<![CDATA[ Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu

<![CDATA[ Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu - Blog]]>Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:53:43 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[The Importance of Horse/Stance Training in a Martial World That's Forgetting It]]>Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:44:40 GMThttps://www.jooklumprayingmantis.com/blog/the-importance-of-horsestance-training-in-a-martial-world-thats-forgetting-itAlthough there are some legitimate concerns about traditional martial arts training methods: things like iron horse training in one spot for an hour is not very practical. However, there are other exercises that have many strong benefits that have been lost in recent years. Many traditional martial arts begin with arduous leg training for strength and balance. I went through it myself and though I hated it at the time it has borne out its value over my life. Some of it was meant to weed out the insincere but the majority had functional basis. Most MMA training has discarded this discipline which might not suit them in their short fighting careers but is a loss over their lifetime. Intense balance and strength training if really a great asset to everyday living. Learning to control your weight on varied surfaces, on one leg, inclined platforms and other obstacles really promotes great prowess. This is something most animals are born with; we need to train it.
I recently watched a fellow trained in MMA for 10 years try to compete with a Taqi practitioner for balance and push hands control. I must state from the start that I cannot stand these exercises as a test of skill outside their specific arts rules. I have always called this ‘closed set’ fighting which means that you can only do this under certain parameters, in other words, their rules. The idea of not being able to move during push hands when one person is 5’8” and the other is 6’4” with a much greater reach is just ludicrous. I had this happen to me years ago while participating at a demonstration and I refused to fall for it. The Gracie’s did this in establishing BJJ by making other martial artists adhere to their rules which of course they had mastered and their opponents had no idea how to handle. There are several videos about this on YouTube by those that fell victim to it. It is not realistic and unfair. Chi Sao and Push Hands are prime examples of this; they have their place but are not a barometer of overall martial skills.
Back to the story. So this fellow faces off against the Taqi guy and I immediately notice how high his stance/horse is and how his center of gravity is off. Well, no surprise he cannot compete against the fellow that trains this all the time and gets rag dolled. Where in the real world is someone going to start by placing their hands on the opponent to start? How did they earn this position. Although I see this exercise as unrealistic in the real world of combat it does have its value in other aspects of daily life. Regardless, the point is that horse training is vital to develop a strong awareness of your balance and center of gravity. When you really know how to control yourself and express yourself from the ground up it improves everything about your strength and power. Punches come from the ground up not from the arm. More importantly, the everyday applications to daily life are invaluable. When you learn to control your center of mass you effectively become a different person. When you trip the tendency is to push up with the legs but if you have trained yourself you will do the opposite. Instead of falling forward and upward you will now instinctively lower your center of gravity to regain your center. We all know that going back on your heels is deadly in a fight but it is a reflex for the untrained to do so. We learn to pull back with our head to avoid getting hit which instantly loses our center of gravity. If you move with your shoulders and hips you maintain your structural integrity. I suggest you search out some Teddy Atlas videos on this subject. I learned a tremendous amount from him on his Friday Night Fights shows I worked on years ago. Everyone in the fight game knows that if you lose your legs you lose the fight. Again, this is so true in everyday life especially as we age. Old folks have the tendency to look at the ground for balance when they walk. It’s exactly the wrong thing to do. You are much more apt to fall doing this. Normally we look forward when walking because it gives us perspective and options if we trip. Looking at the ground is a recipe for disaster. This is something we need to train throughout our lives and not wait to develop it when older. MMA training seems to miss this aspect of training while traditional karate and Kungfu always maintain its importance. It should not be all about fighting only. That’s the distinction between martial artists and fighters, one training for all of their life and the other training for fighting only.
Now for my own experience now in my 70” s. I recently had my left knee replaced. It’s been a bit of a rough road to recovery due to some complications. My PT/Rehab place is excellent and has many pro athletes as clients. It is not a geriatric ward. My therapist pushed me hard and when we got to the balance exercises on the BOSU half ball it was great. I could do all the exercises, even the most difficult, within a few treatments. He told me that I aced the most difficult balance task and said, “Well that karate stuff you have done for years has really paid off. Almost no one can balance on this apparatus, and you did.” I was happy to have this validation because I have not just trained for fighting my entire life, I’ve trained for health and vitality and it has paid off. Train to become more aware, perceptive and overall strong, this pays big dividends later in life.

]]><![CDATA[Anti Flinch Control Redux]]>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 01:56:36 GMThttps://www.jooklumprayingmantis.com/blog/anti-flinch-control-redux( I just realized that I am wrote this 5 years to the day since my last article on anti-flinch and almost identical!, strange.................)

I’ve talked about this for years and cannot stress how important it is to overcome the flinch reflex. I don’t care how good your technique is, if you haven’t mastered your flinch reflex you cannot effectively fight back. Everyone has this reflex and must overcome it. Literally it is the first thing I teach my students. I go through a series of steps starting with the students standing with their arms at their sides and not lifting them. Their partner will lightly throw punches at them but never hitting them. Most punches are thrown at the face because it is most threatening. They are not allowed to step out of the way. Initially the student will flinch but after a while they will calm down and observe the punches. Next, I teach them a center weighted stance, not a blade stance. This way they can transfer their weight onto either leg without difficulty. Their arms are still at their sides the partner punches again at the face but this time lightly touching it. Now the student must slowly shift their weight to avoid the punches, all the while paying absolute attention to the punches and not blocking them, just slipping them in a small motion. Gradually we do this faster and with more intent but if the student is flinching then you take it down a notch.
This teaches you how to distance yourself in a fight, how far you can stand out of range and be able to counter. Most people, when slipping a punch move much farther than they need to avoid it and then have to cover a great distance to strike back. This obviously puts you behind in the action. When you can continuously keep your eyes on the opponent and succinctly move back and forth while keeping your opponent in range you begin to develop an entire new attitude. It’s freedom. Now you are choosing when to strike, clearly, no panic, just cold observation. If you don’t master this then you are moving at your opponent’s whim and not your own. Any good fighter can read this. In the classic Musashi story when the two samurais meet on the bridge they can both instantly see that the other is skilled and not going to back down. Their presence is known to each other immediately. An amateur wouldn’t see this It’s clear this is going to be difficult they respectfully both back off.
I have seen fights where an unskilled person is threatening a stranger. The stranger doesn’t panic, he moves and observes quietly, still as deep water and if the time comes, strikes. You cannot do this if you cannot properly assess your opponent’s abilities. If you are flinching, you are lost. I’ve taught this for decades and discussed it with both Teddy Atlas and Bas Rutten when I worked on shows with them. Bas has an excellent video on this so find it on YouTube, it is worth your time.
Once you control your flinching, then you must control your stance. Stance or horse development is incredibly important in martial arts and sadly many MMA fighters do not work on this. Good stance/balance development will serve you your entire life. Up next.

