Rec and Sports

The Achievement of Perfect Form

[I:http://www.uniquearticlewizard.com/extras/pics/bowzerimage26.jpg]It was Gichin Funakoshi who asked the question: the way, straight and true, who will pass it on? Actually, anybody can have The Way, and it is easily passed on. The key, of course, lies in good, old, hard core physics.

When karate was brought out of Japan, it was taught in the old way, memorizing strings of random techniques, and eventually bringing this practice to intuition. In spite of the fact that this works, it is an amazingly inadequate way to teach. The best way to teach is through giving the student a thorough understanding of physics.

Physics is the method of measuring the universe. It is not a mystical practice, yet, when understood, physics can actually lead to the understanding of such things as Chi. I should expound upon that, however, by saying that the subject of Chi is representative of a second set of physics, physics of the mind and spirit, which are above the physics of the physical universe.

The secret of physics is that they must be true. There can be no junk science, like you will see in TV advertising, in the martial arts. Junk science is actually the beginning of mysticism…it will make you how big?

The key to this is seen in the simple fact of aligning a tire. When a tire is out of alignment and it is spun, it will wobble, and this is out of true. When a tire is aligned and it is spun it will not wobble, and this is in true.

Now you have to ask yourself…what wobbles in your martial arts form? An obvious wobble would be the wrist bending upon impact. Another obvious wobble is when a student steps forward and his buttocks wiggle when he punches, which is just out of alignment and wasting of energy, no matter how good it feels.

The trick of finding out what wobbles can occupy a lifetime. One must examine the body, watch it in a mirror, see it in pictures, feel it in technique, have others see it, and make sufficient sense out of the input to de-wobble it. The best method is to do your techniques plant and push style, slowly, searching for the most efficient paths and means of resistance within the body.

Ultimately, the study of physics will result in the true art. And the study of physics on the body level will lead one to the fact of physics on a higher level. It is on this higher level that you will find The Path of The True Martial Art.