Tiger Lady, a Nice Lady

見之似好婦，奪之似懼虎

見 to appear to be something

之 "then" (之 has multiple uses as a particle, in some cases with no particular meaning. Translating it by "then" is just to avoid not mentioning it), to come out.

似 like (something, someone)

好  good, beautiful (so nice which can mean both). 

婦 women, delicate, to serve

奪 take by force, seize

懼 fear, dread, to threaten

虎 tiger.

"Looking then like a nice lady, fighting then like a threatening tiger"

This apparently very simple statement has actually a wide range of applications, from one's training to one's behaviour, including external as well as internal issues. Its general meaning is actually quite close to the idiom "an iron hand in a velvet glove". This post shall first deal with the necessity to be a nice lady.

Having a carrer in warfare, security forces, protection..., hurting or even killing people is something that will happen. Still, any confrontation bringing the risk to have one's own life terminated, martists also knew that it shall be avoided at all costs, especially when not working. Indeed, being known and recognised as a martial artist, trouble tends to come easily. Hence, before and after the confrontation were almost as important as the fight itself. Therefore, how one was perceived in the society was very important and old martists who knew better were aware that they should avoid being sensed as threats, hence they had to look as a nice guy or a quiet person, amicable or even feeble and so on... Reading stories concerning old masters, one can still find this theme of the looking feeble, camp, nice and so on person who surprised everybody when he revealed himself as a student of the arts. In the present text, such qualities are summed up in the need to look like a nice lady.

A nice lady points out the necessity to basically look delicate and obedient in everyday life while keeping a nimble body and always being on guard.

I. Delicate and Obedient

Far away from the looking like a tough guy many people practicing nowadays aim for, opportunity dictated old times martists in the civilian life to appear as non threatening, even servile since 婦 original meaning was "to serve", and even attract sympathy by looking frail. Indeed, the first quality reduces greatly the chances of confrontation while the second will bring, in case of the inevitable, most of the crowd on your side.

a. No Threat

A word often used by martist is 忍, to bear, to endure, to tolerate, often seen as quality to have to be able to go through the harshness of the trainings. Still, this was also one to be used in everyday life. Indeed, in case of an argument, a martist would even look meek, letting people scold at him/her, even being bullied would not bother them as long as it was not life threatening. To be ignored in the civilian life would be actually a bliss they aimed for, knowing that fame in their career could only bring disaster.

Such low profile attitude is still partly advised nowadays at some modern self-defence schools in order to avoid unnecessary confrontations. Still, in the old days when one made a career of killing others, it was an even direr requirement for a peaceful civil life away from one's occupation. 

b. Attracting Sympathy

The second aim of behaving like a good girl was to use the crowd whenever possible as a protection, or for the least as sympathetic witnesses. Indeed, such sympathetic crowd could at best prevent a confrontation and at worst tell that you were not the one responsible. "Such a nice guy who had no choice and only responded to the agression" was what one would seek. Therefore, in everyday life a martist would be the nice guy around the corner, always willing to help whenever he could, always polite and smiling.

If looking like a lady was meant to deal with the outside, it had actually also an inside purpose, having a nimble body and being cautious.

II. Nimble and Careful

Looking like a lady meant also trying to be physically like one, because women are more flexible than men. It also implied that one would behave in a cautious manner in which a person who has to be aware of possible sexual predators does everyday.

a. Delicate Hence Agile

Old internal practices trained one's body to become very tender, because tenderness brings nimbleness. This search of absolute tenderness, as it has been mentioned many times already in this blog, would have the obvious effect to make male student look kind of genteel, if not totally effeminate. Therefore, it can be easy sometimes to see the difference between those who train with muscle contraction, looking tough and hard, and those who use fascias elasticity, looking delicate and camp. This kind of tenderness comes through intense and extensive stretching, the muscles totally lax.

b. Obedient Hence Guarded

Whether as someone who serves or as a beautiful woman faced with the everyday sexual predators issue, one had to be cautious. This kind of guarded attitude is what martists sought for in looking like a beautiful women. Indeed, good-looking ladies often have a sense of self-protection, being more careful of whom they will talk with and who can touch, even casually, them. Being guarded is this sense of first assessing the danger potential before anything else. It used to be a essential skill for martists and the students would be challenged at any moment of the day, even in their sleep. Hence sleeping on a rope, a basic exercise meant to learn to keep a level of vigilance even while sleeping.

As a leisurely hobby, a lot of those ancient rules don't apply or cannot be efficiently trained anymore. Still, they should not be forgotten because they are one of the cornerstone of a correct martial training. Such meek and nice attitude would be totally reversed if it came to fighting where cruelty would prevail, hence the threatening tiger.