The Fighter’s Fightin’ Words
“Them’s fightin’ words!”
Have you ever heard that expression before? Maybe you heard Yosemite Sam exclaim it. Or maybe you heard it in an old west cowboy show right before a fight starts. Or maybe it was an internet meme (probably again, right before a fight starts).
Well, if you have, cool.
If not, that’s cool too.
Whether you have heard that phrase or not is besides the point. The point I’m getting to is this: what if everything we as Martial Artist do is really just fighting words?
Not literally, of course. I don’t mean that everything we do is practice to go outside and start talking smack to everybody you see. Let me clarify a bit of what I’m thinking.
Your basics are similar to individual letters.
They may be as simple as abc but they are your foundational stuff. You can’t speak good or write good if you don’t know your letters.
This is important. Your letters have no meaning on their own. You can pronounce “W”, but it alone has no meaning. When I use “W”, It might be as I ask “what” or I might be saying “war”. The letter is just a sound, nothing more nothing less.
Because of that, you can find “W” in all kinds of places. I’ve already used the letter “W” 21 times now in this post. It is a sound that can be applied with different letters to make different words with different meanings. Now think about your basics.
Don’t trap yourself by thinking of your basics as techniques. “Techniques” imply rigid thinking and a predetermined goal (like this).
A jab described as a technique would be: You take your closest hand and, striking with your top two knuckles, punch forward to the aggressor’s nose.
Rigid thinking. Predetermined goal.
Think instead as simply movements. This allow for flexibility, not in body but rather in mind, in how and when you execute it.
That same punch described as a movement: You take your front hand and, keeping a horizontal fist, extend it forward then retract it back to where it began. That’s it. No fluff. Just stuff.
That movement could be a punch to the nose. But it could also be an arm extending under your opponent’s arm to hyperextend his. Or maybe a strike using the crook of your arm to strike as you extend forward.
Letters: Sounds, not meaning.
Basics: Movements, not techniques.
Let’s move on to words now.
Words are letters clumped together. Your words are your self defense tactics, ippon kumite/one steps, and combinations. They are your basics strung together.
But here’s the thing: You say tomato (“toh-may-toh”), I say tomato (“toh-mah-toh”). You say potato (“poh-tay-toh”), I say potato (“poh-tah-toh”). You say strong punches, I say quick punches.
In the Martial Arts world, too often we spend so much time arguing about the “correct” way to do this or that.We waste time going back and forth on moot details. And in the end, we just forget about what we should be doing (hint: learning!).
Just because you and I pronounce something differently doesn’t mean one of us is wrong. Just as people have different tones and slightly differing pronunciations, Martial Artist have different body types and strengths and weaknesses.
What works for you might not be what works best for me.
Hello? Is it me your looking for…?
Sometimes the difference is bigger than tomato and tomato, though. You might be speaking a completely different language than me. You say Nǐ hǎo and I say hello. But that’s ok as well. There’s a solution to that. Are you ready to hear it? It’s…
Look at the meaning of the word! Words have roots, words that came before it and that they are based on. Those roots carry the meaning with it and can be more universal than the word that it now forms. Same with your Martial Art “words”.
Look for the underlying principles that make the it work. That’s how you can overcome the “language barrier” separating Martial Arts styles.
We’re both saying hello, or talking about the red vegetable-like fruit, or taking the aggressor to the ground.
The important thing is that what you say/do has the same intended meaning.
Now let’s talk about talking.
Unless you just like to babble, when you speak, you are intelligently stringing together words to express yourself or convey a message.
*cough* forms *cough*
Here’s the thing though. It’s not uncommon for people to have problems when they try to speak. Slurring, stuttering, hesitating, and tensing up are problems a lot of people have when speaking up, especially in front of a superior or when trying to give a speech.
Take caution that it doesn’t happen to you and your forms. In the wise words of Kevin Hart, “say it with your chest!”
When you are doing a form, avoid stuttering, slurring your movements, hesitating, and unnecessary tension.
One more thing thing. Conversations.
Sparring and fighting is a physical conversation between two or more people. We’ve already covered speaking up, but there is more to holding a conversation than knowing how to speak well.
Listening.
I don’t mean the kind of half listening where you occasionally nod your head and pretend that you really care. Actually listening. Paying attention and, wait for it, responding in relation to what has been said. That last part (“responding in relation”) is a really important part of the equation.
Don’t ignore what the attacker is doing. Be ready to adjust to the situation. Don’t feel pigeonholed to finish a technique you’ve practiced. If they pull back when you expected them to step forward, adjust.
Don’t just speak. Listen and respond in kind.
And thus concludes another hot and fresh Cup of Kick from me to you.