]]><![CDATA[The concept of the ‘peaceful warrior’ or I should be able to solve this non-violently]]>Sat, 21 Feb 2026 01:16:15 GMThttps://www.jooklumprayingmantis.com/blog/the-concept-of-the-peaceful-warrior-or-i-should-be-able-to-solve-this-non-violentlySometimes violence simply cannot be avoided; it's not your choice.

Like many folks who were introduced to the Kung Fu show in 1972 I was enamored with peaceful warrior Kwai Chang Caine, the Taoist monk who spread peace wherever he went by clobbering the bad guys with graceful moves. We all watched it for one reason, not to see the peaceful harmonizer of the Tao but for those 2 moments in the show when he reigned down justice with his fists and feet on the unrighteous; in a very non-violent and peaceful whooping. I was studying Eastern Philosophy in college at the time and sought to learn how to end conflicts with non-violent resolutions. I had been the victim of violence before and wanted to find solace. There was a well-believed myth that you could somehow calm the most vicious attack with wonderous flowing moves. This was a strong theme in Akido which I studied for a short while at that time along with several other martial arts.
Years ago, I had this lovely young mother come to me to train. She very committed to learning because she was often alone with her young son while her husband traveled. She belonged to a strict religious sect. She was well trained with a firearm but wanted to be able to fight if she couldn’t get to her side arm. Regardless of all of this she would not do anything that seemed violent. She would not punch at a face or kick the body, even with protective gear. She would simulate it but not do it. Even hitting a punching bag hard repulsed her. I could not break this mindset. I asked what she would do if attacked and her only choice was to hurt the person. She said she wouldn’t. And then I asked if her son was being brutally assaulted while she was witnessing it, then what? The thought traumatized her, made her apoplectic and then she said she didn’t know. She sought answers in her religion. How could she pull the trigger with this mindset? She continued her training for quite a while and developed a somewhat aggressive attitude.
Many decades ago, while working out in Chinatown, I mentioned to my training partner that I would never kill someone in a fight. If it had come to me or him it would be me; I could not bear to take a life. This fellow, Russell, grew up in the heart of North Philadelphia. His reality was a lot more dangerous than mine. Unlike what the fictional Kwai Chang would have said he blasted me with a scathing message. “Wait, let me get this straight man. You would rather be killed than stop a killer? You would value the life more of a man that doesn’t care about you or anyone else and let him take your place on this planet? He deserves to live more than you and continue to hurt others while your wife and family are in forever pain? He might kill your mom or siblings later? He deserves to live??? Brother, you are a fool!”
I was totally unprepared for this moment of street dharma. Obviously over 50 years later it still rings in my consciousness. It caused me to think long and hard about the reality of a real fight and the lifelong ramifications. There’s this great story most people know about the fellow who breaks into a temple/church and is stealing candlesticks. A monk walks in and catches him in the act. Expecting to meet resistance the burglar steps back but the monk goes up and gathers another candle stick and hands it to him. The idea being that he needed it more than the monk. Such a peaceful heart-warming story. Now let’s look at this a little deeper. So, the burglar now has no reason to change his ways, no reason to introspect and no reason to care. Suppose during his next burglary he rapes a woman or beats a man to death? Who enabled him to continue his ways? Stopping him would not only save other people but hopefully also begin to stop his own internal violence. This person could be high on drugs and totally out of control, letting him go is doing no favors for society. Enabling him to continue in his destructive ways is not a way of peace and love but of dangerous ignorance.
Thinking that your display of peace is somehow going to stop a Hitler, Pol Pot, Ted Bundy or any other psychopath is childish thinking. It assumes there is this seed of love in their soul waiting to blossom. I truly understand the desire to believe this but it’s not going to work. Sometimes, if not often, the only way to stop violence is with greater violence. The wicked seek out and love the weak. They don’t want to engage in violence, they want to take control, instill fear and move unimpeded. I have been in violent situations where the perpetrator grins with delight when he sees fear in his victims’ eyes. I’ve also seen fear and confusion in their own eyes when the victim became the victor through violent retribution.
I would love the idea of a ‘defensive art’ to actually work but I’ve never seen it happen in a vicious attack. I’ve seen demonstrations where huge guys subdue the attacker just by means of their size and strength. Smaller folks can’t do this. Oh, and if you think you are going to grapple someone to the ground and submit him; that’s a fantasy. Why? Because his friends are going to unleash holy hell on you in the no rules world of the street. There was a BJJ fellow in my area who was quite accomplished and feared on the mat, a real tough guy. One day he came into the gym absolutely beat to hell. He got into a fight in a bar, immediately submitted the fellow and then his friends destroyed him. The street is unforgiving.
Violence is always ugly, there’s no getting around it. It’s traumatic and dehumanizing, it’s the utter failure of rationalism and grace but it is real. You don’t win these fights; you survive them and live with the consequences. Absolutely do what you can to avoid violence but if it is unavoidable, you best be prepared to handle it and not rely on hope and fantasy. You can either learn to swim in a torrent or hope the Coast Guard comes. Which is more realistic?

I know my push hands technique will settle him down!

