Hachidan

That's new to me. One of my Master's Masters was Ceng Man-ch'ing. He collaborated with Robert W. Smith for the landmark book, T'AI CHI: THE " SUPREME ULTIMATE" EXERCISE for HEALTH, SPORT, and SELF - DEFENSE. ON PAGE 2 AND 3 IT STATES " The full and formal title is T'ai Chi Chuan the latter word meaning simply " fist " or " boxing." The term t'ai chi is derived from a concept of Chinese philosophy meaning "supreme ultimate." He goes on to indicate a little later that " T'ai - chi was named for the ultimate philosophical principal because its early proponents felt it expressed the ultimate physical principal." So do I. Hence, " Supreme Ultimate Fist. " Further, on a practical and personel level I have had hundreds of experiences of having had " The Fist" and the higher principals that it represents through all of T'ai Chi applied directly to my body. These were very controlled applications that allowed for my survival as well as my education. They left no doubt about the " Supreme Ultimate " nature of the art. These applications were a gift from my master. Grand Master Jou Hwa was very loving and patient. I could not have comprehended the art had he not let me feel it, over and over, for the nine wonderful years of his formal instruction. His ability as a teacher and practitioner was beyond my the solid credentials supporting the various black belts that I maintained at the time. It was beyond imagination. It had to be felt. I was very fortunate. Exposure to him was and is a blessing. May he push hands with The Immortals. I am confident that They will find him very challenging.

Coming from a very broad backround, I find the principals of Yang style T'ai Chi Chuan to be "higher principals." As such, once internalized, they will benifit and enhance any other martial arts abilities possessed by the practitioner. It does take longer to be proficient at T'ai Chi. Perhaps it will take 6-10 yrs. to get to a fighting, entry level black belt equivalent. However, at that point, whenever it occurs, martial evolution can proceed in an exponential manner compared to the "faster/harder" arts. This, naturally, depends on the continuation of practice and edeavor. My teacher, the late, forever great, Grand Master Jou Hwa taught that the art was based upon the development of Chi, which he defined as "psychic navel power." He taught that the continued development of this power would " remove the veil " and that there would be no end to the potential for martial and mystical development. He teachings indicated that this was the most mystical of all martial arts, that its principals were the highest, and that it was the most effective at the higher levels. It is not for no reason that T'ai Chi is referred to as The Supreme Ultimate Fist. It hits you on the inside. T'ai Chi can do so from zero distance. Some high level practitioners have extreme knowledge of chi meridians and how to utilize them to heal or to destroy. In addition there is an extremely potent Chi Na type vocabulary within the arsenal of many practitioners. This is a trigger art. It is a structure designed to capture( Recieve and stick to) and guide your force, to glide with it and away from it, to turn it against you, to cave in on you, to sink you, uproot you, throw you away. Attacking what I just described is like attacking yourself. It feeds on what directed force has to offer. It is unlike anything else and offers great potential to master many opponents simultaneously. Naturally, the principals must be internalized in order to do so and this wil take years. In the meantime the health, serenity, feeling of well being, metabolic, and metaphysical benifits should, in and of themselves, make all practice worth your efforts. After all, this is a form of martial yoga, with all of the benifits of yoga.

Sam said " I was doing neither. I was trying to share something that I consider both crucial and precious. Thank you for your time and responses. I wish you well.

By the time that I fight, I must fight. The opponents have not responded to the other options. I will not fight for my ego. I will fight to live and to protect others so that they can do so. Nothing closed minded about it. In such a case the "reality of the situation" forces my empty hand. So be it! At that point I will endeavor to survive, ergo, whooping some serious * if I can. Incidentally, I do not conform to other people impression of how I am to conduct myself to be considered enlightened. Besides, enlightened sounds like I have arrived somewhere. I'm always on the journey. I never arrive, although I am perpetually joined in the process of arriving.There is no destination, only direction. There is nothing self proclaimed about my teaching. I have instructed many hundreds of students. I have learned from each of them as well as from the great teachers that I have been blessed with. Please study The Book of Five Rings and The Art of War. You might also enjoy and benifit from On The Transmission of Mind: The Zen Teachings of Huang Po as well as The Flight of The Eagle by J. Krishnamurtti.

