All Martial Arts contain the same techniques, more or less. Although the different arts seem to be different outwardly, they are not so in reality. In the ancient Martial Arts, both techniques of open hand and weapons were taught together. However, later on, they split up into different branches.
For example, the specialty of Judo is body throws. Similarly, breaking hands and legs using joint leverage techniques and pinning the opponent are the specialties of Jiu-jitsu. Coming to Kung Fu, there are many levels starting from controlling the opponent to techniques of killing him on the spot. Re directing the opponent’s strength onto himself is the specialty of Aikido. If we move on to Tai Chi, it’s the cotton boxing. In Karate, the opponent gets knocked out through very fierce blows and kicks which can be deadly.
Of the several different styles in Karate, some give importance to hand movements and some to kicks. Southern Shaolin Kung Fu has lots of hand techniques usage, whereas in the Northern Shaolin Kung Fu, more importance is given to kicks. In Kung Fu alone, one can learn to use as many as 50 types of weapons. In the styles of Japanese Karate, there is no usage of weapons. The word Karate itself means empty hand, so, there exists a separate branch called ‘Kobudo’ for the exercises of weapons.
After observing all the Martial Arts, I have developed my own style considering the following exercises.
>> Body conditioning: In this, body strengthening exercises and flexibility exercises are incorporated.
>> Iron body training: Apart from the above, these are the procedures to make the primary natural weapons such as fists, elbows, knuckles and the feet etc., as strong as steel.
>> Offensive Techniques: In this, there are 24 types of blows using the hand fingers, knuckles, fist, palm, forearm, elbow, shoulder, and head. Similarly, there are 12 types of kicks using knee, feet, heel and side of foot. Apart from these, there exist methods such as joint locks, body throws and vital nerve centers in this group.
>> Defence Techniques: In this section, there are skillful resilient escaping techniques, and blocking methods using hands and legs. Eight types of footwork are used.
>> Weapons: There are six types of main weapons, in this category. The weapons used in the ancient times are not useful now. For example, it is a crime now, to move around with a Samurai sword hanging from your shoulder. Therefore, I like weapons like long stick, double short sticks, the yawara stick that easily fits in the palm, belt, and towel and short knife, etc.
Once when I was climbing the mountain of Adoni to visit Hanuman temple, I was attacked by a group of Baboons. Then, I chased them away by pulling the belt from my waist and rotating it like a long stick. What I mean to say is, we must be able to use everything and anything that is around us as a weapon.
>> Breathing and Meditation: In this section, I had designed the breathing exercises and meditation methods required for Martial Arts.
In this way, I made my personal MMA style, after synthesizing all the important Martial Art methods available.
All rights reserved. This article has been translated by Ranganath D, which was originally posted in teluguyogi.net on July 25, 2009. The content or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher.