the People -- (2)
-- by Frank C Yue
Knowledge is power, but that's only half of the story. There is a Chinese saying that knowledge and action should be focused as one. So, wisdom is knowledge in action, doing what is right for justice to prevail.
The Good and the Bad
Confucius said that good people (junze) :
-- strengthen themselves ceaselessly;
-- are careful about what they say and moderate in eating and drinking;
-- restrain from what is improper;
-- assimilate yet are different;
-- examine themselves and cultivate virtue;
-- prepare weapons to guard against the unexpected;
-- eliminate wrath and cupidity (greed);
-- follow virtue, building on the small to attain the great;
-- use life to the full and achieve their aim;
-- cautiously practise introspection;
-- consider problems and prevent them.
(-- quoted from "The Essential Confucius" by Thomas Cleary)
The majority of us, the common people, of course, are law-abiding. We cultivate virtue in a low-key manner, raise our family and live an honest, down-to-earth, largely contented life, regardless of our rank, status, social or financial position in society.
But, in any community there are violent, volatile and bad people, people under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and mentally deranged patients (not taking their daily medication), though very few in number. Then there would be chaos and horror.
Would you give up your life for a bag of potato chips?
A piece of very sad news. One day last year, a convenience store owner in Hong Kong caught a man stealing a bag of chips. When he stopped the thief and tried to detain him the latter pulled out an 8-inch long knife, stabbed him several times and ran off. Unfortunately, the owner, not knowing how to defend himself, died of his injuries in hospital. The culprit was later identified, arrested and charged.
What went wrong? Why a petty theft, many of which are happening almost daily, suddenly became a vicious attack and a murder case?
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in Everyone
I believe both good and evil co-exist in each one of us.
In any conflict or confrontation, whether one chooses to de-escalate or escalate the already tense situation actually hinges on the flash of thought at the moment of action.
The Fight-or-Flight Response
When one suddenly finds that his or her personal safety or survival is directly threatened the flash point happens. In the blink of an eye, with the sudden release of hormones, including adrenaline, into the blood stream, one's heart rate and blood pressure increase, the breathing quickens, the pupils dilate (so one sees better in dim light), one's sensation of pain decreases, the blood clots faster to help stop bleeding from wounds sustained and the increased muscle tension provides one with extra speed and strength to fight or flee.
So, in an instant, the cornered thief (in the convenience store above) with his survival instinct aroused, became a "monstrous, ill-tempered Mr. Hyde" mentally and physically, having the strength of several men. When he held a big knife in his hand, the danger factor was multiplied many times over. He was simply determined to get away, and get away quickly, at all costs.
This is precisely why the police always advise citizens not to offer any resistance when confronted by a robber, whether a weapon is produced or not initially.
If you were the store owner, you will be no match at all for the thief. Your body and mind are not similarly aroused instantly to give peak performance and more. Even if you were a martial art expert, there is the possibility that the other guy could be equally skilled in the use of knives, etc. Even an experienced policeman with a gun in hand, blocking the thief's escape route, will be in grave danger. Just raise your hands (the universal sign of surrender), step aside and let the perpetrator flee. Memorize his features, clothing, shoes and other distinguishing characteristics to give a full description to the police for follow up action.
The Range and Area of Effective Hits and Kicks
Before one is able to maneuver in a self-defence situation in close-quarters hand-to-hand combat, one should be familiar with some basic concepts. The photos below (copied from "Intermediate Techniques of Jujitsu Vol. 2" by George Kirby) shows the Area of Maximum Attacker Effectiveness.
If you are attacked from the front, the Range (or Distance) of Maximum Danger is about 18 to 24 inches from the Attacker. From a standing position, up to 2" he can bite you; up to 4" he can head-butt you; up to 8" he can elbow you or knee you; up to 12" he can grab you, grab your hair and pull you along or strangle you; up to 18" he can punch you, hand-spear you or gouge your eye; up to 24" he can kick you.
Conversely, of course, you -- as the Defender -- can do the same bites, kneeing, hits or kicks to the Attacker rushing towards you. Therefore, to be safe, you should always keep a minimum of about two-arms length away from any stranger or potential Assailant.
Now, the Area of Maximum Attacker Effectiveness is the distance (18-24") plus a width extending about 10 to 15 degrees to the left or right from the Direct Line of Attack -- refer to the photo below. Accordingly, when the Attacker for example turns to your left, the area also moves with his line of sight.
For home work, you should practise standing daily on one leg for an extended period of time within your comfort zone. Remember to train the other leg as well. This simple routine is most important for self-defence.
1. If you are into yoga or taiji you can already do this perfectly:
this is the "tree posture", or the one-leg stance -- the "golden rooster standing on one leg stance" respectively.
2. When you can stand on either leg firmly, your "bow stance" (short for "bow and arrow stance") will be solidly rooted into the ground, enabling you to do powerful counter-attacks against an Aggressor. (The exceedingly strong and practical "bow and arrow stance" is so called since your front knee is bent about 110 degrees like a bow while your hind leg is stretched straight like an arrow in support. But as soon as you empty the body weigh on the front or hind leg, you can use it to knee or kick your Attacker.)
3. You will be able to pivot effortlessly (on the ball of the foot) on the one leg to turn 180 degrees to the side of the on-coming Attacker, in 0.10 to 0.25 second with constant practice!, to strike out at his unprotected flank. This is target evasion and simultaneous counter-attack. Your strike will be even more powerful because relative velocity is at work:
the in-coming attacker's body at speed meets up with your speeding out-going twin punches or palm strikes! Bravo!
4. Only when you can stand firmly on one leg will you also be able to use the other raised "empty"one to effectively kick or stamp on or knee your Attacker. Or use the raised leg to block an in-coming kick and kick back in retaliatory self-defence. Imagine, you can use 3 limbs at once to tackle the Attacker's 1 attacking limb! If like Bruce Lee, you can eventually very swiftly kick at three different targets successively and without putting your empty leg down, you have little to worry about.
No, it will take at least a year before you can do the advanced posture as demonstrated by a young Master Lam Kam-Chuen in the photo below. (This photo appears on page 102 of Master Lam's book "THE WAY OF ENERGY -- Mastering the Chinese Art of Internal Strength with Chi Kung Exercise". ) This is the ninth position of Zhan Zhuang, or "standing like a stake/tree" -- an entry level training one had to undergo before any martial skills could be taught in ancient China -- as passed down to us through the generations by one of the greatest Chinese martial arts masters of all times, Wang Xiang Zhai. O we are so grateful.
This is not just a frozen posture good to look at. You can certainly do still meditation with this serene posture. However, at a deeper level, it has at once both great defensive and offensive values.
Notice how the joints of the "3 raised limbs" are bent to various degrees. That means "all 3 guns" are chambered with a live bullet and they can block/deflect blows or kicks from multiple Attackers. At the same time, they can strike out at 3 different targets or Multiple Attackers. Wow! 3 guided missiles with multiple warheads that can hit in rapid repetition! You will never see a similar all-purpose posture for both internal and external strength training in tae kwondo, jujitsu, judo, karate, aikido or other martial art systems etc. in the world.
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