Philosophies of Combat Engagement
In the martial arts there seems to be three main philosophies of engagement. These are exemplified by three internal arts: Taiji, Bagwa, and Aikido.
In Aikido, one attempts to become the center of engagement, leading one's opponent around an outer circle. In Bagwa one moves about the circle around an opponent, with quick devastating engagements into the center while maintaining continuous movement. In Taijiquan one attempts to simply destroy the center by going through it with angular movements. One does not mvoe directionally in a circle such as in Bagwa or spin in the circular patterns, such as in Aikido, instead one's body, arms and hands move in ever expanding concentric circles while the legs carry the body at different angles to the center and thus creating things such as complex torque and angular dim mak striking.
These concepts can be found in the 12 dim mak forms or deadly circular hand techniques. For example, in the first dim mak form there are five different circles which strike a minimum of five dim mak points; the body does a minimum of five circular torso movements as well as two major forward to backward weight shifts, yet the form looks completely linear due to the fact that it moves directly through one's opponent and destroys the center of the combat circle. I guess this could also be looked at as creating a completely new center.
Thus when examining whatever forms you practice in the internal arts, consider whether your are: 1) revolving around the center, 2) becoming the center, or 3) destroying/creating a new center. Also, consider circles within circles and what dim mak points are in the path of any particular striking circle. For example in the posture known s "repulse monkey" if done as an in-fighting defense you get two points with the heel, at least three with the hand that moves to the waist and possible four points with the hand coming over the top; as well as keeping in mind there are at least three circular torso/waist movements in "repulse monkey" and one very subtle circular verticle movement. Ye, when viewed, "repulse monkey" generally looks like a linear movement.
Finally, in keeping with the higher order of Taijiquan, and the other martial ars; attempt to apply these principles to your daily life when problems arise. Do you need to revolve around the problem; become the problem and lead it around you or do you need to simply destroy the problem outright and create a new solution. Also, keep in mind what vital points can you"strike" in order to resolve your problem or conflict or what things about this problem are vital and need stimulation and which are not and can be ignored.
Email: loki@ris.net
