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The sound a heavy bag makes will provide you with feedback about your technique Original Source: woman.thenest.com |
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a follow up to the Bruce Lee slap and punch reference I made in the last post
(June 17, 2015) on Martial Art Speed – The How, the sound of a technique can
reveal its quality. Obviously, that comes from awareness and experience.
I’m
not a Kendo practitioner, but I bet
the same holds true for certain sounds made by shinai cracking against shinai
– or against the armour. I bet that a seasoned Kendo could be mediating in seiza at the other end of the Dojo with
her eyes closed and know what type of strike had just been made, the quality
and depth of that particular strike…and just who in the class initiated that
strike.
I’m
not a Kali practitioner, but I bet
your sticks provide you with similar feedback. In fact, I’m sure they do
because you Kali practitioners do operate at high speeds, sometimes well beyond
what the eyes can handle, and the sounds of the sticks must provide your sense
of awareness with reference points if nothing else.
In
Aikido, I’m certain that refined
practitioners can detect numerous things about a technique just by the quality
of the sound –
1. The timing of and the depth of the “swishing”
sound of the hakama.
2. That essential merging sound of tori and uke in space-time on the tatami…how
deeply it’s expressed, the speed of the merger, the direction of the merger,
its hard/soft quality, etc.
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The formidable Choy Li Fut master Lee Koon Hung Source: www.leekoonhungkungfu.com |
Bag
work – if a Taekwondo practitioner
were standing outside the entrance to the Dojang, I bet he would be able to
tell the type of kick which just struck the bag, its angle of impact, the depth
of impact and the speed behind the impact…and along with all of this
information, the depth of experience the unseen kicker enjoys.
Savate? Kickboxing?A coach can probably tell which of his trainees is
punching the heavy bag just by the sound alone…the special “sizzle”, how the
legs and hips combine as engines of the punch, the depth of impact, even the
recovery time until the next punch. It comes with the smell – and the taste -
of the sweat.
Kung Fu weapons “talk”, in fact
there is a steady conversation going on between the weapon and the practitioner
as long as he doesn’t choke off the life of the weapon by a stiff and unfeeling
grip. The spear talks in so many ways, from the tip to the tassel to the wax
wood shaft. You can close your eyes and the spear will tell you from far away
when it twists like a dragon in a clockwise motion or snaps back in a
counter-clockwise movement; or when it flies directly out from one hand – just
like a dragon leaving a cave – only to be caught by the other hand.
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Hands "talk" during sticky hands practise Source: sg.news.yahoo.com |
If
you’re familiar with the big forms of Tai
Chi, very familiar, you can stand outside an open window, and know exactly
where the Tai Chi class is in the form at any given moment just by the sounds
you hear.
Wing Chun Kung Fu’s Wong Shun
Leung was known as the “King of the Talking Hands”. All sticky hands, bridge
hands, speed sparring, etc. in Kung Fu has masses of accompanying sounds that
reveal so much, not just about the techniques employed, but about the
strategies behind them.
Train
– and listen. You’re martial
movements are indeed a part of an ongoing conversation. With enough experience,
the sounds will let you know how far you’ve come and how much further you have
to go. And they will teach you in the absence of your teacher.
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