spacewastrel

“Do you have any tips on how I can, like, self-teach martial arts at all? Cos like I want to do more fitnessy martial arts stuff, but don't have money for official lessons/classes etc. So just curious your thoughts/ tips if you have any? I've done yoga (not a martial art technically I know but still) and capoeira mostly but I want to get into aikido, silat and taichi and like maybe learn to fight with a bo staff but like yeah.”

I would absolutely love to try to help you with that if you'll let me! Thank you for asking me

Do you have a trick knee? Are you comfortable kneeling then standing up from a kneel a lot? Silat has a lot of kneeling, that's why I'm asking ^^

I mean you can work around it but it helps if you don't have to

I'm trying to put together a short list of short sequences I can send you and show you

Good to know! How much martial arts have you done btw? What basic punches and kicks would you say you already know how to do? 🙂 I hope I'm not asking too many questions! This is supposed to be a bit of a back and forth process ^^

Do you know how to block or parry or just the esquiva?

There's no wrong answer

Bençao (Blessing) ^^

Other martial arts call that a "push kick" like the Muay Thai "teep"

It's different from a karate or Kung fu front snap kick

Because the aim isn't to cause pain from impact but to move your opponent away to control the range of the fight

Fighting's not just about power, it's about range, speed, leverage, focus, and direction

There are five basic lines of attack: right, left, up, down, and through. They each have their own punches, kicks, and defences, but they're all based around the same principle based on direction

So a lot of them are interchangeable if you know what you're doing and think fast

You only need to know a very small amount of moves if you can use them well

Every time you strike first you should be taking them by surprise. Every time they strike first should be because you're letting them make a mistake so you can capitalize on it

The weakest targets are the shins, crotch, throat, and eyes. Target them first, without hesitation

Stop me if I'm going too fast 🙂

I'm assuming you want a combination of good exercise, good self-defence, and something fun that looks cool

The best sequences are 3 to 5 moves long. They have to be long enough to actually destabilize your opponent but short enough to place and memorize

They have to have a "flow" - that's very important. Some moves naturally follow other moves and some moves don't

Like how some letters don't go after some other letters

For example try a left hook then a right uppercut. It flows because your right side is already gathering momentum for it during the hook. Try a left hook then a right jab. Immediately you're fighting against yourself. You have to go right across your left arm. It doesn't "flow."

A backhand follows a hook from the same hand well but a hook doesn't follow a backhand from the same hand well

That's because a hook *gathers* momentum but a backhand *uses* momentum

You develop a "feel" for it with practice

You want momentum on your side

That's why combos are important

When you have a lot of experience with combos you'll be able to visualize how performing them feels by looking at them

so the turns, do they have a special martial arts term or is it jsut turn or spin?

It depends on the style, in capoeira they're called "giro" for example ("hee-roh")

This first one is Pagar Nusa Silat

1) L backhand, R low round kick, R reverse elbow, R backhand, L low round kick

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BNG7Uj1eUDA

This one is Muay Thai
2) L elbow, R knee, L punch, R elbow up, L knee

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RHgLUagxwp4

This one is Dragon Tai Chi
3) L punch, R front kick, L backhand, R backhand, L front kick

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pDx2fczZ8qg

This one is Indian Kalari
4) R backhand, L backhand, R front kick, L backhand, R hook

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mq2gTCWsxoM

This one is Frog Tai Chi
5) R elbow, L elbow, R hook, L backhand

It's very unusual! There's also a toad style but it's distinct

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xzQp62LoQQ8

This is a Kung Fu combo called the Backfist Blitz
6) R front kick, L punch, R backhand, R elbow, L backhand

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LmW9Q1kySkw

This is PCK Cimande Silat
7) R hook, L low front kick, R elbow, L elbow, R front kick

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ElXTi0zaFqs

This is Drunken Fist
8) R hook, R backhand, L backhand, R hook

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9cTryTFGamY

This is Bando Bull, a sub-style from the jungles of Burma/Myanmar
9) R punch, L elbow up, R elbow, L knee, R elbow down

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kkGn_xWyq0Y

This is a Silat style called Gajah Putih, or White Elephant
10) R punch, R knee, R reverse elbow, R backhand, L elbow

The arms are supposed to move like the tusks and trunk of an elephant with stomping footwork

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CSg-VXtYFOo

(This is in the order they were sent in. I had to reverse the screen to film - these are the correct sides written here)

Any suggested warm ups before I do these?

I should make some stretching videos soon too! Not tonight if that's okay ^^ Good question to ask though!

Eeeeee This is so exciting

You want to throw in a good mix of: punch and kick, left and right, high and low, attack and defense. Too much or not enough varying in any of these will almost always hurt you. You want to keep them guessing, on their toes

So combos that include a lot of that range are good

Elephant is an animal I spiritually resonate with. I wonder if the animals I resonate with symbolically would be an easier 'style' of martial arts for me to learn 🤔

I often thought so! I try to never forget where moves come from in general. It makes them easier to remember when there's a story around them

I'm a Tamarian, Stories and symbols are how my brain works

That will serve you well here! A good sequence is like a little story about the hubris of Man. He thought he could escape you. You're about to teach him why he's wrong

Let's look at "hook, sweep, jump kick, ax kick." What a little story we have here. First you come in high, then when they're busy up there you go low - low tide, giant with feet of clay. You guide them to jump over the sweep like a jump rope, then they're caught in the air where a jump kick is harder to dodge. Finally if they duck under that they're in *exactly* the most vulnerable position to your ax kick coming down like a lightning bolt. Those four moves are like a hawk hunting a mouse. Cause and effect.

You paint them into a corner

You have to think about exactly what you want them not to think about, like with chess but really fast

I do know how to play chess

That will serve you well too 🙂

that sounds like feinting? kind of? which is fencing (another sport I want to learn )

There's a definite element of that!

