Arjarn Nick Hewitson is from the Petchyindee Muay Thai Boxing Camp International
I recently had several hours to kill while waiting at an airport for a connecting flight, and as I sat there I started to note down some training programs for my students. In so doing I realized that martial arts aren't what they used to be. I have now been involved in martial arts for over thirty five years and during that time I have been fortunate enough to have traveled and trained all over the world with many great teachers and with many wonderful and highly skilled people. However this has shown me a disconnection between real martial arts and fake martial arts.
Ok let me explain. Let's take karate as an example. Karate was developed as an unarmed combat system in Okinawa in feudal Japan. The shogun was supported by his samurai who were allowed to kill on site anyone bearing a weapon, therefore karate was developed as a means of fighting a guerilla warfare campaign against the samurai. However the training had to be done in secret or at least not visible to the enemy, and the way this could be achieved was by slightly modifying what they were already doing in their daily life, and being farmers and fishermen, they had a hard physical life anyway. Rowing out to sea, casting their nets and then pulling them in, meant that they developed good balance because you couldn't cast a net from a seated position, and likewise couldn't pull in the net full of fish and water while sitting, so their daily work developed their strength, balance and toughness, as their hands would be handling abrasive nets and so became tough, as would their bare feet. The farmers also would he cutting straw with their sickle, bailing it up by hand before stacking it into heaps with their sai, beating the husk from the grain with there flails or pounding it into flour with their tonfa. They would dig trenches, move rocks, chop firewood and many more hard physical jobs as part of their day-to-day life and this is where their training came.
I'm sure most people reading this have seen the movie The Karate Kid, and so will know the wax on, wax off movements that Mr Miyagi got him to do, as well as sanding floors and painting fences, all of these were to build, train and educate the muscles of the body to respond naturally and instinctively and as mentioned earlier as a simple consequence of the work being carried out.
Ok we now leap into the 21st Century, fishermen use huge trawlers to fish with mechanical winches to lift the nets. Farmers cut straw with combine harvesters, lift the bails using a forklift, and dig trenches or holes with a tractor. Even when it comes to Mr Miyagi, rather than using a block of wood and sand paper you will reach for your Black and Decker. You don't even need to hammer a nail thanks to Hilti nail guns. Technology is taking away our physicality, the mechanical advantage that machines give us is making us weak.
As a child my father was away for large periods of time and so the household duties fell to me, so cutting down weeds, chopping logs, moving timber, digging holes along with many other manual labours were frequently assigned jobs, together with that and in order to develop strong callused hands I would plunge my fingers into packing cases filled with wet sand or gravel, together with hours spent doing press-ups on my knuckles while positioned on a hard wooden board and later as a Thai boxer, I would punch and kick my sand filled punch bag until blood ran out of the bottom of my bag gloves.
However I see my training and myself as being the exception rather than the rule, in this new age of technology. Many of those studying martial arts are professional people. Our days are spent hitting keys rather than back breaking labour, which brings me back to my point about real or fake. The movements that we study are only part of the art. Now I'm fortunate being a practitioner of an art like Muay Thai in that it is real. The muscles that we use and develop are developed through repetitive kicking, punching, kneeing and elbowing of hard kicking pads, focus mitts and heavy bags. We fight wearing gloves and train wearing gloves. Now as mentioned earlier I chose karate as the example, though the movements the katas and forms may be identical to those of the Okinawan farmers, the physical attributes are not the same, working out in the gym on the latest nautilus exercise equipment won't develop the muscles the way the repetitive lifting, turning, pulling, pushing of a manual job will, and hitting computer keys won't give you hands of granite that can shatter a samurai's armour, and more importantly working out in a gym doesn't develop toughness.
This isn't just a European issue. Even in Japan the same issues arise, of course there are styles which try to maintain the connection to their background which is why some karate styles have their student practice using some of the items listed below
Chishi: The chishi is a concrete or stone weight at the end of a wooden handle. It is mainly used to strengthen the grip, as well as the joints of the elbows, wrists and shoulders. The exercises develop the muscles used in blocking, striking and grappling techniques.
