TAKING A FALL
2 essential basic martial art skills, regardless of style, are the ability to receive force from any direction; and the ability to take a fall...any so- called expert who lacks these, say receiving a tiny push but flying across the room and falling badly on their ass almost cracking their head open- is in fact a complete phony...maybe his art is ok to teach geriatric qigong or taiji for seniors, which is most respected, but martial arts expert they are not...I thank my teacher every day for the great training in all basics which he gave us- no fluff, no 'flowery fists and embroidery kicks' for us lol, we learned how to receive force and take falls in a huge variety of ways, one being to run full speed and dive over a staff he held at waist height, as you dove over the staff into a flying forward roll he struck upwards at you, hitting you wherever he hit you, you still had to complete the roll or be injured. Of course, we practiced many, many other traditional methods of receiving force and taking falls...funny story- in the mid/ late 90's i worked in a rehab. hospital, everyone knew about my martial arts practice, I even had a co-worker who was a training buddy/ fellow instructor...well, we had another co-worker, ex- Big 10 college wrestler and power lifter, as high as you can go in college in this country...my height, very powerfully built...his son was taking karate lessons at a local McDojo, and he was constantly razzing me, his male ego threatened or something...so one day i am walking thru the front lobby- at work, in a rehab hospital mind you- reading a notice on something related to my work...this bozo gets the idea he is going to sneak attack me!! HAHAHAHA!!! so he kicks me in my right hip, full-power, as i walked by him reading my memo, thinking he had the drop on me...of course, i had been kicked and beaten a million times, and by real kung fu master's, basically every day for 10 years at that point- I KNEW HOW TO RECEIVE FORCE- so, i went with it stepping with my left foot in the direction of the power of the kick, then immediately executed a stance change to face whatever had attacked me, while simultaneously lifting my arms to cover the back of my head as i turned and brought them in front of me facing my unknown attacker- and simultaneously let out a full power/ fighting energy loud TIGER SHOUT/ KIAI!!! MY DAMN FOOL EX- COLLEGE WRASSLER/ POWER LIFTER CO-WORKER JUST ABOUT SH*T HIS PANTS, STUMBLED BACKWARDS AND FELL ON HIS ASS!!! yep, a no touch throw/ take down...he never bothered me again.