I'm going to do a stretching video or two with some explanations, then maybe a clearer description of how each move is performed, then maybe ten more combos for after you're confident with the first ten if you're up for it? 🙂

You also mentioned staff fighting I think

I can show you some of that too if you'd like? ^^

11) L hook, R hook, L backhand, R hook. (scorpion)

12) R punch, R front kick, L punch, R punch, R front kick. (tiger)

13) L reverse elbow, R elbow, R reverse elbow, R elbow down, R knee. (seni gayong silat)

14) L uppercut, R uppercut, L backhand, R hook, R front kick. (kempo)

15) R backhand, L body blow, R elbow, R backhand, L reverse elbow. (viet vo dao)

16) R backhand, L hook, L backhand, R hook, R front kick. (crane)

17) R front kick, L front kick, R elbow up, L knee. (leopard)

18) R front kick, R punch, L front kick, L punch, R body blow. (hapkido)

19) R punch, L punch, L low round kick. (savate)

20) L punch, R elbow down, R crouch uppercut, R jump hook down. (makris silat)

I'm starting with 10 more combos after all!
I should be able to make videos for them soon too hopefully 🙂
Plus stretching and staff

For a left low round kick you should be facing right and for a right low round kick you should be facing left. You bring your heel up near your buttock bending your leg, you point your toes like you're on tip toes, then you unfold your leg to hit the side of your opponent's leg with the top part of your foot like a tree trunk, from the side.

The most vulnerable target is right behind the knee. Bear in mind you can really damage someone's leg with this so it's a self-defence move, not to be used on a friend

Raising the leg straight in front of you *is* a good leg stretch though, because it pushes the stretchability under your knee to its fullest, so it makes it *easier* to do front kicks with it *after* that.

You may have seen martial artists do the clockwise and counterclockwise "head circles" stretch. Don't! More recent medical research indicates it's a bad idea. It wears down padding on your vertebrae that eventually runs out. The human head doesn't naturally move like that. Circles with the arms, hands, shoulders, hips, and feet are a better idea - your body is supposed to move like that.

It's a better idea to stretch your head "yes," "no," and "maybe" from side to side, back and forth without circling

Good to know!

You are awesome.

I really appreciate you helping me with this

Thank you for asking and for paying attention! I get carried away and ramble about this a lot, I take a while to get to the point sometimes. Thanks for being patient.

I enjoy talking about this too much, I have no saturation point but I realize other people do XD You'll have to be the brake for this I'm the accelerator

Make sure to "lock" the knuckles with your thumb right when you form a fist to punch. I did this wrong for like ten years until my early twenties. With a straight punch you want to hit with the index and middle finger knuckles specifically.

There are different "types" of backhands. With or without spin, and recoil or follow-through. If your stance is left foot ahead for example, it's natural to do a left recoil backhand with no spin - or a right follow-through backhand with spin. The recoil is more guarded but follow-through has more momentum. You aim for the side of the head.

You can also "swivel back" into place from a backhand with your rear hand. The spin does mean the risk of taking your eyes off for an instant but also doubles as a potential dodge.

Neck stretches

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7jZ1GAkLN-E

Shoulder stretches

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GcS2CHSjO5Y

Arm circles

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/t8Tf5cNROII

Side arm stretches

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mv9PA4z4_K8

Fake weight lifts

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Vlmgewaos1o

Foot stretches

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CqBr3K1FYtk

Leg stretches

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MVlYVIzDJWA

Hand stretches

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EEr_paWG0TA

Are you still interested in the staff fighting? Feel free to say no! I'm big on the check-in I really mean it 🙂

Yes, but pause, I haven't watched the new videos yet

No problem! Thank you

Would mudras from Hinduism or those like 'jutsu' things from Naruto count as 'hand stretches' do you think?

Yes, absolutely! 😮 The "mudra" category is correct 🙂 The sub-category you're thinking of is "Kuji-In," the Nine Seals, or "hand-knitting." ^^ There are also specific Shaolin hand forms that count (crane, mantis, snake, etc)

Some of the best stretching advice I've heard came from the actor who played Nightcrawler as the yoga instructor who teaches Niles and Daphne on that episode of Frasier: "You should be feeling discomfort, not pain. If you feel pain, ease yourself gently back into discomfort."

It occurs to me that in addition to the staff fighting it may be a good idea to do a short series on your defense game - parrying, blocking, and dodging. You also mentioned not having done a lot of stance work or footwork. It'll take me some time to put it together anyway so no pressure, just let me know whether you'd be interested or not. 🙂

Yesss, that would complement the fencing aspect I want to learn at some point too!!

My father taught me fencing in our backyard when I was growing up! He was in championships with the masks and everything

You'll want to practice moving in and out of range a lot! That's a useful skill set for that kind of mindset, I would think. You want to develop a "hit and run" fighting style. "Spring Attack" in D&D terms.

My first instinct is to breeze through everything too fast, because martial arts set off a part of my brain that's like addicted to talking about them or something to that effect. The thing is, intellectually, I understand it's often a better idea to take a little longer to process new information. You need time to practice something more than once before you move on to something else. Right now, I have four short series of videos planned - the second set of combos, the defence game, the stances and footwork, and the staff fighting.

I watched the stretching videos, you can send the next set.

I have 10 staff sequences ready and a few explanatory notes in mind for your staff stuff assembled right now! I should be able to film them for you as soon as I'll have the kitchen to myself for a bit 🙂

Looking forward to it!

staff:

4 stances (back, side, thrust, upright)
clockwise & counterclockwise circles
blocks: down + L + R + up (L low + R low)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/teqvWOgZYNI

1) low thrust-thrust-low thrust-thrust.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B7oy3tclQLs

2) L upswing-R arc (spin L) thrust.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ybzxmptoghk

3) L upswing-R swing-L swing (spin R) R backswing.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wkeXylkAavA

4) L upswing-R swing (spin L) thrust.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8xS0xASmYfU

5) R arc-L arc-R arc (spin L) thrust.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5MsXXTAu-EA

6) R arc (spin L) R arc-R front kick.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/x2WD6RIG4is

7) R swing-L low swing-R arc.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QYOyj2mOQcw

8) R swing-L low swing-R low swing-L swing.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/plXd0cxUlFE

9) R upswing-L upswing-R upswing (spin L) thrust.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HbDaMFwASAQ

10) thrust-R swing-L arc.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/M8KKnBOx88Q

You grab the staff at roughly 1/3 and 2/3 of its length - most of the time it should be divided into 3 sort of equal parts by your hands. The space between your hands is for blocking. The parts near the ends are for attacking. Low swings go behind the knee, same as for low round kicks. I classify arc "sides" based on which hand is nearest to the attack tip on the way down.