]]><![CDATA[Stop Defending Yourself! Nobody likes a defensive person : )]]>Mon, 16 Feb 2026 17:00:36 GMThttps://www.jooklumprayingmantis.com/blog/stop-defending-yourself-nobody-likes-a-defensive-person
I know I have addressed this before, but it is incredibly important to know and enact. I have said many times over the years, ‘there is no such thing as self-defense’ and I am reiterating it here. Once you start defending yourself you are allowing the opponent to offend, you are behind in the action. The very nature of reaction, re-action, is to act afterwards, and therefore being manipulated by the attack. Am I saying don’t fight? NO! You must change your state of being, your mind frame from defending against an attack to attacking an attack. These are two entirely different things with vastly different outcomes. In the first the opponent controls you and in the second, you immediately make the opponent react, make him respond to you. This doesn’t mean mindless flailing, but what it does mean that everything you throw back at your attacker is meant to cause damage; to leave no doubt that you intend to do whatever it takes to subdue the attacker. You shouldn’t be fighting unless you must, and then, you do your best to neutralize the situation.

Something that occurred to me while writing this just now. The very approach to even studying a martial art has a strange dichotomy. Martial arts schools all proclaim, ‘learn to defend yourself’ while boxing gyms say ‘learn to box’. Quite a difference in the approach. Many martial arts schools talk about the offender and defender; you’re attacked, you’re the victim and now you must defend yourself, instant dichotomy. A boxer does not step into the ring to defend himself but to fight. This might just seem like semantics but there is a mindset to this. Learning to defend yourself in a dojo is entirely different than learning to fight in MMA.

Recently I was talking to a young grappler I know. He’s been wrestling and grappling for several years and competing at it. He expressed to me that there is this one fellow that regularly submits him and he didn’t know what to do about it. Just his body language while telling me this gave it all away; he was trying to defend himself from this guy, even moving back on his heels while telling me about it. I bluntly told him that he was intimidated and mentally pulling himself back from this guy, clearly in a defensive mode. I told him he had to bring it on faster and harder than this guy, attack his attack. He admitted that he was intimidated and tended to be defensive when rolling with this guy. Well, a week later I saw him again and this time he was grinning. First thing he said to me was “I beat him”. He was so thrilled. He said that once he turned the tide offensive at the start, he took the guy down. He was amazed at the stark difference. This guy was now controlled by him. This brings me to my art, Jook Lum.

For years practitioners say that this is a defensive art, a soft art where you can control the fight and subdue the opponent. I have received a lot of criticism from others in this art for my intelligently aggressive approach to fighting. When I was young doing this art our Sifu, Mark Foon, was a beast to deal with. Always good natured and kind but clearly threw a switch when he fought. He would shut you down with extreme intent and no escape, no playing. It was clear he meant business. Again, not a bully or mean spirited just letting you know that a fight is a fight.
I did not see many others express the art like this. There are tons of soft flowing drills that few practice with any real time power or aggression. I could never see this working in a real situation. Coming from Philadelphia, I am all too familiar with street aggression and its realities. When I first started sparring, I got trounced mightily. I could not reconcile what was happening in the school to real time fighting. Sifu Mark could but I couldn’t. After a long time, I turned around, stopped trying to be defensive and leaned into the fight. Immediately things changed for me. You only fight if you must and then it’s a matter of survival, not trophies. Do your absolute best to avoid a fight but if you must, make them sorry for it. Historically speaking this is what the art is known for; doing the real thing, but after decades in the West it became more of a set of drills and forms, the antithesis of its roots. Sifu once said to me, “you got the eyes to see this”!

Why do I bring this up now? One of the Philly team went to the Jook Lum school in Hong Kong recently and was introduced to the Sifu there. He was given the opportunity to work out in the class and work with them which was quite an honor since they notoriously don’t teach outsiders. This is the central school of Jook Lum in China and it is where my SiGong, Lum Wing Fay, left for the West. So, there’s this disconnect with the root here in the US. The night before this team member was to meet Sifu Dieu I sent him a simple text message, “Be Fierce”. I was not asking him to be mean or inappropriately aggressive but to be real, alert and strong; don’t acquiesce. After working with Sifu Dieu for a few minutes Sifu said ‘you are doing good but not aggressive enough, not coming in, too many blocks!” The team member showed Sifu my text and laughed and told him that this is something I had always stressed to him. He explained that the Philly school had always emphasized this aspect but not so much other schools and yet it wasn’t enough for the Hong Kong school. Sifu displayed this ‘attack the attack’ attitude the entire time they were together. I always felt that this would be the case if we ever connected with the temple in China and that they would be uncompromising. This art is known for real time application and efficacy, not forms and drills. Many might disagree with this, but I wonder how many have actually fought a real fighter/boxer. The first time I did all I thought was ‘this guys not giving me a chance to attack, all he wants to do is hurt me”, Duh and yes, I ended up on the floor.
Good luck out there! Keep it real.