Neither am I attacking you personally when I observe, as I must, that your mind is massively closed. My martial temperment was reared in a Mahayana dojo. The rational , logical, one plus one equals two mind was systematically and longitudinally broken down until it capitulated. At that point, I was no longer "stuck" to what made "sense." I was then able to start to achieve things that I could not have otherwise. Your impossibilities are self fulfilling prophesies. You are correct that you would have no chance, regardless of how good you are. Once you see those three assailents with weapons your narrow ( no offense) thinking has already pronounced you dead. My thinking is sideways and encompasing. I'm going to whoop some serious * or die while I am trying. At least I would have a chance. You, my friend, would not because your mind has joined the side of the opponents with its "impossibilities." On the other subject, I hope and pray that I will never be in a situation where I have to fight any number of people on the street...even one. I am essentially a healer not a hurter. I am a predator that does not kill if possible or even harm for that matter. I am a mystical warrior. I manipulate Maya and endeavor to elevate consciousness, my own and that of others. I am not out to prove anything to anyone. My job is to educate and to be educated. I am also an outstanding strategist. I refer you to The Book of Five Rings by the sword saint, Mas Mushashi as well as to The Art of War by the venerable General Sun Tzu. They too were outstanding strategist who explained in exquisite detail how vastly greater numbers could be controlled and conquered. They traded in "possibilities" rather than endorsing "impossibilities." Both men were consistently responsible for doing " impossible" and incredible things. They thought sideways. Their minds were open and reflective. They were not trapped by their egos. I don't "doubt" that I can handle one opponent. I give it the benifit of the doubt. Ditto for multiple oppoents. This keeps me honest. The paradox in my "thinking" bothers you because you are stuck to the rational logical mind. You probably think that the thinking mind is the mind. To me it is just a really great tool. Very cool, but limited. It is not the mind. The mind is much greater and No Mind is greater than that. No Mind is hard to beat. It encompasses the playing field and everything in it. It is faster than thought with unlimited insight and intelligence. Under attack, this is what I am plugged into. " Yea though I walk through The Valley of The Shadow of Death I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me my Rod and my Staff." It works for me!!!

I tried to begin the above with " Mercy comes before the fight" , but, the word mercy was somehow left out.

comes before the fight if you find a safe way not to engage in violence. Don't worry about sparing an attacker, or multiple assailents until you are quite certain that you and yours are quite safe and that the threat no longer exists. People can "play possum" or tell you that " I give up!" This might just be a ruse to bring you in close enough to finish you off. Remember, they were trying to do you some serious dirt and if you allow it, perhaps they still can. Also, it is foolish to presume that you can control a stranger. How do you know who you are dealing with. They don't give a rats * that you studied karate and you shouldn't either. It will distract you. A safe opponent is dead or unconscious. The latter group have the annoying habit of waking up sooner or later. Do what needs to be done ( if you can ) then get out of there. If you have to discuss matters with the judge later, be glad that you are still able to do so. This should not be a concern during unavoidable combat. The distraction could cost you your life. Combat is not sparring. Compared to combat, sparring is not real. Never confuse the two.My best advise is never fight unless you "fear for your life" or those that you feel that you must protect. Once so engaged, anything goes. Your belt won't help you. It is a piece of material that you don't even have with you. The police aren't there so they won't save you. Perhaps they will arrive later with the paper work, crime sceen tape, and body bags. Don't count on good samaritans either. The season has been bad for them. Right at the moment of truth, the judge doesn't seem so real. Besides, he's safe somewhere else. Don't think that this can't happen to you if it is happening to you. Unless you want to occupy one of those body bags you've got to take care of business, by whatever means, until you are safe or dead. Finally, running isn't bad if you can get away with it. There! That's my two cents. Don't spend it all in one place unless you can't help doing so. It is better to avoid violence altogether.

SubGrappler-Around here the papers report all of the bad news. There were three assaults reported in one paper Saturday. All three involved more than one assailant. I don't know who UFC and Pride are. Please educate me. Whoever they are, I am not a prize fighter. I am focusing on the idea of fighting for my life, to the death if need be, mine or theirs. Are UFC and Pride into this? Finally, your point was rationally well taken, but...I was correctly trained to respect all opponents as potentially deadly. Regardless of my abilities. I do not presume that I can take any single fighter. I don't care if it is an old lady. This "respect" gives me an edge with one or more opponents. It gives me a type of chance that I wouldn't have without it. It helps me to pay a lot of attention and to do the right things. I don't know what's going on in the bars that you go to. People kill each other around here. I no longer go to bars and I no longer drink. I cannot maintain my martial prowess or avoid trouble if I set myself up. Please take a look at my mother style, the one in which I earned my first black belt, Isshinryu. We always focus on multiple opponents. All of our techniques and katas are so directed. Authenticated Isshinryu is the real deal. It is a pure combat style and it does not disguise that fact. Every move in it is meaningfull in a devastating sort of way. It is real karate. As for what I believe I can or cannot do...forget it! I do. Belief is limited by its own definitions. It is based on the "I." In combat, "I " is, after a certain point, in the way. With "I" possibilities or limited. Without the ego in the way impossible things become not so impossible. Talk is cheap. People say all sorts of things that have no real substance. Just because a fighter has won every encounter for decades does not mean that he or she will do so the next time. In Ishinryu training the type of fighting and baseline performance that I am suggesting is the common goal, even in cases where the ability is not fully realized. I venture that you will find this to be so throughout the real Isshinryu community worldwide. Speak to you soon. Peace and Power

