Nice block! Thanks! What block?

[Bill Mattocks]

Just thought I'd throw this out there. I'm far from an expert, and oh my, am I slow when it comes to sparring. But more than a couple times lately, I have apparently performed a block that has either been very effective or has actually damaged my sparring partner (recent example, I dropped an elbow on an incoming side kick and damaged my partner's big toe). The odd thing is, I either don't recall doing the block specifically, or it seemed like an accident that my arm happened to be in the right place at the right time. In several cases, after being told I had blocked something well, I actually thought to myself "What block? I didn't block anything?" And yet, I am assured by observers that I did. It certainly seems as though the blocks I'm thinking about have less effectiveness than the ones that appear to be sneaking up on me and throwing themselves without me noticing. Anyone else have this experience? Just curious. Perhaps I'm not really blocking, but Inspector Clouseau-ing.

 

[lklawson]

Pretty cool, ain't it?

It's gotten into your automatic responses. Your conscious mind is busy doing stuff that it thinks are important to the sparring and your subconscious is buys doing stuff that it's been trained to do over many long and arduous hours.

It's a cool benny.

...usually...

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

 

[WC_lun]

This the goal of martial arts, to get the mechanics into your muscle memory. It frees up the mind to see more, and quickens the response to an opponent because the process is more stream lined. All good stuff. However, if you are just Inspector Clouseau-ing it, its still getting the job done and that is what you want, so don't worry yourself

 

[Xue Sheng]

Do this stuff long enough and it happens... and it is always cool

I was doing some tuishou a couple of weeks ago and the other guy stopped and said..."OK that's broken".

I had not realized it but I had locked his arm and if I applied pressure it may have broken, I did not break his arm ,nor was I going to and I did not realize I was in that position until he said something.

 

[oftheherd1]

Good to develop good 'instintive' reactions to attacks. Congratulations.

 

[Blindside]

Wow, this martial arts training thing actually works. Cool!

Try to start videoing your sparring sessions, you will see alot of things that you don't know you are doing, both good and bad.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

You must have trained a lot for it to become that instinctive, almost never happens for me, and when it does, i think its more of an "in the right place at the right time" accident type of thing

 

[arnisador]

Been there! It doesn't even feel like a block--just what you need to do to get to getting your technique in.

 

[Danny T]

That is great Bill. Over the years there have been numerous times I've asked a partner how did they do a technique or pull off a specific move and answer much the same as you Bill. Performing a move at real time against a non-compliant person. It is awesome when you pull off something without realizing. I've had partners say things like that was a great move do it again or show me how you did that. Usually I can't because I don't realize what was done prior to set it up. It just happened within the movement. Good feeling when it happens

 

[K-man]

In several cases, after being told I had blocked something well, I actually thought to myself "What block? I didn't block anything?" And yet, I am assured by observers that I did. It certainly seems as though the blocks I'm thinking about have less effectiveness than the ones that appear to be sneaking up on me and throwing themselves without me noticing. Anyone else have this experience? Just curious. Perhaps I'm not really blocking, but Inspector Clouseau-ing.

This is exactly why I don't teach blocks. As an example, if I told one of my students I was going to hit him, what 'block' would he use? What I mean is, we have probably about 20 'uke' that I teach, none of which is a 'block'. If he was going to use one of those for a 'block', first he has to identify where the strike is heading. Then he has to make a choice of up to 10 'blocks' to find the one most suited to that attack and he has to implement it. If anyone could do that in a fraction of a second, I would love to see it.

Second example. I take my nine year old grand daughter and tell her I'm going to hit her. She has no martial skills but I will guarantee that she will throw her arm in the way of my strike instinctively.

What you did was protect instinctively. It might look like a block but it was an instinctive response, not a conditioned one. :asian:

 

[Omar B]

Good job Bill, youve reached an important point. Wait till you start using blocks as strikes and vice versa.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Good job Bill, youve reached an important point. Wait till you start using blocks as strikes and vice versa.

Oh we practice that in our dojo, but I absolutely cannot claim it has become second nature. It's still in the 'gotta think about this' stage for me.

 

[Omar B]

Inside outside block becomes backhand temple strike. Think of the movment not the blocking surface which is usually the arm, instead, same movement but the back of the fist is the contact point.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Inside outside block becomes backhand temple strike. Think of the movment not the blocking surface which is usually the arm, instead, same movement but the back of the fist is the contact point.

Yeah, I'm not being clear. We *do* those things. A block is a strike and a strike is a block; I get it. We do exercises constantly that turn the one into the other, or continue on after the block to become the strike. Even our most basic exercises show it - the rising uppercut is an attack, but it's also defense against a straight punch. They're just not second nature to me yet. I'm working on it.