Over the many blog posts that I have posted I have talked about a lot of stuff, mainly different, specific martial arts. I have also discussed what martial arts are, and the different aspects of what constitute martial arts, but not yet what I have learned from them over the years. That will be the topic of my final post to this blog.

Martial arts are not just about beating people up and killing. They are not all physical. Anyone who tries to make it all physical, relying solely on the body will fail. The mind has limitless possibilities whereas the body can only do so much. The mind can also control the body, pushing it past its “limits” where it would normally give out.

I barely remember the time before I started fencing. I remember that I was always outgoing and social and confident, but at some point that got corrupted. Fencing changed that for me. It gave me tons of confidence. The more I fenced the better I became. The better I became the better about myself I felt, and the whole of it drove me to incessantly train thus repeating the cycle. Confidence is a big part of life; you can convince anyone of anything if you donut with confidence, you can accomplish much more with confidence.

Fencing also gave me the drive to lose weight—I was a fat kid. Being fat is not ok. It is unhealthy, and it made me feel bad about myself. Because I had a higher purpose than to just lose the weight, I was able to do so. The target area of body shrank, I became more agile, more fit, and a better fencer because my body was capable of more when I was unencumbered by fat. It was hard work, but fencing taught me that hard work pays off.

The concept of seeing without your eyes and knowing the position of your body at all times is vital to my style of fencing, but very difficult to do on the strip. It is also important to jiu jitsu, a much easier realm to practice this in. The idea is of self awareness. Being able to know yourself will guarantee victory 50% of the time, knowing the enemy is again 50%, knowing both leads to 100% victory. The idea is not just about war and fighting; it is also about personal relationships, work, school, fitness, everything. Knowing yourself completely is how you find deficiencies that you improve upon and fix, thus leading to stronger relationships or an edge over competition in work or sports or school. Knowing the enemy whether it be a boss, a class, or stupid Vadim in the cubicle next to yours, will give you the best plan of attack. For example, the right way to study, the best way to outmaneuver Vadim for the promotion.

Martial arts in general, especially striking arts like Wing Chun, Muay Thai, Fencing build courage and teach you to control fear. It is an excellent quality to possess bravery. It is valued in our society and can lead to bold choices that can get you a promotion or save a life. Overcoming fear is one of the most difficult things for we a humans because of the natural instinct to be away from danger, not run headlong into it. Martial arts will change that and home you into a fearless or courageous—depending on a couple things—person.

I’ve learned so many more lessons that are just too numerous for this post. My final thoughts on the matter are that nothing has had a greater impact on my life than martial arts. My fencing coach is the most influential person, aside from maybe my parents, that I ever had in my life. My personal philosophy and outlook on like, my fisik, my everything has been shaped by martial arts, especially fencing.

The title of this post is JKD. No, I did not mess up the initials JFK because I was rushing and made a typo. The acronym stands for Jeet Kune Do, or in english, the Way of the Intercepting Fist, is a “martial art” created by Bruce Lee. I put martial art in quotations because Jeet Kune Do is more of a martial arts philosophy than an actual martial art.
The philosophy involves combining multiple displaces to form something greater than the sum of its parts. It differs from Mixed Martial Arts in that MMA takes entire arts (a standup and ground art) whereas JKD takes pieces of different stand up martial arts—though a ground one could certainly join in accordance with the philosophy.

So what exactly is the philosophy? On the Jeet Kune Do emblem are Chinese characters that translate into, “Using no way as way” and “Having no limitation as limitation.” First grade stuff Spongebob. Having no one focused martial art opens up an individual to take in many. The goal should be to not limit yourself to the confines and teaching of one master, or one style. Opening up the mind to multiple possibilities as opposed to a rigid philosophy in turn frees up the body to do different things.

For Bruce Lee, his JKD consisted mainly of Wing Chun, Karate, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Fencing, and boxing. Bruce Lee, most notably, trained under Ip Mann to learn Wing Chun, and learned the others from different teaches. Karate is what made him famous, and a member of Bruce Lee’s family was an Olympic fencer. Up to the end of his Bruce Lee worked on perfecting his JKD. He took the best parts of each art he knew and studied. He did not simply mash and stack things together.

