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darren_strangerAn interesting observation from training last night.
We were doing a very basic self-defence exercise, just blocking incoming punches from a defensive "don't want to fight" guard and following up with a counter strike. Against a big swinging hook punch, we were blocking and countering with an elbow and, without thinking about it, i kept finding myself grabbing the punching arm and pulling it in to my hip while delivering the elbow strike, which seemed quite effective. It wasn't part of the exercise we were doing at the time or one i remember practising that way before, but i worked out where i was getting it from: I've been spending a lot of time working on poomsae lately, and also thinking about the role of the "pulling" hand in strikes and blocks being just that - a pulling action. It seems that motion has just become ingrained, even without practising it with a partner like that, and it just seemed a natural thing to do without even trying.
It's just a small thing, but i was quite pleased with the idea of a useful self-defence move becoming an automatic, reflexive action through solo patterns practise - exactly what poomsae is supposed to do for us. If nothing else, it's nice to have a moment of confirmation that all that work does have some useful, practical benefit (especially when the gaps between formal tkd and what we do for self-defence have been playing on my mind a bit lately as well).
We were doing a very basic self-defence exercise, just blocking incoming punches from a defensive "don't want to fight" guard and following up with a counter strike. Against a big swinging hook punch, we were blocking and countering with an elbow and, without thinking about it, i kept finding myself grabbing the punching arm and pulling it in to my hip while delivering the elbow strike, which seemed quite effective. It wasn't part of the exercise we were doing at the time or one i remember practising that way before, but i worked out where i was getting it from: I've been spending a lot of time working on poomsae lately, and also thinking about the role of the "pulling" hand in strikes and blocks being just that - a pulling action. It seems that motion has just become ingrained, even without practising it with a partner like that, and it just seemed a natural thing to do without even trying.
It's just a small thing, but i was quite pleased with the idea of a useful self-defence move becoming an automatic, reflexive action through solo patterns practise - exactly what poomsae is supposed to do for us. If nothing else, it's nice to have a moment of confirmation that all that work does have some useful, practical benefit (especially when the gaps between formal tkd and what we do for self-defence have been playing on my mind a bit lately as well).
