CAINE TURNER'S DEADLY CHI BLAST

Aliveness FAQ

2008-03-06T08:14:00.000-08:00

Q: What is "aliveness"?

A: Aliveness is a term that describes a training methodology. The basic idea is that, for training to be effective at preparing you for real combat it has to contain elements that are present in real combat. Let me give you an example, shooting a basket ball in to a hoop repeatedly will help your performance in a real basketball game, because it contains the elements found in a real game i.e. a ball, a basket and the necessity of landing the ball in the hoop. If however, you repeatedly made a motion like you were shooting a ball, but without having a ball in your hands, this would not help your performance in a real game, no matter how many times you did it. Because there are no elements of a real game in this exercise, there is no ball, no hoop and no need to actually land the ball in the hoop. This is a crude example but I think you get my point. So we need to exam what the aspects of a real fight are. The first and most obverse thing in all real fights is resistance, no one in a real fight is going to let you just hit them without trying to stop you (resist you). The next thing always present in actual combat is timing. For example in a real fight if you simply throw a punch at any random time it probably wouldn’t land on your attacker, you would have to throw the punch at the right time when the target presented itself. The last thing that is always present in real combat is motion. If someone is attacking you they will be moving, if you defending an attack you will be moving. So for training to be effective it must alway contain timing, energy (resistance) and motion. To summarize, aliveness means training with timing, energy (resistance) and motion.

Q: Is aliveness something new?

A: No, absolutely not! On the contrary martial arts such as Muay Thia, Judo, BJJ, Boxing and wrestling have been training in an alive way for years. In fact Mauy Thia is about 800 years old and wrestling dates back to as early as the ancient Greeks which would mean that alive training actually predates dead training!Q: Why is alive training so important?A: Training in an alive environment is the only way to prepare yourself for actual combat. Dead training can not in anyway prepare you for actual combat, so if you ever want to be able to actually apply any of the techniques you've learned, you have to train alive.Q: Don't all MA schools train alive?A: From my experience the vast majority of MA schools don't train alive. As an example, every time you walk up and down a line doing techniques in thin air, this is dead training. Every time you do partners drills were one guy attacks then just stands there and lets the other guy to some sort of defense with no resistance, that is dead training. Anytime you do patterns of any sort, that is dead training. Every time someone stands in front of you with focus mitts whilst you just repeatedly punch them, that is dead training.

Q: But most MA schools spar, thats alive right?

A: Yes, sparring is alive and most schools spar (although there are quite a few that don't!). However from my experience in most TMA schools sparring makes up, at best, 15 minutes at the end of each lesson, which means you have spent the entire rest of the lesson doing dead (useless) training. Also it is important to note that even though many TMA schools do spar, which is alive, the sparring is often very unrealistic i.e. no head punch no low kicks or sweeps as in WTF TKD, point stop style as in many Karate's or just very light contact as in many schools.

Q: But how can you really learn anything just by sparring all the time?

A: Although sparring will be an integral part of any school that trains alive, aliveness DOES NOT mean constant sparring! Most schools that train alive will use what is called "the I methord" (introduction, isolation, integration) to teach techniques. Let me give you an example of how this methord works and how you learn techniques in an alive way. For the example I will use the Muay Thia 'teep kick' which, for anyone who is not familiar with it, is basically a front kick off your front leg.Introduction: The kick will be fully demonstrated and explained to the student. Then the student will be allowed to practice this kick, slowly and methodically, until he/she understands exactly how to do it. Normally they would be practice the kick against a stationary pad until they become more confident with the kick, when the pad could begin to be moved and presented to them at different times when they would have to kick it. Isolation: When the student has become suitably confident with the technique and understands properly how to perform it they can then start to train the technique against a resisting oponent. The are any number of alive drills/games that can be used to do this, in this case I would personally use something like this; Get 2 students, the one has the job of "attacker" this student can only box so his job is to close this distance and punch the other student. The other student the "defender" (a teep kick is a defensive kick, so this drill is suited to this particular technique) can only use the teep kick they have been practicing. So what will happen is the attacker will be actively trying to close the distance on his opponent whilst the other will be trying to stop him with teep kicks. Thus he will be training this kick only (isolated) against a resisting oponent.Integration: In this phase the student is allowed to integrated the new technique, with other techniques he has learned, in an alive way. Sparring.

Q: But isn't the first part of the I methord basically just dead training? And you said dead training was useless.

A: I said " Dead training can not in anyway prepare you for actual combat" and this is true. The right kind of dead training can prepare you for alive training, but it can not prepare you for actual combat. Let me put it another way, if you have been training in nothing but a dead way for 10 years you will be no more prepared for real combat then someone with no MA experience what so ever. However if you have been training for 10 years in nothing but a dead way then you will (providing its the right kind of dead training) be ready to start training alive, which will prepare you for real combat.Also I think it is important to note that all 3 phases of the I methord will take place in just one class, which means the actual amount of time spent on introducing a technique in a dead way, will probably only be about 10 minutes. The rest is spent in the isolation and integration phase.

Q: My instructor says that we do train our stuff against resisting opponents, but we have to train for a long time until we are advanced enough to do it.

A: There is absolutely no reason why you can't train alive from day one, Judo guys do it, BJJ guys do it, Boxers do it, Muay Thai guys do it. The only reason a technique or combination can't be trained in an alive way against resistance is if it wont work against resistance, in which case the technique is useless. Also from my experience all the people who say that their stuff does work but you just have to be advanced to use it are lying to you and themselves and the simple reason why they don't do it against resistance is because it doesn't work.

Q: Yeah but that's your definition of aliveness what about other peoples definitions?

A: This is something that personally annoys the hell out of me. People often try to put there own definition on aliveness (normally so it can seem that, by there definition atleast, their training is alive) aliveness is what it is (see above, "what is aliveness) and nothing else, you can not put your own spin on it and trying to is simply ridiculous. Let me give you an example. Imagine we are debating the effectiveness of using representative democracy to run a country and I say "well Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principles of popular sovereignty by the people's representatives. The representatives are charged with the responsibility of acting in the people's interest, but not as their proxy representatives—i.e., not necessarily always according to their wishes, but with enough authority to exercise swift and resolute initiative in the face of changing circumstances. and I think this is effective because..." then you come back and say "ah, well thats your definition of representative democracy, to me it means...." representative democracy is what it is, now everyone is well within there right to debate its effectiveness at running a country but to try and say it has multiple definition in so that you can make it sound like you agree with it but actually don't is stupid. The same is true of aliveness you have every right to debate it effectiveness but don't start trying to make your own definition of it.

Q: Well what about sit-ups/puss-ups/running there not alive but they will help your training?

A: Aliveness is only concerned with technical training, so anything that is solely for conditioning falls out of the realm of "alive" or "dead". Sit-ups may be very beneficial to a fighter in helping improve his condition, however when doing sit-ups he is not training any techniques and is solely doing fitness training, therefor it is neither alive nor dead. However if he was doing sit-ups and claiming that he was in fact training some sort of head butt from the ground this would then fall in to the realm of alive or dead.Q: Where can I find out more info on aliveness?A: If you go here http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=matt+thornton&so=0 you will find a number of informative videos by Matt Thornton. http://www.straightblastgym.com/why.htm here you will find lots of articles on aliveness and the broader SBG philosophy.

The futility of pattern/kata training

2007-04-11T14:40:00.000-07:00

Patterns training is a huge part of many martial arts. Many people believe that patterns will teach you how to effectively defend yourself in real combat. Many of these people even believe that their patterns training is superior to the alive training of kick boxers and mixed martial artists as what they are doing is for sport and patterns are for ‘real’ fighting. However this simply is not correct. And believing that patterns training will help you fight effectively in real combat can be very dangerous. This is why I feel it is important for me to explain why patterns training doesn’t translate to real combat

For a training method to be effective at preparing you for real combat it has to contain elements that are present in real combat. Let me give you an example, shooting a basket ball in to a hoop repeatedly will help your performance in a real basketball game because it contains the elements found in a real game i.e. a ball, a basket and the necessity of landing the ball in the hoop. If however, you repeatedly made a motion like you were shooting a ball, but without having a ball in your hands, this would not help your performance in a real game, no matter how many times you did it. Because there are no elements of a real game in this exercise, there is no ball, no hoop and no need to actually land the ball in the hoop. This is a crude example but I think you get my point.

So we need to exam what the aspects of a real fight are and do patterns contain these aspects. The first and most obverse thing in all real fights and self defence situations is energy or resistance. In a fight or self defence situation no one is going to let you hit them with out any resistance. And you wont be able to simply throw attack here, there and everywhere, you will have to aim an hit targets to effectively subdue your attacker. Now lets compare this to patterns training; there is no resistance in a pattern as no one is trying to stop you from performing the attacks and there is no energy of your own as you are throwing attacks in mid air and not hitting anything. The next component always present in actual combat is timing. For example in a real fight if you simply throw a punch at any random time it probably wouldn’t land on your attacker, you would have to throw the punch at the right time when the target presented itself. Patterns have no timing as there is no target, you can throw attacks in a pattern without having to worry as to whether it will land or not. The last thing that is always present in real combat is motion. If someone is attacking you they will be moving, if you defending an attack you will be moving. Patterns have motion, however it is set regimented motion, whereas a real fight is made of unpredictable movements or as Bruce Lee called it “broken rhythm” it doesn’t take a great deal of intellect to see that set motions and movements would not work against unpredictable broken rhythm. You may choose to go one way or do one movement as set in a pattern but the opponent with unpredictable motion can move as he chooses and is unlikely to react in the way the way required for the set movements to be effective.

As you can see patterns don’t contain any elements present in real combat, making them as useless as practicing basketball shots by simply moving your arms in the air without a ball or hoop. It must be noted too that the lack of resistance means that an instructor/master can claim that any crazy movement can be a block, attack, sweep etc. as his movement will never be tested on a resisting opponent to see if it works. Think about it this way, what is stopping me from making up a strange dance then claiming that the movements in that dance are in fact attacks, blocks etc. Without testing the techniques against resisting opponents there is no way to prove whether what I am saying is true or false. As a result the vast majority of patterns not only lack all the elements of a real fight, thus making training them an ineffective training method, but also contain extremely unrealistic and sometimes even laughable movements that would not be effective in real combat even if they were trained in an alive fashion with timing, energy and motion.

With the above in mind, there are a great number of martial artists who understand that patterns training will in no way translate to actual combat, yet they still continue to train them. I know many people, students and instructors, who are doing this. When asked why they continue to train patterns despite knowing they wont help them to defend themselves they normally provide a variety of answers. I will now examine the most common arguments for continuing to train in patterns despite knowing there lack of effectivity at being able to translate to real combat.

"Patterns are like a martial artist form of shadow boxing"

This simply isn’t true. Firstly we have to look at what a boxer does in shadow boxing. He moves around using footwork, bobbing and weaving and throwing punches. There are no set movements, no set directions of motion. This is the exact opposite of what happens in patterns were the movements you do are predetermined and the direction of motion is set. During shadow boxing a boxer will practice the techniques and combinations he uses in sparring. Whereas you will rarely see a martial artist using the movements in patterns outside of the patterns themselves. Also I think its important to note that boxers generally use shadow boxing for a relatively small amount of time normally as part of a warm up or for conditioning, whereas as martial arts schools that teaches patterns will often spend the vast majority of a lesson teaching them.

"Patterns are an exercise in self control, discipline etc."

Many people often make the abstract claim that patterns training is somehow an exercise in self control and the other spiritual aspects of martial arts. I personally find these claims very puzzling. How does performing a serious of movements make you more disciplined? How does performing a serious of movements make you have more control over your emotions? How are patterns a spiritual act? Perhaps its a form of moving meditation, similar to what zen Buddhists do except with the added aspect of motion. Maybe, but I don’t buy this one. First you have to understand the process of mediation undertaken in the Buddhist sense, the act of clearing ones mind completely of all thoughts, existing only in the hear and now, in search of enlightenment. For a start I don’t even think the most trained Buddhist monk could do this in the setting of a martial arts dojo/gym with other students present and training. And I am sure that if you ask 999 out of 1000 martial arts students if this is what they are doing when they perform patterns they will answer no.

"Patterns are traditional"

“Well that's how its always been done”. For me that sentiment just doesn’t cut it. Tradition for traditions sake! Why continue to do something that you know to be ineffective simply because its traditional? Were do you draw the line? Are you willing to do anything, no matter how obscure simply for the sake of tradition?

"Patterns are the art side of martial arts"

This again is a very abstract claim that normally has not been thought through properly. I think the only way to address this claim is to try and understand what ‘art’ is and then try to decide if patterns are a form of art. Of course this is something extremely difficult to do and there have been whole books wrote on the subject of defining what is ‘art’. Art comes in many forms, a sculpture is art, a painting is art, a photograph is art, but a messed up bed can also be art, a film of someone sleeping can be art, dance is a type of art, as are songs. I think what is common in all of these things is human creativity and the expression of ones self, the artist. So are patterns an expression of yourself through movement? Obversely not. A pattern is very much predetermined, from the overall sequence of movements down to the fine detail of hand positioning at each and every moment. There is no room for any creativity, no room for any self expression, no room for any art.

"Patterns are a great work out"

It’s a fact that many people take up martial arts to get fitter and get in better shape. And I can’t disagree with the fact that spending 30 minutes doing patterns at full speed would really work up a sweat and burn a good few calories. But lets look at patterns as a work out tool. Firstly they have to be taught to someone before they can be performed at full speed and get the exercise benefits we want from them, which, from experience, can take a very long time often a period of entire lessons. During this teaching time the student wont be getting a good work out as it is very much a slow process. This is time that could have been spent skipping, running or doing circuit training and getting the work out that was desired. What we have to remember is that most students only spend 2 or 3 hours a week training in martial arts, so if their goal is to get in better shape then that small amount of time needs to be spent working out in the most effective way possible, for which patterns don’t really fit the bill as well as something like circuit training would.

