Defense Form- Movement No. 3: Bursting through the attack

Hello again, everyone.

Today's move actually pretty much speaks for itself.

Still- it helps o look a bit at its finer details.

I have never seen any kata or form that shows any of the defensive footwork that we find in sports martial arts. In competitions we often see fighters retreating while they block or parry and shifting forward again to counterattack. Still- we don't see this happen in our katas.

Well- in Kungfu's taolu- as they call their katas we do find moves for withdrawing and sidestepping as well as for advancing. Still- the majority of moves in these forms are advancing moves.

Moving forwards into an attack looks like suicide most of the time. Still- almost all of the forms we see seem to prescribe it. Why would anyone want to do it?

Well- here is my answer. Take it or leave it.

Sure- it is probably the safest to first evade your opponent's attack before attacking, but you practice martial arts on a regular basis, right? Because you train so regularly, you ought to be more skilled than your average Joe in a fight. By now you can see punches coming at you (not yet? Then train some more!)

So- if you can see the punch coming in time- and you can act in time- why waste time on first retreating- giving your opponent the chance to throw another punch anyway- and then shuffling forward to attack? 

This particular move is meant for use against a straight punch. It starts while the punch is still on its way to you and intercepts the punch halfway, guiding it past you as you move in to punch. 

Although I can imagine a variation in which you block the punch towards the opponent's center line I most often execute this move by knocking the opponent's fist away from his center line. That means that the risk of getting hit by the second hand is real, so I do not want to waste time following through with the punch.

Something that both helps getting the punch past my body and that powers my own punch is the sharp pivot with which the move is executed. It is a quick hip rotation coupled with a pivot on the ball of the lead foot. The stepping leg merely follows the hip.

This rotation is awfully familiar. It does remind you of something, right...?

Right...

I do admit that I took a lot of licence in making my gif. If your hip rotation gets stopped short when you actually hit your opponent- that is perfectly normal and not a sign that you have done anything wrong.

It is just real life.

Forms often contain movements like this that are executed as if moving through the enemy. This method of imaging through the imaginary opponent is meant to cultivate a mindset of throwing your full weight and momentum into the attack. You can see from my stance, however, that this is not an uncontrolled lunge. I still maintain balance and posture to ensure that I can either follow through with another attack or retreat on time if necessary.

One of the advantages of mastering a move like this is that you become able to cut short the most complicated of combinations or special attacks before they build up any become too powerful to stop.

Although this is also an example of Musashi's principle of Tai Tai No Sen it is also an example of his principle of "scolding" that is also explained in his book.


Well- I hope you have enjoyed this post.

Train well and have a good week! :)