I was first introduced to Jeet Kune Do at my dojo at home. My sensei used the same JKD system that Bruce Lee developed as a base from which to teach his students from. However, he encouraged exploration to develop our own system, our own JKD. We practiced basic Wing Chun traps and sensitivity—the bigger emphasis was placed on Wing Chun—Muay Thai Thai Kicks, Head movement from boxing and Muay Thai, side kicks, elbows, knees, eye jabs, groin attacks, and a plethora of other things. It is a whole bunch of fun. My prior experience fencing, and the little bit of boxing I knew helped me a lot with the learning. The fencing was most helpful because the stance was the same, minus the hand position, and my foot work was already down pat. My style of fencing is also heavily influenced by Wing Chun, so a lot of the concepts were already very familiar to me. I just had to learn the moves and the less familiar chaining of those lives together in a coherent strategy.

Jeet Kune Do May sound complicated, but once you understand the concept of it, and the concepts of the pieces you add to it, it seems so simple. It is a very effective system that I highly encourage everyone to try out. If you want to know more, Bruce Lee’s book Tao Jeet Kune Do outlines everything in his own words.

Sparring is an essential aspect of martial arts training. It is one thing to learn the technique, it is another to actually apply it. Whether it is bag work, partner drills, or a lesson with the instructor, anyone can do something in practice. But then when they put it into practice everything falls apart. This is where sparring starts to come into play.
Drills are not stressful. That is why it is so easy to do them well. Sparring however, adds a lot more stress to the training. Someone is actually trying to hit you with a limb or weapon, or actually trying to choke or joint lock you. Sparring replicates, as best as it is possible to, actual combat or competition.

Sparring is the best way to get good fast. It is also much more dangerous. You learn quickly because everything that is learned is immediately applied with the added incentive of imminent bodily harm. The bodily harm part is where the danger is. Because sparring involves live fighting, even if reserved in power, people can get hurt if mistakes are made. This is especially true for beginners as they have much less combative experience.
Aside from the risks and rewards that are associated with fighting and sparring, it’s just fun.
The first experience I had with sparring was through fencing. Practice had a mix of drills, live bout (fencing match is called a bout) scenarios, and just straight fencing. The fencing and scenarios helped me more than anything when I started. I would learn stuff and then practice using it so that it would work in competition.
The first day I walked into the dojo I was sparring (in jiu jitsu it’s called “rolling”). The class starts with rolls to warm up, goes into a class lesson, and ends with more rolls. The philosophy of my sensei and his teacher is that rolling and practicing live is necessary.
For fencing and jiu jitsu, it’s much easier to spar because it is safer than for something like muoi thai. Fencing is no longer fought to the death or first blood, and you wear a lot protective equipment. Jiu jitsu is a very controlled art. The pressure and power applied to chokes, locks, and positions is easily controlled. This makes the open rolls relatively safe compared to striking arts.
Striking martial arts are a lot harder to control. Even the most restrained fighters can still hurt each other by accident. A light strike at an opponent who is stepping forward can still knock that person down. When I started muoi thai I immediately started sparring. It is a lot of fun and helps me learn just like with fencing and jiu jitsu.
I strongly encourage anyone who wants to do any martial arts to start sparring as soon as possible. It may be intimidating at first, but is really fun. You will learn a lot about the fight, reacting and thinking under stress, and controlling your body’s responses of fear—thus placing the mind in more complete control of the body.

Weight lifting is one of the most common forms of exercise in the United States and around the world. However, martial arts have traditionally placed much more of an emphasis on weight training; the emphasis was placed on body weight exercises. However, both are important in being able to advance past your natural limitations.

Weightlifting obviously makes you stronger. It does so by targeting specific muscle groups, or physical actions, and gradually increasing the weight–which acts as resistance. Unlike body weight exercises, there is no real limit to the amount of weight that can be applied. Body weight exercises do the same thing, however, they are limited to the weight of the individual and focus more on endurance than shear strength. Weight lifting therefore increases strength at a much faster rate than body weight exercises, but sacrifices the endurance the later provides.

