The Paper Tigers

By Allan David Ondash

The Paper Tigers is a no holds barred account of traditional versus modern martial arts. It peers into the deepest corners of martial adeptness with microscopic precision, not only exposing human frauds on every level but also exposing the most fraudulent claims. In the midst of its dark disparagements, it often abruptly turns on the light by instructing the reader in a step-by-step manner on the oldest known and most secretively reserved martial concepts and techniques. For the enthusiast and budding practitioner, it is a dictionary that defines every aspect of true martial arts, from the types of body language, power, speed and explosiveness utilized in achieving its most coveted physical goals, to the styles of mindfulness, breath control and awareness employed in the heightening of its spiritual presence. For many long-time practitioners, whether those from traditional backgrounds or those involved in sport-like styles such as kickboxing, MMA or UFC, the Paper Tigers blatantly challenges their idealisms, often forcing them to weigh their current methodologies against the traditional methodologies given so that they may determine once and for all not only which brands hold the highest amounts of physical, mental and spiritual content, but most importantly, which are fitting enough to actually be deserving of the name “martial arts.” All in all, the Paper Tigers tends to lift the veil on the mainstream media’s over-glorification of martial arts in order to expose the unsentimental truth behind its inner workings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Allan David Ondash
• Release date: Nov 9, 2013
• ISBN: 9780615903828

Allan David Ondash

Master Allan D. Ondash was born and raised in Courtdale, Pennsylvania. He is a thirty-six year veteran of The Sil-Lum Hung-Gar Tiger/Crane system. His intensive studies also include; Chinese Boxing, Shaolin Longfist, White Crane and Yang Style Tai Chi.

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THE PAPER TIGERS

A Knock-Down-Drag-Out Look

At Modern Martial Arts

Allan David Ondash

Produced for SMASHWORDS by

Tigerman Media/Kingston Pennsylvania

Copyright 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be reproduced or distributed in any manner or form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.

Disclaimer: The author and publisher of this material are NOT RESPONSIBLE in any manner whatsoever for any injury which may occur as a result of following any methods, guidelines, exercises or instructions contained herein. The activities described in this material, whether physical or otherwise, may be too strenuous or dangerous for some people, and the reader(s) should consult a physician before engaging in them.

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For all those who strive to keep it real.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Foreword

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

You’re a paper tiger if

Other products by Allan Ondash

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To the late Sifu Lau That, a great Grandmaster of the Sil-Lum Hung-Gar Tiger/Crane Kung-Fu system who fought diligently to survive the Japanese invasion of China. I and all others who have had the pleasure, and the pain, of training under you are grateful beyond words for allowing us to peer into the lawless, unmolested depths of traditional martial arts. We have learned things that few on the planet have learned, and such a gift has granted us the ability to decipher what is real and what is not in regard to martial arts so that we may convey this distinction to those who are willing and able to travel beyond its outward appearances. We love you, and God speed.

To my friend and teacher Mark C. Seidel, who has practiced martial arts harder and more intensely than nearly everyone I’ve ever observed, met or known, including the majority of top-rated or otherwise famous practitioners. For the rest who claim to practice hard, such a statement may not seem influential enough to include them. The truth, however, is evident in the eyes of the many thousands of such who have bared witness to, and have been humbled by, his undying persistence and dedication. And so it is this, in company with the ability to put martial arts first and last in spite of all life’s trials and tribulations, that has made him what he is…a true master.

To my good friend Chuck Yurkin, whom I’ve consulted with many times over the valid concerns of traditional martial arts, and whose humorously tasteful and brutally honest use of the term Paper Tigers has spurred me to write this book.

To my good friend Ernest Clamar, the owner of a successful chemical company as well as other lucrative businesses who taught me that listening to your creative voice and following your dreams is not only the only way to live your life, but the only road to true happiness.

To all of my students who have taught me how to be a better teacher. To Jimmy, Benny, Pat, Christine, Art, Ralph, Steve, Tom, Danielle, Alex, Eli, Carl, Robert, Mark, Chuck, Sam, Dave, John, Mike, Jeff, Ben, Jake, Eric, Becky, Sonya Marie and all the rest, thank you.

To all my traditional martial art liaisons who have helped me realize that the elements of true martial arts, no matter the style or system, are realistically much too similar in nature to have ever created most of the arguments that exist today.

To my friends and family members who believed in me and have supported me throughout the many years it has taken to complete this book.

To my editor Amy Wilson who did her best to keep my words, and my tongue, in check so that this book could be as professional as possible.

To all the Paper Tigers who have given me plenty to write about so that I could meticulously inform my readers on what not to do. Without your depraved indifferences to martial arts, no one would ever be the wiser.

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This photograph was taken in April of 1997 It shows Allan Ondash supporting over 560 pounds on top of a traditional horse stance posture.

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INTRODUCTION

As a boldly traditional Kung-Fu practitioner who has not only given his life to the martial way, but has also helped countless people find their true paths, I stand humble before those who have had, and continue to have, the utmost admiration for me. For without their trust and respect, I certainly would not be who I am, much less where I am, in regard to martial arts. Though this is mostly owed to what I have learned from them rather than them from me, I am nonetheless extremely grateful for their contributions.

Granted, some of those contributors were much harder to instruct than others, but the difficulty involved in such hardships allowed me to discover things about martial arts that I may not have otherwise become aware of. Having to break down certain key elements of study to inject them into the minds of those who had trouble turning the wheel when they hit that learning curve often reminded me of a time during my high school years when my math teacher, Mr. Fry, was instructing the class on the comprehension and use of fractions.

