Gizmodo reports on a new energy drink on the market endorsed by Steven Seagal, called Asian Experience. Yikes. From the site:

Are you stuck drifting through life in a state of existential confusion wandering aimlessly through the multitudes of energy products not knowing which one is the right one for you? Then look no further for the true meaning of life then Master Sensei Seagal’s Lightning Bolt Energy Drink!

Is this for real? It’s so tweaked it’s right on the verge of parody. I’m not sure I’d want to drink anything that has bullet points for having “100% Pure Steven Seagal Juice” (eww?) and is “Designed for intense mortal combat or any extreme situation requiring ultimate energy”. Perhaps that means it gives you the energy to stay awake while plunking quarters into the MK machine down at the arcade. Flawless victory!

Yoda in Empire Strikes Back chides young Luke Skywalker with the comment, “Do or do not — there is no try.” The notion is not to think about doing something, or attempt to do something, so much as to just do it. Wing Chun (and, as it turns out, most of life) works this way. You don’t try to do something. You just do it.

Chi sao is a big part of Wing Chun training. Almost like a very light contact sparring, this two person drill basically has both people try to find openings in the other’s guard. Over time, this develops what are call “contact reflexes”, or the ability to respond without thinking. In actual sparring or fighting, it’s much the same: Just do it. Don’t think about it.

This article on the conscious and unconscious self describes what may be happening. What the article describes is the notion that the “you” is not actually “yourself”. We have a conscious layer on top of much that is automated. Consciousness, in the realm of mind evolution, is a relatively recent development. This should be treated less as an identity, and more as the ability to recognize what’s going on, to shape the input appropriately. Think of your morning commute. Some days, you put the key in the door, and before you realize it, you’re taking the key out of the ignition, with no idea of what transpired in between. It’s automatic. You don’t realize it, but in hundreds of ways each day, you let this automation take place. It’s impossible to keep track of everything at once. A separate article on unconscious operation by the same author demonstrates the “spooky” way in which he was able to find a book he wanted on a bookshelf. There’s a lot of power to this concept.

Wing Chun can be said to be doing the same thing. In a fight, you can’t think of the right block for each incoming strike. It takes too long. You have to develop the right reactions. This usually only comes about through a lot of practice. Is it the conscious self that is being trained here? Not at all. It’s the subconscious self, and through enough training, the reactions can be well developed, and you can learn to trust what skills you have developed. Rather than thinking of the right block for an attack, you just block the attack. You don’t think about it, you just do.

However, as Malcom Gladwell noted in Blink, a book about how our mind makes snap judgments, sometimes our subconscious makes the wrong choices. Consider the Implicit Association Test, specifically, for race. We typically have a pre-wired configuration to associate “black” with “bad”. Almost all people take the test, and find that they have an association for “black” and “bad”, with a countering association for “white” and “good”. It’s wired into our subconscious. You can take the test again and again, and get the same results. In this sense, our unconscious selves pick up queues from our environment, and translates that into this sort of association. This doesn’t mean we’re racist, because our conscious selves don’t make such associations. Interestingly enough, you can circumvent this phenomenon, by seeding your subconscious with different input. If, before the test, you had been exposed to a lot of things that associate “black” with “good”, you’d find that the test results would be quite different. Gladwell cited a case where a person took the test every day, just to fill it with data, always getting the same result. However, one day, he took the test, and got a different result. What did he do differently? He was watching black athletes compete in the Olympics that morning, thus seeding his unconscious with different input. He changed his unconscious associations, without realizing it.

When training Wing Chun, what I’m doing is helping to train the automatic portion of myself to respond appropriately. I consciously drill on the correct movements, so the subconscious portion of myself can act effectively. This is what makes training so strange: you can’t tell someone in a straightforward manner how to do the right moves. You have to feed in the right input, so that your subconscious can internalize it properly.

It’s hard to truly understand this. A lot of people think they understand this, but have trouble actually putting it into action. I am one of these people. I understand the principles, but have trouble with the practice. Hopefully, I’ll get better at programming my subconscious correctly. As I get better, I will fully realize the phrase, do or do not. There is no try.

There’s a tendency in the online martial arts world to devolve into bullshido. To understand bullshido, you have to first understand the McDojo.

The basic idea behind a McDojo is to set up franchise martial arts shops, with the end run goal of sucking money out of innocent marks. The first (and only) goal of a McDojo is to get your money. The marketing is most important, while the skill development is secondary (if even that). The longer it takes for you to progress at a McDojo, the better.

Some signs of a McDojo:

• Needing to sign up for long contracts (a year or more)
• Guaranteeing black belts in an unreasonably short time
• Long training on forms
• No sparring of any sort
• Falsified backgrounds, such as lineages or history

Sites like Bullshido.net take on McDojos to help the more naive from getting taken. In that sense, they’re good.