The increase in physical strength is very helpful when fighting, whether with a weapon, empty handed, on the ground, or on the feet. The physical strength increases the force that can be put into a strike. For example, lifting weights to build the strength in my triceps and forearms made it far easier to wield my fencing sabre; allowing me to block attacks more easily, and make blade actions that I would have otherwise been too weak for. Leg pinch is a vitally important action for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It is required for many different submissions in order to immobilize a limb, or do a choke. A friend of mine has a ridiculously strong leg pinch. It can get someone to tap without him even having to do the actual submission. One of his favorite submissions is the triangle choke, which is done with the legs pinching together. That too is very strong with him. This is because of weight training to build up the muscles on the inside of the thighs that contract.

Lifting weights also increases muscle mass. This extra mass provides defensive benefits to the fighter because, well, that is one of the primary jobs of muscle. It cushions the blows, and can become rigid to block strikes. The build-up of mass is also the great downside lifting weights. If too much muscle builds up the strength and defence sacrifices speed. Large bulky muscles are not very agile and are not the fast twitch muscles required for quick movements. Because of this it is important to find a balance with how you train. Body weight exercises are just as important as weight training.

There are three types of muscle “white,” “red,” and “pink.” White is fast and enduring, red is strong and big, and pink is the perfect balance of the two. The goal should always be to build pink muscle, which would be dense and more or less result from finding the middle ground between powerlifting and bodybuilding (high weight, low rep., and low weight, high rep. respectively). While everyone is different, a good lifting program will work for most everyone because of the theory behind how lifting works. So go out and try it out.

Muay Thai, the art of eight of limbs.

Muay Thai is a martial art that has its origins in East Asia, specifically Thailand. It was originally developed for military purposes, and is therefore very violent, lethal, and effective. Now a days, with the advent of UFC, muay thai has become the most popular form of stand up fighting for mixed martial arts fighters.

The martial art uses both hands, both feet, the elbows, and the knees of an individual as a striking surface. The basic stance is very similar to Western boxing: left foot and hand forward, and elbows tucked in. However, it differs in that the feet are wider apart, and the hands are slightly lower. The wider feet feet provide a stronger base that makes blocking kicks and absorbing their impacts without falling possible. Having the hands a bit lower, or off to the side or in front of you (it is a personal preference), makes it easier to see kicks coming. Mike Tyson’s peek-a-boo method is great for boxing, but impairs the vision of the lower extremities–a fatal error in muay thai. The elbows must remain tucked in to protect the ribs. As the elbows start to come up, gaps open in your defences, and you will get punched in the ribs.

Just like western boxing and kickboxing, the stance also has a mirror image southpaw stance which is a right lead as opposed to the left lead that is normally used. It is rare that fighters will mainly fight out of this stance, but the best fighters can fight out of both. Especially because of the kicking, you may find yourself a bit turned around and in the opposite lead. This is where practicing out of both comes in handy.

The basic attacks are the jab, the cross, the hook, the rear hook, the uppercut, the rear uppercut, the thai/right/whip kick, the switch kick, the foot jab, and the switch foot jab. More advanced are the use of the elbows and knees. However, without s certain degree of mastery over the hands and feet, the technique for the use of the elbows and knee will be booty.

When using your hands to punch in muay thai it is important to tuck your chin into your shoulder of the striking limb in order to protect yourself from listening to some sweet chin music. For the foot jabs it is important to bring the knee up high before extending the leg, and more importantly to generate power with the thrusting of the hips. The thai and switch kicks both require a 45 degree “triangle step” and aim to strike the rib cage.

Every attack has a defence. Head shields, parries, ducks, weaves, leans, elbow blocks, and pulling distance all defend against strike to the lead and body for punches. Head shields, knee shields, ducks (kinda sketch for kicks), and pulling distance (getting far back) are all used for defending against kicks.

I highly suggest giving this a try. If you live near State College (we all do), check out Titan MMA at Lionheart gym. It is a lot of fun and absolutely kickass.