He wrote out a problem on the blackboard then turned around and recapped it verbally. What is 2.85 minus 1.7? He asked. All the blood suddenly rushed out of my head as I looked at the blackboard and thought, You’re kidding right? Math was already my weakest subject, but at that instant, I felt like a dog trying to read a Chinese menu! There was no way this tall lanky dumb ass from Courtdale, Pennsylvania was going to be able to solve that problem! But it turns out that Mr. Fry’s teaching method (which, incidentally, involved an annoyingly algebraic way of looking at things) was the only thing that was incomprehensible to me. The problem itself was easy! If Mr. Fry had instead asked, If you had two-dollars and eighty-five cents in your pocket and you spent a dollar seventy of it, how much would you have left? Actually, I still don’t know the answer to that off hand but it at least affords me an understandable, clear-cut way to solve the problem.

Now, when considering true martial arts, the initial dilemma, believe it or not, is commonplace. That’s because the technical outer materializations of martial arts, such as all the different approaches to punching, kicking, etc., are very difficult to understand if one cannot comprehend what is supposed to be going on with the rest of his or her body while they are trying to learn and/or employ such materializations in a martially acceptable manner. Hence, understanding proper body language skills is the key to understanding everything else; and by everything, I don’t just mean how to punch or kick, I mean how to properly identify and develop breathing, speed, power, timing, focus and the many other effects that encompass true martial arts and in turn mold true martial artists. Nevertheless, body language maneuvering, better known as concept training, is often very complicated, especially to those who are accustomed to just learning how to punch and kick. This is because conceptually-based martial art skills are designed to incapacitate or kill, so their methods must thereby adhere to precise codifications that stretch across many personal areas of human development, all of which eventually satisfy the mind, body and spirit by way of the expansion of all three.

Most modern martial systems, on the other hand, are largely designed as cheerful extracurricular sport-orientated activities. Moreover, they are tag-along ventures often driven by only one area of human development, the poorest one: the ego. Consequently, there are very limited complications involved since the whole idea is simply to outdo one another instead of outdoing oneself, to simply copy instead of taking the time to learn each aspect using a long-lasting scientific approach. Though such traditional versus modern avowals may seem to some like comparisons with no solid underlying definitions and thus my way of talking over modern martial arts with a philosophical tongue, the woes of the wary will soon be quelled as he or she slowly but surely comes to understand the definitions of all which may have at one time been deemed martially philosophical and thereby open to miscellaneous interpretation. At that point, they will be armed with the knowledge necessary to make true and undeniable comparisons between modern and traditional martial arts.

To assist my readers in the quest for such definitive knowledge, all excerpts in this book that encompass the idea of concept training have been placed at the forefront so that he or she can fully comprehend future excerpts that may otherwise indicate the vocabulary needed to understand them. With the difficult stuff laid out before the journey, a better understanding of what true martial arts are can be obtained. After that, it is up to each individual reader to apply the knowledge set forth and thus enrich the quality of their martial lives; and who knows, if enough people read this book and come to understand what a true martial art entails, maybe modern martial arts will fall victim to its own misguided understandings.

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.

Aldous Huxley

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FOREWORD

If there existed a world where everybody knew somebody who was a black belt or martial arts wannabe, one would be tempted to think that such a world would be none but an enormous charade, especially if he or she had previously been granted the realization that the true science of martial arts had not only taken many lifetimes to conceive, but at least one lifetime per person to construct. For this reason, the real contemplators of such a society would be urged to do one of two things: capitalize upon it, or start to question the soundness of its underlying nature. For me, it would certainly be the latter, and it is, for we do live in such a world.

Yet, if anyone aside from me knows anything about authentic martial arts, he or she also knows that such skill, despite its widespread prevalence, takes more than just a lifetime to achieve; it also takes more time and effort within that lifetime than any one ant out of the entire ant hill is willing to bestow. In light of such recognition, the attentive ones would then find themselves standing next to me looking outward and wondering how all this worldly martial skill came to fruition. It would only be shortly afterward that the answer would arrive in the form of knowing that, not unlike people who have learned about love from watching soap operas, the masses of martial modernists have, without utilization of their own minds, allowed the martial media to teach them everything they know about martial arts, and worse yet, how to obtain it which, according to modern standards, is by becoming a martial mimeograph.

Well, I’m here in hopes that an honest voice will be louder than a crowd when I say that despite the intensity of the many buzzes created by the martial media, true martial abilities cannot be carbon copied, not even from a rare and qualified teacher. Moreover, such skill cannot be downloaded from the internet, learned from a video or book, or had in any other way solely akin to the conscious mind. Aside from martial material that is utilized primarily as reference material, this includes any and all how-to’s, or even hands-on teachings that focus primarily on technique rather than on the core concepts which drive technique. Though it is, without argument, that core concepts are the body language skills buried beneath all techniques and those that reinforce the origin and the essence of all traditional martial arts, it is really the practice and eventual engraftation of these conceptual abilities that molds the true martial artist.

In practicing perfectly-timed, whole-body-weight concept drills, in the midst of both conscious and unconscious mental faculties, one can easily discover the truest and deadliest forms of power, speed and explosiveness through the wind and release characteristics of the legs, waist and spine, and more importantly, use those assets to escape the singularly-minded, predetermined technical restraints of a chosen system by arriving at the understanding that any given conceptual body language skill can be used to power many different punch, kick and strike techniques. Once that is understood, techniques can be quickly chosen while on the move instead of falling victim to the hesitations often evident in modern prearranged martial styles. Such increased competence will then allow one to be purely responsive in regard to his or her skills, making martial arts what it has always been beneath the surface: a naturalized, non-predetermined ability. In practicing only consciously-induced martial techniques, as the multitude of modernists tend to do, one will never even scratch the surface of true martial arts, let alone quarry beneath it. That whispered, it is time to not only put technically-based punch-and-kick martial art styles in their proper places, but all the lies and liars as well.

