Think Outside The Box.
What a foolish statement! Forever we have been told to Think Outside The Box... for success. And for the brain dead, it sounds so philosophical and appealing, yet it is a horrendous trap. People run off developing many useless things and place us further and further from the truth.
In the Martial Arts this is especially true as we see each year worse and worse martial students churned out with fancier uniforms, given absurdly high belts with little skill, musical acrobatics passed of as Kata at tournaments and the list goes on.
Why think outside the box?
Because inside their box are no real answers. People that run schools almost always look for the next fad to keep old students as well as an attempt to lure in new... but there is less and less substance as they take this path.
We see now that the UFC (now labeled MMA) has become popular so instructors around the world have grabbed this "Label" to market their lessons with. The problem is mixing in more and more only serves to dilute the art.
And look at the real MMA, they don't do mixed arts... that has molded into a single standard... they all do the same art, nothing mixed about it.
Think inside the box.
Traditional Arts always had various ranges of fighting, from distance striking to close in combative and grappling method... yes even Kyusho.
If the box contains original styles, those styles were based on Kyusho (as seen in numerous manuals of the founders)... while everyone is "Thinking outside the box", they are missing the reality of what lies inside.
Old Kata has everything the new MMA does... and more (especially with Kyusho)!
They Arts Ain't What They Used To Be
These days the martial arts have morphed so drastically from the original intent as well as practice.
The original Arts were practiced and taught as a full spectrum life model. They combined health, meditation and life protection methods, (note I did not say fighting or sport).
MMA
Might as well get this out of the way first... this is a sport, and it is not really even mixed anymore. When the concept started with the first UFC match, you would see different stylists working their sport with another style... it was mixed. However now they all train the same "style"... they even dress alike, it is no longer mixed.
And they have a ton of rules in which they need to observe... all good for the safety factor, but a sport then by definition.
The Old Ways
Going by the historical documentation of the original methods we see a completely different modality.
The old ways were not all about fighting, they were about forging a complete warrior... as subtle as that sounds it is of great importance. A warrior needed a completely different mindset and spirit... you did not go into battle to fight, you went in to conquer.
Fighting is a prolonged process of back and forth, give and take. In battle you can not play this game, you go through the opponent you do not square off with them.
We hear the tales of old warriors that defeat 100 opponents in a battle. We always placed that in our mind as folklore or myth, but that is only because we do not have the mentality or spirit that was developed through a life of battle and conquest. And so few of us today can even comprehend this as possible. But let's diverge a bit to more fully understand its possibility through modern example.
Take Steve Jobs, Sir Richard Branson, or any of those few who conquered all as it seemed to simply fall before them. The weapons changed but the mindset did not. Or consider a warrior like Michael Phelps... accomplishing what others would only consider impossible or just tales of old.
So what separates the warrior from the soldier?
They did not fight, or engage in conflict, instead they walked through the opposition without stopping to engage.
The Reality
The Old Arts trained the mind and spirit, the body also forged as it followed and knew no physical limitation. Today people tend to take the opposite path whereas they work to forge the body, but neglect the spirit and mind. They play sport with physicality instead of limitless possibility of mind and spirit.
The Old Arts worked first with meditation, to eliminate the mental boundaries. Then with breath to coordinate and control it from its natural and societal limitation and structure.
Next it work to stop human life or function immediately. This does not rely on defensive action, but rather a proactive mindset, spirit and deep understanding of human anatomy and physiology. They attacked the inner man not the shell as almost all modern adaptions do. As example and as opposed to merely striking the head with a fist, the attack is directed to nerves and or vascular tissue to cause internal imbalance and trauma.
Our Journey
Is to learn what the old original arts had within them that forged the warrior for battle.
As we look back at the old manuals, books, scrolls, tools and Kata we see a complete knowledge as well as systematic way to teach these old secrets... and how to hide them in plain site.
You do not need to think outside the box... especially if you do not know what is in the box already with you.
#Kyusho -ep
