In any martial art style, the development of skill and ability is rooted in the development of three essential areas: balance, power and speed. These essentials do not exist in isolation; each informs and partially overlaps with the others. Balance is the prime foundation for the other two, for without balance you cannot gain maximum power or speed. Power is the generation of applied and focused force into your techniques, be it striking, defending, or moving. Speed describes how quickly you can perform or shift techniques.

 

The specific concepts that form and inform the core of every martial arts style and the many dimensions of martial skill all arise from the foundations of balance, power, and speed.  As you train, develop the aspect of balance first, then add the aspect of power and lastly speed.   When all three are developed to a high level, you can move securely, adapt quickly to the flow of a fight, and strike or defend effectively and with power.

 

 

Balance

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The essentials and qualities of balance are:

 

• Possessing body balance and remaining in balance during all movements (not about to fall over)

• Maintaining proper coordination between hands, feet, and torso

• Having even tension and structure throughout the body

• Staying steady, upright and connected to the ground when moving between stances

• Staying steady, upright and connected to the ground when a force is applied on you

• Staying steady, upright and connected to the ground when performing a technique

• Gracefulness

 

All movements and techniques – strikes, blocks, grapples, dodges, and stepping – require balance. Without balance, even your greatest strikes will deliver no power as their impact will be dissipated by your body being pushed over by the force of your own strike. When you are off balance, your opponent can easily topple you or use your own power against you. Without balance you move in predictable patterns and cannot react or shift quickly. Ultimately, as soon as balance is lost, the battle is lost – no effective techniques are possible when you are preoccupied with regaining your balance. For these reasons, balance is the first essential area to master.

 

To be in balance is to have stability and “symmetry.” Stability requires maintaining control of your center of gravity. This control allows you to remain upright and mobile, even in response to forces generated by your actions (such as strike) or those of your opponent (you receive a strike). “Symmetry” in the context of balance does not imply mirroring; rather it means that your movements are properly coordinated and your body tension remains equally distributed. Thus, balance is more than just the simple balance of staying upright – it also involves hand, feet and body coordination.

 

When in balance, your whole body works in concert, able to attack or defend effectively with sufficient fluidity to respond to the next opening or attack, even while in unusual positions.

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Power

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The essentials and qualities of power are:

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• Possessing good body structure, posture, and structural integrity

• Maintaining a strong connection to the ground, rooting

• Transferring maximum force into the target beyond just raw muscle power

• Involving the whole body in a technique, without overuse of any single muscle

• Generating energy from short distances and from awkward positions

• Generating maximum force with minimum effort

 

Without power, even a flurry of rapid techniques will have little effect on your opponent. Power is one of the simplest concepts to grasp (it is easy to visualize a mighty punch) yet is one of most difficult to master. Not everything that looks or feels powerful is powerful in reality.

 

With balance as the foundation, there are two prime components to proper power generation. The first involves harnessing the whole body to maximize the potential generation of force. The second is the proper focus and transfer of the force to a point on the target through the technique. Both are key: if you cannot transfer the force effectively, or if it is easily deflected, then it does not matter how much force is behind the technique.

 

To achieve these two components of power requires both a proper body structure, developed from exploring a style’s concepts, and a stable stance that is firmly connected to the ground. Solid rooting to the ground drives your energy forward into the target, and prevents your techniques being weakened by the impact pushing your body back, dissipating power.

 

The fullest expression of power is possible only when your body is held to the right level of tension such that it “flows.” Often, you can feel very strong if you keep all your muscles tense, “forcing” power into your strikes or movement. However, this can instead have the opposite effect, slowing movement and trapping energy at your joints. Improper tension will also break your structure, leading to a loss of balance. Keep your body “alive” without being tight and stiff to generate the fullest power.

 

In summary: the generation of martial power comes from proper body structure, tension, and alignment, resting on a solid connection to the ground, which allows the effective use of the whole body to generate and direct force to a precise point and for that power to be transferred completely into the target.

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Speed

 

The essentials and qualities of speed are:

 

• Quickness of reaction and response to your opponent’s movements

• Ability to alter a technique to adjust to or counter your opponent’s movement

• How quickly a technique can be completed from any starting point

• How many techniques can be strung together in succession from the same starting movement

• Fluidity of movement

• Using the proper timing in applications

 

Without speed, even knowing a thousand techniques is inadequate, as your opponent will be able to counter them or hit you before you can react or adjust. Even simple techniques performed with great speed can be “undefeatable,” as it allows them the highest chance of success. Speed requires being calm and natural in your movements, without excess tension. Developing your balance and your power allows speed to develop automatically.

 

Speed is defined not only as the time between the start and end of a movement, but more importantly as the adaptability of your movements and the quickness between your techniques. With proper balance and power, you remain ready at any moment and from any position to react effectively to your opponent. For example, if an opponent interrupts the first intention of a technique, yet you are able to adjust the movement to perform additional effective techniques without needing to re-set to a neutral position, then you possess a high level of speed.

 

Full development of speed requires more than just attention to the hands or the feet, but also to stepping, stances, and the smoothness and integration of the whole body. In addition, timing when to begin your movements and reacting quickly to your opponent’s moves plays a great role. Your speed becomes well developed when all these characteristics couple with a trained and intrinsic idea of what techniques provide the greatest advantage in a given situation.

 

 

 

(Adapted from Young Forest, Traditional Skill: Northern Shaolin, Volume 1 by Sifu Wing Lam and Oliver Bollmann.  Purchase a copy here.)