The Need For Martial Moral

武徳--this is the set of moral ethics that a martial artist should have, is expected to have, and should always strive for.

Why?

I think it is because, at the end of the day, martial arts is about killing or be killed. In a real fight, one does not pull punches, and there is no "you cannot hit here" rule. Anything and everything is fair game. And we all know (or rather, can imagine) what it is like to have an arm broken, or have someone dig into our eyes, or hit our windpipe. We know the damage that can be caused to the human body.

So, are we ready to put ourselves at the risk? Because once we close range into a fight, we can hit and be hit. We can deal damage, and we can also be damaged. So in a fight, we must be mentally able to face this risk.

And at the same time, we must have the mental strength to live with dealing such damage onto another human being. Are we ready to deal such damage onto someone else, and live with the consequences? For it will forever be a fact of our lives, and will it bite into our conscience?

And so we train, so that we are confident that we are ready. And we also must keep ourselves on a moral path that prepares us to live with our actions, should we ever need to put our skills to the test.

Using Elbows (from watching "Ip Man" and "Ip Man 2")

My son (and I) is a huge fan of Star Wars, and we went to watch the latest Star Wars movie on its opening day. Donnie Yen was in the movie, so I decided to show my son some other movies with Donnie Yen. So we ended up watching both "Ip Man" and "Ip Man 2".

I didn't really notice the details of the fighting scenes before, at least not in such great detail, but this time, I was kind of like studying Donnie Yen's moves. And one thing I noticed was the way he used his elbows once he got "inside". And it all made sense. Using the elbows when one has gotten inside is fast and powerful.

I guess I am going to have to rewatch a lot of movies...

Tracking My Training For 2017

For 2016, I practised:
25 sets of Chen style Old Frame First Routine
58 sets of Yang style 108
50 sets of Sun style taijiquan
(total 133 sets of taijiquan in a year)

59 sets of Chen style taijijian
59 sets of Yang style taijijian
(total 118 sets of taijijian in a year)

88 sets of Yang style taijidao

And also many hours of basic exercises.

Total number of practice hours in 2016: 141 hours

I have also been keeping a training log to note down the exact details of what I have been training on.

Looking forward to increasing the amount of practice in 2017!