As a result, if one is a traditionalist at heart who knows deep down that there is, and always has been, something truly special about martial arts that they fear isn’t being demonstrated through today’s fashionable methods, or by the hands of certain teachers, then he or she will undoubtedly love this book. For it will not only provide invaluable insight, but supply solid answers to some of the most plaguing procedural and theoretical questions regarding martial arts, and all without having to wade through perplexing history lessons, which, through hazy interpretations, might otherwise pose arguments over identical terminologies.

As for non-traditionalists, they will, without qualm, hate this book and hate me too. Some of them will view me as a martial demoniac who but for his own contentment enjoys lashing them until they’re red for leading a cloistered life of playful preschool procedures and undermining just about everything else they believe in. Though some will abhor me for my martial insurgency, most loathing will arrive as a result of imposing upon them knowledge gained not through intellectuality, but through decades of daily, unsentimental, wholly-creditable practice. Because of that, they will be taken to a place where full-figured still means fat and thus be rudely informed as to why they are so erroneous in regard to their martial codes and conduct before being force-fed indubitable verities and remedies to their obvious disliking.

All the same, some may wonder how it is possible that I can offer medicine for martial illnesses that may be unrelated to my own elected styles and practices. I must guarantee them that conceptual aptitude is the short answer. In owning well-oiled conceptual abilities, I, or any similarly adept person for that matter, can easily decipher the deepest of body languages from technique. When such distinctions are made, it becomes quite evident that body language skills are miniscule compared to the massive amounts of technique spread across multiple systems. But more importantly, such languages lend very similar and often exacting values toward one another when viewed traditionally. Such is the very reason why any pair of true traditionalists who have never actually met one another can almost always share the most common conceptual qualities of martial arts without a hint of argument. Like seasoned machinists who can immediately recognize the range, integrity and thread count of a bolt by merely glancing at it, deeply imbedded conceptual knowledge affords them comparable abilities in regard to deciphering the range (versatility), integrity (conceptual capacity) and the thread count (technical orientation) of true martial arts.

Utilizing the same traditional aptitude in company with the furthest extent of my martial abilities, assessment shall be made at this juncture to prove once and for all, that traditional martial arts, no matter the system, was and always will be superior to any and all of its modern successors. Still, in realizing that it is no easy task to quell the bastards of modern-day martial arts, I shall often find it necessary to burrow into their heads like a Lyme tick and annoy them like an infected ingrown hair on a swampy ass cheek until they finally come to their wits and start doing things correctly, or at least understand what the correct ways are in contrast to their own tenuous interpretations.

In further light of what is what in martial arts, I will, where applicable in regards to fair use, also attempt to clarify who is who by ignoring the shifting of names to protect the martially retarded. It is in expectation of these bare offerings that I can, in effect, preserve what little may be left of martial traditionalism, for in the end, it is that, and only that, which lends its lifeblood to martial modernism in spite of its disgusting decay.

Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.

Sophocles

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CHAPTER 1

THE YEAHBUTTS

Throughout this text, wherever possible and applicable, I have gone out of my way to provide solid scientific explanations in order to debunk that and those who are, or have been, counter-scientific in their approach to martial arts. Though each excerpt of The Paper Tigers attempts to dissect certain individuals and styles right down to the core, only the most important root points are covered. This is because authentic descriptions must often be lengthy in order for both martial enthusiasts and modern practitioners already injected with their own ideas to understand why certain martially-based ideas are a loose-fit compared to their authentic counterparts. It therefore goes without saying that some less important points, good or bad, may be purposely overlooked in order to save space. Either that or the reader may simply be redirected to another section of the book so that full comprehension can be reached. However, all points made, though often admixed with colorful metaphors and well-deserved name-calling, are of the highest authentic martial nature and may be shocking to many idealists.

Consequently, the context of each excerpt will most likely breed three types of readers, those who agree with the points being made, those who disagree, and the yeahbutts. In all fairness to intelligent disputers, it is not you who will be despised for offering some sort of scientific proof to counter my chosen bits of authenticity. It is your mindless counterparts, the disagreeing yeahbutts who don’t have a shred of counter-proof, but may have felt so rejected by my words that they try to save the credibility of a style or person by saying something they like about it or them while completely ignoring the point being exemplified.

For example, if I point out and offer proof of some detrimental thing someone has done to martial arts, the typical yeahbutt will respond with something to the effect of, Yeahbutt look what that someone has done for the popularity of martial arts, or Yeahbutt look how much money he or she has made. But such confutation isn’t arguing the point, no matter if it’s true or not! It’s just a blind attempt to argue for the sake of arguing! In fact, if you pay close attention, you’ll see a yeahbutt coming a mile away. It is he or she who patently manufacture rebuttals in their heads while other people are speaking instead of listening first and then making logical determinations according to what they’ve heard. As a result, their rebuttals always seem to be either way off-topic in reference to the subject at hand, or so far out there that they have absolutely nothing at all to do with the conversation.