Part of my Samurai training is to constantly use the imagination to prepare for the worst. Then, and only then, might one be prepared for it. Why imagine a best case scenario ( one on one ) when it is much more viable to imagine a worst case ( many on one.) ? The latter approach will better prepare you for the more challenging possibility and should give you some edge if it is a one on one situation. The logic is that if you have trained against many superior fighters that doing so should have improved your chances with an individual superior fighter. Also, by what authority do you maintain that it is more "probable," and, therefor, more "real" that a confrontation is most likely to be one on one. This presumption is not true just because you stated it as if it were. State the proof, statistically or otherwise. According to the newspapers in my town, Trenton, N.J., it seems like the preponderence of the almost daily incidents involve multiple assailents. It is not safe to presume that this will not be so. It is not safe to presume that you can beat any one street fighter just because you have been trained. It is not safe to believe that you can controll a single opponent. It can happen here! It can happen to you! If an individual presumes that he or she cannot possibly prevail over three armed opponents then the mind has been self defeated. Such a mind is not suited to combat situations, even in a one to one situation. Neither should that person presume that they can beat three such fighters.Presume nothing or presume only the worst and you will probably do better. For instance, don't presume that any fighter on the street is merely going to beat you. Presume that they will kill you or at least impair you for life. Read the Trenton newspapers!

If you believe that you cannot do something then you are likely not to be able to. The converse is true. I have almost 40 years of training directed towards non violence and in surgically taking out multiple opponents if violence is unavoidable. My trouble avoiding and people handling skills are such that I have never had to test my abilities on the street although my neighborhood and job both expose me to the most dangerous type of people, 24/7. I mean that I've never had to deal with more than six people on the street at one time. In the labratory of the dojo...I have played with what I have gotten with most satisfactory results. However, the dojo is not the real deal. When I take on the entire class at one time, they are not really tring to kill me. Further, it is my responsibility to master students without debilitating them. This is not so easy because I am exercising the type of control that does not permit me to break joints, damage internally, blind the opponent/s, rip faces, crush genitals, destroy the jugular, or to really land pin point nerve shots. This allows the students to keep coming back at you. This is something tat I would not willingly permit on the street. Who goes down stays down! If you believe that you can do something the possibility exists. If you have trained for decades specifically with a goal in mind, the chances of achieving that goal should be heightened by aquired abilities towards its accomplishment. Don't let the idea of ten worthy opponents limit the implications of training well for worst scenerio situations. Ten is the minimum. The model by which I was instructed was " ten or more." To the opened mind nothing is impossible. Even non violence. The reflective mind can achieve incredible things, both by doing and not doing. Results in anything need to be sought through focus, effort, and tenacity. Thinking about it will not suffice. I'm not saying that believing that you can do multiple opponents, in and of itself, will allow you to. However, it opens the door. If you back this up with lots of the right type of training you should be able to handle multiple opponents, or at least many of them before they wipe you out. Peace and Power!!!

Everyone should know some grappling. However, this more or less ties the fighter up with one opponent which is to be avoided, if possible, in combat training. It is better to train for multi opponents, say ten or more, at all times. Being grabbed is something that I like to avoid. I will grab for the sake of ripping, wrenching, breaking, mauling, or to deliver a related technique. However, this last for a second or a fraction of one. I am not "bound" to the opponent nor am I struggeling against resistence. My intention is to remain a free agent in order to conduct myself against many attackers. Grappeling has its place one on one, as a sport, or if you feel that you can control the opponent. It is best to know it but to avoid situations where such engagement becomes unavoidable. If possible, learn how not to get grabbed and don't go down to the floor unless you are forced to. If you do go down ( and we all do sometimes ) strive to get up and resume activity as a stand up fighter. Focus, for me, is always training for combat situations in which there are multiple, talented, and most probably armed multiple opponents who want to kill me. Sensei gave me this model and it has always served me well, both in the study hall and on the street.

Part of my training is in highly focused power techniques. Another part is in rapid overkill surgical hits. However, another part feeds on power and in being attacked by it. To this part of my internalized training, pure power techniques are a flaw by way of which I will endeavor to defeat the opponent/s. Their strength is their weakness. They are too invested in it. This approach views power as potential weakness because it is limited by its own nature allowing for interception, redirection, and almost simultaneous retaliation. Power techniques that are selectively and stratigically applied according to the demands of the moment are often quite productive and must be respected. However, this refers to a fighter who is not limited to only this class of techniques but who can call upon them if and when doing so is appropriate. A person who is a pure power fighter is a limited fighter.

If you have to fight your chances are enhanced if you internalized the basics of a combat system. In this matter I have utmost respect for the teachings of authentic Okinawan Isshinryu and the Mother Godess, Miso Gami. One would be hard pressed to find a more affective stylized system. This is pure combat karate. I maintain my lowest ranking black belt in this style, but it is the one that I am most proud of. I received the teachings over 35yrs. ago. They have never let me down.

Learn not to fight. Develop higher abilities at people handling. Make the opponent your "friend." Expect the unexpected and anticipate that the worst can happen if things get ugly. Try not to fight unless there is no alternative. A combat fighter must be willing to fight to kill if necessary or to die trying. Avoidable violence is gross negativity and will surely produce the kind of karma that anyone would be better off not having. In most cases, if you are really good, there is no need to fight.