
Take the time to evaluate all of your techniques against a good technique story. You will be able to decide which movements are complete techniques in themselves and which should really be used in the beginning, middle or end of your technique story. This will aid you in adapting and beingflexible in the execution of your techniques so you are not locked in to the movements only as they are prescribed by scenarios set forth in the forms that you practice.The techniques that are most effective are those that are complete, consistently practiced and well executed from beginning to end.
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