In dealing with many yeahbutts throughout the years, I always wondered how some conversations had become so skewed. At first I thought it might have been due to the pathological narcissism that most martial-art-minded yeahbutts seem to suffer from. This would of course indicate why those of that class are often incapable of admitting that they may be wrong in regard to certain points and instead offer irrational comebacks in order to avoid exposing their lack of real knowledge. Yet, as true as that may or may not be, the bottom line is that yeahbutts just don’t listen! That’s why they always seem to be talking to themselves while you’re talking to them! There is, however, a proven remedy that one can use against yeahbutts in all future conversations regarding martial arts and that is to force them to stick to the point. By doing so, yeahbutts will soon realize that their negations have no effect on the conversation at hand, and with no other tools available to sway the conversation toward those negations, they will soon shut up and start listening. Though before taking the lead in such a game, make sure you have universal proof of the points being discussed, otherwise you’ll be worse than a yeahbutt, you’ll be a plain old butt.

In forcing ‘yeahbutts’ to stick to the point, one will discover that they not only argue simply for the sake of arguing, but because they have nothing of real value to add to a conversation; thus resulting in some of the dumbest things ever said.

Allan Ondash

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BEHIND CLOSED DOJOS

Barring those from opposing styles who are true first-rate friends, when martial art acquaintances run into each other in public, they appear humble and courteous on the outside, but only because each believes the other has mutual respect for who they are and what they do. On the inside, behind closed doors though, it is often a completely different story. Everybody’s always talking about how their style is so superior to the rest; how the techniques of one style lack feasibility, how the stances of another style are too weak, why their fighting methods are more effective than everybody else’s, why everybody sucks except for them, etc, etc. But how do they know these things to be true?

Does every martial practitioner on the planet possess the great conceptual knowledge found in true martial arts, or are most just simple modern-minded maggots who have no real knowledge outside the containment fields of their self-blown bubbles yet continue to constantly, and privately, speak ill of other practitioners as well as other schools for no greater reason than to stroke their egos? The second would be my educated guess, and I say that because even though I have learned more than my share of traditional theory, I too have been known to hide behind closed doors while barking up a storm. But, with age brings a certain wisdom that one could possess in no other way, and so I’ve learned to stifle such nonsense and just gnaw it all down to the bone instead.

Nevertheless, I’m not going to open the doors beyond a crack without at least offering a little proof, and a lot of logic, behind everything I say so that I can try and offer some crystal clear clarification in regard to why many closed-door assessments are accepted as fact. Still, let it be known that since most dirty dialect in this day and age of martial malarkey is spit at traditionalists, I must contain my elaborations to that area. I’ll begin with the most common forms of bashing.

Many sport stylists thump on traditional martial arts by verbally and visually exemplifying traditional maneuvers in order to demonstrate how futile they are against the sport or modern-style task at hand. Such analysis often encompasses ideas that more or less translate to, Traditional guys throw punches this way as opposed to the way we punch, or There’s no time to throw traditional style kicks in a real fight, or Traditionalists get jammed up when you start wrestling with them. Though I’m sure there have been many more disparagements aimed toward traditionalism behind closed dojos, these are a few that often come to light.

At first glance, such murmurings give the impression of being purely egotistical if not for the simple fact that egoism always raises questions to the contrary rather than allowing room for truth. For example, in stating, Traditional guys throw punches this way, one is assuming that he or she knows the methods by which all martial traditionalists execute punches. But realistically, it would take far too much time and far too much practice in order to bring oneself to the point of making such an assumption, especially just to use it as a fleeting example. So, is there any truth within reach there, or just egoism? How about There’s no time to throw traditional-style kicks in a real fight. Where does the truth fit in there? Is he or she who utters such a thing again just assuming that they know the details of how such traditional-style effects are carried out? Across all systems no less? How about the idea of traditionalists being jammed up when having to deal with wrestling? Is it fact or assumption?

To help clarify the truth, I must add that in my own experiences surrounding such matters, arguers would constantly bark things like, It takes way too long to set up a traditional punch or kick in a real fight. Then of course to prove such a point they would more or less throw themselves into a makeshift stance and execute a punch or kick technique and then throw the same technique from a high-standing sport-style stance just to show me how much better their way was.

As far as wrestling, they would always find the need to ask what I would do if confronted by a certain wrestling procedure. My answer was that I didn’t know until I was actually confronted by it. This prompted the majority of them to assume that I didn’t know any wrestling procedures and therefore couldn’t apply any. But the truth is that, just like traditional technique, all tried and true martial wrestling procedures are concept-based and completely technique-free until either the opposition leaves a clear opening for an actual technique to be implemented or until the practitioner applying the procedure can create an opening by using some other tried and true kinesthetic-based martial effect.

Being that such an idea was too difficult for those whose willfully obvious wrestling techniques were stuck to the outside of their brains like a bunch of wilted post-it notes, all I could offer instead was a wrestling concept, which is not much more than a relaxed whole body movement driven by a unique form of stepping, turning or tilting, not unlike most standard concepts that power punching and kicking. In fact, many such concepts are universal in that respect. However, since they were always unable to pinpoint an actual wrestling technique within such raw movement, it helped to further fuel the ill-conceived idea that traditionalists become stifled by the onset of wrestling. All in all, they firmly assumed that by knowing actual wrestling techniques, and by utilizing personalized visual copies of traditional punching and kicking, they had a workable scale to measure the weight of their martial claims by and used that to its fullest to take for granted that they were better at martial arts. Yet, in most cases, better always amounted to what felt more comfortable for them, and what was more identifiable to them, rather than what was most effective and deeply truthful..

I then felt the need to impolitely inform them that they were mistaking the conceptual methods used in establishing traditional power for the actual technical applications involved in true and responsive traditional fighting. Any time they found the need to use traditional methods to solidify the integrity of their claims, they always used traditional methods of practice instead of traditional methods of fighting, and although their idea of traditional methodology was never more than a loose-fitting visual interpretation, and above that, purposely geared toward making the modern side of martial arts look good, it was nonetheless easy to see why they did and continue to do this. Simply put, it’s because traditional martial fighting, as well as its wrestling procedures, are an enigma. Only the practitioner knows where the actual combative applications lie within his or her movements, and as such, they can very clearly differentiate between the actual fighting strategies and the methods used to develop strength and integrity.