Shaolin Monks and Kung Fu is generally what people think of when they think of martial arts. That is probably because they are just absolutely ridiculously good at fighting. However, Kung Fu is not one particular style of martial arts. Kung Fu is actually a Chinese term that refers to any discipline or skill that can be achieved through hard work and practice. There are many forms and styles of Kung Fu, one of the most well known is Wing Chun.

Wing Chun was created hundreds of years ago, and is thought to have been founded by a women named Ng Mui. She is said to have been a Shaolin nun who survived the destruction of the Shaolin Temple by the Qing Dynasty and fled to the mountains where she, according to Master Ip Man, taught a young women named Yin Wing Chun in order to fend off a warlord who wanted to marry her. The only real problem with the story is that Wing Chun’s history is oral with supporting archeological evidence.

The fighting of Wing Chun is based off of the centerline. The centerline is an imaginary line that runs vertically through the center of the body. The goal is to defend your centerline, while attacking the opponent’s. The stance is feet about shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, lead foot slightly forward, elbows tucked in and always a fists distance from the center, and the hands up. It is important for the body to be relaxed.

Wing Chun uses the principle of Economy of Motion, also known as Conservation of Energy. Movements as designed to be small and efficient.
The straight punch is the primary method of attack in the fighting style. The punch originates in your centerline and then travels in a straight line towards your opponent’s centerline, usually the nose. A straight line is the shortest distance between two objects, and is therefore the quickest path toward the object. Kicks, chops, palm strikes, and other attacks are also used. Each still works off the same principle as the straight punch; move in a straight line for the quickest attack, and keep actions small. This is why kicks are almost never thrown above the midsection.

Defence in Wing Chun is the most recognizable aspect of the art. Wing Chun uses simultaneous Defence and offense by using traps and blocks coupled with strikes. Wing Chun uses the redirection of momentum and small, but powerful motions to accomplish this. By moving with an opponent’s energy while applying a force in a different axis of the x, y, z plain, and attack can be redirected. Another option is to apply a force in the same direction as the opponent’s movement and block that limb off (trap).

Power comes from use of the concept of shifting. This is movements in the torso and shifting body posture. Power is also generated from snapping movements in the wrist and arm.

This is by no means an exhaustive teaching of the art, but is rather a basic introduction. Look into it more if you are interested. If you have Netflix and want to see a cool theatrical performance of Wing Chun, watch the movie “Ip Man.” It is about Bruce Lee’s Sifu (teacher/master) Ip Man. It is three or four movies in Chinese so you’ll need subtitles but is fantastic.

Out of all the sports and martial arts I have ever done Fencing is my absolute favorite. I have performed the art for about eight years now, and know it inside and out. I have a certain level of expertise to the art of swordsmanship which, like all martial arts, developed at the rate of the work I put in–a lot of work lead me to become, very good very fast.

Fencing is not generally thought of as a martial art–this is again due to the bias that martial arts are all from Asia. However, fencing is a western martial art. Even though it is now done for sport, just as karate and taekwondo are, there was once a time where fencing was one of the most dangerous and violent martial arts in the world. Until about the 18th or 19th centuries fencing duals were to the death.

This changed once the community realized that the great masters kept dying because they kept fighting each other to prove who was better. This lead to duals being fought to first blood, which in turn resulted in all white attire like that which exists today out of tradition. As society “progressed” and first blood was “too violent” and “uncivilized” duels became matches which were fought with dulled blades covered in chalk to a score. Rules developed to keep score, and as technology progressed so did the art. With electricity came electric fencing, using lights and wires to decide who scored, which evolved to what it is today. As a result of the advent of rules the martial art became less and less as it was intended and has become much closer to a sport with the current popular styles. 

Nowadays fencing is organized and run by the United States Fencing Association in the US, and by the International Fencing Federation (FIE because it is in French which is the official language of fencing).

There are three weapons in fencing:epee, foil, and sabre (the best). All three are derived from the rapier–a long sword developed during the latter part of the middle ages, and was wielded as a thrusting weapon. The foil is the most direct descendant. When a rapier would break one had two options: buy a one (expensive), or simply resharen the blade into a new tip. The latter became the foil. The epee is derived from the foil, and the sabre is a hybrid between Europe’s rapier, and the Middle East’s scimitar–a large curved sword meant for slashing and cutting.