]]><![CDATA[This is who I am! Attaching your identity to Martial Arts]]>Sat, 14 Feb 2026 17:44:22 GMThttps://www.jooklumprayingmantis.com/blog/this-is-who-i-am-attaching-your-identity-to-martial-arts This is normally a topic that I would cover on my Rational Zen web site, but it is very relevant to martial artists. As humans we search for meaning and identity. We join religions, political parties, social groups, and a myriad of other social platforms to express and identify who we are, think we are, or want to be. We try to hold ourselves to the norms and ethos of those groups. Generally, there is no strict structure to hang on to. Many people claim to be Christian, Democrat, Republican or whatever but to others they are not those things at all, they have a different way of defining what it means to be those affiliations. If you say you belong to a party, what guidelines do you use? Someone who was a party icon years ago might seem the antithesis of that today. So trying to base your self-identity on a mental idea or construct is a house built on sand and subject to collapse.
This goes beyond mental constructs. There was a fellow I used to work with on the road. A gregarious Italian American who always boasted about his Italian upbringing. Great guy, New York firefighter and hard worker. The catch is that he was adopted so really didn’t know his ethnicity. One day there’s an email from someone on a DNA web site claiming to be a relative. It turns out that he has 7 half siblings and that he is 50% Jewish and 50% Scottish, not a drop of Italian in him. Culturally Italian but not genetically. I have a female friend who is an ardent Zionist, also adopted. Hello DNA, 100% Italian. Defining who you are is a tricky thing. Neither person stopped identifying who they are culturally.
I fully admit that when I started in Kungfu I wanted to be seen as a Kungfu man. I wanted to be a true representative of the system and school. I couldn’t wait to bring it up in conversation about my devotion and identification with Jook Lum. I also had zero skill or understanding but that didn’t stop me. As I grew older and hopefully wiser, debatable, I dropped these trappings. I understand the idea of expressing yourself through different cultural identities like martial arts or music, but they are just the cloth on the person. Many folks have come to me over the years and told me they want to devote their lives to mantis, it’s consumes them. I gently try to steer them away from this path in an attempt to look deeper into life. You need more to your life than martial arts. Many years ago, I was with Sifu Mark Foon at a tournament, and we were observing the crowd. So many guys were strutting around bragging about their martial skills and proclaiming how deadly they were. Sifu looked at me and said, “If at the end of a man’s life all he can say is that he is able to kill, that is a wasted life. It’s sad. I would rather be remembered for healing and spreading goodwill. “
So many people define themselves by an era long past in their lives. This is particularly evident in many ex-soldiers who throughout their lives will wear something that expresses that they are/were soldiers. The military was a seminal and profound experience that made them who they are today. I am sure their military experience had the greatest impact on their lives more than anything else so it is truly easy to understand their devotion to the past. Many cannot shake this self definition and do not live in the present. My father was a UDT specialist in WW2 and he and his friends never referred to their wartime life, they just wanted a good family life. No doubt it was a strong part of their character but it wasn’t the only expression of their lives.
Some folks carry their school colors, past sports affiliations or some other epoch of their life that they rely on for their self-identity even though these things are long gone. I was working a job and a crew member introduced me to someone that was a blackbelt and thought we would get along well. She carried a badge on her jacket with the karate school on it. I asked how long ago she got her black belt and she said 15 years ago. I was hesitant because she was clearly young and asked how old she was when she got it. She said 10 years old! Did she still practice? Nope, but she’s a blackbelt 25 years later. I had an HVAC guy come to my house on a 95-degree day. The unit was in the attic and extremely hot so I suggested that I run the attic fan for a while to help him. He was about 40 years old, 5’7” and 240 lbs., clearly in terrible shape. He said to me, standing there out of breath and sweating while just walking in from his truck, “No need I am a military man! I can handle this”. I asked when he left the military. “15 years ago”. I wanted to add ‘and 80 lbs. ago’ but I didn’t. These folks are stuck in a self-identity that is based on when they felt most vital but those conditions no longer apply. Thinking you can still handle yourself when you are decades from your prime is a dangerous thing.
A friend of mine used to organize the country’s biggest East Coast tournament. Like anything else in life it is not perfect and some folks will cheat to win that coveted trophy in whatever competition. Now understand my friend was born into martial arts, competed the world over and had several schools. If anyone’s self-identity is going to be caught up in Kungfu identity it would have been him. The day after this tournament I was with him when he got a phone call from one of the competitors. This fellow was distraught that his competition was rigged and he lost by biased judging. In the call he said, “Kungfu is my LIFE! I need this”. My friend, without any hesitation said, “If Kungfu is your life, you need to get a life”.
I’m trying to convey that martial arts might be an expression of yourself and maybe your greatest passion in life but trying to base your identity solely on it is eventually going to cause great difficulties. Like men or women who are caught up in their beauty and strength are subject to great anxiety when time takes its toll. If you are only your body and your looks you are in for a rude awakening. Now at 53 years into martial arts I am amazed at what I can no longer do even though I never stopped training daily. Just ask my titanium knee about it. Like anything else in nature we go through changes, let them happen. The true source of our identity is not body or belief; it is beyond both. Who is it that seeks self-identification?
The great Zen master Zenkei Shibayama said, “we are the paint brush mistaking itself for the painter”.

Who do you see when you look in the mirror?
(hopefully your feet are not on backwards!)