Martial modernists, on the other hand, are incapable of seeing the same when examining traditionalism, and because what they see almost never looks like the freestyle boxing, kickboxing and wrestling procedures they are so used to seeing, it is therefore non-applicable to real fighting. This is particularly true when modernists attempt to interpret traditional forms or (katas). But just as the modern martial artist may supplement his or her fight training by going for a few laps around town, the traditionalist supplements his or hers by practicing long and intense form sequences. In regard to that, I’m tempted to ask the reader; Why isn’t the practice of forms an acceptable method of supplemental fight training, but running around town a few times is? In my opinion, it’s most likely because modernists view forms the same way they view singular traditional maneuvers, from the outside in. That seems to be the only logical reason why such sequential maneuvers would appear so odd, unusable and unnecessary to them, hence being at least half of the reason for widespread closed-door discrediting; the other half being the fact that more than a few poorly-trained traditionalists who have never acknowledged, much less bridged, the gap between practice and fighting have gotten their asses handed to them by sport-stylists. But that’s a different story and one that’s irrelevant to the topic at hand.

In any case, most closed-door admonishments regarding martial art systems and their respective stylists are shared amongst modernists who strongly misinterpret traditional practices, and while there are, at times, ill-whispers being thrown at traditionalists by other traditionalists, most of those are based on ego rather than on ego accompanied by mass misinterpretation. In fact, without egotistical involvement, true traditionalists are too much alike to suffer from such mammoth misunderstandings, regardless of the systems being practiced.

So, what is to be done about these ugly closed-door misinterpretations? How can one open the doors to the modern havens and let the wonder in? A few others and I have in fact gotten many modern martial artists to at least question the soundness of both their practices and assumptions. But who’s going to convince the rest of the world? Many of the traditionalists I know are without doubt extremely lethal men. But how does one bring a traditional point across without being deadly about it? That’s the conundrum. Sure, we can all just decide to spread out across our communities, walk into these modern martial establishments and challenge every one of them right then and there, or even challenge them one on one outside of their schools. In fact, I’ve done the latter more than a few times, and I personally know a few traditionalists who have done both. But that sort of behavior doesn’t sit well with the law these days.

Besides, even if there is loss on our side, it’s still illegal and we must take the blame. Furthermore, what if someone gets killed over something that we’ve initiated? No, as much as some of us would like to, we can’t take those routes, at least not anymore. How about fighting them on their terms? That may seem like a good option, however, if we are true traditionalists we cannot bend the laws of response to match any rulebook, even a slackly written one. It is simply impossible.

I don’t believe that any of the above submissions will solve anything anyway; because as soon as word gets around that a bunch of martial artists just got their teeth kicked out of the back of their heads, there’ll be no shortage of those who’ll be hiding behind closed doors saying, I wish they would have come here instead, we would have showed them what’s what, or I wish one of them would challenge me, or Yeah but the guys they challenged sucked, we’re a lot better than them, or They just got lucky. Contained by such scenarios the rhetoric would go on and on until the idea of traditional martial arts ends up right back where it started before I picked up my pen. The bottom line is that modern martial artists are never going to admit that they may be erroneous in regard to martial arts until they discover without a doubt that their approaches are erroneous, and gabbing about that behind closed doors won’t do any good either. Comparison of methods is the only way, and that’s where this book comes in. So, as a little taste of what’s coming before I take you on the rest of your martial journey, I’d like to discuss a little bit about waist power, the most common denominator of all traditional as well as many forms of modern martial arts.

When conversing on the subject of waist power with the many so-called black belts, masters and sport-stylists that have graced my presence over the years, I would receive both questions and statements ranging from complete cluelessness to total conceitedness. What do you mean by waist power? some would ask. Others would state, Real power comes from the feet, and the waist is just an untrained, haphazard result of that. Still, the most common comment was, Oh yeah, we put our hips into everything too. Unfortunately, the ones who were putting their hips into everything were just as misinformed as those who either had no indication of waist power at all, or those who never imagined that the waist itself could be trained. In any case, putting one’s hips into a maneuver is not waist power, at least as it is defined in true martial arts. Real waist power action can be likened to the timing involved in the cracking of a whip. A sense of timing that separates the handle (the waist) from the whip (the technique). Yet, just as the handle and the whip are one, so should be one’s waist power. This idea of being separate but also quite together is part of the science of true martial arts, but it does not come without paying many dues. Unlike a real whip, which, one can learn to crack with little practice, martially-related waist whipping is not going to come easy for the human body because of the massive motor skills that need to be built, as well as the senses of timing which, incidentally, are not the same for every technique.

Simply shoving the hips around, even in fast moving ways, is laughingly irrelevant to the means involved in performing it correctly. As a matter of fact, one can learn how to put his or her hips into a movement by watching a preschooler kick around a soccer ball. True waist power cannot be learned by watching or imitating because, as I’ve mentioned, it’s a science, but what I didn’t mention is that it’s also an internal science that must be personalized by one’s own neurological pathways over periods of time that are much longer than most are willing to endure. Only the blueprint for waist power can be shown on the outside, yet one must not mistake a simple blueprint for a refined method.

