The Truth About Traditional Martial Arts

[JowGaWolf]

So the center line is from the top of the head down through the body to the ground. You want your attacks to go through this line. You can attack this line from any angle.
Using the DK Yoo boxing clip above as reference. If you attack inside the opponents lead arm you have to deal with the back hand which is usually the opponents power hand. So going up the center means your two hands vs his two hands. Doing the clock wise circle means always moving into the opponents power hand. This is your option 1

Option two. is to move to the outside of the lead arm/leg and then attack in to the center. In the clip above Manny P does this a few times. There are many way to do this but basically you move counter clockwise but cut the circle to get close to their body attacking from outside the lead arm into their center. Now you do not have to deal with their power hand. Their body is in effect trapping the power hand because it has to cross their own body to get to you.

This is the basics. but it becomes more difficult if the power hand is forward. I like to have my power hand forward (best hand forward). Slipping to my the outside of my left hand works like you have described. Slipping to my right hand side not so much. The majority of the people are trained to fight with there Power hand back. In general this means the weaker hand is up front. But this isn't the case for me.

Think of it like fencing, Do you hold the sword with your best hand or the weakest hand? If, you hold the sword with your weakest hand then it's much easier to get around it than if you hold the sword with your best hand. It works the same in fighting. I have the hand with the most dexterity forward which will allow me to

To put this into perspective. Lomenchenko is right handed but fights south paw. The stuff he is doing is only because he's putting his best hand (the one with the most dexterity) forward. If you an I were to play tag, you will try to tag me with your best hand because that's the hand that can better deal with angle cuts. The Irony about the right hand and the left hand is that the left hand is that the weakest hand usually shoots out the fastest. The strongest hand usually chambers (pulls back) the fastest.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Think of it like fencing, Do you hold the sword with your best hand or the weakest hand?

When I trained rapier, we trained both sides, just as we do in TKD...
So maybe not the best analogy.

 

[JowGaWolf]

When I trained rapier, we trained both sides, just as we do in TKD...
So maybe not the best analogy.

Even if you train both hands, One hand is still better than the other. It's just the way that it is. The only exception to this rule is when a person's left hand and right hand are equal and there aren't many people who fit that category in comparison to those who don't.

There are very few people who are truly the exception of this. If you compete using the rapier, then you will use your best hand to do so. If you were to use the Rapier in a real fight against someoen equally as skill or better, then it makes no sense to use your weak hand to complete the job. The benefit of training both hands is when your strong hand is damaged and it only leaves the next best.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I like to have my power hand forward (best hand forward).

Your powerful leading hand hook punch can give you a lot of advantage.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Even if you train both hands, One hand is still better than the other. It's just the way that it is. The only exception to this rule is when a person's left hand and right hand are equal and there aren't many people who fit that category in comparison to those who don't.

There are very few people who are truly the exception of this. If you compete using the rapier, then you will use your best hand to do so. If you were to use the Rapier in a real fight against someoen equally as skill or better, then it makes no sense to use your weak hand to complete the job. The benefit of training both hands is when your strong hand is damaged and it only leaves the next best.

Clearly you have never read the princess bride.

 

[Taiji Rebel]

The videos that opened this thread certainly got people talking. Using the word traditional is like cracking open a can of worms. It was not my intention to create a controversial post or challenge anyone else's ideas and beliefs. We can all take our own path toward learning the martial arts.

It is fun to see how quick people are to start discussing techniques. Always posting videos, or talking about combinations and moves. I appreciated some of the more in-depth responses.

Not everyone can delve deep into the concepts - in fact some have difficult understanding conceptual thinking. If it is not physical-fighting talk, or does not have a Youtube video attached then some people are lost. The centreline theory is one which some folk find difficult to understand, but I would guess these people focus more on techniques than principles.

Adam's thoughts on the internal and external aspects of the CMA are intriguing and worth consideration - you can hear those thoughts and see them demoed in part 4.

Western Boxing has evolved over time in the same way as other martial arts. In fact western boxing is a good comparative model to use. Adam Chan is a thinker as well as a teacher. He uses the frame Tribal in place of Traditional and talks about weapons etc. All of which is interesting to consider.

Take the term Western Boxing and a certain image will come to mind depending upon the era in which you experienced the art of boxing. Look back to the days of Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson, Jess Willard etc. and compare that to the modern day boxing - same name, different style and practice.

So which era of boxing are you going to practice?