One of the things
I enjoy about our art form is at its essence it is simple and straightforward. Certainly, there are some exciting and fancy
moves you can practice that look flashy and fun to try and impressive to
perform, but those are not always effective or keep you safe. The goal of Han Moo Kwan is to be effective
and stay safe therefore with that objective in mind, techniques are kept straightforward
and simple.
Let’s look at
some examples of flashy techniques.
The flying kick
is a great example of a technique seen in movies or competition. Yes, this is flashy, yes it takes skill to
perform, but there are a lot of flaws in that technique being effective and
staying safe. First off your feet off
the ground and therefore if you are blocked or stopped, the landing may cause
significant damage to yourself especially if you hit you head. And how easy would it be just to step aside
and get off the line of such a technique?
And once you have committed to that technique, there is no changing
mid-air.
The spinning back
kick is another great example. Again, very flashy and takes a lot of control and
balance to perform, which is why Mr. Kim would always say about this technique,
“Practice, but never use.” First off,
this technique requires you to turn your back to your opponent which is not
very safe. For the technique to be
effective, the timing needs to be flawless and few can master that.
Let’s look at
examples of how our art form keeps it simple.
For one, we teach
and prefer to ignore the grab (unless it is life threatening) and aim for a
vulnerable target to end any altercation quickly. And if we choose to go after the grab, it is
to cause damage.
One of my
favorite Mr. Kim’s stories which is also a great example about keeping it
simple is from Brian Rainie: “During an
open session, with everyone working on whatever interested them that evening, I
was practicing some self defense with another black belt. From a same-side grab to the wrist, I would
raise my arm outward and then inward, pick up the aggressor’s hand with my free
hand, lock their wrist releasing the pressure on my arm, then force my elbow
into their forearm to initiate an arm bar.
It seemed to be working moderately well.
Mr. Kim walked over and took a position in front of me. He put out his wrist, so I grabbed it to
experience his correction. With his free
hand he punched my grabbing hand, pretty much shattering it and definitely
eliminating the threat. He turned to me
and said “Basics. Always work.”
Sometimes we do
teach and practice “flashy” and more elaborate techniques. For example, the spinning back kick is a
fantastic way to practice balance and targeting. Sometimes we practice 4-5 step moves to get
out of a grab to teach and practice movement, distance, grounding, among other
things. We teach our side kick,
initially, in many steps to ensure you learn the detailed motion that make it
effective before allowing a more blended motion.
However, when it
comes to using the techniques to protect yourself on the street, always keep it
simple and straightforward.
Regards,
Kelly
“To me, the
extraordinary aspect of martial arts lies in its simplicity. The easy way is
also the right way, and martial arts is nothing at all special; the closer to
the true way of martial arts, the less wastage of expression there is.” ~ Bruce
Lee, (1940 –1973) American-born Chinese Hong Kong martial artist, actor, and
founder of Jeet Kune Do