Same with upswings

Low blocks are with the ends though! You're not getting down there with your arms that fast realistically. You use them to guard your legs. You can also lift your leg over a low swing to avoid it.

You'll think I'm kidding, but sweeping is actually very helpful for staff practice. It trains you to take the space around you into account, which is important for a reach weapon. It also gives you practice to change your grip to adapt to new situations you're in.

Note that these are also mirrored because of the way I had to do the filming - right and left should be interverted, like in a manga

My form would've probably been better outside but I had to be careful not to hit the shelves, stove or light fixture XD This should still give you a fairly good idea overall though

woot! Will watch these soon, thank you so much 🎉

I'll give you some time to catch up before I continue! 🙂 I'm thinking next time I do stances, then footwork, then defence, then maybe a few basic grappling ones possibly? If you think you could use knowing how to sidestep and maybe an arm lock or two at some point.

Huh, I can almost see how you could incorporate the ginga step with some of the blocks you showed here 🤔

Yes, absolutely! Good thinking 🙂

I am loving the aquatic imagery that is coming to mind with the staff work, that could be a good strong metaphor to help with memory and learning I think

Logs naturally float on water after all! That's what the old log drivers used to rely on. It's also a very "flowing" motion when you do it right, yeah. Take an oar, a rake, a mop, a broom, a shovel, a pool cue, or a parasol. You can find a staff-like weapon almost anywhere in the modern world. Using any of them is not only good staff practice itself, just thinking about how you'd have to move to use them already teaches you things about staff fighting and helps you understand it better.

so another thing I am wondering just in general theory of it all, how do you know what tactics to use and forms like using martial arts in self defense, does your body just remember the forms from practice, and if someone isn't fully learned in how to self defend and just react / fight back or what game terms call 'fighting dirty' or 'improv fighting' like what makes one more 'formed/combo/tactics than the other? am I making sense?

You are, that's a very good question in fact! ^^ I'm thinking about the answer 🙂

Feel free to come up with your own names for moves or sequences if it helps you! There's no wrong way to do it

There are pros and cons to dissociation I'm sure. Sometimes it might help maintain distance from the right things at the right times. It's about setting things up for you so you pay attention to the right things at the right times for what *your* goals are, when you add it all up. In self-defense situations strategic considerations come into play. Having your back to a wall is bad against one person, because you can't run. It's good against two people, because they can't sneak up on you. If you have more than one opponent there are a lot of moves designed to fight two people at once but ideally you want to try to bottleneck them. With the staff distance is mostly your friend. If someone else has a reach weapon you want to break distance as much as possible. The same factors can be good or bad depending on the situation you're in.

If you wanted to learn an animal style, I think I'd feel most comfortable with snake style! It's the one I have the most experience with overall.

This is the first stance taught in a wide variety of martial arts. In karate it's called Zenkutsu Dachi: the Bow and Arrow Stance. We were just talking about archery the other day! You'll notice it looks like the lower guard hand looks almost like it's drawing back a string from a bow held in the front hand, hence the name. Your feet should be twice the width between your shoulders on the ground from side to side. They should be at the same front/back distance as their left/right distance is. Here you see it as four tiles each way. Your knees should be "half-bent," with your thighs at a diagonal and your shins straighter. You should try to keep your back as straight as possible while lowering your center of gravity. You "plant" yourself to defend and to deliver your attacks. The front high hand guards your face, the back low hand guards your solar plexus. This is a good "hinge" stance, that acts as a bridge between other stances, which is why it's often taught first.

Stance 2: the back leg slant. In Tai Chi or Kung Fu, it's called Taming The Tiger. The front hand looks like it's trying to keep the top of a tiger's head close to the ground. Starting from a bow & arrow stance, you "fall" and "back up" on the back leg. You bring your back shoulder as close to your back knee as you can. Your back hand guards your face. Your front hand guards your front knee. Your front leg should be completely straight. Your back leg is supporting basically all of your weight. You keep your eyes carefully up on your opponent from below. This is a stance that was invented to serve as a quick way to dodge high kicks.

Stance 3: the crouch. Another good way to dodge high kicks. The crossed hands in front of you guard your head. Your legs guard your body. It can be done from an everyday stance. The key is to stretch your knees well, keep your center of gravity close to the ground, your back straight and, again, your eyes up. Train and stretch your ankles to practice keeping your balance. Capoeira calls this cocorhina, the egg-laying stance. You can stand up from it pushing with your legs right into a rising headbutt to the chin.

Stance 4: the infamous crane's leg stance. It seems obvious and overdone, but I can't emphasize how useful practicing it actually is. All your kicks become easier the better you get at it, because they're all about learning how to balance on your other foot. The raised leg dodges a low kick, but the raised foot can also defend against one. It's good knee strike practice. It will make you more secure in your footwork. The raised foot guards the knee, the knee guards from some kicks - although you'll want to be ready to shift your front guard to your kicking hip if it's targeted as you kick. It also makes you harder to knock down if you're more used to working on a single leg.

