Roots

法是功能之基

Method is the base of capability

Most of the Martists come to the practice for the wrong reasons, often attracted by their supposed past glory (after all, nobody was there). If one's aim is to become a warrior, only the army, the police or affiliated can offer the right environment, certainly not practices that cannot be used because the technology has rendered them obsolete and/or legislation illegal.
If the goal is self-defence for civilians, the first priority is to find someone with experience in the field and knowledge of the local legislation and behaviours, probably policemen or people with a serious background protecting persons or valuables, the art practiced being actually quite secondary. Not to mention at war or in peace societies, a country that allows to carry guns and one that forbids totally any weapon have very different environments to be dealt with.

If one is still interested by what the old practices have to offer in terms of knowledge of the body and the mind, as long as he/she is clear with the fact that it is impossible to really ascertain the effective martial value of what is taught, such studies can be quite interesting and challenging.

However, the main problem, and especially in the internal practices, is to avoid confusion by mixing modern science and old methods. Applying modern science to old practices is like trying to make an hybrid, the chances of success are small. Sometimes of course, like for fascias, bridges can be made, but what comes first remains the key issue.

Nowadays, it is important to realise that the present environment can only reduce noticeably the effectiveness of one's training and that, for the least, confusion can emerge from the use of modern science approach as far as the body is concerned.

Against the odds

Walking on a rope just one or a hundred meters above ground are not the same thing, and simulations cannot totally recreate stress related issues because a sense of security will still remain somewhere in the back of one's mind.

In the old days, practice was for survival, which gave a sense of urgency and a knowledge that any mistake had dire consequences. It was not practicing in case one day something happens but for what may happen tomorrow, not to avoid in most cases maybe one day a severe beating, but certain death or crippling injuries on a very regular basis. That is certainly why, even if one can make his training a 24/7 routine, it will still remain miles away from the results achievable hundreds of years ago. The environment has the same impact on training the wind has on roots for a tree. By example, as good as is one standing and presence, it is impossible, if not confronted to survival situations on a daily basis for some time, to really develop an aura of death equivalent to the strongest predators.

That is why a lot of techniques have become more legends than reality. Like for everything else, very advanced trainings need the proper environment to really blossom. Otherwise, they are just a poor imitation of what could be really achieved.

Having it both ways

Because it is made of precise rules to be applied, well explained and in agreement with the way humans use their body nowadays, it is more than very tempting to try to remodel the old practices within the mould of modern science. This is actually like uprooting a plant in order to plant it somewhere else. It can already be a tricky process, but if the new environment is not suitable, it makes it nearly impossible. That is why one can wonder if you can apply efficiently a system made of precise rules working for and to be followed by the masses to a practice coming from one made of trends and personalisation. Furthermore, it can even reach the point where body motion principles can be very hard to conciliate and especially for internal practices. Let's take the example of body motion through elasticity and springiness and use of the fascias as opposed as muscle contraction and loosening.:

Some of the principles around the whole body power in internal arts are: "Motionless, there is nowhere that is not motionless. In motion, there is nowhere that is not in motion", "Firm but not rigid, relaxed but not lax", plus the one considering that the power should be evenly spread in every little part of the body*. It is obvious that these three principles are almost impossible to reconcile with the one of agonist and antagonist muscles, one contracting while is other is loosening according to normal motion in modern science. So it leaves the Martist with two choices, apply modern science but then forget about the whole body power concept, often a cornerstone of one's art, or try to understand the old logic and the motion theories of old practices even though they haven't gone through proper modern science trials.

That is why this blog will, rightly or wrongly, take all along the following two stances:

- Neither competition nor street fighting, nor even self-defence for the masses in modern societies were the main aim of these old practices. Nobody has had the necessary experience for many generations, meaning chopping heads with anything but firearms on a regular basis, to be able to really put in perspective the fighting aspects of those arts.

- If one wishes to study the old practices, it seems better to try to follow and understand their methods regardless of modern science. Bridges can be made once understood, but it is a question of what comes first, where the system roots itself, and it is in old methods not modern science.

*一靜無處不靜，一動無處不動; 緊而不僵，鬆而不懈; 寸勁