Even though it would take far too long to explain all the rules of fencing I will get into the basics.

Epee is is a point weapon, meaning you must hit with the tip of the weapon, and you must do so hard enough to push the button on it in, completing the electrical circuit. In epee you can hit anywhere on the body from the head to the bottom of the foot. Both, or one of the fencers can receive a point, or touch, in a single go. Epee is the “slow” weapon.

Foil is also a point weapon, but is more restrictive. The target is constrained to the neck and torso, and only one person can score a touch at a time. Who gets the point is determined by ”right of way,” or the right to attack.

Sabre is a slashing weapon. You can hit with any part of the weapon except the bell guard that protects the hand due to dangers to the opponent. The target is everything above the waist except the hands. Sabre is the “fast” weapon, and also has right of way. In both foil and sabre right of way is held by whoever is moving forward, blocks the attack, or knocks the the opponent’s blade out of the way. There is much more to it but that could be its own post.

Fencing is the best thing to ever happen to me. It requires physical fitness, mental acuity, and still contains the spiritual aspects that martial arts have if you are trained correctly–i.e. Not in the modern Russian or popular style. Give it a try and you’ll be hooked.

Karate, Judo, Taekwondo, Kung-Fu, Jiu Jitsu, Kendo, Wing Chun, and Muay Thai. When people hear the words, “martial arts”, these are what come to mind almost instantly. Everyone also has an idea of what these martial arts are, for most the idea is flying spin kicks, jumping really high, and punching stuff. However, they are much more than showy moves and acrobatics, and are not limited just to the Far East.

The Oxford Dictionary defines martial arts as “various sports or skills, mainly of Japanese origin, that originated as forms of self-defense or attack, such as judo, karate, and kendo.” While they are defined as mainly from Japan, they are not defined as solely from Japan. The important part of the definition lies in later half; that martial arts are forms of self-defense or attack. The definition basically means that martial arts equal fighting. While this is a large part of thing, the definition lacks to speak on the mental or spiritual aspects that invariably accompany martial arts.

Martial arts involve intense physical conditioning in order to fight at certain levels; some involve more than others. The right types of muscle strength need to be built in specific areas of the body, depending on the art being practiced. The muscle sought after is both strong and fast, and very dense. Even the bones of striking and blocking limbs often must be built up, which comes with time of actually doing the blocks and strikes, or through specialized training such as Shaolin Iron Body and Iron Palm training. There is also the cardiovascular strength required—anyone who has ever seen a fight can attest to the belligerents being out of breath after a while.

In order to build the level of physical fitness required there is the more important mental aspect. When your body wants to quit your mind must be able to command it to push forward—a very difficult thing to do. Martial arts are often referred to as human chess. The most successful martial artists can think multiple steps ahead of their opponents, and even if physically weaker or slower, can still defeat the opponent in a fight. Quit obviously one also has to be will to accept the fact that you can be hurt doing these things. You can get punched in the gut, kicked in the head, choked into unconsciousness, and hit with weapons.

Spiritual strength is, in part, tied to the mental in the sense that the will reinforces the minds commands of the body. Someone with a strong will can command their mind and body more easily. However, it is important to note that the mind and body can only do what is within their limitations. At a higher level the spiritual involves finding inner quiet and peace, as well as controlling the energy within one’s body. The Chinese refer to this as Chi. The energy can be used to protect the body from harm and deliver powerful strikes. Chi can even be used to project power and scare opponents from a distance through a simple look or feeling you give out.

Almost everyone thinks all martial arts come from Asia. This is simply not true. It is true that most come from Asia, but not all. Western martial arts include boxing, fencing, kickboxing, pankration, archery, planking, HEMA, et cetera. There are even arts from the near east. Most popularly Krav Maga. Each has its own style and way of doing things, but are nonetheless all still martial arts, and all still have the same characteristics as Asian ones.
Martial arts are a wonderful thing. They can improve every aspect of one’s life. You just have to be willing to try.