During my younger years, I became interested in martial arts and hand-to-hand combat. There were lots of fighting systems that I wanted to explore. But as I got more confused about which one to pick, I finally discerned that it all must boil down to this single question: What are the most simple, yet effective techniques to make someone a hand-to-hand combat expert?
We’ve seen it in movies, and also on TV tournaments: martial artists become victors in their encounters because of one major factor: they were able to learn a long list of techniques, and have mastered them to perfection that they become living weapons that can handle even a dozen opponents at a single moment.
While it’s true that the best martial artists are indeed masters of a wide and deep set of skills and techniques, prepare to be surprised… there is actually a very minimal set of techniques that you need to truly acquire so you can become an excellent hand-to-hand combatant.
So what are those techniques that you simply need to be a good boxer or martial artist?
Technique 1: Being fast
In a scene from the movie “Kung Fu Hustle,” the main villain codenamed “The Beast” stated something like, “In martial arts, speed defines the winner.” Of course, movies are not to be taken at face value when we connect them to reality.
But here is something that we can learn from that statement. In physics, it is one of the most solid rules that the faster an object travels, the more mass it acquires. By thinking about it, we can arrive at the understanding that if we incorporate great speeds into our kicks and punches, we can make them heavier and stronger, which can inflict greater damage on our opponents.
Another point that we have to ponder is that if we can unleash super-quick attacks, albeit, those that are blindingly fast, the enemy wouldn’t be able to see it or let alone, block it. We can therefore be sure that the faster we punch or kick, the higher the possibility that we can win the fight in a much shorter time.
If we watch a mix-martial arts or boxing match in any weight class or division, we can always see matches that are finished in less than a minute. Most of these matches are determined by one major factor, and it is the fact that the losing participant didn’t see an attack coming.
In MMA, there are participants that got pounded on the head by one major blow. Once he became disoriented and went sprawling to the floor, his opponent swiftly took advantage of the scenario and issued a stream of hammer punches on his face.
Match finished, the fight is over. Sometimes, we can even see that the losing fighter seemed too surprised that he lost already. Scenes like that can really make us conclude that to be a good fighter, you really need to be freaking fast.
Technique 2: Having high stamina and vitality
Nobody can ever question the credibility of the legendary Bruce Lee when we speak of martial-arts greatness. One of the most important lessons that he emphasized on his students way back when he was still teaching is that martial artists focus too much on techniques yet failed to be good at one major factor: superb health and overall physical wellness.
Mr. Lee pointed out that teaching your body a bunch of techniques wouldn’t be much good if that body of yours wouldn’t be able to attain the strain and tension that training and the actual fighting give. He also emphasized the importance of eating right. He seemed to champion the idea that you can’t be a great fighter if you have the habit of feeding your body with unhealthy food.
As emphasized in the previous item, being fast can greatly define the outcome of a fight, and if you don’t have the vitality and stamina within you, you won’t last that long, and your enemy or group of enemies, could easily overpower you because your body lacks the vitality it needs to stay alert within the whole duration of the fight.
To attain such a physical setting, you must therefore invest a lot of your time in running, and other similar cardio-vascular exercises to make your heart and your lungs the strongest machines in your body. By having such very capable internal organs, your bones and your muscles will in effect, become very strong too, before you even know it.
Technique 3: Having a strong will
Outside of the ring, you may have heard tales like these on the streets: Martial arts black-belter, got beaten by a street thug. Ask any fight expert, and you will get the affirmation that some so-called martial-arts titlists do get pounded on the streets by people who are not even trained fighters.
What could be the reason why such an event happened? How can someone who regularly trains got beaten by a plain simpleton? The answer is simple, those thugs have the rock-solid will in themselves to beat their victims to a pulp. They condition their minds into doing it and have been doing it many times already, it’s the reason why they are so adept at real-world physical battles.
And since most martial-artists are just good with their skills on the ring, with the presence of a referee, they don’t have the true, street-smart warrior mentality in them. That’s why when they are placed in real situations, they can’t easily adapt to the dangers the way street thugs do.
Those baddies who frequently terrorize people on the streets are always mentally ready to do whatever it is that they love doing, it’s the reason why fear and doubts are very far from their vocabularies… it is the reason why they often succeed in their criminality gigs.
During Bruce Wayne’s training in Batman Begins, Ra’s Al Ghul, his mentor, instilled this lesson in him: “You must have the will to do what’s necessary, the will to act.” In that same scene, this statement was also declared, “Training is nothing, the will is everything.”
It is clear then that having a strong will is better than having a strong set of muscles.
To further reinforce the above-given ideas, we need to consider another quote from the great Bruce Lee: “I fear not the man who practices ten thousand kicks at one time, but I fear the man who practices one kick ten thousand times.” This can make us arrive at the understanding that a good hand-to-hand fighter must focus on quality instead of quantity.
Conclusion
These days, I don't practice fighting techniques anymore because I found no practical use for them. I found out that if you are a diplomatic guy with peaceful thoughts, the chances of you being in actual physical combat are very unlikely. I never gave up physical fitness though. As a much more mature person, I give this conclusion that pushups, shadowboxing, running, and any other activity that can make you sweat regularly are "the best forms of martial arts."
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