Stance 5: in Kung Fu this is called the False Leg stance. Starting from bow & arrow, your front foot "slides" back across the ground without lifting it. It ends up in front of your back foot. Your back foot is flat on the ground but your front foot is on tiptoes. 90% of your weight is on your back foot. It's a quick way to withdraw out of range of a close range attack. Your front foot is right between a crane leg and a bow & arrow stance. If your front leg were swept and you're doing it right it shouldn't affect your balance otherwise. Easy to slide forward after backing out of range to counter right after you defend. Your back leg should be as straight as possible. Your front leg is "loose" like a mannequin, hence "false leg." It's a very "liquid" stance. Your leg can either "evaporate" into a kick or "solidify" into a more grounded stance.

Stance 6: the front leg slant. You can see right away how it takes the same logic as the back leg slant but reverses it. 90% of your weight goes on your front leg. Your front knee should be as close to your front shoulder as you can. Your back leg should be as straight as possible. Good way to get under high, close punches and to deliver long, low fist strikes to the abdomen or crotch. Also a good fencing stance - you can see how it would work well for a lunge thrust. You can see how the side leg stretches are designed to prepare you for both leg slants. It's one of the stances used in snake style - it's like a snake lunge.

Stance 7: the Horse Stance. Foundational to a ton of Kung Fu. You can see right away why they call it a horse riding stance. Your legs are wide like you're riding a horse. They should be at a 90 degree angle. You have to pay close attention to keep your back straight, the instinct is to lean. Also a good way to get under high punches to deliver low ones. Makes your legs stronger the more you do it, which makes your kicks stronger and your stance work more stable. You can descend into it from the bow & arrow stance or from the side stance, which we will cover last. It should look like you're sitting in an invisible chair.

Stance 8: kneeling. I know this one is a bit more challenging for some people but I thought I'd include it anyway. Another useful low stance for dodging high and striking low. It doesn't commit you to being near or far from your opponent like the leg slants do. You keep your back straight, unless you're given reason not to. You can also go after your opponent's legs from it, with your legs or arms. Keep your eyes and guard up. In staff fighting it works well with a rising block. If you get knocked down, being familiar with this stance can help you regain control.

Stance 9: a karate stance called Kokutsu Dachi. Your hands are in "karate chop" hand forms. Your front hand faces the side while your back hand faces up. Your back foot faces the side at a 90 degree angle from your front foot, which faces forward. Your heels should be aligned with your back as straight as possible. A slightly more advanced stance, with roughly 2/3 of your weight on your back foot and 1/3 on the front. Again, the hand chop can be used for horizontal, vertical, direct or reversed attack, or to parry. It works a little like a sword so there are transferable notions to fencing. You use it to "slash" or redirect.

Stance 10: and finally what karate calls Yoko Dachi, the Side Stance. Your knees are only half-bent, not fully bent like with the horse stance. Your feet and body face the side while you look at your opponent over your "front" shoulder. Your heels are aligned. This is a good stance for side kicks, or for quick crab walks forward and backward. It significantly reduces your "hit frame" in gaming terms, as you present a narrower target while still giving you a full range of attacks. Your front limbs have speed, your back limbs have momentum. You'll notice the similarity to the logic in fencing, in which this is also a good stance.

Stances take a lot less space to practice than staff fighting - just enough space to stand up, really

This is one of my favorite staff fights in film - you can really see how the pole fighter is forced to improvise to react to all kinds of different situations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZANYMihNZM

Another three minute staff fight from the old 95 Mortal Kombat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHkIynDSFIw

This one is two minutes long, it's from an old 80's comedy I grew up watching too many times:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2ygGoHSuPQ

Another more serious pole weapon VS sword fight, two or three minutes long on a bridge, from the anime Samurai Champloo. Like in Hero, it's a pole, not strictly a staff, but they're wielded similarly enough for it to count, I'd say. Note how she's using the limited space on the bridge around them to her advantage, being blind as she is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QOvlwxdPAI

Defence 1:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/aiWlhT0GBnE

We get the X-block from Muay Thai. You make an X with your forearms and try to "catch" the punch or kick coming from any vertical or horizontal direction. It's useful because it's so easy to learn and apply almost without thinking. The combined forearms give you a wide defensive range. It's only less useful against direct attacks, like jabs, thrusts or push kicks for example. It's like fighting a skeleton: a swing and a thrust hit differently. It's good to block more powerful attacks because you're using the strength of two arms too. Actually that is also a block from an ancient "shackled hands" form from an ancient African martial art called Kupigana Ngumi.

Defence 2:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/t4rxwLD3n5g

Slash. You ideally want to do this one in a better Kokutsu Dachi, but I half-assed the stance to focus on the hand. You do a "chop" hand form and move your hand fingers up and palm forward from "inside" to "outside." If you were doing an attack chop your hand would be horizontal. Since you're defending your hand is vertical. That's because you're targeting the limb, not the body - you want it to be perpendicular. That's one way to redirect a direct attack to your torso. You want to make sure it's aligned with your other fingers the right way, so it reinforces them the right way. You need to parry with the side of the hand itself, not your pinky finger.

Defence 3:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HPpjRT41NZs

The False Leg Chop. You use the outer side of your hand below the fingers, from inside to outside, while backing off into a false leg stance. A good low parry to stop a low punch for example. This one is from Kung Fu.

Defence 4:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sWjq0aw528k

The In-Out Block. You block from inside to outside in front of you to stop a lateral attack coming at you from the outside, like a hook or a round kick. The back of your hand faces your opponent. The slight "grasping" gesture with the other hand first isn't strictly necessary, but it's a useful way to emphasize how the momentum of the block is supposed to work. This is a karate block, not a kung fu parry. The fist is closed, not open

Defence 5:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TNBf8EMhEMI

The Karate Low Block, or Gedan Barai. From a bow & arrow stance, you bring your closed fist over your opposite shoulder, then you swing it down toward outside over your knee on the same side. Designed to stop low kicks

Defence 6:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-p-4IX8KDNc

The Mirror Polish. A Kung Fu parry with your fingers up and your palm facing you, moving from "inside" to "outside." You deflect the blow with the inside of your forearm. It kind of looks like you're polishing a mirror with your hand, that's why it's called that. Your other palm should be near your attack arm's elbow facing up, fingers forward. A good way to redirect a high strike to the eyes or neck for example. Your forearm does kind of a 90 degrees movement. It looks somewhere between setting up the "come at me" gesture with the parrying hand and pulling out your phone to look at it from your opposite pocket