Ishisashi: This is a stone padlock resembling the shape of an old-fashioned clothes iron. It's is used for strengthening the arms and wrists.
Jari Bako: This is just a box or bowl filled with sand, beans, gravel or similar material. Fingers are thrust into it to toughen the hands.
Kongoken: This is a very heavy rectangular hoop, used alone or with a partner. It is used to strengthen the body and condition for contact. It was originally used for Judo practice and was incorporated by Chojun Miyagi after his return from Hawaii for use in Karatedo.
Makiage Kigu [aka Maiage Gu]: This is a wrist roller, a wooden handle with a weight hung in the center on a rope. You twist the handle and wrap the rope onto it, raising and lowering the weight, and strengthening the wrists and grip.
Makiwara: The most popular tool for Tanren, a makiwara is a striking post, with a straw, cloth or rubber pad for contact padding. It is constructed of either a combination of 2X4's or a 4X4 tapered off at the top. It is used to condition the striking surfaces of the body and perfect striking techniques and kime.
Nigiri Game [Sanchingami]: Gami is the Okinawa word for Vase. These are gripping jars, usually made of clay with a rim around the top to grip with the fingers. Sand can be added to increase the weight of the jars. They can be substituted with a common glass or mason jar for the same effect. Gripping these jars increases the strength of the fingers for gripping and tearing applications.
Sashi Ishi: This is a short wooden handle with a stone weight in the center. This strength training device is use for blocking techniques, stance and striking strength.
Sumabukuro: This is a Heavy Sand Bag, different from your normal punching bag. This bag may have additional weights in the middle of the bag as well.
Tan: This resembles a barbell, usually made of wood with weights on the ends. It is usually rolled over the forearms and back, or twisted over the hips. It strengthens and conditions the affected areas.
Tetsu Geta: These are iron clogs, used to strengthen kicking techniques.
Tetsu Wa: Iron bracelets.
Tou: this is a bundle of bamboo sticks taped together at the ends, and is used for nukite practice and conditioning.
There is another thing to take into account with regard to the weapons of our body and how they have changed with time. While in Malaysia I was fortunate enough to meet an old guru in the art of penjat silat. He explained to me the history of his art and how it had been an art which had been taught and developed by the silver and goldsmiths. He explained that they would take young boys as apprentices to learn their trade. They would then prepare them first by breaking the bone of their wrist and off setting the bone, so as it healed back together rather than being straight it created a lump on the top of the wrist and one at the bottom. Once healed they would then repeat the process to the other wrist and once again once that too had healed they would break one of the shin bones just above the ankle and then once fully healed they would repeat the process to the other shin bone. The reason for doing this was that the young bones were less dense and easier to mould but as they grew older the calcium deposits would build up around the break, causing the lumps to become very hard. It was these hardened bone lumps (bone axes) that were used as the primary weapon in their system. They were used to both block and strike with, and according to the guru no-one could protect themselves against this. Now I don't class myself as anything like an expert in penjat silat. I have but trained a little in this type of art and therefore cannot judge its effectiveness, and the lessons I underwent all involved the use of a knife or bladed weapon, but even then there were movements I didn't think would be practical, however if rather than using a knife my wrist was the weapon so that I could catch and strike at the same time I'm sure my evaluation of the effectiveness would be much different. Which begs the question how many practitioners of this art have had their wrists broken to have the appropriate weapons to use and if not how much it diminishes the art?
Has technology and a higher standard of living robbed us of the effectiveness of our arts? Probably but using modern equipment and the latest training techniques, better diet, better protection and teachers with a knowledge of how our anatomy works, is very likely to give us the ability to be able to train more safely and for longer without being crippled in later life with joint or health problems, and I think that is probably better than the ability to smash a coconut open with my bare hands.
If you seek to understand the true nature of the arts in which you train, you should better understand where they come from. You can then make a conscious decision as to how closely you wish to follow it. If you feel that your lifestyle needs to have you develop your hands into bone shattering weapons then you need to follow a different and much harder path of training.
