skribs
Grandmaster
What are the rules that you teach beginners in your art, that advanced students should know when to break?
I came across this video from Fight Tips which talks about the rules you teach beginners, such as "don't cross your legs" and "don't chicken wing when you punch". He talks about why those rules are taught to beginners, how to break those rules while still applying the principles from them, and that you should still follow the rule in most situations.
It got me thinking about my training in both Taekwondo and Hapkido, and how some things are taught when the concept is introduced, and then changed later on.
Power Direction
When turning and using a technique, you should apply your turning momentum to the technique. For example, a roundhouse kick followed by a turning kick (back kick, spinning kick, tornado kick) should keep the moment from the roundhouse. Also, if you are doing a block in a form, the block should travel in the direction you were turning (such as if you turn with the left leg, down block with the left hand or inside block with the right hand).
This allows you to use your momentum to your advantage. But sometimes you want to block or strike across the direction of travel, or you want to reverse direction to throw off your opponent. If you're turning to the left, they expect your kick to come from your right, so if you change direction you can catch them unaware.
The Details Matter
In Hapkido, we start off learning the exact way to do a wrist lock and take-down. Later, you'll learn that as long as you can apply pressure in the right spot, or at least trap the hand in the right spot and use the right footwork, then you can apply the technique.
Ever try hapkido in boxing gloves? It's a rather interesting experiment.
But anyway, the point is that the details do matter, you're just learning which details are vital and which are merely helpful to the success off the technique. It's kind of like a guitarist playing with his teeth - the mechanics of what he must do to the guitar are still the same, he just accomplishes it in a different way.
Back Stance is for Blocks, Front Stance for Strikes
At the beginner level, everything is front stance, but once the back stance is learned, typically blocks will more likely be done in a back stance, and strikes will almost always be in front stance. As you move up, you'll find quick combos in front stance, and you'll find strikes by themselves in back stance. You learn when to apply different stances with different techniques.
Similar rules apply for open-hand vs. closed-hand blocks, and any other time there's a few ways of doing something. For example, our 5 basic blocks are high block, down block, inside block (ends inside), outside block (ends outside, palm towards you) and knife-hand block (ends outside, palm away from you). However, by black belt, you've done every block with the opposite (close a fist when you learned knife-hand, blade your hand when you've learned closed fist).
I came across this video from Fight Tips which talks about the rules you teach beginners, such as "don't cross your legs" and "don't chicken wing when you punch". He talks about why those rules are taught to beginners, how to break those rules while still applying the principles from them, and that you should still follow the rule in most situations.
It got me thinking about my training in both Taekwondo and Hapkido, and how some things are taught when the concept is introduced, and then changed later on.
Power Direction
When turning and using a technique, you should apply your turning momentum to the technique. For example, a roundhouse kick followed by a turning kick (back kick, spinning kick, tornado kick) should keep the moment from the roundhouse. Also, if you are doing a block in a form, the block should travel in the direction you were turning (such as if you turn with the left leg, down block with the left hand or inside block with the right hand).
This allows you to use your momentum to your advantage. But sometimes you want to block or strike across the direction of travel, or you want to reverse direction to throw off your opponent. If you're turning to the left, they expect your kick to come from your right, so if you change direction you can catch them unaware.
The Details Matter
In Hapkido, we start off learning the exact way to do a wrist lock and take-down. Later, you'll learn that as long as you can apply pressure in the right spot, or at least trap the hand in the right spot and use the right footwork, then you can apply the technique.
Ever try hapkido in boxing gloves? It's a rather interesting experiment.
But anyway, the point is that the details do matter, you're just learning which details are vital and which are merely helpful to the success off the technique. It's kind of like a guitarist playing with his teeth - the mechanics of what he must do to the guitar are still the same, he just accomplishes it in a different way.
Back Stance is for Blocks, Front Stance for Strikes
At the beginner level, everything is front stance, but once the back stance is learned, typically blocks will more likely be done in a back stance, and strikes will almost always be in front stance. As you move up, you'll find quick combos in front stance, and you'll find strikes by themselves in back stance. You learn when to apply different stances with different techniques.
Similar rules apply for open-hand vs. closed-hand blocks, and any other time there's a few ways of doing something. For example, our 5 basic blocks are high block, down block, inside block (ends inside), outside block (ends outside, palm towards you) and knife-hand block (ends outside, palm away from you). However, by black belt, you've done every block with the opposite (close a fist when you learned knife-hand, blade your hand when you've learned closed fist).