However, they often end up in the same track in discussions: if it’s not mixed martial arts, it’s worthless. If it’s internal, it’s worthless. This is unfortunate, because it would strip the world of individual styles of martial arts in favor of, say, mixing Brazilian Jujutsu with Muay Thai. If they don’t use it in the UFC, it must suck.

This might come as a surprise to many on those message boards, but not all of us are looking to step into the Octagon. As it turns out, there’s a whole level of appreciation for martial arts that stands outside of how you’d react in a full contact ring. Martial arts just might be a little bit more than learning how to fight in a brawl. An odd concept, I know. Some people appreciate a martial art for the art aspect. Some people appreciate the history and philosophy. Some people appreciate the internal development. Yes, it’s about the fighting aspect too, mind you. There’s just more to it. I want to know more than just how to pummel some guy into submission.

One general rule tends to hold true: if you’re better trained than the other guy, then you’ll probably prevail. Nothing magical there. If you train in Okinawan Karate, and you train hard, you’re going to pound the tar out of someone who trains in Wing Chun lacksidaisically. Sure, you’re at a disadvantage if you only train Karate, and someone else trains BJJ and Karate, because they have better in fighting, but who cares? Do you really plan on getting in a lot of fights with trained fighters?

I don’t need to step into the ring with every yahoo I meet who wants to show me who’s boss. More to the point, I know that there’s always going to be someone better. Always. I’d have to have started as a very young child and trained throughout a long life for it to be otherwise. Even then, there still would probably be someone better. That being the case, why bother about trying to only learn the most perfect offense and defense?

I don’t go in for this whole king-of-the-pile attitude in martial arts anyway. Train in what you want, learn as much as you can, and develop your skill. Just respect others at the same time.

And take advice from Bullshido. I may not always agree with what they say, but they’re doing good work at debunking the scammers. If you’re going to study an art, at least make sure there’s some substance to it.

I went to my first martial arts tournament a couple weeks ago. The 2005 Taiji Legacy was a Chinese martial arts tournament in Plano, Texas, bringing together many different styles in one cornocopia of kung fu goodness. Getting a chance to see many different styles was pretty amazing. Watching little kids get funky with the Shaolin kung fu at an early age was also awesome.

This gave me a chance to try out my chi sao, which, sadly, needs work. Must work on the footwork, dammit! I’m debating on whether to train for light contact, or even sanshou; you can only progress so far with the technical stuff. It’s almost like you’d get an incomplete training without it. One of the guys from my school picked up second in sanshou at the tournament.

Yet, strangely, the air at the tournament was filled with politics. What’s going on in the Tai Chi world? What’s all the buzz about different Wing Chun styles? Everyone wants to be king of the hill, it would seem. Enough of the politics. Why not just practice your art, striving to become better, and both enjoy and respect other arts? We’re all on the same journey, just taking different roads.

I’m looking forward to attending more tournaments in the future!

Is this dummy any good? As I get more into Wing Chun, I’m of course very interested in getting a wooden dummy, which is fairly important to any serious training.

The muk yang jong is designed to help practice technique, sensitivity, and positioning when working alone. In the olden days, these were buried in the ground. Later, they came to be mounted on a frame, which was great for indoor use. The unfortunate part of this is that they take a lot of room, so I’ve been curious about finding a free standing dummy.

I came across this site which sells a variety of dummies, including ones that are free standing. In that, they appear to be pretty unique. This free standing model looks like it’d be pretty awesome to use.

However, I’m wondering how such a dummy can remain in position, when striking it. Sure, it weighs like 150 pounds, but wouldn’t it move all over the place? The site claims that “these height adjustable freestanding dummies are very stable and cannot be tipped even with the strongest blows and kicks in a normal workout.”

Anyone tried these out? It looks like a good option for me, but at $600, I’m a little skeptical.

My sifu noted that with Chinese martial arts: “If you miss a day, you regress a week. If you miss a week, you regress a month. If you miss a month, you regress three months.” This was something he was told by his sifu, and he claims that non-Chinese styles are not like that. Since his background includes training in two different styles of Karate, Hung Gar, and Wing Chun, he has some means of comparison. With Wing Chun, the details are all in the subtleties, as well as in building contact reflexes, so I can see how that might be. I know that when I took a three week hiatus, it certainly felt like starting over.

Don’t take one step when two will do. In footwork, as in training, I often want to get from one place to another immediately, leaving myself open for attack. If I cut the movement into more steps, I can maintain my defense, while getting into a better position. Be aware of what you’re doing, break it into smaller parts, and don’t overextend — at that point, even the impossible becomes possible.

No, it’s not a strip club. It’s a martial arts supply store in Boston’s Chinatown, at 38 Kneeland Street. Go in, wander upstairs, and engage the owners in conversation. It’s fun!

I needed to pick up a pair of kung fu pants, so figured I should go check them out. They’d been highly recommended by various fellow students, as well as places online. They have the standard complement of martial arts accessories, albeit with a stronger focus on Chinese arts, as well as a rather impressive collection of martial arts texts.