Nevertheless, the monkey see, monkey do method seems to be a staple among the martially inexperienced. In figuring out that turning the hips adds more power, many ignorantly conclude that they have one-upped their fighting foes, and believe me; such ignorance is blurted out doggedly behind closed doors. At least in my experiences with these practitioners, they rarely considered the elementary principles of waist power, i.e., what the opposite hip (not to mention the rest of the body), were doing during the motion (reverse power, push/pull, external yin and yang), what method was being used to ensure the connection of the waist to the rest of the body (timing), what effort was being used to execute the movement once the connection was established (speed), and how one planned to capture the essence of such efforts (explosiveness/focus).

If they knew any of these things, it was purely by accident, which is to say they were discovered as the disorganized result of copying blueprints instead of taking the time to figure out and thus properly build what was laid out on them. The enormous availability of smeary multi-generational blueprints is what causes modern martial artists to misunderstand that most true martial theories are birds of a feather. This may very well be why the idea of concepts such as waist power are toyed with in one’s own personal way until he or she believes they’ve captured it in a manner that others have not thus providing room for one more closed-door assumption. Be that as it may, true waist power can no longer be invented because it already has been. So the best that one can do is develop it to its fullest capabilities.

One traditional way of accomplishing this is to stand in a low-held stance with the fists in chambered positions at the sides and then quickly turn the waist back and forth repeatedly as its own separate exercise that is free and clear of any punching or striking technique. The faster one is able to do this the faster the body responds when arrives the time to include actual punching or striking procedures. However, to ensure proper explosiveness, each singular movement of the waist must reach its fullest extension. Otherwise there is no bounce-back when each respective movement reaches its end; for it is the bounce-back that is responsible for both explosiveness and the multiple firing of technique.

As an appendage to this type of waist power training it must be acknowledged that the bouncing or sudden reversal of the waist is determined only by the position of the feet and not by the will of the practitioner. In other words, the waist stops when one or both feet prevent it from traveling any further and not when the practitioner feels like stopping it. Both foot positioning and foot stability are key in the development of waist power, so it goes without saying that low-held stance-work as well as further involvement of the legs is also key. Ignorance of such important keys may once again be why there are both unnecessary variations of waist power as well as closed-door conjecture.

Like the blind assumptions involving traditional techniques and katas, if the traditional method of gaining waist power doesn’t closely match the modernist’s way of applying his or her chosen technical skill, then it is of no use and therefore subject to dismissal as well as ridicule. But if most waist-power-savvy modernists were able to make the connection between their own waist power movements and the traditional methods of enhancing them, it’s a guarantee that their waist power abilities would improve overnight. So you see, aside from ego, it’s really the dilemma of not knowing enough about things before drawing a hypothesis that drives modern martial artists further and further away from traditionalism.

Yet, in many endemic examples, the better they get at what they do, the more they stumble across old and proven ways, often without even knowing it. In conclusion to all these observations, dissections and remedies, I hope the reader is now a little bit more able to verify whether or not what is being whispered, or shouted, behind the walls of their Dojos upholds any actual truth, for it is the truth that we are after here. I’ve slayed many of my own demons in order to find it. Now it’s your turn. So prepare yourself as we move on, and don’t be too surprised or upset if you find yourself in this book, because you probably will. After all, I’m in it myself.

The reason why talking behind someone’s back is so popular is that few have the guts to talk in front of it.

Allan Ondash

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THE ESSENTIALS

As martial arts stumbles further and further toward de-evolution, many may be left wondering exactly what it is that constitutes the true martial way. I decided to help clarify this riddle so that enthusiasts and seasoned martial artists alike can decipher whether or not they have been mislead by what they have seen, heard, read or learned. I’ll begin with the conceptual foundations of martial arts, a subject encountered frequently throughout this book for reasons radiating from the fact that each and every authentic martial style depends on such foundations in one form or another.

THE BODY

No matter what methods or diagrams may be used to convey body language to the martial artist, and no matter if the style is soft or hard, one thing always remains certain, and that is if a person is to harness absolute whole body weight power, the most important base element of any true style, he or she must be able to defend or attack with their weight, not with blatant overuses of muscular effort. Realistically, there is only one way to accomplish this; by way of heavily grounded maneuvers that at first do not include any techniques such as, blocking, punching, kicking, etc. Technique, if introduced too early, always causes one to lead the body with his or her limbs instead of letting the body take the lead. At any rate, these technique-less actions, or concept training drills, are often practiced with the hands in specific chamber locations though history dictates that they were also often practiced with concept training tools such as weights, staffs, logs, stone locks, iron wrist rings, and several other martially applicable tools. Whichever the method, to ensure that every ounce of one’s body weight is included with every move, he or she must come to realize where such concepts actually originate. As a general rule (except for more effortless internal methods, which I’ll cover shortly) the concept always starts at the extreme opposite end of the intended maneuver. This means that whether the concept is eventually geared to serve arm or leg techniques, i.e., punches, kicks, etc., the power must start from the lower extremities (the feet), then travel upwards through the knees, waist, shoulders, head, arms and elbows until it reaches the chosen upper extremities.

When considering punching or striking, this is easy to imagine since the final extremities would of course be the hands. When considering kicking, however, the idea may not seem so clear. To stifle the onset of confusion, it must be known that the idea works the same way for kicking since the final power of the upper extremities serves to add final power to the kicking leg. In other words, when the whole upper body is being driven in the same direction as the intended kick, it helps to add body weight and thus power to the kicking leg. The most important thing to keep in mind about the processes of punching or kicking is that the punch or the kick is always the very last thing to receive the intended whole-body-weight power. Another thing to remember is that the feet always act in accordance to the type of power used during these foot-to-hand procedures. Sometimes they stay put, sometimes they turn or reposition themselves, and at other times they may combine actions, but again, they always execute power first.

