The Fight Night

These concepts are what have been learned through personal study and practice. Perhaps this will give you all the head start we didnt have. Remember that all concepts have a purpose, and sometimes it is best to apply several concepts, or know when one is better for the situation than the other (ex: internal verses external, or using direct actions compared to circular ones). Therefor understanding, practicing, and applying all of these is probably the best way to go. As the saying goes, "There is a good time for everything." Its through experience that you learn when these times are (This holds true in everything).

Any questions on how to use these concepts, build yourself for these concepts, or anything else about these concepts just ask us in the forums or contact me (Anti). My info is on the Members page.

Also if you have any concepts for me to look into, Contact me in some manner and I will do so.


Momentum
Circles
Direct
Internal vs. External
Defense Principles
Enter and Exit
Strike Points
Calm, Still, Relaxed
Explosive
Iron Fist
Iron Shirt
Iron Stance

-Scott (Anti) Milazzo

    Momentum is a very important concept in any style. When you build momentum, you take your strength and speed, and enhance it through body movements and more.

    Ways of building momentum:
        -Forward motion: if you move forward through running/jumping forward, or simply 'putting your body into it', your hit will have more power due to momentum. This happens because your entire body adds to the force instead of just the arm, leg, etc. In this manner Western Boxers KO their opponents faster, and any fighter can push people backward with a simple thrust.
        -Circles: Most efficient way of building momentum in my opinion. through circular motions one builds force because a) they have more distance to gain speed/power (think of a penny falling down a house compared to a penny off the Empire State Building. more distance so there's more force when it hits the bottom, b)  because any outside forces are added to the circular motion (think of Hankido, Judo, etc. "using the opponent's own force against them"), and c) because it builds applied energy (think of swinging a hammer compared to pushing the nail in). In this manner Taekwondo practitioners can spin in the air and deliver superior kicks (540, tornado kick, roundhouse, etc.), and a Judo or Hankido practitioner can redirect a punch and/or throw their opponent through the air.
        -Form:  By moving your body in certain ways you can use leverage to create more force, thus more momentum force. Also, you can bild momentum and then send it out through a punch, kick, etc. (ex: Taekwondo practitioners sometimes spin first and then kick, or a Mantis Kungfu or Lu He Fa Ba practitioner quickly drops their body building momentum and applied energy, and then lunges forward in a curved motion to redirect their body's acquired to send their body into their opponent in some way.

Circles also help in other ways, besides the previously mentioned momentum.

Ways circles are used:
-Angles: Hitting at different angles makes it harder to block, and incereases your different possible points to hit. Circles and semicircles give you a better option and opportunity to hit effectively.
-Momentum: See Momentum
-More to come. I know there is more, but i am going to move on for now. -Anti

Direct action is most common and often most effective if trained.

How/why the concept of Directness is used:
-Efficient: The direct movement is fastest due to yourself taking the shortest distance to the target. It also relies the most on physical strength, or your own force instead of others like momentum.
-Power: By "throwing yourself" directly when you punch or kick, there is more mass, and therefor more force created by your physical self.
-the Shove: Because there is more mass, and therefor more power, you can move your opponent more. Direct actions are better for moving your opponent, due to your own mass being behind your punches/kicks/etc.

Internal:
-Uses self to manipulate opponent. Use doesnt nessessarily use more strength or force, but better manages what force is already being applied. Many Internal skills use the opponents force against themselves with skilled and precise movements.
-Bases itself mainly on Balance, Body Structure, timing, and applied force (momentum, gravity, oponents strength, etc)
-"greet what arrives, escort what leaves and rush upon loss of contact". This is a common Wing Chun saying that, internally, means to stop an attack with 'welcome' (moving with the attack), release it under your circumstances and under your control, and to act afterwards while having that control. By doing this you gain control of a fight without having to apply brute strength.

External:
-More commonly found and used than Internal
-Usually bases itself on Force through speed, strength, applying momentum (and other forces through themself), and timing.
-Commonly, some External uses of control occur through weak points, locks, pushing or stopping the opponent, and through responsive attacking (countering directly after or during your opponents attack while they are more open).

Also:
-Styles are not limited to either Internal or External techniques, yet many styles are described as one or the other due to their total collection of techniques, principals, and training application used being primarily internal or external.
-Grappeling/Wrestling styles can, indeed, use either or both of these. For example, when in grappeling you must over-power your opponent, putting your applied strength against his or hers, this is external. When you must bend and move to manipulate both you and your opponent into your favor, that is considered internal.