Defence 7:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vPwgzRngDpA

The Karate Out-In Block. You bring your fist up near your ear on the same side, then you swing your forearm horizontally across your face. This is mostly to stop a horizontal attack coming from the opposite side of your arm. You can see how it could be used to deflect a direct attack too, if you time it right. Also since it's karate my other fist should be at my hip but it's not, don't tell anyone

Defence 8:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rZ4GOMMnTn8

The Karate Rising Block. Here you can see I'm doing the hip thing right with the other fist this time! This is designed to stop any kind of axe punch, hammer punch or downward elbow strike type of attack. Your horizontal forearm comes up from your hip until it's over your head, fist closed, wrist facing up and away from you. It's important it actually reaches over your head because the whole idea is to stop a descending strike from reaching your head ^^

Defence 9:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HCE6NomOYJ0

The Kung Fu Wood Chop Parry. Starting from a bow & arrow stance, you back off into a false leg stance. Making a "chopping" hand form, you bring your hand down as though you're chopping wood. The strike point should be below your fingers, on top of an attacker's front kicking foot to stop it from reaching your crotch.

Defence 10:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yT1JTiq7vyM

The Jeet Kune Do Eight Way Palm Parry. Jeet Kune Do was the "way of the intercepting fist," etymologically. Here you don't use the forearm, the fist or the side of the hand but the palm. There are 8 directions: upper left, lower left, upper right, lower right, with the right hand or the left hand. You keep the hand firm to kind of "slap" a punch or kick out of the way before it can reach you. You're like "Oh no you don't!" It's designed to be easy to integrate instinctively without having to think too much about it. Put together and used well, they can form a full defence game all by themselves.

By "game" I'm referring to a combination of your arsenal, hand-eye coordination, and current type of strategy associated with various martial skill sets. As in your arm game, leg game, offense game, defense game, or grappling game, for example. A kata, form or set is more like a longer sequence of movements, or a long series of combos that you're all supposed to memorize and practice in the same order. Bruce Lee famously opposed forms, as a matter of fact, one of the things that made him so controversial among martial artists. Jeet Kune Do has no official forms, he preferred "shadowboxing." It's like a flexible, improvised form that you're supposed to invent as you go, to practice adapting and reacting to unpredictable situations. Lee believed that all forms did was to "freeze" knowledge, which he saw as a process. It mirrored his criticism of traditionalist philosophy in general. What I mean is if you master those 8 parries, you technically don't need to learn any other parry. They cover every avenue of attack on their own. It demonstrates his desire to "hack" martial arts, to make them accessible to the "everyman"

Typically open hand styles deflect with the hand and the closed fist styles resist with the forearm. The fist itself isn't blocking, it's closed to contract and concentrate the full strength and muscular tension of your forearm.

1) Front Kick:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LEJPB169ovY

The front kick in Kung Fu is done with the toes pointing to hit with the top of the foot. In karate it's done with the toes raised up to hit with the hard spot under the toes on the front of the sole. Kung Fu training is done with shoes and karate barefoot. Note that it's important you don't simply raise the leg in front of you straight. There are steps: crane leg, snap, crane leg, down. This is both to maximize the impact of the strike and to minimize the amount of time your foot is vulnerable to a heelhold. In capoeira that's a ponteira, in karate it's a mae geri. You bring the fists to the kicking hip

2) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1KcaZAsiXYE

Side Kick: The Side Kick is a "direct" attack. In action sometimes it'll look a little like a Roundhouse from a distance, but it's not. Again, you lift, extend, then withdraw, hit with the heel, toes to the side. In capoeira that's a chapa. In karate it's a yoko geri. Raise the toes

3) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/h80T6hb8T3Y

Roundhouse Kick: The Roundhouse is a lateral, horizontal attack. The Side Kick is breaking down a door - the Roundhouse is kicking the side of a tree. You hit with the top of your foot, like a front kick from the side. In capoeira that's a martelo. In karate it's a mawashi geri. Point the toes. Your fist guards your kicking hip

4) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1frOPUcN5xc

Back Kick: The Back Kick distinguishes itself from the Spinning Heel Kick because you come back where you came from instead of finishing your 360 movement. It's also a direct attack as opposed to the Spin, which is also horizontal comparatively. In karate this is an ushiro geri. Hit with the heel, toes down.

5) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6lsdRhPLPiU

Outside-Inside Crescent Kick: The Outside-Inside and the Inside-Outside Crescent Kicks are basically the same movement backwards and forwards. You'll see these in Capoeira a lot. They're called the meia lua de frente and queixada, respectively. In these cases you hit with the side of the foot

6) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0PJQaB8FZ68

Inside-Outside Crescent Kick

7) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hMa-Nz85cjM

Hook Kick: The Hook Kick is kind of like an Inside-Outside Crescent Kick but from facing the side, not the front. So your leg is oriented more for a Side kick than Front Kick. It's like the reverse motion than a Roundhouse. You hit with the heel. In capoeira that's a gancho.

8) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/S8DQ7pESoic

Spinning Heel Kick: This is sort of like a mix between a Back Kick and a Hook Kick. You "twist" your hips before that you "un-twist" as you lift the kicking leg, relying on momentum to see you through. It comes down to how well you balance and spin on the other foot. Extension and balance. In capoeira that's an armada

9) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lWHx7er-6c8

Push Kick: This is the "bençao" of Capoeira and the "teep" of Muay Thai. You can see how it combines elements of the front kick and side kick. Here the wind-up is like lifting your foot to the upper pedal of a bike a little bit. It's used to push the opponent away

10) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/L8QzlEl1RgM

Axe Kick: This can be combined with either Crescent Kick or a Spinning Heel Kick, if you give them a descending trajectory and strike with the heel. Ideally you'd lift a little higher than I do here first. The higher the better. Your foot comes down like an axe.

