Some of you might know of an author by the name of Ellis
Amdur. He writes books and articles on the martial arts, the Japanese ones in
particular. In one of his articles he asks, “What is natural movement?” then
goes onto talk about how the primitive rage-terror that resides in all of us
kicks in when we are panicked or sense immediate serious danger and we try to
defend ourselves. He says, “When anyone, even a trained professional
fighter, is in panic, one tends to grab and/or flail in downwards strikes,
whether armed or unarmed.”
So as martial artists we may be trying to establish a ‘new’ way of
reacting in those critical moments. Ellis again, “The trained fighter is
someone whose retraining of the nervous system extends deep into the more
primitive areas of the nervous system. Adrenaline no longer activates chaotic
or panicked response – instead, it is the “on-switch” for a calm, exquisitely
focused state, functioning at tremendous speed and power.”
One way of trying to re-wire the fight/flight response is internal
strength training. What exactly are we training? Is it Ki? Is it mind-body
connection or is it simply re-wiring the nervous system in conjunction with the
muscles and surrounding tissue? It could be any or all of the above. Whatever
the reasoning, the outcomes certainly draw people in (me included). The martial
artists who spend hours and hours training in internal skill can maintain their
balance in very awkward positions, can throw others with the slightest of
movements, or in some cases no noticeable movement and redirect incoming force
without losing their own base/centre.
It appears like the stuff of martial arts movies but by itself is
only a part of the whole. Superimposed on top of this ‘budo body’ must be the
waza, the techniques that we can apply in martial situations. This is still not
enough. Finally, and I think, most importantly, a serious martial artist must
uphold a personal integrity second to none. What good is a person who has
internal skill and wonderful technique but still beats his wife? I was drawn to
TSYR because I had heard of what Toby Threadgill could do, that was the
internal skills stuff. However, once I started to read into koryu and had
spoken to my current instructor, it became clear that personal integrity and
duty were highly valued. I train alongside some very honest and genuinely
pleasant people at the dojo. They are there for the training and are committed
to each other, the instructor and the Ryu. This is the glue that holds me
there.
So, internal strength. Necessary? Sure. Hard work? You bet. The
be-all and end-all of martial arts? I don’t think so.
