OVERTHINKING
These series of post are mainly
my own LIMITED thoughts and experience from practicing Yiquan and should be
taken with a HUGE DOSE OF SALT.
One of the more amusing aspects
of learning internal martial arts is the amount of overanalyzing or overthinking
that goes on. That is not to say that one should just start putting gloves and
start sparring with a partner without understanding anything about body
mechanics or the principles of internal martial arts. That would be to just
blindly forge a path without looking at the advice and roadmap left by more
experienced practitioners’ over thousands of years. That would be foolhardy!
What I mean by overthinking is
that we just like to TALK the TALK and not WALK the TALK. Why do we do this? Is
it because it brings us instant gratification and a feeling of achievement
without much effort?
For instance, there is the
often quoted saying in Tai Chi that “Four
ounces moves a thousand pounds” (四两拨千斤). Intellectually, nothing
could be more invigorating than to pore over and start discussing in a myriad
ways this could be used. “If the opponent
throws a punch, we bring our hands in a guarded position and slightly turn and
deflect his punch of course etc… If he does this, then I’ll do this etc… [The
discussion then turns into a never ending session of empty talk]”
All this is fine and dandy, but
everybody
has a plan until they get punched in the mouth! Ask yourself, how much
force does 4 ounces represent? Remember, force = mass x acceleration. How much
force is being talked about in the proverb? Meaning, how fast you generate these
four ounces of mass to deflect the thousand pounds. Similarly, how much force
does the 1,000 pound represent? How fast is this mass moving? Consider also,
the angle, torque, and direction of the force being generated. More
importantly, consider the PSYCHOLOGICAL fact that a huge guy like Mike Tyson
swinging his fists at you may cause you to freeze up and fail to defend
yourself at all.
In the end, all that matters
are we able to put into practice these beautiful concepts and internal art
principles we love to read, discuss and talk about. When someone is serious about
GROUNDING and POUNDING you, are you able to defend yourself with some semblance
of dignity instead of flailing around like a dummy? Or at the very least make a
dignified escape?
As with all things, balance is
important. It is important to review the principles and theories in Internal
Martial Arts. At the same time, more importantly, are you able to put into
practice what you’ve learnt? As an example, ask your fellow
practitioner to give you a friendly shove suddenly! That’s a couple of pounds
of force right there, are you able to deflect it using a small and sudden
movement? If yes, then practice and think some more. Don’t just think about it.
DO IT! And as your body learns, so does your mind. The mind has the real life
practical knowledge as a base to internalize and understand the principles elucidated
in the Classics. In a real situation, the mind must internalize these
principles so the reaction is instantaneous, feral and instinctive. Only then,
is there a sliver of hope for you to neutralize the brute force of an opponent.