"I enjoy doing patterns"

Well there is nothing wrong with doing something you like. In fact I would encourage you to do whatever it is you enjoying doing as often as possible. So if its patterns you enjoy doing for no other reason then for the sake of just doing them, then go ahead, but just don’t call it martial arts. I enjoy reading history books, but when I am reading history books I don’t go around telling people that I am actually playing football.

"But if we take away the patterns it will just be kick boxing"

This is often what it seems to come down to. After all is said and done many people hold on so desperately to there patterns simply because its what makes there style different from others. But is this really reason enough to continue doing something that is completely ineffective, just so that you can maintain an ‘us’ and ‘them’ attitude? And have you ever question how this segregation of styles benefits you or your students or the martial arts community as a whole. Are you not a good enough coach that students wont come to you simply to train in what is effective so you have to offer something ‘unique’ and ‘different’ from other coaches to keep your students interested?

As you can see, on closer examination none of these arguments hold water. And if patterns wont help you to be able to defend yourself in a real fight and they wont help with any of the other things stated above, why continue to training patterns?

Dead patterns.

2007-04-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

Patterns/kata are forms of dead training and as such, are a waste of time.

Aliveness is a training concept that has been popularised by Matt Thornton and the Straight Blast Gym, before I can address the issue stated above you need to understand why aliveness is so fundamental to martial arts training and why by training without it, or ‘dead’ training is a waste of time. It would be difficult for me to fully explain this concept here and I would only be regurgitating what Matt Thornton has already said, and I probably would not do as good a job of it as he has, so if you are not familiar with the concept of Aliveness I suggest you follow the link “Aliveness explained” at the side of this page.

Since the popularisation of this training method many martial artists have stopped training in a “traditional” manner and began training in this far more effective, modern way. And many “martial artists” have rejected this principle and continued training as they always have. However there has also arisen a number of martial artists, who seem to accept the importance of alive training yet continue to train in a dead fashion claiming that what they are doing is, in fact, alive.

These people are claiming that patterns training can in fact be alive and even that this is always how they should have been practiced. The main argument from this corner is that they don’t simply train patterns on there own, they practice the moves contained within the patterns against a fully resisting opponent, thus making them alive.

Before I go on I would like to briefly discuss the idea of training pattern movement applications. There are many people who speak of training the movements in patterns against an opponent in an alive fashion, however, in my experience, the opponent will attack with unrealistic techniques in a very dead way i.e. punch, then leave the punch there and let the other person defend in anyway without offering any real resistance. Now there are plenty of people who will say that that is not the case and that they train against a fully resisting opponent, however I think that they may not really understand the concept of fully resisting. I find it very hard to believe that a combination, no matter how it is interpreted, could be used effectively against a real attack from a fully resisting opponent, unless it was extremely modified, in which case it would not really be the combination or movement it was claiming to be.

That said, for the purpose of this post, lets suspend our believe for the time being and imagine that the movements and combinations in patterns could, in fact, be used effectively against a fully resisting opponent. To train with aliveness you need 3 things, timing, energy and motion. And with the absence of even one of these things your training becomes dead. Lets look at these three and see if patterns contain any of them. Timing, there is no timing in patterns, despite what some will try and have you believe, timing is not the speed and rhythm at which you do techniques, timing is a very real part of all combat. Timing is being able to hit a target at a specific moment, such as a boxer being able to slip and left hook his opponent whilst he jabs. Or a Judo player being able to execute a hip throw at the right moment to take his opponent of balance. Patterns have no timing as there is nothing that requires you to attack or defend at a particular time. Energy, energy is not chi or any other kind of magical force. It is the resistance offered by an opponent, or the force offered by your attack. I.e. when you are trying to put an opponent in an arm bar and he is resisting you, that resistance is energy, when you are striking a focus mitt in a pad drill the force of that strike is energy. In a pattern you are not hitting anything and nothing is offering you resistance, therefore patterns have no energy. Motion, although patterns do contain motion, it is not a kind of motion that would in anyway mimic that of a real fight. The motion in patterns is set, the direction you go is set. In a an actual fight, there is no set motion, there is no set direction, you can not anticipate which way your attacker will come at you or what attacks he will use. As such patterns do not contain motion in the true sense, that is relevant to actual combat.

Aliveness requires the presents of all 3 things, timing, energy and motion. Patterns contain none of these, not even one. This is why patterns training can never be considered alive no matter how you choose to paint it. And this is why there is no good reason to train patterns. We have already established that there is no way that patterns can in themselves be alive, so even if you believe that you can train the individual movements and combinations with aliveness, why train the patterns by themselves?