You'll find varying forms and combinations of these in almost every style, by different names

You'll notice the leg lift before the extension in the side kick, roundhouse kick, and hook kick look like Hwoarang's taekwondo "Flamingo" stance. It's like winding up to throw a baseball a little bit. It's good to keep your opponent on their toes. Oh! Try to aim your toes on the balancing foot in the opposite direction of the kick. That helps.

You can use any of these ten to strike the legs, abdomen, chest or head, depending on where your opponent is and how high you can kick.

You'll notice the "lift then extend" rule doesn't apply to the crescent kicks or spinning heel kick. For those the legs are fully extended the whole way through. That's something else that distinguishes them from the Hook Kick, which does have a wind-up lift

Learning to visually recognize the different kinds of leg lifts that precede different kicks becomes an integral part of VS kicking defense strategy. It tells you which direction the kick is coming from and how to react appropriately.

Punch 1: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ze0ASM4K040

Jab/Straight: I treat these as interchangeable in my notes, but I really shouldn't. With the jab, your knuckles are vertical, aimed at the face, without changing your guard with the other hand. You aim the straight at the solar plexus, with your knuckles aligned horizontal, and you bring your other hand to your hip.

Punch 2: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Y6QOLKzYufQ

Axe Punch/Hammer Punch: This is the easiest, most common descending strike, aimed at the top of the head. You hit with the outer edge of the closed fist. As the name implies, it helps to pretend you're swinging a hammer or an axe, it's the same movement. Your fist goes from over either shoulder toward the center

Punch 3: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_wW9z6Omdz4

Body Blow: You aim the body blow at the gut, either with your knuckles vertical or, if they're horizontal, so your closed fist's palm is looking up. The idea is to use momentum generated by your hip to knock the wind out of someone.

Punch 4: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/k8y3UmDi96o

Palm Strike: For this you make sure to bend your knuckles to maximize the impact and you hit with the heel of the palm, right at the lowest point near the wrist. You try to put the whole strength of your arm into it. Easy to turn into a grab, or to go from a parry to it. Aim at the face or chest.

Punch 5: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lH_IWf3dWFA

Snake: The snake is typically aimed at the throat, although it can be directed at the navel or sternum too. You keep the other open palm under the striking arm's elbow to guard, strike with the aligned fingertips where it's soft and vulnerable. Picture your hand as a biting snake head.

Punch 6: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/k78cR6eGGQA

Reverse Snake: What it says on the tin, just like the snake punch but upside-down, so it can be worked into a series of other movements differently. It's almost like you're showing someone something on your palm, very quickly. Similar to the Mirror Polish parry, but attacking.

Punch 7: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/o_VlOa9aQlg

Tsuki/Sideways Thrust: This is a karate strike called the Tsuki, if it's aimed at the solar plexus. Typically it's performed in Kokutsu Dachi, aiming over the other arm like a pool cue. In kung fu, if you do it to the navel in Front Leg Slant, it's Snake Crawls Across Valley. Sideways snake basically. Also used in Bando, Hapkido, and Taekwondo

Punch 8: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/M1OcQ7KXAcs

Chop: Similar to the chopping parry, except that the hand is supposed to be horizontal, not vertical, because you're striking the side of the neck or torso, not redirecting an attacking limb. Typically in Kokutsu Dachi, make sure to hit with the outer edge of the hand, not the fingers.

Punch 9: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gd8uFGifggA

Reverse Chop: Same as the regular chop but reversed, it helps to start it over your shoulder palm down before swinging it forward upside down for momentum, aiming at the neck, with your other hand guarding your elbow. Again it's important to strike with your hand edge, not the fingers, and to align your thumb right, keeping your hand firm

Punch 10: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zHqzaZx3Uiw

Claw: For this one you keep the bent fingers separated and put as much strength in them as possible, relying on speed, force, and surprise to make up for the claws we don't have. You'll see this in a lot of animal styles. You can also reverse it or turn it into an uppercut or a downward claw

Capoeira 1: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vEv4raW0vqA

Meia Lua De Costa You'll notice this is different from a spinning heel kick! You hit with the side of the foot like with the queixada and meia lua de frente, not with the heel. You twist your hips, then lift your leg as you untwist them. The armada is Regional, borrowed from Eastern martial arts

Capoeira 2: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/74FZ88V4IBY

Rolê The first stance with your head close to the ground is the negativa. One leg is bent in front of you, the other straight. The upper arm elbow guards you, the lower elbow is at your hip. The second stance is the pierna la frente, or "leg in front," where the other arm guards you. You "step over" your leg and spin as you stand.

Capoeira 3: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zlvWUutAH10

Cisola From a pierna la frente, your back leg "steps over" the front as you bring your hands down behind you and extend your legs forward into some leg scissors. Your toes should be pointing in the same direction. You can "slide" forward across the ground using your hands.

Capoeira 4: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rN4wDerFjLY

Corta Capim From a pierna la frente, supporting yourself on your hands, you lift your back leg and "finish" the movement of the front leg wrapped around it, to bring it into a full circle on the ground around you, toes up.

Capoeira 5: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/avVG-VZba-w

Au You'll notice the Angola aù keeps the legs closer to the ground. The legs protect your body, threaten a kick, and present a smaller target. You cartwheel over sweeps, and as a way to move around the roda

Capoeira 6: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3i6ioaf4hLg

Chapa De Frente This is kind of like a ponteira from a queda de quatro. It doesn't flow "into" a lot, so you have to back away and spring up from it. It "goes for broke," relying on the element of surprise. Kicks from the ground protect your head from high strikes.

Capoeira 7: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3_la6uTuR1w

Chapa De Costa (+ Bananeira) A back kick with your hands on the ground. You keep your eyes on your opponent upside-down between your legs as you kick. The handstand is to dodge a sweep aimed at your support leg. Bananeira means banana tree

Capoeira 8: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tTk0Lhp-rck

Rabo De Arraia A spinning heel kick with your hands on the ground. The name means "stingray's tail." This is the Angola name, in Regional it's a meia lua de compasso and the name rabo de arraia exists, but it's the scorpion kick - which is also called an escorpiao.

