subject: The Greatest Training Device In The Martial Arts Isn't So Great! [print this page] I'm going to tell you something that never occurs to people. The old masters, a hundred or so years ago, they didn't know what they looked like when they did the martial arts. They had no means of looking at themselves to make they were correct in their kata.
Odd, eh? But it's true. Back a hundred years ago, especially in some of the third world countries that the martial arts flourished in, they didn't have mirrors.
Nowadays we walk into training halls with mirrors covering the walls. We do our forms, and we inspect our movements, and we know what we look like. Sometimes this is good, sometimes this is bad, but at least we can see ourselves.
The good is that we can adjust our forms. We can see our postural mistakes. The bad...well, let me explain.
There is this self-defeating thing called narcissism. Falling in love with yourself...and the way you look. But image often doesn't have anything to do with function.
The martial arts rely on internal energy that is not always visible to the naked eye, and in using mirrors we start looking at our glorious form, and don't always to create the energy that the form, without obsessing on one's self image, can create. We are not always able to see the degree to which we should sink our energies into the earth. We are not always able to ascertain correctly whether the tan tien is glowing and growing, and being used in an appropriate martial manner.
A knock out punch is not be a polite line of turning wrist and fist, it is be a belly busting explosion of weight and emotion and dedication to hell with the world! A real blocking action should not be a mere placement of flesh and bone, it should be a staunch stance with world shaking focus! A kick should not be the ability to do the splits to the high heavens, it should be a sinking of the weight, a balance while tremendous energies are coursed through the limb and into the foot and...beyond.
A mirror can be a wonderful training aid, it can impart a million bits and pieces, and make us look incredibly pretty, but it doesn't always generate the energy it takes to survive a fight. the appearance of looking good might be great if you want to make your way onto video and hollywood, but it has limited value when it comes to the true martial arts. In the martial arts one must give up the idea of self image to find The True Art.
