what are some of your favorite metaphors for the martial arts?
this thought was provoked when braden said in a recent thread the following:
“As you cultivate martial skill, also cultivate whatever personal philosophy you need to stay out of real martial confrontations whenever possible.”
the idea of a farmer cultivating his or her soil to reap a great harvest came to mind. continual, constant, caring toil is all that the farmer can give. the farmer works hard at their work all day, giving the land what it needs while doing as little as possible to harm the land. and then, after a few seasons of successful reaping, the farmer may turn his soil over and replant something different if that’s what is best for the land.
you can take this metaphor as far as you want, but i’m curious what are you folks’ favorites. it can be anything as common as the zen master and the empty cup or anything as unique as the rare taiqi anecdote that surfaces only once in a blue moon.
when i’m describing defense to my students now, i like to use an analogy i learned from the very wise and venerable will ferrell. one of his ads for miller lite (i think) describes a camping trip where one guy decides it would be funny to throw hot dogs at a wolf. but eventually, he’s going to run out of hot dogs. and then the wolf is coming after HIM.
that’s how i explain blocking, evading, etc. yeah, defense is fine as long as you’ve still got hot dogs. but eventually, you’re going to get tired or sloppy, the opponent is going to find openings, etc. and then the wolf is going to get you.
the idea i’m trying to get across is that you’d better have some plan BEYOND block his punches, because that won’t work forever. how are you going to get out of the situation? how are you going to turn the tables? go on the offensive? that sort of thing.
occassionally, in sparring, i’ll tell a student that they’re ‘throwing hot dogs at the wolf.’ then they know they’d better come up with a better plan, pronto. it’s kinda dumb, but will ferrell kills me.
“man, i can give you guys food but i cant put it in your mouth, help you chew it, and reach down your throat to push it out your a$$ for you. you guys need to be doing something .. . you need to start consuming what is being given to you.”
“what the fu ck are you guys doing? i see so many of you going into movenents that look cool and have absolutely no purpose. are you going to fight that way? i hope not. when you are sparring you got to be eyeing your partner like a nice big, juicy, blood dripping steak. your coming to get a piece man . .. have that feeling and stop prancing around.”
worked on one for a couple months during the summer, but my duties were so minimal that i was able to come up with metaphorical crap like that.
sure, it’s idealogical, and most of the time i tried to fill my days with the laborious stuff voluntarily because at least i got something out of it rather than sitting, picking my nose all day.
of course, when was the last time a metaphor wasn’t idealogical? you can romeo a girl to death when she’s on the balcony, but be careful when you start comparing her beauty to that the shimmering moon, as the it may take offense to it. the moon never had regular blemish breakouts on a monthly basis.
so stick to the ideals. they’re what get the mind a-goin’ when it comes to good analogy. besides, ap’s story kinda goes against the idea. the wolf knows he’s gonna get the hot dogs. however, if he gets you instead of eating them first, he can have both.
apowen, I like the will farrell analogy, its kinda like when my friend and I would spar, We each new each others week spots, sifu would yell “You gonna do that all day, you’re not going to be able to (then proceeded to not tell us a round was up so it would end up lasting like 10 minutes, one of us would just end up having to take a knee out of sheer exaustion)…geez I hope Jonny boombats (his name for gapers from the street) has the same softspot”
if your student goes for good strikes instead of chasing your hands, those hands he wanted to chase so much earlier on will be free pickins, because (in theory) he just knocked you clean out.
i don’t know who said this, but it’s one of my favorite metaphors for martial arts and life. talking about how some students can’t wait to learn ‘what’s next’ and want to get into the adanced stuff as fast as possible. babies can’t digest steak meat. word.
exactly. it illustrates a lack of intent that’s pretty common in classes i’ve seen and taught. there’s no overarching goal. just the immediate goal: don’t let THAT punch hit you. and my point is always, “well done. but there’s another right behind it. and behind that. and so on. so you’d better have a more inclusive plan.”
in the karate-type classes i’ve seen (and this isn’t a comment on the styles themselves, only on the students and perhaps the teachers), there’s a lot of evidence of that sort of immediate solution. like when you watch two students fight and they’re flicking kicks back and forth at one another. one kicks, the other blocks and kicks back. and so forth. but what are they thinking? they could be using those kicks to wear an opponent down (kicking down their guard or numbing their footwork with leg kicks), they could be chasing them into a corner to finish them off, they could be using their leg as a range finder. they could be doing any one of a thousand things. but they aren’t. they’re just kicking because… karate people kick.
but without a larger plan, that’s not a working solution. “if i can just keep him at leg’s length until sensei stops this sparring match” is NOT a working solution.
it’s the difference between doing a move because it’s applicable and doing a move because it facilitates an objective. yes, the block was applicable because the opponent was trying to punch you. but if that’s all you’re doing, you’re not getting any closer to an overall objective (stopping him from punching you at all).
so that’s my analogy. if you aren’t thinking about where this is leading, where you’re going to lead it, then you’re just throwing hot dogs.
that’s how you tell a real martial artist from a fake one – real ones may have been pretty before, but not anymore.
now apply that to movies as well: jackie chan? not pretty, but he can do pretty much anything. van damme? pretty, and he’s about as useful as a broken plunger (and as talented, too).
me? i’ll keep telling my students to make my girlfriend mad and go for my nose – keeps my technique from getting sloppy and makes sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to.
i just love trying to explain to sisok that i really AM all right after taking a nose shot, even though my eyes are watering and it makes me look like a crying toddler who just skinned his knee.
