“Wars may
be fought with weapons, but they are
won by
men. It is the spirit of the men who follow
and of the
man who leads that gains the victory.”-George S. Patton
The Korean for Weapon is “Moo
Ki”, and combines the characters for “martial” and “instrument.” Thus we know from our previous analysis, a
weapon, as defined in Tang Soo Do, is an instrument used to stop conflict. As we train our black belts in the use of
weapons, traditional or otherwise, we must be mindful of this definition. Much has been written about the weapons of
the various martial arts, and this chapter does not serve to inform instructors
which weapons they should and should not teach, nor does it hope to instruct
any techniques specific to one particular weapon. Instead, it embraces the idea that we should
teach our black belts concepts rather than techniques, and is meant to
encompass the use of any weapon, whether it is one of the traditional adopted
weapons of the World Tang Soo Do Association (staff, knife, sword, and cane),
martial arts weapons primarily used in other arts (nunchaku, tonfa, kama, sai,
etc.), or even improvised weapons, which can be, quite literally, anything.
Regardless of the weapon used, it is important to recognize that the instructor
should first have trained with it extensively in order to understand its
characteristics and uses in the realm of the martial arts. The selected weapon, as Grandmaster Shin
tells us, should not be randomly chosen, but instead should be “a tool for
daily polishing of the mind, body and spirit.”[i]
Step
1: Identify an Advanced Concept
In the case of weapons training,
identifying an Advanced Concept is not difficult. Virtually every martial art in existence
agrees on one point when it comes to the use of weapons: that the weapon is an
extension of the user’s body. This can
be taken to another step, though. If a
weapon is truly an extension of one’s body, then it cannot be considered a
separate entity. It is therefore treated
as if it is a living part of oneself.[ii] As we combine these ideas, then, we arrive at
the following Advanced Concept:
A martial artist’s weapon is not separate from the self, but is an
extension of the self.
When we use the term
“self” rather than “body”, we better understand the serious nature of training
with weapons, and better appreciate the focus required for a martial artist to
achieve this state. How do we guide
students toward this? We cannot simply
hand them a particular weapon and expect them to be able to make it an
extension of the self. The basic
techniques and principles of usage of the selected weapon must be developed
first. At some point, they should be able to extrapolate techniques
for a new weapon from techniques they already know from using another weapon,
or from empty handed techniques.
Step
2: Uncover Basic Concepts
If we truly want our students to
develop the ability to extend a part of themselves into the weapons they use,
then they must be able visualize the weapon as a part of themselves at all
times, even if they are not using it.
Paradoxically, there is a way to help them do this: by separating them
from the weapon. We remove the weapon
itself from the hands of the student, but then have them same student execute
both the basic techniques of the weapon, and any associated weapon hyung and dae ryun while remaining empty handed. Just as an observer should be able to “see”
the opponent of a martial artist who properly executes hyung, that same observer should be able to “see” the weapon, even
if it is not actually there.
The movements of the body
should not change, whether the martial artist is actually wielding the weapon
or not. In practicing separation, we are
actually working towards union, and we uncover the following Basic Concept:
After proficiency is achieved with the basics of a given weapon, a
martial artist does not need to hold that weapon in order to train with it.
Obviously, at some point, the black
belt must again train while holding the weapon in his or her hands. At this point, the student should begin to
engage in both pre-arranged sparring and free sparring techniques with a safe
training weapon that simulates the actual weapon as closely as possible. The student will begin to learn to apply the
basic techniques and principles of the weapon with a partner, and will achieve
a greater level of comprehension regarding how the weapon is used in scenarios
that involve single attackers, multiple attackers, and even attacks with
weapons other than the one they are currently using. Students will quickly learn whether their
actions with the weapon are instinctive, intuitive, and effective, as they
should be if the weapon has truly become an extension of the self. This idea is
the key to another Basic Concept:
When a weapon becomes an extension of the self, it can be used in an
instinctual, intuitive, and effective manner against an attack.
Finally,
the student must begin to link the use of the weapon to techniques he or she
already knows how to perform without a weapon. At this level, a student should
be able to perform the techniques of empty handed drill and hyung while holding a given weapon,
deducing the application of that weapon that most closely reflects the
movement, intent, and meaning of the given empty handed technique. In other words, “it’s all the same,” and:
If one can execute a technique empty handed, one can execute the same
technique with a weapon.
Step
3: Understand, Apply & Improvise
Once again, the previous section in
this chapter correlates directly to the ideas of Understanding, Application,
and Improvisation. When we separate students
from the weapon, but ask them to still “use” it, they are forced to concentrate
on every specific movement of the body that occurs when holding the
weapon. They begin to Understand why the body moves as it does while using
the given weapon, and at the same time develop a greater Understanding of the
weapon itself.
When students are asked to use the
weapon in scenarios that involve a partner, or attacker, or even multiple
attackers, they enter the stage of Application, and must deduce how to use the selected weapon in an
effective manner. Initially, these
scenarios should be pre-arranged and repeatable, but over time, they should
progress closer to the “free” state, in which neither attack nor response are
predetermined, and instinctual use of the selected weapon is tested.
When students are asked to perform
empty handed techniques or hyung with
a weapon, this is Improvisation. They
must learn when a specific motion or technique with the weapon matches the
empty handed technique in question, and must choose their own interpretations
for each, sacrificing neither the intent of the original empty handed technique
nor the effectiveness of the weapon technique.
When we realize that it took many years to become proficient with the
basic empty handed techniques, and we consider that there are a myriad of
weapons from which to choose, this practice can easily fill a second lifetime
when taken seriously.
Moo
Ki: Conclusions
Training with weapons is not
something to be taken lightly by instructors or students. To do so is to ignore everything we have
learned about the martial arts prior to attaining black belt. Weapons training should only be undertaken
with a serious attitude, under the supervision of a qualified instructor, and
should only be taught if one has developed proficiency with the weapon to be
taught, by learning from a qualified instructor, or through years of extensive
independent research, study, and training.
When we train with a weapon, we are actually refining our own
spirit. We will learn through this
training that:
1.
A martial
artist’s weapon is not separate from the self, but is an extension of the self.
2.
After proficiency
is achieved with the basics of a given weapon, a martial artist does not need
to hold that weapon in order to train with it.
3.
When a weapon
becomes an extension of the self, it can be used in an instinctual, intuitive,
and effective manner against an attack.
4.
If one can
execute a technique empty handed, one can execute the same technique with a
weapon.
No comments:
Post a Comment