Capoeira 9: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9x-8kk5H7us

Martelo Do Chao A roundhouse kick with your hands on the ground. Technically this one is not an Angola move, just Regional and Senzala, but I find it integrates with other Angola moves well. You can do it one-handed, with the opposite hand, if you choose.

Capoeira 10: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DZXe4_-GwBs

Rasteira A front sweep is kind of like a negativa that's rotating. With your hands on the ground, raise your toes so the top of your foot "hooks" behind your opponent's heel on the opposite side. Your support leg should be as bent and your kicking leg should be as straight as possible.

“The hardest battle is to be nobody but yourself in a world that’s fighting harder every day to make us all like everybody else.”

What is, in fact, the difference between Ken and Ryu? Are they simply two sides of the same coin like Mario and Luigi are? In a way yes but, in another way, definitely not. On a surface level, they represent collaboration between East and West themselves. Their friendship partly symbolizes the reconciliation between the US and Japan after the “ancient battle” of World War 2. However, Ken and Ryu can also be read from a much wider angle than that.

In fact, Ryu and Ken represent two opposite but complementary aspects of the economic role of the creative life in human society. It’s a modern extension of the ancient balance between Daoism and Confucianism and of the Buddha’s quest for moderation between the extremes of asceticism and abundance. For one thing, it’s important to society for artists to be able to make a living from their art. Certain types of achievements are only accessible to us as a species by being able to rely on this kind of support without having to make one otherwise. For another, it’s just as important to art as a concept for it to be possible to practice it for what it is, without having to monetize it to justify its existence. Some anti-capitalist social truths could never be expressed if art always had to be subordinated to the demands of capital, and Van Gogh’s art is worth no less now for his poverty when he died.

Ken and Ryu trained together with their master as children. They were less different from each other back then, and they became very close to each other. As an adult, Ken returned to the US to marry Eliza. Ken earns his living in public in official martial arts tournaments, famous, beloved by the audience for his skill and charisma. Ken is the poster child for the modern quest for work/life balance. She seems to get along with him well enough, there’s no apparent tension between them – he treats her well, she wants for nothing. Back from a tournament, she pretends to attack him and he parries, kissing her as he laughs. “How’s my champion doing today?” He often wonders what happened to Ryu, who he hasn’t seen for a very long time now.

Ryu’s become some kind of minimalist, wandering purist who devoted his life to fighting for what it is, without an “ulterior motive” for it. His survival depends completely on his ability to win enough bets on his own fights to be able to meet his own basic needs. He is literally putting everything on the line in his quest for personal perfection. While people come from all over the world to fight Ken, it’s Ryu who wanders the world to meet other fighters himself. Bison is seeking to create an army of battle robots which he could program with the techniques of all the other fighters at his beck and call. The recent context of the attempts to replace artists with artificial intelligence definitely gives it a more immediate resonance. After all, if a martial artist can be replaced by a machine, any artist can...

Cammy’s brainwashing by Bison reminds us that those who seek to replace humans with machines often also seek to make humans themselves more robot-like. Already a stoic British soldier with a cross around her neck, her vulnerability to social conditioning is pushed all the way to its logical limits. Bruce Lee was already talking about the implications of replacing the authentic with the artificial through the symbol of Mr Han’s metal hand in Enter The Dragon.

The first of Ryu’s fights that we see one of Bison’s research robots film is against Sagat. Sagat went through the exact opposite of Neo from the Matrix, who merely had to press a button to ‘know kung fu.’ Sagat’s most powerful move – his Tiger Uppercut – he developed after this fateful shoryuken left him with his distinctive chest scar. Art isn’t just the application of a technical exercise but the expression of a lived experience. Transmuting the pain of defeat into determination to win is something that Bison’s automatic predictions models can never do. The process of it is intimately part of its result.

All the street fighters have heavily defined national traits except Bison, who always comes from ‘nowhere.’ Evil comes from nowhere in particular, it can come from anywhere, but it can never be superimposed on national boundaries. Bison is defined by his refusal to understand the complexity of his opponents, by his desire to reduce them to their simplest expression, to what he’s willing to accept coming from them. He wants to make them adapt to him, not adapt to them. Despite its comedic exaggerations, Street Fighter ultimately does celebrate the way all those little bells and whistles make us distinct from each other, in its own way.

When Bison first approaches Ken to capture him, Ken is driving his car on the road between two tournaments. Ken’s brainwashing becomes like an actualization of his underlying fear of having “sold out to the system.” Ryu doesn’t drive, he always seems to be walking and, when one of Bison’s people comes at him in a car, Ryu knocks him out with a flying kick right through his windshield. Ryu doesn’t rely on any external structure to guide his life and rejects materialism completely. Even the well-known bonus stage from the game is about destroying a car.

When Ryu finds Honda fighting Dhalsim, he probably sees himself reflected in Dhalsim’s ascetic minimalism. Honda bonds with Ryu because they’re both Japanese himself, since he still thinks in national terms. Honda’s sumo is about spectacle, not self-deprivation, which makes him closer to the missing ‘half’ of the pair that Ken represented than Ryu. Honda’s wrestling moves represent external pressure, which Dhalsim escapes and resists because he is inwardly flexible. This is the context in which Dhalsim’s questioning of the role of violence even to help the poor from his village takes place.

When Ken compares T Hawk to Ryu however, T Hawk is not flattered at all but rather insulted. Ryu is not rich nor famous, he’s a reclusive homeless wanderer and T Hawk represents the fear of not being seen as having succeeded, no matter what one’s actual value. Comparatively, the first thing we hear about Fei Long – which brings us back to Bruce Lee – his producer is looking for him on his movie set but can’t find him anywhere. He vanished to have a real match against Ryu. Even having dedicated his life to movies, Fei Long still puts reality ahead of fiction, authenticity before artifice. They accept that getting hurt is part of the game, become friends, and even exchange info about Bison. The historical rivalry between the Japanese and the Chinese also makes their friendship noteworthy.

