Don't fight when you are angry and don't be angry when you fight

Yes. I know very well that what I am saying is not making sense to many of you. That does not bother me if it doesn't make sense to someone who does not know any martial arts, because it gives me something to teach and then I can actually show how martial arts can solve the world's problems instead of adding to them.

What does bother me, however, is that there are high ranking martial artists- not only in MMA- but in Karate schools- who don't get it either.

I often imagine how dangerous this guy will be if Goku taught him to control that rage...

I trust however that there are still some old-school Karate teachers around that know the Japanese Okinawan proverb that starts with something like "Njiraa te hiki..." or something like that...

Anyway- it translates to: "If you are angry- withdraw your fists. If your fists are out, withdraw your anger."

A little help here, please Jesse Sensei- if you are out there and reading this...

I think Sensei Iain might also know this.

Oi! Miki-chan! You might also know this saying. Could you please tell me what the proper Japanese sentence is? :) Tasukete Kudasai! :)

These senseis and those teachers who still remember the old teachings might even know the story of the fisherman who got the above advice at a bar and when he came home he looked through his bedroom window and saw his wife in bed with someone else. 

Now- how that story ends I want to leave to someone in Martial Arts Forums, either of the two Karate Senseis Jesse or Iain or anyone in the Karate Nerds Facebook group to tell- if they know the story. Just put it in the comment section. If it lands first on Martial Arts Forums I'll share it in the comments to this post in the Karate Nerds group and if it lands first in the Karate Nerds group- well... you get it, right...? 

Well- I guess it is common sense that anger messes up your performance in a number of ways. It hinders your coordination, your timing. It slows you down and even messes with your accuracy.

I have written in an earlier post that one can use rage to get you out of that state of passive fear just to spur you into action, but that really is only a crutch for beginners and definitely not the mark of an accomplished martial artist.

The thing is- anger messes up your technique as well.

It causes muscles to tense up before they should- especially shoulders. What are supposed to be precise movements become big clumsy movements.

To give you an example. Taijiquan's straight punch seems much weaker than a common haymaker that is delivered with shoulders raised and so forth. To master this type of punch one needs to learn to relax the body and to contract the participating muscles in a lightning fast twitch, the fist clenching only on the moment of impact.

This type of punch is really powerful. Using it in a fight is a bit of a challenge, though. Stress causes muscles to tense up prematurely. Then you have only brief opportunities to strike that do not allow for you to charge up with as much energy as you want to before hitting.

This is not the type of punch to throw angry. Anger just messes up the entire technique.

The world is already filled with destructive messages promoting competitive spirit, aggression and drive. While I myself, a very passionate person at times, can agree that there is nothing wrong with a good old can-do spirit we as martial artists have a duty to show our students that we do not prevail through rage and aggression, but through rather through harmony and balance.

Let's face it. You cannot always impose your will upon the world. When it is time to fight you fight. When it is time to mend relationships you make peace. Switching those two around just because you want to has disastrous consequences. 

There are few skills greater than learning to put aside your own emotions in order to do what your current situation dictates. Anger is that bugger that tells you to punch when you are supposed to block or to rush in so that you can get thrown.

For an example of how anger has led to the mortal defeat of a fighter I am also going to leave it to someone else in either one of my favourite online groups to tell us in the comment section how Musashi Miyamoto ended up killing someone with a bokken (wooden sword) when he was about 13 years old.

Now- if you wonder how on earth we teach that I can elaborate further in another post if you like, but for now I think it is enough of a tip to say that in martial arts we can learn that the emotions follow the body just as the body follows emotions.

In Kungfu we learn that sinking the qi, relaxing the shoulders and adopting a rooted stance calms the mind the same way a calm mind helps you relax your shoulders, sink into your stance and to sink your qi. In Karate- doing a proper oi zuki has a similar effect. One can either calm down and then have the results of relaxed shoulders, a crisp explosive punch and a nice firm zenkutsu dachi or- you could keep those heels to the ground, relax those shoulders, keep the arm and fist relaxed until the point of impact (or imaginary impact if it is kata or kihon) and find that your mind has calmed down in the process. 

So- anger does not only hamper your ability to fight effectively. It even messes up your kata and kihon.

This weekend's post gets published a bit earlier than usual because I am going to spend the weekend with some of my Chinese friends in Johannesburg and at Nanhua Temple to celebrate the Chinese New Year!

And since this year is the Year of the Dog- I guess my brother's staffie Hiccup is most qualified to show his furry brothers and sisters his best smile.

To the rest of the Chinese communities of the world- and I mean it in the nicest, non-racist way:

Dogs are friends- not food!

:D

Have a great weekend, everyone!