Sydney Koshinkan

Adaptability

Adapting and evolving to change circumstances and situations are critical steps to high performance. Famous philosopher Mike Tyson stated “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. The military have a creed ‘no plan survives first contact with the enemy’

Bruce Lee best illustrated this with the concept of “be like water”. He used water as the analogy for adaptability. Water can be soft like drip from a tap or forceful like rapids (we’ve seen the destructive power of water in Nepal). It can break down the toughest of surfaces through time and patience- think how water causes iron to rust. If it faces an indomitable environment, it redirects and finds a path around.

Water can’t be defeated.

Develop adaptability - “be like water” when developing your fighting arts skillset and it’s a good concept to have in a fight situation.

The fog of war

There is a concept in the military known as the ‘fog of war’. Simply put when the guns start blazing in a war zone, there is a high level of uncertainty of the situation, impacting effective decision making.

This same phenomenon occurs in a one on one fight situation. Too much information delays decision making and can confuse the issue. The key to sound decision making isn’t knowledge, it’s understanding. Look for a few key indicators- read their body language for intent, recognise your own psychology (then manage through your physiology) and assess the physical environment

Find the balance between deliberate and instinctive decision making. You need to be agile in your thinking as you constantly evaluate a fast changing situation.

“If size mattered then the elephant would be king of the jungle”
Rickson Gracie

Excellence of Ex*****on

It’s important during your training to embed good practices as well as refine and sharpen your skills… repetition and excellence in your repetition will give you this for when you need it most.

Great to reconnect with Pedro, and practice knife techniques. Pedro is a highly skilled martial artist and teacher..

The key takeaway- avoid knife fights. They rarely end well

Bullseye

Whenever attacking anatomically vital points, it’s much like archery- force needs to be applied as close to the target as possible. This is not necessarily about applying as much force as possible, rather it’s applying force on the exact point to maximise the impact.

Precision is more important than power

How you train is how you fight!

Striking is important in fighting arts training because it develops timing, distance management, power generation and effective body mechanics . It’s not just ‘hitting hard’(although that is vitally important), effective striking is about precision, efficiency and decision-making.

A precise, well-timed strike with balance is usually more effective than a wild haymaker.

The fighting arts covers all aspects of one-on-one, unarmed fighting scenarios. One area that is often neglected by many fighting arts schools, is working on the ground… many fights end up here. Get comfortable and competent being able to defend yourself here.

A useful conflict situational awareness tool is the TERA model:
Tribe - ‘are you with me or against me’
Expectation- ‘do I know the future or is it uncertain’
Rank - ‘are you more or less important/capable than me’
Autonomy - ‘do I get a say or not’

Situational awareness is key in handling any potential conflict situation