After the foot-to-hand procedures have been secured, the next order of business is to ensure that all parts of one’s body cooperate with his or her external power procedures. To accomplish this, external yin and yang must be introduced. Though there are other common names for this double action depending on their usage, i.e., push/pull, reverse power, all are, in large part, one and the same; and they are in place to guarantee that all parts of the body opposite one’s intended power are utilized in aiding the striking process. External yin and yang is also key in monitoring stray appendages that might prevent the fullest amount of body weight power from being executed. This usually refers to the arms since it is the arms that usually do the most damage to a power concept. That is why most traditional training involves technique-less methods whereby the arms stay in fixed (chambered) positions throughout the development of power. For detailed information on how to practice basic whole body weight power with and without the inclusion of arm technique, please refer to (EXTERNALLY SPEAKING).

THE MIND

Now that one generally knows what to expect from their inquiries concerning basic martial power, one should come to realize that securing proper timing in all parts of the body which connect the upper and lower extremities is the part of martial arts that aids in the development of the mind and thus begins to nudge one from external power toward more internal methodology. This begins as a naturally occurring process due to the fact that some body parts within the chain of external power are often more sluggish than others, therefore, the mind must teach those sluggish parts to keep time with the rest, otherwise the mind/body connection will be broken and true essence will become lost. Though this is easier said than done, especially when considering all the different conceptual maneuvers, the mind must eventually synchronize the upper and lower extremities even though the lower extremity(s) begin moving first. When this is done successfully with technique added, the whole body will feel like a steel cable would if it was yanked on from both ends at the same time. That’s proper timing.

Of course, this requires a lot of martial mathematics in order for such tasks to start tipping the scale more toward the internal. An example of such mathematics would be to consider that if during an actual technical maneuver, the lower extremity (the base foot) is only turning [say] three inches, while the upper extremity [say] a straight punch has to travel two feet, then the mind must force the body to mend those two opposing distances so that they become one distance. Internally speaking, this is the equivalent of making the second hand of a clock move in perfect sequence with the minute hand. Or, to be cartoonishly spatial about it, to fit a square peg into a round hole using only the brain and body as tools.

Once this obscure timing sense is secured, the faster one moves the lower extremity the faster the technique will reach the target, and with this comes the wind and release characteristics of the waist and spine, creating true speed and explosiveness. All this seems like a lot to consider I know, but don’t fret, it can be done with the proper amount of practice and it often happens the same magical way it did when you first learned how to control your balance and peddle away on your first real bicycle. Once you got it you got it, except when it comes to martial arts, you better keep practicing or it will get sluggish and eventually go away. Anyway, after the body and mind have been transformed into something they previously were not, the path leading toward the internal martial way becomes a little brighter: if the mind can perform fine internal mathematics for the body, it can do anything, even create martial fantasies for it to follow. This is accomplished through the use of the body’s energy center, Dan Tien or Tan Tien respectively. But all must be forewarned that utilizing pure center-driven tactics can be extremely dangerous if one is not careful. This brings me to an important point regarding internal power and those who practice it without being fully prepared.

In believing that true internal power comes by way of the center, many practitioners, though theoretically on the correct page, practice this way from day one without enough external body power, waist power, and solid mindsets available to back up the process. This can spoil their abilities in several ways. First, without the proper core strength and conditioning that comes from diligent external concept training, applying internal power is like sticking a thirty-odd six shell in a bb gun; way too much power for the barrel to handle. This often results in many external injuries as well as internal ones if one is not careful. Secondly, even if good external power has been secured in all parts of the body, and especially the waist, the lack of a solid mindset in regard to the center’s ability to control the gap between external and internal powers forces one’s internal efforts to remain too muscular. In other words, they try to power-up the center but just can’t seem to heedfully see, hear or feel it enough to control it in an all-important relaxed and subtle manner. Aside from any injuries resultant of this deficiency, many practitioners are eventually urged into seeking out extra-curricular internal practices such as Tai Chi, Qi Gong, etc, in attempts to either salvage, or just plain locate, the internal aspects of their art. However, such internal styles are better served as maintenance structures for previously imbedded abilities. Those who are truly proficient at them have already bridged the gap between external and internal power long before they began practicing them. The ill seasoned one will therefore never understand, let alone grasp, such internal means until he or she travels backwards in their training and attempts to fix what is broken.

Lastly, there are those who try and practice external and internal powers together during their training sessions. Though they have most likely inherited this idea from the history of their style, the idea is, in large part, no longer feasible, especially for those who practice just a few times a week. Their authentic counterparts had the time and the discipline to undergo such a lengthy double process, but almost no modern practitioner has that sort of time unless martial arts is his or her life as well as their job seven days a week with no compromises. For more detailed information on the proper practices of internal power, please refer to (INTERNALLY SPEAKING).

THE SPIRIT

The spirit of martial arts is plainly a warrior spirit, which has been convened by many, not only martial artists. There have been parallels drawn throughout too many cultures to be able to say that this spirit belongs to martial arts alone. Even non-martial artists can have it, but for the sake of authentic martial arts, which holds an unbroken recipe for inducing this genuine and mysterious entity, I will hereby refer to it here as the martial spirit.

Many hard-edged modern and traditional martial enthusiasts, as well as some so-called Masters, seem to believe that the spirit of martial arts can be coaxed into their presence through hard-edged reenactments. Such seekers of the fighting spirit are those who train or teach in environments where there are cages, rings, freestyle bag training, loud and hasty encouragements and loads of false competition, all geared to bring those involved closer to the end result of fight training rather than closer to the process by which such an end result is deemed possible. In such environments, the spirit is everywhere except where it is supposed to be, inside, hence creating a very false sense of it.

