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Kung Fu by Osmosis: The Usefulness of Martial Arts Books and Videos


  • Student interaction. It's all very well to be able to perform a technique in empty space, and another thing to execute it on an actual opponent. This seems obvious when we talk about grappling arts: you can approximate how your arms and legs would need to move in order to execute an arm bar from the underneath (guard) position, but you'll never be able to do it for real unless you experience and learn how it feels to actually do it on a guy who's resting his bodyweight on your ribcage, trying to shake your legs loose and choke or hit you with his arms - all at the same time. But it's true for striking arts too. You can learn how to kick in the air, but do you know how to compensate your balance for when you're kicking a live, moving target? How about when you miss that live, moving target?

    Now, a lot of people figure they can get around this by recruiting a training partner who learns and practices off the book/video at the same time. It's an admirable effort, but here's the thing: a technique feels different each time you apply it on a different person. Doing a triangle choke on a tall guy with long wiry limbs presents different problems and opportunities than it does on a short, stocky muscular guy; same for a sweep or a parry. The only way to get a good feel on a technique is the practice it on as many different training partners as you possibly can.

    As it turns out, one of the best places to find a large number of different training partners is - an actual school.

  • Feel. With all due respect to the movies and films, the best martial arts can only be felt - not seen. A lot of this can be taught by having a live instructor and lots of training partners. But more importantly, it is learned by seeing a technique performed for you in person and feeling an expert perform it on you. Let's take something a (seemingly) simple as a lead jab. We've all seen it done by boxers both pro and amateur. But what about the details? How does the weight and balance shift before, during and after a jab? What about the miniscule little tension-and-release interplay that goes through a boxer's various arm muscles at the same period of time? What
    The copyright of the article Kung Fu by Osmosis: The Usefulness of Martial Arts Books and Videos in Martial Arts is owned by Kent Fung. Permission to republish Kung Fu by Osmosis: The Usefulness of Martial Arts Books and Videos in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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