When Zangief fights Blanka for Bison, he stands for the “civilizing” arrogance of humankind having set itself against the natural world. One of them comes from an empire (Russia) while the other from a colony (Brazil), hot VS cold. Blanka is like a dog who runs simply because he enjoys running, and Zangief’s “social” motivation to fight is alien to him. Like Dhalsim’s yoga, Blanka’s capoeira situates him as escaping the external pressure of Zangief’s sambo through his inner flexibility. The collectivism implied by Zangief’s communism is the exact opposite of Blanka’s “wild” individualism.

There are of course at least five different versions of Street Fighter characters the details of whose specific characteristics vary from one version to another. There’s the game itself, the “live action” version with Van Damme, the “live action” series with Chun Li, the animated series, and the animated movie which I’m using as my main source for this. In the American movie, Zangief is more noble but less smart and Bison uses his principles against him to make him work for free. Bison definitely pays DeeJay in the American movie – unlike the DJs at furry cons, unfortunately.

In the animated Japanese movie, DeeJay is a good guy from the start, who Chun Li and Guile warn about Bison. It’s been said that “Without music, life would be a mistake.” DeeJay kicks one of Bison’s robots’ heads off who is wearing a shirt that says “Jesus” on it. DeeJay is another “inimitable artist” whose music acts as a “bearer of meaning.” He stands in contrast with the robot who acts as a “remover of meaning,” who dances without hearing the music. Bison’s robot is the “Pharisee,” an “artificial believer” of organized religion who repeats movements “mechanically,” without impulse or understanding. Street Fighter definitely has more of a mystical, punk, anarchist vibe to it, despite a soldier like Guile and a cop like Chun Li. It may not reject social structures outright, but it doesn’t fully trust them either. Characters like the Italian fascist Rolento are not there to endear us to militarism.

The fight between Chun Li and Vega showcases that the logic of domination which shapes the worldview of Bison and his cronies extends as far as its aggressive nature allows. Again, a fighter from a colonizing nation (Spain) is set against a fighter from a country that was deeply wronged by Western criminals (China). Being a matador, Vega sees Chun Li herself as a “piece of meat.” He fancies himself as the human who gets to exploit “animals” for fun just the way that Zangief’s fight against Blanka was used to mean earlier. Chun Li isn’t only avenging her father when she throws Vega out the window: she is refusing his entire categorization of her existence. Her victory poses in the game matter: the “fierce” pose and the “joyous” pose, the very traits that Bison sought to rob from her. It’s the most “film noir” fight in the film, with no supernatural bells and whistles to soften the blow. Guile doesn’t fight Vega for Chun Li but acts as a caretaker for her, by taking her to the hospital to recover.

Guile’s army eventually finds Bison’s base hidden behind Buddha’s face carved into a mountain, which they blow up with missiles. This is partly based on real historical facts because a real paramilitary group was once destroyed hiding behind a Buddha face in Southeast Asia. They say that “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” There’s an echo of DeeJay kicking off the Jesus robot’s head as well. False spirituality only exists to mask the desire to flatten and control others without seeking to understand them. Guile fails in the animated Japanese version exactly where Mr. Van Damme succeeds in the live American version. Guile may be better than the average soldier as a person, but the military-industrial complex can’t truly solve the problem posed by Bison’s Evil. It takes Ryu and Ken’s combined forces working together to save each other from Bison’s psychic attack to finally bring him down.

Most street fighters don’t dress like normal people but, no matter how weird they may look, after seeing them in action, you definitely wouldn’t make fun of how they look to their face. I think this is intentional. Sometimes we should be willing to defend our most unconventional choices, especially when there are so many other ways in which society does not give us a choice. Ryu is like Chuang Tzu’s “naked artist” who must isolate himself from society and its conditioning to express his real inner truth. We see the crowd chanting Ken’s name at tournaments interspersed with Ryu climbing a mountain to train alone without being disturbed by anyone. When they test their skills against each other, they’re measuring their progress in terms of their different life choices.

I found Ryu’s obsession with martial arts limiting as a child. Shouldn’t there be more to life than this? Now as an adult, I see Ryu as severely neurodivergent, unable to interact with others unless it’s through his special interest. The fact that Ryu “forgets” to stay in touch with Ken after their training is like the siren song of hyperfixation, that makes you forget the very existence of the world around you. It’s not that he doesn’t want to “know” others as such but it’s as though he thought that fighting them was the best way for him to get to know them. Ryu represents both “dance like no one’s watching” but also “ethics are what you do when no one is looking.” Ryu is like an introverted friend who finds his extroverted friend Ken near the end to finally realize that maybe, just maybe, he has been alone for too long at the time, and it really is good to see his friend again after all. Sometimes you need a reminder!

We don’t know much about their past before their training, but it’s clear they had little to turn to other than each other and their master, like a small chosen family. “Karate” is literally the “path of emptiness,” and Ryu’s “zen” tendencies are reflected in his meditation theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBZ8k93qRwY. Ken’s theme, however, reflects his emotional turmoil, as though two people were each pulling on both of his arms in their own direction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-14W5XTqL5U. His stage is, significantly, in front of a boat by the side of ocean, where people are reuniting and separating – the very ocean between the US and Japan. Many of us agnostics, polyamorous, non-binary bisexuals can sympathize with Ken’s attempt to be “too many things at the same time,” to live as a walker-between-worlds out of sincere attachment. The idea of Eliza leaving Ken in Street Fighter 6 completely changes his symbolic balance with Ryu.

Raul Julia’s decision to play Bison for his son despite the warning of critics inscribes itself in this dynamic: it’s his own answer to the question that Street Fighter is really asking in the first place. We don’t always create art to become famous for the ages – sometimes we do it just to make our loved ones smile, while we still can...