]]><![CDATA[Overcoming the Fight or Flight Mechanism: the most vital training you can do!]]>Tue, 02 Mar 2021 02:10:49 GMThttps://www.jooklumprayingmantis.com/blog/overcoming-the-fight-or-flight-mechanism-the-most-vital-training-you-can-doI’ve talked about this before but I really need to talk about this in depth. The fight or flight mechanism is real and it must be brought under control or you will panic in a confrontation.
What brought this to my attention lately had nothing to do with martial arts but was concerned with cold water training. A friend had told me he was doing the Wim Hof cold shower exercises. I asked him about the breathing exercises and how he was doing them. He wasn’t, he was just taking cold showers. In essence he entirely missed the point of the cold-water training, totally off the mark. So, we had a few words and I told him that all he was doing was suffering through a cold shower and not at all training his core. The point of the training is not to withstand cold but to control your core reaction to the cold. You have to first master your breathing so that you control it under stressful conditions. It reminded me of all of those martial artists who spend forever training on physical conditioning, hitting makiwara boards and so forth, but they are not training their minds for reaction under stress. This is vitally important to face any dangerous situation.
I have taught anti-flinch training for decades. It’s something I realized in my early practice that I felt needed to be addressed in the beginning of learning martial arts. It’s something I have spoken to Bas Rutten about in detail as he stresses it in his teaching and has videos on YouTube about it. Why is this important? Because if you are flinching you are not controlling your body, fear is, fight or flight is. I start by having my students stand with arms up in front of them and then their partner starts lightly throwing punches at them. If they flinch, pull away or in any other way show distress I have the partner slow it way down. There’s no hurry here. Over time the student will finally relax and learn to be calm and alert during the exercise. After a time you start to notch it up until you can pummel the student and they don’t flinch. It’s only from this position that you can truly and objectively observe and react during a fight. You are not in a tussle with your brain over what to do. The object in cold water training is to not let your body flee into the fight or flight mode. In this case when you are not trained and submerged in cold water you are shocked, you panic, hyperventilate and lose control or your body’s reaction to the stress. It’s not that you ‘man up’ and take the stress but that you have trained your core reflex to breathe deeply and settle down. You know the water is cold but it’s ok, you’re still in total control. If you had to jump in a lake to save a kid who fell through the ice you wouldn’t be doing much good if you were in shock and hyperventilating from the cold. The first time I did the cold water I was totally panicked and out of control forcing myself to stay there but completely unhappy and overwhelmed. Within a few days I was amazed that I no longer had the visceral reaction to the cold. Did it feel cold? Yes, but it didn’t matter. My breathing automatically settled down as did my heart rate. I had trained my core to take over and not panic.
Anti-flinch training achieves the same goal; you overcome the primitive reaction of the brain and now face the danger calmly and clearly. You cannot be panicky in a fight. You will have no focus and no strategy. Like I’ve said many times before; you cannot train to swim standing next to a pool, you must jump in. My update on this is that you cannot train to swim in the ocean by training in a pool; the stress level is entirely different. Which brings me to the point of actually training with someone who will push and challenge you. You cannot train this unless your training partners are willing to push this to your limits. They have to want to beat you and test your techniques to failure. This doesn’t mean that they hurt or injure you. This can be done with respect and constraint. When I studied Aikido years ago I saw this in action at every class. The attacker expected to be thrown so they let it happen instead of resisting. I was very wary of this training and would often counter whatever the defender was doing. I was heavily chastised for this as being ‘uncooperative’ and mean spirited when in fact I was being forthright and honest about what was happening. Needless to say, I did not last long there. It’s got its own beauty but I wasn’t there for art class.
Can you imagine a paratrooper who doesn’t actually train jumping out of an airplane but using a bungee tower? Think of how long it takes to acclimate yourself to jumping out of a plane with confidence and a calm mind so you can actually strategize on the way down. I’ll stick to the cold water myself.
You have to train so that your core mind is engaged and awake. You need the stress to attain this state just like the cold water makes you face the stress. You can’t fake it in 45 degree water. You can’t perceive this or rationalize this you have to live this. No amount of form/kata training, bag work, cardio exercise or strength training can awaken this within you. You have to consciously do this over and over till it engages within you. The story of Miyamoto Musashi illustrates this at the highest level where two samurais meet each other while crossing the same bridge from opposite directions. When they face each other, they can both see that the other is quiet deep within, core alert, and they both go back their own way. This is not a display of machismo but an example of the deepest respect for they both acknowledged the skill and depth of the other.
Generally, when I talk about these things the most common response from other styles is: we’re not animals, we are not trying to hurt each other, this is an art that works, we’re not brutal like MMA, etc etc. I get that but heaven help you is you get into a real conflict because you will freeze. Skill does not magically erupt from the bowels of your consciousness and make you a warrior. You have to train this, there's no other way.

]]><![CDATA[Developing Core Awareness]]>Thu, 07 Jan 2021 17:59:26 GMThttps://www.jooklumprayingmantis.com/blog/january-07th-2021We are all aware of the mind/body separation that we are supposed to overcome in our training. We want to calm the mind during duress and become one with the body. Through diligent practice we hope to meld the two as one. We see this as a psychological process that emanates from mental focus to bring the two in harmony. I think it this awareness goes beyond cognitive practice and is much more prevalent in daily life than you might expect.
In the extreme examples of this there is the reaction of some men in war time situations where under the direst circumstances they suddenly become focused and still. They often describe as being detached from the moment while being in the moment. Athletes go through this at the peak of their ability. Rock climbers often talk of this experience and a type of euphoria it brings. This might be thought of us wei-wu-wei but I am talking about something much more visceral and fundamental to the human biology without philosophical concepts. This exists in all of us as part of our intrinsic physiology. I think of this as core consciousness vs surface consciousness. When under some stressful situations the mind sinks to the core and ignores the reactions of the surface. So, while in danger your body ignores the surface sensations and sinks to the core to react. There have been first responders that have been under extreme physical duress during a rescue but seemed immune to it at the time. They don’t realize their injurie till after the event. Over the years I’ve talked to many fighters who will talk about being hyped up in the dressing room but as they enter the ring their consciousness somehow automatically changes and they become still. They are no longer surface reactive. It is not uncommon for folks to comment on how still these folks are in the face of a fight. If you’ve had a good martial arts teacher you will see that when you throw strikes at them their reaction is unnervingly serene and in control. Their practice has led them to instantly sink into this consciousness.
At the center of this is the difference between the reaction of the body’s surface and the body’s core. When it’s a surface reaction that stimulus overwhelms our consciousness. It’s a conflict between fight and flight. If we are startled we become flooded with sensations from the body. So, if while walking peacefully down the street and a dog suddenly appears barking fiercely we might withdraw and go numb overcome by not knowing what is happening. Our mind is frozen. If suddenly we are immersed in cold water we shiver and hyper ventilate. All of these are the autonomic nervous system taking over. How do we control this effect? How do we master our response? You might think that we can’t control our autonomic response but in fact we can. We can learn core control and awareness.
I recently had a new understanding of this while practicing the Wim Hof breathing method and cold-water techniques. It is comprised of practicing breath retention and then, after a few weeks, you start taking cold showers or submersing yourself in cold water. I know, it sounds like torture. I have been surprised by guys telling me how horrible they think cold water training is. Tough guys tell me this, ‘no way I’ll do the cold water”. I understand it but for some reason it intrigued me. The first two times in the cold water was brutal and I jumped around and hyperventilated like a little child while cursing like a demon. Keep in mind I had been training the breathing for weeks. My first reaction in the water was pure surface consciousness; my skin was freezing and that is all I reacted to, it ruled my mind. On the third day something profound happened. When I stepped into the cold shower my consciousness immediately left the surface and sunk to my core and my breathing went deep and steady. My heart rate dropped to 52 BPM almost instantly. I was no longer cold. I did not shiver. The core took over and it was warm. My mind was clear, lucid and present. It’s like being inside a car and it’s cold rain outside. The surface knows it cold but inside of it is fine. Within a few days this core reaction became an immediate response to cold. No hyper ventilating and no adverse reactions just a deep, calm awareness and a sudden sinking of my breath. I realized it’s the same when I fight, this losing of surface consciousness. I want to stress here that this was not by training psychologically. In my breathing exercises I never thought about cold water training, I just did the breathing. The idea is that you’ve intrinsically programmed the core awareness by the breathing so when stress occurs, such as cold water, it will just take over. Well, it does. Being a complete cold-water pansy in the past I am still shocked at how it does not bother me at all. For the record the water is generally about 59F. I actually look forward to getting it colder. One of the major effects of this is now core consciousness is very apparent in every day life. I’ve bought a pulse and oxygen finger monitor to check my progress. In a matter of just six weeks I can consciously slow my pulse lowering it from 72 PBM to 50 BPM in about a minute. My mind now had a direct link to my core like never before. It makes you fundamentally aware of all aspects of your body in a direct and practical way. Qigong does this at one level but this is so much more hard core (no pun intended) and real that I am amazed by it. Surprisingly now I would much rather prefer a cold shower to a hot one as it energizes the body and makes me much more present.
The point of this is that there are many ways to expand and deepen our training. While we may have great physical awareness and prowess in the gym we might have none when dealing with the elements such as cold weather. This broadening of core consciousness wonderfully unites martial arts training with adapting to our natural environment
Who knew breaking the comfort zone of warm water would be so enriching and at the same time create a larger zone of comfort in cold water? I didn’t.