Four ways:

-Basic Blocking: Usually requires the most physical strength and is most natural to a human's reflexes.
-Deflecting: More practice required. Someone who deflects an attack takes less of the hit than a person blocking. Sometimes someone who deflects can leave their opponent open for an attack.
-Manipulating: Requires very precise movements. This way reduces the taken force through 'welcoming' a hit. Afterwards one can gain further control of the opponent and make the opponents attacks their own attacks.
-Evading: Sometimes the best solution is to move out of the way of the hit. By doing so you can then gain control of the situation without taking the hit at all. This is usually and most naturally done through backing up, but sometimes can be done by other means.

-Explination: An important concept. Through exiting (evading and getting out of your opponents reach as said previously) you gain control in that while they are attacking nothing, you are finding an 'entry point'. This point is how you will enter (obviously) back into his range, but with an attack of your own. by doing this you minimize your contact with the opponent to mainly/only hits in your favor.

-Training: Increase flexibility, increase reaction time, and learn to 'Shuffle'. Shuffling is when you practice sliding foward and back ward, and also moving sideways in a circular motion. You will start simply stepping, but as you progress you will be able to slide more swiftly, and learn to do so more efficiently and more-so in your advantage.  

Centers
-These are places that move your opponent.
-Most used centers (atleast by me ) are the chest (most effective), hips, and face (ouch).

Weak Points
-These areas either interrupt breathing, weaken muscle performance, or numb and severely hinder the opponent in some way.
-Most common weak points (again, in my eyes) are diaphram/lower chest (breathing), lower shoulder (nerve-cluster that supports arm movement), lower ribs (another nerve cluster and no protection), throat (duh), and top of nose (moves and hinders opponent greatly).

Weak or Base Joints
-Controls, injures, or stops opponent.
-Elbows (Only hit when extended), knees, wrist, and shoulders.

Reasoning
-Shows Confidence
-Conserves energy
-Maintains control
-Because muscles work in pairs, physically relaxed muscles perform better (faster and more pwerful) because movement involves contracting and expanding those pairs in unison. When relaxed, it is easier for the muscles to do this.

-Explination: 'Explosiveness' is how well you go from no movement or force, to alot of movement or force in an instance.

-Training: Practice (mainly form) with stressed/tensed muscles in addition to unstressed; while actually performing/fighting relaxed as mentioned above. This builds your body's ability under pressure, and when that pressure ceases they will perform better.

-Not a concept used much anymore; atleast the training is different now (luckily).

Explination: Idea of conditioning your hands, feet, etc to be able to withstand pain, pressure, and force superiorly than normal. Also This conditioned them to provide a mroe solid force, capable to go through wood, stone, and more.

Training: Involved hitting into bowls of sand, then marbles, and eventually stones, until you built the resistance and force capability to do so. They also used temperature training (hitting/placing their hands/etc through freezing and near-boiling water). They also did what is common now, of breaking wood and stone, and palming a concrete slab. On the aspect of chi (Qi), some practitioners believed in focusing the chi into the attacking end (fist, foot, knee, or whatever), and then when contact is made focusing that chi into the target. Because of the aspect of chi there was also meditation involved.

-Not a concept used much anymore; atleast the training is different now (luckily).

Explination: Along with Iron Fist, this was conditioning to make the rest of your body hard and resistant to pain and force. Cant be hurt; cant be affected.

Training: Includes basic fitness, getting hit repetetively with poles and unarmed hits, having weights dropped on you, rolling long poles on the limbs to build skin thickness (cartlige), usage of herbs, temperature training, meditation, and in most cases extensive chi training.

Story (Wiki): A folktale called "Meeting Zhou Tong By Chance" states Zhou Tong was walking down the far side of a tall bridge when he noticed a large young man walking up in his direction while looking down at his own feet. Thinking the young man to be a martial arts master wanting to embarrass Zhou by knocking him off the bridge with a shoulder strike, Zhou prepared for a counter-attack and began to swallow air with a subtle “Hm!” and focused all of his energy to his right shoulder. The skin of his shoulder turned red then purple and became hard as rock underneath his clothing. When the two men brushed shoulders, the young man was nearly knocked off of the bridge and the pain caused saliva to pour from his mouth. The attack left him weak in the knees and one side of his body was completely numb. But the incident was a misunderstanding. The young man was none-other-than his future student, the Water Margin bandit Wu Song who was looking down at his feet to avoid large water puddles born from a freak rain shower

Explination: Iron Stance was both an actual stance and a collection of training methods to make you unmovable, untrippable, and even unbreakable.

Training: Training concentrated on limb strength, footing, and Iron Shirt/Fist concepts.

Stance: Usually was with one foot a little in front of the other; front foot faced forward and the back either sideways or relaxed. Arms were bent at the waist or sometimes extended forward in a similar fashion. Strong steps. Blocking was done usually with forarms and sometimes with the palms of the hand. After Blocking (or as a block for a kick) One would step forward with, again, a strong step. Attacking used low and powerful kicks, open and closed fist punches, and performed without comprimising footwork or superior defense. All movements were done with purpose and a strong force.