In the martial arts, I don't care if it is mma, Pa Kua Chang, Shotokan, or whatever, there are three key ingredients. These three ingredients are what makes an art an art, and they are why people study the arts. Oddly, one of the ingredients is almost totally ignored.
One of the ingredients is the pursuit of strength. Muscle mags are filled with strength advertisements, and everybody obsesses on strength. Oddly, strength is the least important of the three essential techniques of the martial arts.
Another ingredient is the study of technique, and this is the most important of the three ingredients. Technique is measured by how effortless you are when making a technique work. If you need a lot of strength to make your technique work, then your technique is not very good.
The second most important ingredient when it comes to having good martial arts, and the one most people are virtually unaware of, is speed. Interestingly, at least in the beginning, people do think of speed to make their technique work. Yet strength is the item that everybody falls to.
Yes, people try to get fast, a little bit, but it is an individual effort, and usually put aside in the pursuit of strength. People believe that strength is going to make them faster, you see. Well, it will, but there are flexibility drawbacks, and the speed gained is not always enough.
Speed must be developed in a fashion which adjusts it to the individual technique. As knowledge of technique grows, so should the development of speed. In my over 40 years of martial arts I have developed a drill which develops speed in the proper manner.
The Speed Drill is nothing more than a simple slap and grab motion, and yet it is so much more. It makes all techniques as easy as slapping a slow buzzing fly. And every technique can be altered to take advantage of the slap and grab Speed Drill.
So practice the strength of Hung Gar, and build the technique of Tai Chi Chuan. Work the sticky hands of Wing Chun and focus your concentration into the great eternal circleness of Pa Kua Chang. But if you want to build and develop sheer, raw, powerful speed...you need to work on The Speed Drill. - 31491
One of the ingredients is the pursuit of strength. Muscle mags are filled with strength advertisements, and everybody obsesses on strength. Oddly, strength is the least important of the three essential techniques of the martial arts.
Another ingredient is the study of technique, and this is the most important of the three ingredients. Technique is measured by how effortless you are when making a technique work. If you need a lot of strength to make your technique work, then your technique is not very good.
The second most important ingredient when it comes to having good martial arts, and the one most people are virtually unaware of, is speed. Interestingly, at least in the beginning, people do think of speed to make their technique work. Yet strength is the item that everybody falls to.
Yes, people try to get fast, a little bit, but it is an individual effort, and usually put aside in the pursuit of strength. People believe that strength is going to make them faster, you see. Well, it will, but there are flexibility drawbacks, and the speed gained is not always enough.
Speed must be developed in a fashion which adjusts it to the individual technique. As knowledge of technique grows, so should the development of speed. In my over 40 years of martial arts I have developed a drill which develops speed in the proper manner.
The Speed Drill is nothing more than a simple slap and grab motion, and yet it is so much more. It makes all techniques as easy as slapping a slow buzzing fly. And every technique can be altered to take advantage of the slap and grab Speed Drill.
So practice the strength of Hung Gar, and build the technique of Tai Chi Chuan. Work the sticky hands of Wing Chun and focus your concentration into the great eternal circleness of Pa Kua Chang. But if you want to build and develop sheer, raw, powerful speed...you need to work on The Speed Drill. - 31491
About the Author:
Al Case has taught martial arts for 40 years. A writer for the magazines, he is the originator of Matrixing Technology and Neutronics. You can learn more about The Speed Drill here, or you can head on over to the main site and pick up his free ebook on Matrixing.