Wim Hof

]]><![CDATA[The Jab:The Bane of Traditional Martial Arts]]>Tue, 05 Jan 2021 03:28:22 GMThttps://www.jooklumprayingmantis.com/blog/the-jabthe-bane-of-traditional-martial-arts

When I would spar with folks and start jabbing, they’d often reply, “Oh, a boxer, eh”? I’d tell them no, but I do incorporate it into my fighting. Most often they would have no idea how to handle it. For some reason in the traditional arts there is this great disdain for the jab. So, let’s think about this and what the reason for jabbing is. If you have a stick and a dog is barking and approaching you do you swing at it or poke it? If there’s an animal lying quietly in your way do you go up to it or poke it with a stick? You poke it if you have any smarts. Why? Because it tests the animal from a safe spot. You can see the animal’s reaction without being in its grip. A jab does the same and more.
Jabs are not mindless pokes. They are calculated and intelligent. There’s technique, power and intent. If you think you can handle a jab because Johnny Q in your gym will throw some at you, you’re mistaken. It’s like thinking you can handle a fast ball because your buddy throws it versus Nolan Ryan winging it at you. You can’t. A real boxer doing a real jab is a formidable opponent. He’s not just poking the air. When you watch the MMA vs traditional fighters on YouTube you can see them pawing at the jab and falling for a combination. So many people in traditional arts throw regular, big, committed punches when they train. They get used to it and they can recognize and react to it. There’s a real sense of 1-2 movement here that is not realistic. At jab is meant to test you, disrupt you and reveal your reactions. It’s not a stick poking but a lance stabbing. The time you take to paw at it or move from it is the set up to take you down. Non skilled fighters will slip the jab towards the other arm that is chambered up to hit them. It’s called moving towards his power. This is something you learn to avoid only by continual practice. Also, when you jab you can see the opponent put their weight on the back foot to avoid it thus hampering their ability to move after that. You see them move their weight on the back leg and you can pressure them and attack. Similarly, a skilled fighter will act like he is moving his weigh to the back in an attempt to get the jabber to commit forward and then take his balance by moving sideways. A number of the MMA vs trad fights have ended on simple one/two combinations set up with the jab. If you practice it you can see it coming from a mile away. If you don’t you won’t see it and lights out.
Jabbing is an intelligent way to fight. You can immediately learn a lot about your opponent. Many folks say ‘if he jabs, I will just step in and attack, it’s got no power”. Well, wrong, it does and you stepping in is what he wants so he can divert and viciously deliver the other hand. The other comment is “Well, I would just kick under it”. Ok, that might affect a boxer but I am talking about a martial artist using it. He should be highly aware of his vulnerabilities and cover them. Also, it’s a way to get the person to kick so you move to the outside and strike. There’re tons of strategies here. Another response, particularly from Aikido, is “I would grab his arm and do a wrist lock” or “step sideways and grab the arm and throw him”. Sure, have you ever tried to grab a whip? They don’t leave it out there as a gift to you. If you’ve ever watched real boxers train, you’ll hear the trainer yelling “You’re dropping your left, stop it” or “you’re leaving it out there” in attempt to stop those bad habits where someone can take advantage of bad technique. Boxing is based on intelligent theory and practice. They are skilled fighters. It would do you well to learn about this and incorporate it in your repertoire when you train. You might be surprised at what comes out of it.
I strongly suggest you look at some of Marvin Cook’s “True Boxer Stance” videos on you tube. He’s an excellent teacher and he shows the great strategies of real boxing.

