How to Have Perfect Form
It was Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of modern Karate, who said: the way, straight and true, who will pass it on? Actually, The Way is now easily understood, and it is easily passed on. The key to the achievement lies in good, old, hard core physics.
When karate was given to the world by Japan, it was taught in the old way, memorizing random techniques, and eventually bringing the student to intuition. Though this method works, it is an amazingly inadequate way to teach. The best way to impart the knowledge of the martial arts is through giving the student a solid base in physics.
Physics is how one measures the universe. It is not a mystical body of knowledge, yet, when understood, physics can actually lead to the understanding of such things as Chi. I should add to that, however, by saying that the subject of Chi is representative of a second set of physics which are above the physics of the physical universe.
The secret of physics is that the universe can be described accurately. With physics there can be no junk science in the martial arts, such as the kind you will see in TV infomercials. Junk science is actually the beginning of mysticism…how big is that pill going to make you?
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 in the martial arts can occupy one for a lifetime. One must watch the body, see it in pictures, examine it in a mirror, observe it in technique, have others see it, and make sufficient sense out of the input to de-wobble it. You must do your techniques slowly, plant and push style, searching for the most efficient paths and means of resistance within the body.
Ultimately, the resolution of physics results in the true art. And, the resolution of physics on the body level will lead one to the resolution of physics on a higher level. It is on this higher level that you will find the miracles of the martial arts. and the real reason for studying them in the first place.
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