I’ve been told before that some people are born fighters and some people are not. I agree with that statement to a degree. I do believe that some people are born with a natural ability to fight and others are not, but I believe that with proper training and a strong desire (or heart) most can become good fighters. I was not born with some innate ability to fight. I have, as I am told, good technical skills, but I fall short in the fray. While that’s not really a problem in class while sparring it’s a huge problem in the street.
I have the desire to be an excellent student of the martial arts. I, for the most part, have the ability to be an excellent student. What I lack is the proper skills. Which brings me to my point. In class I learn Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan style of karate and kickboxing. At this point a hold a blue belt and I do Kata quite well, but far from perfect. In kickboxing I have a very good technical ability. The frustrating part for me is that during sparring (on most nights) I lack the ability to put it together in any really meaningful way.
Considering where I started I have come a long way in my abilities so I won’t be to hard on myself. Something I’ve started to understand though is that class isn’t the start of and end of learning martial arts. It’s the beginning for me, but is by no means the end of or the only place to learn.
So here are some things I’m thinking about.
- Breathing – I don’t have good breathing techniques during fighting or training. I firmly believe that in order to maximize my full potential I must develop good breathing techniques. This is something I’ve started to work on, but is far from second nature.
- Reaction – This is my biggest problem. I’m slow to react. I’m not quite sure exactly how to better my reaction time. Lots of practice, but I feel that I need to find exercises that will increase my reaction time.
- Foot work – This one is killing me. I spend most of my time standing in one spot waiting for the punch in the nose. I’ve got to learn out to move around. Movement is a key to being successful in a fight.
- Blocking – This one I plainly suck at. Lately I’ve been letting more punches through than I should even at my skill level. All I can say is that it’s good I can take a punch.
- Partner Training – One problem is that the four hours a week I spend in class simply isn’t enough time to train properly. Which also brings me to the realization that simply training by yourself will never make you that good. You need partners to work with and to experiment with. You also need to spend time outside of class training with them.
- Visualization – This is actually a skill I have and can use quite well. The ability to visualize kata or attacks is definitely a requirement.
I believe I’m beginning to have some vague concept of what it will take to be a truly good martial artist and fighter. While I avoid fighting and I have no intentions of ever competing at any level I do want to have the satisfaction of being able to do it well and being able to defend myself against attacks should I need to.
My final thought. Bruce Lee was correct in saying that you learn what works for you. Simply learning one style or one approach to fighting is probably not the best method. Personal “style” is probably more important than a particular fighting style. After all with so many forms of martial arts learning one just seems silly. :D