Marvin Cook

]]><![CDATA[Can You Defend Yourself, Really?]]>Sun, 03 Jan 2021 18:53:01 GMThttps://www.jooklumprayingmantis.com/blog/can-you-defend-yourself-really “Defend yourself”!
“I choose not to”.
“You made a statement, now defend it”.
“No”.
That might sound a little funny to you but this is an actual conversation I had with someone recently. They had made a very strong assertion that I knew to be completely wrong scientifically and I was challenging it. They would not engage in the discussion and walked away. They had their belief and that was that. This really got me thinking about the idea of self-defense.
Self-defense…. The meaning seems obvious right? Just to defend one’s self, your body, right? But why does that just mean physically? Don’t we actually defend ourselves more mentally than physically in everyday life? In one sense maybe we should call martial arts body or physical defense versus self-defense although it could be both. I want to really look at this deeply because it is something we don’t normally do or tend to develop and I think it’s important to think about.
Our ability to defend ourselves, in the traditional sense, can be easily tested: you fight. It’s here you see if what you believe to work physically actually holds up under pressure. Those of us who have trained for years can tell you countless stories of folks who truly believed in their martial/fighting ability but really had nothing to back it up. You’ve seen this with the fights in China between traditional fighters and some MMA folks. The traditionalists believed with all of their being that they had something substantial to withstand an attack but when reality tested it they crumbled. Their house was built on sand, not stone. Often this comes from sincere and genuine trust in what they’ve been taught by their teachers, from a faith they’ve had and trusted for years. It’s easy to go through life like this because we don’t get tested most of the time. We can carry on the techniques that were handed down without ever really testing or doubting their efficacy.
In the world of combat all illusions get flung out the door, well mostly anyway. There is still the self-delusion that “I was holding back because this isn’t life or death..” which might have a tiny kernel of truth to it but for the most part is self-delusion. Now for the reason I am bringing this topic forward; can you defend yourself as in beliefs, political, spiritual or whatever? What are they based upon? Something that you’ve read or been told by someone else, a teacher, a pundit, parent, friend or other? Perhaps it’s learned from an ancient text or a spiritual teacher. How does the efficacy of your very core beliefs get tested? Why is defending them by vehemently demanding ‘This is what I believe!” considered an adequate defense? You can state whatever you want at whatever volume but this doesn’t make it true. This is really no different than stating I can physically defend myself but not be able to back it up. Since it is an opinion it is more nebulous because it is not substantial or objective but a subjective stance. It’s what you believe to be true. There isn’t a way to challenge it, an objective cosmic gauge of truth here, no hammer of veritas or anything. We just state that we believe it’s true so it is. But can we really defend it without falling back on just our belief as a reason? Why isn’t that belief built on sand?
I remember years ago there was a owner of a very prosperous martial arts school on the east coast. He often talked about his glory days as a fighter in a famous kung fu school in Taiwan. He claimed to have won many tournaments and trophies. One of his students was a good friend of mine who was originally from Taiwan. He used to go there each summer for training. While he was there one summer he realized he was at the actual school this teacher had bragged about. The walls were covered in pictures of the history of the school and their tournaments. He searched it carefully looking to find his teacher’s photos. The pictures went back over 50 years and none of his teacher. He asked the head of the school about it and he didn’t even know the guy. He would have stuck out being American in an all Chinese school. The story was false, totally fabricated, the fellow never studied there. When he returned to the US he confronted his teacher who denied everything; they were just hiding his presence there. He talked to the other students, no reaction, couldn’t be true. So they had a belief and he had facts but beliefs won. He could back up, defend, his accusation but it didn’t matter they weren’t having it. I find this so strange.

The 911 terrorists fully believed in what they did, so much so that they gave their lives. Does this make it true? No, not at all but if you’re on their team it’s true to them. If you’re on another team you think they are crazy and misled. This is how most abstract truths are whether political, religious or just personal. You can’t really prove or disprove them. They are built on the sand of the mind. How do you test it? Look at the churches of snake handling here in the US where they believe that they are immune to snake bites because of the Bible teachings. Here it should be an easy test. If they are correct, they won’t die of the bites. However, it’s not uncommon for these followers to die from the snake bites. Does it prove to them they are wrong? Nope, not to them, they just didn’t have enough faith or some other specious excuse. Similarly, the Boxer rebellion in China had its moment of truth when the villagers thought their qigong training would protect them from foreign weapons in 1901 China. They believed whole heartedly and they died. They could not defend their belief. This is rampant in human behavior, to believe in that which is not real, to base your life on it and in some cases to die because of it. How many preachers in recent times have declared their immunity to COVID-19 19 and then died from it?

I am not writing this to attack religion. I am writing this to expose the core of self-defense. Can you really defend yourself, your core values, self-identity and beliefs and back it up with anything other than “I believe this”? We give ourselves such leeway when dealing with this personally yet we have no acceptance of the other persons stance which is opposite of our own. I was faced with this head on, with no leeway, from my first and primary Zen teacher Dr DeMartino. He was a scholar and a great Zen man. In one way he taught very little but in another taught profoundly. He challenged you to defend yourself, your idea of self, at every turn and gave you no respite in arbitrary views, theories or declarations. “How do you know that”? was often spoken by him. He didn’t fill in the blanks, he made you do it, if you could. He drove at the core of what I held true and made me truly question what and why I believed. This makes you seek a foundation rather than a hypothesis.
This comes up at this time in my life because so many people are vehement about what they see as reality. They are willing to die for it though they haven’t taken the time to test it, to really see if it holds water or stands the test of time. They just believe it and that’s it. This is dangerous because it is ignorant. It is ignorant of facts, science and history. It is what you believe to be the truth rather than what the truth actually might be. You can believe in a cure or you can use the cure that has actually been proven to work. Given a choice which one would you choose?
Can you defend yourself?