Those throughout history who have been reported to possess the true spirit all claim in one form or another that the end result should never be within viewing distance of the process from which it is born. For the end result is of a deeply subconscious and personal nature, and cannot be fished from its numinous haven through the use of external divining rods. On that note, I must sidetrack for a moment in order to clarify that the process or, the collaboration of fundamental methods used to lay the foundation for the spirit, though often accompanied by external apparatuses, is not of the same breed as those utilized by modern end-result practitioners. This is because the body movements of traditional methodology are the same with or without the apparatus involved. In fact, such apparatus training is only used to elevate skills that are already in place, not to teach new ones. Anyway, with or without external apparatuses, the traditional idea is not to practice methods until one is satisfied with them, but until he or she is one with them. In contrast, bouncing back and forth between methods at one’s leisure, especially methods that start from the end result and attempt to work their way backwards to theory, or those that don’t coincide with the integrity of the system at hand, is no way to capture the spirit of anything. This is why traditional martial arts are not only built from the ground up, but it is also why some core traditional methods such as idle stance training, dynamic tension, center-breathing and some forms of awareness training don’t imitate actual fighting methods. After all, how can one assemble the abilities necessary to become a true fighter if he or she has not taken the time to break and remake the spirit through methods that are precisely designed to do so? It would seem impossible if one really thinks about it, but that’s the problem with modern martial artists, they don’t think, they just assume, and in ways not unlike those who believe the spirit of martial arts can be had through less insistent means than the players of the end-result game. These are the ones who believe that the spirit can be summoned through the use of oriental incantations or other non-aggressive external platforms such as those associated with Feng Shui and other forms of decoration, like shrines, HO scale pagoda and waterfall schemes, or even replicated antique oriental weapons, each of which, in my opinion, are often just more personalized forms of Feng Shui.

Still, there are more who believe the spirit can be invited through the use of physical guidelines, such as, bowing, kneeling, greeting, serving and other posture-orientated outlines more suited toward etiquette for serving the king of Siam. But the truth is, though the existence of the martial spirit is no doubt an unquestionable entity, it remains just that, an entity, therefore it cannot be baited with gifts. If this were the case involving, for instance, the spirit of love, another genuine entity many of us have felt, the man who hates could easily capture its spirit by simply surrounding himself with iconic things and replicating actions that he deeply believes are associated with love. In truth, though, such things would only be borrowed beliefs not directly related to the beautiful, intangible spirit of love itself, but rather kindred to many past attempts at describing it with beautiful explanation. He would therefore never find nor feel its spirit unless he went directly to the place where it exists, between two people so to speak, then opened his mind and his heart, and waited long enough for it to make its soulful connection. If he does not apply all these necessary ingredients the union will not be made, and anything he says, does, or gives will not unionize it, only falsify it. The true spirit of martial arts must work the same way in that it must first be sought on the plateau where it exists, then waited for, and waited for, and waited for, until its spirit can make a connection with one’s soul.

Some suppose the martial spirit is simply passed from one person to another, some suppose it is born within them as the result of diligent practice and therefore thrives and survives there. Others consider that the spirit travels with the knowledge of martial arts and like a ghost simply hovers and waits for the tentacles of one’s martial awareness to reach a certain level, then it makes and keeps a personal connection from the outside. Many more imagine the spirit to be more of a universal entity in which many are connected to simultaneously.

Regardless of how it comes to be that the well-rounded, well-practiced warrior feels the presence of the martial spirit, the feeling is nonetheless real. Given that the entities of love and hate, and all others one can actually feel, though often individually identifiable, are realistically more universal than they are personal, it should be reasonably acceptable that the spirit of martial arts is also universal no matter how personally coveted it may seem. Yet, unlike the true physical form of martial arts itself, which can be shown and thus proven by way of its conceptual foundations, no one on the face of the Earth can show or describe, much less pinpoint to anyone else the existence or locality of the martial spirit, or for that matter, any other entity. The best they can do is try to convey the effect the feeling has or has had upon themselves or others. But again, like the feeling of love, it cannot be described, explained or expressed in any tangible form that represents it alone. It would therefore be plainly ridiculous to engage in an argument regarding its subsistence or asylum; for those who have it are alone in both feeling it and experiencing it inside and out, and above that, they must believe in it to do so, and simply believing in something, especially an entity, does not constitute its existence just as not believing in it does not mean it doesn’t exist. So one can never dispute the belief alone, only the effects their own beliefs have had upon themselves.

Still, one must keep in mind that if it is simply the inheritance of the belief that makes one feel spiritually adept, a widespread phenomenon by the way, it is most likely not real. Conversely, if it is the realistic, undeniable sense of knowing something is there, guiding one in un-harmful, undamaging ways, growing stronger as he or she does, and emanating crystal clear intent and purpose, then it is most likely the true spirit at least doing some baby talk. As an affinity, simply believing that any Heavenly feeling is an indefinable entity cannot hold any truth until the senses associated with such indefinable entities have been personally felt. Then, and only then, can the belief in its existence become a true knowing. Metaphysically speaking, it seems that the true martial spirit, different than the others or not, can also be had in no other way. Although, many traditionalists have often wondered if it’s not just simply the mind and body tune-up coupled with the sharpening of the senses during practice that fools one into thinking he or she has captured the spirit of martial arts. I’m sure that has happened, but I’m also sure that the spirit was there, somewhere, hanging in the balance, waiting to make some kind of bond. I believe this because proper mind and body tune-up, sharpened awareness skills, as well as the many