Sorry Dan I sympathise with your pain. Sadly however i cannot empathise as i am dyslexic so its all the same to me. Unfortunately my spell checker wont recognize the words so regardless of the correct spellings (and i think Hung Kyun does have a following) it will remain part of the lottery of life.
I did. Are you American by any chance? I used 'however' in the standard British way to introduce a statement that contrasts with or seems to contradict something that has been said previously. I was wondering whether this was a case of being divided by a 'common' language.
Leaving semantics aside as It is not my intention to derail the thread. Hanibal thank you for the post about the double hip. I was playing with a Bagwa guy recently and discussing this very thing. He was saying that one important thing was to keep the crease of the hip vertically in line with the nipple and pivoting around this point. This is slightly different from the example you posted as he pointed to the outside of his hip as the pivot point. Interestingly bagwa has many excerrsises for freeing up the facia inside the crease of the hip to create internal space to move into. I was also fascinated by how relaxed the instructor was. I know very little about karate and was surprised at how similar his body mechanics were to the ones we use in hung gar. Is this relaxed mechanic a general feature of karate or more specific to the style of the instructor?
I think it varies from system to system as to how quickly it occurs, but generally you'd expect more experienced Karate practitioners to be very relaxed.
No British - i am also a writer and (oddly for a dyslexic) I teach grammar. I would happily continue this discussion on another thread - if a mod could move it to one called semantics that would be fine. But as i said i do not wish to derail this thread any further : )
As the OP points out, training to optimise this is not uncommon in many Koryu groups. In my Sosuishi-ryu group, we have a set of exercises called "Yukiai Tani Watari”. Shindo Yoshin-ryu has group of exercises exercise called "Nairiki no Gyo". They are pretty much designed develop internal strength/energy/power - or for want of a better phrase "structural" body strength - through correct application of posture, balance, musculature alignment, use of gravity and connectivity to the floor. Wado-ryu has kata like Naihanchi and Seishan which many consider Otsuka "Wado version" of similar exercises. Or at least it was designed to give similar out puts. So, nothing Mystic Meg about it however… It's very hard to nail. Few folk have the ability to do it well, but there is a handful that I know who can do it extremely well. In any other circles you would say they were gifted.
Pete C (the chap in the first video) hit like a freight train. His "reading" of the double hip technique was tailored by him to fit a specific Self-Protection paradigm....almost an "ambush" hit. I posted the other videos to show the similarities (and subtle differences) between exponents of the same style. The second video shows Shigeru Kimura, effectively the man behind the "double hip" within Shukokai. His mechanics are not a million miles away from a boxers in that particular clip. Notice in all of them how the weight is going into the target, not the fist - this has much in common with so called "internal" aspects I still teach this technique in my JKD classes, but it is much closer to the first video. For short range elbow smashes it is superb
J B S Haldane (who knew a thing or two about science) once said "My own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose" Should this turn out to be true science will not be able to prove / explain everything - internal power included.
I don't think that's what that quote means at all. I'm a qualified English teacher and have also had articles published. Am I allowed to comment? Mitch
Well more semantics, but I don't think you mean internal power. I think you mean "internalizing power". "Internal power" could refer to the internal organs. Maybe something like dim mak (damaging internal organs) or conversely, protecting your internal organs from damage. Well, many definitions. "Internalizing power" is taking visible mechanics and making them smaller, faster, and more powerful (e.g. making them more subtle, relaxed, natural, and efficient). Internalizing power has a lot to do with using proper mechanics and maintaining proper structure. Internalizing power takes a very long time because under stress, a person's natural state is to tense up and "float" (e.g. lose structure). Tai Chi and such start training on day one towards a natural state of relaxation under stress and keeping structure because these things take such a long time to develop. Something like karate starts with the broader, more visible movements that can be used while still in a more tense state. As training progresses, a karateka should develop a more relaxed and proper structure as the movements get refined and the karateka gets more experience. This progressive approach has merits in that one can learn to fight sooner, but IMHO, along the way, there is more potential for bad habits to be learned that need to be unlearned using this method.
Your contribution is most welcome and highly valued And in fact quite correct - i miss wrote. I intended to say - this could well include internal power.
When practicing internal arts you can experience what my instructor calls “gross manifestations of chi” – or put another way you can find yourself tripping out of your head. My instructor said that if this happens you should acknowledge it, (so you don’t get trapped into thinking about not thinking about it), accept it, and move on. You should not seek these feelings out or follow them. I’ve experienced this doing very basic forms - with no sophisticated breathing or motions that would obviously explain it. Personally I do believe that there is something more to internal power than gross body mechanics and blood oxygen levels. Although I have no idea what it what it may be or whether it has a simple explanation or not.