]]><![CDATA[The Chinese Dilemma of Mian Zi 面子]]>Mon, 21 Sep 2020 15:37:54 GMThttps://www.jooklumprayingmantis.com/blog/the-chinese-dilemma-of-mian-zi
Here is where societal norms, tradition and culture clash with reality. In many places in the East saving face is extremely important and affects everyday life from the smallest village to the largest city. No one ever wants to look like a fool and we want to be respected. There needs to be a balance between ‘I made a mistake’ and “I can’t/shouldn’t be wrong”. In a society where few people have any true status, just due to the vast numbers, saving or having face, mian zi (面子) is extremely important in everyday life. This happens to an extreme that most of us westerners can’t understand. It’s not a question of always being right but a matter of not looking like a fool and losing respect. As an example; a close friend of mine was visiting a factory in Japan. The foreman was explaining to an employee in English what a monkey wrench was vs an adjustable wrench. He was holding up the adjustable wrench and saying loudly “This is a monkey wrench and that, the pipe wrench (monkey wrench) is an adjustable wrench.” He was completely wrong and he looked to my friend for validation. Now the dilemma. He was trying to show his superior knowledge to a lesser colleague but he was completely wrong. Now he is asking for validation that he knows American tools and my friend is stuck because he knows the culture. If he corrects him then the foreman looks foolish and loses face. If he doesn’t correct him, he is basically lying and letting the employee take the heat. So, what do you do? Well, the damage he would do to his working relationship with the foreman is more important than the truth here. He can’t damage that, so, he lies and the foreman is happy to be validated. My friend felt quite guilty about having to lie to save his client’s relationship.
One of my jobs entailed a lot of international travel for a client. I had been to Japan and many other places with them but they decided not to travel some of us to a tournament in China. They ended up have a very difficult time. They had a show in Beijing and then in GuangZhou. I asked a production manager what happened. He told me that the show in Beijing went really well but then they went to GuangZhou it went to hell. He said,” We really liked the venue manager in Beijing so we took him with us to….” I stopped him and said, “Oh no”. He said, “Why do you say that”? I said, “You made the venue manager in GuangZhou look incompetent by doing that. What did he do?” Well, he pulled all of his equipment off the job, the entire mobile unit, leaving them with no way to televise the show. They had to scramble to put together a rag tag production. All of this because he did not know the culture and he did not know how to recover from it. Mian zi at its worst incarnation here.
This might be a trivial thing to Westerners but it’s very important in the East. Younger folks are getting away from this somewhat but it’s still an issue. I was at dinner with a Japanese colleague last March and she was talking about doing business in China. She is fluent in Mandarin. I casually asked her “how is it dealing with mian zi?” and she rolled her eyes and explained what a nightmare it is and how it messes up business.
So, how does this effect kung fu/martial arts? Quite deeply unfortunately. In the course of almost anyone’s learning there comes a time when a traditional Asian teacher might show you something that you know really doesn’t work. If you’re in private you can deal with it but if you’re in front of a group, then all bets are off. This fellow believes what he does works and he is in the superior position, he is the “teacher”. To call him out on it in front of everyone is humiliating to him and he will lose face. He will most likely never be open with you again. In demonstration he shows how he handles a hook and you know it’s not going to work. What do you do? Maybe instinctively you don’t pull the punch and tag him, then what? I’ve had this happen and I immediately have said, “my fault, I knew you weren’t ready, cheap shot, do it again, I apologize”. The second time he blocks it and the world is a happy place. Yes, I know this sounds completely dishonest but it’s culturally correct. You don’t go to your niece’s recital and tell her that her singing is terrible, though it be true, you compliment her, right? I hope? Is it a lie, yes, it is culturally correct? What do you think?
You really have to understand the cultural implications of this and not impose your view upon it as absolute truth. If you do you may never really learn what the teacher has to offer. This is especially true when dealing with the older generation who were born in the East. I had an incident many years ago where two fellows were asked if they’d like to meet another teacher that was coming to town. Sure, why not? Well, they didn’t get permission from their teacher, didn’t even think of asking. They met this other teacher and their teacher shows up, BANG, damage done. It looks like they are sneaking behind his back to see this other guy and he is furious and basically disowns them. He has lost face. They had no idea and they are now outcasts. They came to me and asked what they could do. I told them they were not going to like this but there is a way. There is a bow in Chinese culture that is particularly humbling. You bow on the ground in such a way that it is nearly impossible to be threatening or attack. Visitors to the emperors had to do this to prove their fealty. So, I told these guys, not only do you have to do this, but you have to do it publicly, you have to give him face. They showed up at his school, went to the center of the floor and dropped down. He said nothing for a while. He just walked about but everyone saw these guys prostrate themselves in front of him. He milked it and after several minutes told them to get up. After that they were his favorite students. It’s a cultural thing folks, it’s their court.
This causes a dilemma in traditional martial arts because the ‘Master’ does not have accurate feedback on his skill level. Nobody wants him to lose face but that creates a huge falsehood about the technique. I was looking at an old video where I was demonstrating a technique on a student who is truly a good fighter. Now, years later, when I saw it, it was clear the technique did not work, he gave it to me. It really annoyed me and I called him to give him grief for something that happened 15 years ago. He had no recollection of it and I know it was well intentioned but it’s misleading. To him it was an act of kindness not dishonesty. However, it does me no good to work under the illusion it works when it doesn’t and surely misleads students. I don’t care about mian zi, I care about facts but that is not the Eastern way many times.
Bas Rutten once said to me that he was fortunate that he had no ‘masters’ he studied under. I asked why and he explained that he did nothing on faith, just efficacy, and could deconstruct techniques to see what really worked. There was no tradition or hierarchy to contend with or be obeisant to, just the facts. He said they entered the floor on equal grounds and never worried about offending anyone, just learning. I can see the truth in this.
I was in a situation a few years back where I was invited to a class to work with the students and demonstrate. I was blocking the punches of a fellow about 30 years younger than me and much taller. He had about a six-inch reach on me. It was casual, no big deal. He clocked me on the right cheek, so what, it happens, I wasn’t hurt. He freaked out apologizing to the extreme. He felt he had done me some big offence, he hadn’t. I told him to calm down and continue and eventually he did. Later I wondered what his view of it was. Did he lose faith in me because I missed it? Am I supposed to be untouchable? Did he fear retribution? Did he fear I lost face and he hit an older guy? So many scenarios but they don’t matter. We all get hit when practicing. Look at my face, isn’t it obvious? If you never get hit then you need to work out with someone better than you. It is likely in a traditional school that mian zi would come into play and add a whole different dynamic. Giving in to face here would damage the reality of the moment.

The thing to take away from this is the traditional and cultural restraints that some cultures have. They are not meant to be deceptive, it’s just a matter of respect. Ultimately, I fear that this does damage to the martial arts by instilling a false sense of bravado into some things that do not work. There are so many examples of traditional masters losing fights today. They did not know they lived in a fantasy world of their own making. Hopefully they will evolve and grow into today’s standards of fighting.

Which one do I use?

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