Note: The following is merely one of my own thoughts and conclusions based on my own experiences, readings, and thoughts. Please don't rely on the following essay as an ultimate truth but rather a possible addition to your own Martial Arts outlook. I believe that these general concepts can be applied on the street, in the training hall, or at tournaments. - John Melton
"There is always someone better than you" is a quote that is often heard in some form during a martial arts school lecture . The intent is to let the inform the student of the seemingly obvious fact that they are not the unstoppable ancient-style warriors that their newfound skills may lead them to believe. It's true, of course, the chances of finding someone that is faster, stronger, more skilled, tougher, bigger, with better reach, and more training than you as an individual are quite high. So what do you have left? Your mind. Sure, there is a real good chance that you will run into people in your lifetime that are smarter than you, but in a martial combat situation, the skills most often employed against you are those of a strictly physical nature.
As a Black Belt instructor, I have had some difficulties with contiuing my own skill growth. As I teach more, I train less. Added to this, my body continues to age. I'm working at a "desk job". My endurance, strength, flexibility, and speed have suffered. I'm not offering excuses, (the fault is soley my own)I'm merely setting the stage for a point to be made. The point is, with me not being the "hungry color-belt" anymore I am a prime target for those that are, the ones who seek to sharpen physical skills on me. How do I cope with the younger, faster, and "hungrier" opponets? The only edge I have left is my experience. I use that experience to ply my wicked little mind games on my opponents.
The other way to use fear and intimidation is to project the opposite. That is to project the image that you, are the one that is intimidated. Slumped sholders, a trembling lip, quickly averting eyes, a soft ki-hap, a slightly open mouth, upturned eyebrows, feigned exhaustion and a seemingly improper stance can do wonders of your opponent's confinence. THAT can be his undoing. Again, you are the cool, calculating warrior, awaiting your opening on an over confident opponent. I, personally, have had much sucess with variations of this tactic.
2.) "EYEBALLING" For the lack of a better term, "Eyeballing" is what I've termed the assortment of devious little tricks you can play with your eyes. The simplest is to look at one point and strike at another. Getting someone to fall for this twice takes some work to pull off. I've had luck by obviously focusing my attention on a part of the body, for example the forehead. I dart my eyes, very obviously, to the stomach area and immediatly throw a kick, to the stomach. If the kick contacts, Whooopie, I probably don't need much in the way of mind games. If not, then all is progressing according to plan. I repeat the process a second time, makeing sure to keep myself in a defendable posture as I drive the kick home. Usually the opponent easily deflects my attack. The third time I repeat the process, the eyes look to the stomach, the knee twitches to begin the front kick, they begin their defensive action or a retaliation ... I pop 'em in the head with a backfist and to the midsection with a reverse punch.
In some situations the ol' "Hey look! It's the Goodyear Blimp!" or the ever popular "Your shoe's untied" tricks will work. Not that I recommend literally yelling and pointing over their shoulder, but the idea is generally the same concept. If your eyes constantly look them right in their eyes for a time and then, suddenly, you can't seem to stop looking somewhere beyond your opponent, then human nature may have them DYING to see what is capturing your attention. Especially if you can convincingly add a little, "hmmm?" to your act. Give 'em what they want by manuvering so that your back is to the "Goodyear Blimp". Maybe, just maybe, they will look for it.
You can improvise your own little "eyeballing games" to catch your opponent unawares. Sometimes it's just as simple as quickly looking up to the head from the stomach as you "leasurely" chamber a roundhouse kick to take the road up there, but somehow your foot gets off at the wrong exit ramp and drives soundly into the newly exposed belly.
3.) The "Jester" This is where I file my arsenal of idiocy. Most martial arts instruction seems to be very serious in nature. It is a serious, potentially dangerous subject and SHOULD be taught in such a manner. However, one of the by products of this straight faced instruction is the, "by the book" attitude of some students. If they were not taught that technique or style then ,"By God it's wrong!". I am generalizing of course. What does a student do when he's confronted by something completly out of the ordinary or "weird" in their experience? They pause, or better yet they might react improperly. I normally fight in a fighting stance similar to everyone else in my style but when I deviate into a hand weaving/ dance step sort of stance I usually see this foggy expression in my opponents faces. They're confused as heck. Try a goofy fighting stance sometime. Raise an arm in an odd, seemingly stupid way, see what happens. Try making those goofy Bruce Lee sounds in the middle of a heavy onslaught. Sometimes even making a stupid face at your opponent can throw them off for a precious couple seconds. Chambering a kick in the wrong way can cause alot of confusion as well. Just remember, all the while that you are engaging in this foolery and your opponent is trying to figure out just what the heck you are up to, you are still that cool, calculating warrior, creating mayhem in your opponent's comfortable little world.
Sun Tzu writes in The Art of War: In battle, confrontation is done, directly, victory is gained by surprise. Therefore those skilled at the unorthodox are as infinate as heaven and earth, inexhaustable as the great rivers. When they cometo and end, they begin again, like the days and months: they die and are reborn, like the four seasons.
This is the whole concept that I have been addressing, to do the unexpected, the unothodox. We, as martial artists, are taught a great many different techniques. We can string them together in an infinite number of ways. The trick is to be able to utilize these techniques in any sort of engagement where the opponent may be able to physically outperform you. Mixing together the orthodox techniques in an unorthodox manner or performing unorthodox techniques, I think of those as my little tricks, can be the edge your need to be the victor. I find this further illustrated by Sun Tzu:
There are only five notes in the musical scale, but their variations are so many that they cannot all be heard. There are only five basic colors, but their variations cannot be seen. There are only five basic flavors, but their variations are so many that they cannot all be tasted. There are only two kids of change in battle, the unorthodox surprise attack and the orthodox direct attack, but the variations of the orthodox and unorthodox are endless. The unorthodox and the orthodox give rise to each other like the beginnings of a circle - who could exhaust them?,
By mixing my little bag of tricks with classical martial arts techniques, I am able to contend with those that I think probably could outperform me. Let me know your thoughts. I like most other martial artists, am constantly refining my outlook and stratigies.
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