The store appears to be affiliated with the Nam Pai Academy, which holds classes next door. Both soft and hard styles are practiced (Yang and Chen Tai Chi, Yi Chuan, and Hung Gar), so the staff is pretty knowledgeable. They certainly are friendly enough, and more than happy to discuss various aspects of martial arts and internal medicine.

I took some time to talk to one of the people there, and he discussed reflexology briefly with me. He demonstrated with a couple “magnetic soles”, which use pressure points and magnetic energy to improve bodily force. Was there a difference? Sure, I felt a difference. Was it convincing? Not entirely; I tend towards the skeptical, but I didn’t feel like asking, “let me try it this way or that way”. Besides, I know that he has a vested interest in getting more students for his school, so wouldn’t be surprised if he used a little exaggeration. Go there and give it a whirl and ask for details. They appear very open to discussion about it.

On the flip side, I did touch arms briefly with him, which Wing Chun practitioners know can tell you a good deal about someone intrinsically. To me he appeared skilled. No, I didn’t do chi sao or anything like that; contact is often enough to tell you a bit about how they move. (By the by, if that seems a little too mystical for you, I recommend you check out blink by Malcom Gladwell.)

I definitely like this place. There’s a good feel to it, they offer items with more of a Chinese flavor (rather than the standard Japanese and Korean-style focus), and they have a good knowledge of various arts. I’ll probably be visiting again, if only to browse through their library of books.

Can you learn martial arts from a book? In a word: no. Armchair ninjas can protest all they want, but the fact is, unless you’re incredibly gifted (which almost every last one of us are not) you just can’t pick up the subtleties of self defense from a text. It’s just not going to happen. You probably can’t even pick up a good working knowledge of self defense that way.

Yet, there’s a whole industry around martial arts texts. What’s the deal? It seems like there’s a new one coming out every day. If you can’t learn martial arts from a book, then why are there so many books on martial arts? What I’ve found is that such books serve two purposes.

One is to provide an intellectual look at different styles and their histories. I can read a book on Tai Chi, and while I won’t know Tai Chi, I’ll at least have a glimpse of the movements and philosophies behind it. Some parts of it might never make sense, but intellectually, I find it fascinating.

The other purpose I see martial arts books serving is to supplement the knowledge of whatever you might be studying. I picked up a couple books on Wing Chun, and while initially they didn’t seem to make much sense, the more I practice, the more the points they discuss start to come together. Only by going back and re-reading a book after practicing for a while was I able to understand why they included what they did, and what it might mean.

Of course, you still have to worry about bad martial arts texts. (I’ve come across a few, and will no doubt be writing about them.) I guess I forgot reason number three for some martial arts books: to make money. I’ve found it best to read any text with a grain of salt. Don’t immediately write off any text, but don’t take them at face value either. Cross-referencing your work helps, too.

Is kata good or bad? Kata, or forms, are the practice of a set of pre-defined moves, usually done alone. When I studied Aikido Kokikai, I was struck by the lack of kata. This is typical of many styles of Aikido (though there are some, such as Tomiki Aikido, which apparently use them). In my current study of Gu Lao Wing Chun, I found that, again, I don’t have kata. In this case, it’s a little unusual compared to other styles, as the most popular styles of Wing Chun use three basic forms.

The purpose of kata or forms varies, depending on what you’re studying. Some use them to illustrate proper execution of technique, or proper footwork. Others use them to develop internal strength. In styles that use them, kata are considered a basic step in learning any art. You have to master them before you master anything else. To the very end, Yip Man (a legend in Wing Chun and the source of most Wing Chun in the US today) would do forms, spending long periods of time on specific parts. Though he had practiced them for all his life, he still found things to learn.

The Karate Kid, Part III showcased kata as a means towards calming the mind to win a fight. Yeah, even they didn’t know quite how to show the value of learning kata.

The problem is that some McDojos use kata as a way to collect fees. By teaching the same form for years on end, they slowly milk people out of money. Plus, the very notion that katas are done alone for the most part makes one wonder how it develops any self defense application whatsoever: if you don’t spar with someone, how do you know if a technique works?

I don’t think kata is necessarily bad, despite many opinions to the contrary. The way I look at it is as a physical handbook to moves for an art. Rather than pass along written pages, you pass along the forms. The trick is to realize that there’s no such thing as a “perfect” way to execute techniques (they always vary on application), and to not use it as a substitute for other training. Training in kata alone will probably not yield much result for the average person in terms of fighting proficiency.

Many arts, after all, find that you have to “train out” what you learned in kata, to develop good, flowing movement for fighting. It seems kind of counterproductive to learn a form, only to have to unlearn it later.

I’d still find the study of the sil nim/lim tao, chum kiu, and bil gee sets of Wing Chun fascinating, just as a way to see the catalog of different moves. I’d just hate to have to spend years learning them, only to have to unlearn them.