Martial Application – From Training to Real Life

There has always been a misconception where a person believes what they learn in the dojo will automatically keep them safe in a real life violent confrontation; one can train for ten years and still be completely unprepared for a physical altercation, it is simply how you train that dictates how you relate.

The Chinese martial arts have always held the idea of “big circle, small circle, pin point” which essentially means you train the exaggerated, often flashy, version of a technique (big circle) then you learn to make it much sharper and faster (small circle) then finally fluid and adaptable (pin point). My own students will be familiar with the phrasing I use – ideal, what if, formulation; how you want the opponent to react, what if they move differently and how are would you change a technique to make it work for you?

We discussed it previously but not all dojo’s are geared for this. Many schools have a sport or competition focus and it is important to realize this. You can win a room full of trophies and not be able to defend yourself in a real life situation because the training you receive is not geared for it.

Mentality is also a big part of real life application. If you are not trained to overcome your fear then you are likely to freeze up however the work around to this is diligent training in the correct way. If your teacher has shifted your training to small circle and you practice very diligently then you will naturally develop pin point skills and should you encounter a real life confrontation then your muscle memory will take over though keep in mind that takes hundreds of hours of training.

In summary, martial arts are a life long journey, never confuse what you learn in the dojo to be the reality of a confrontation. Learn your techniques well, polish them relentlessly and achieve a realistic grasp on application through time and diligence. If your goal is sports and fitness then that is fine but if you are looking for real self defense then ensure your dojo has that as your central focus.

Questions? Contact us.